Animate Guardian

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Kaskar wrote:

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TheFatChickThriller wrote:

I have my animate guardian linked with minion life and resistances, plus determination, discipline and purity auras. When I make him out of armor or es/armor gear he is pretty tanky.

Your level?
Level of gem?
iLevel of gear?
Mods of gear?
Level of testing area?
Monsters you tested?

Description "Pretty tanky" is not enough when everyone states the opposite.

After making the post I went to farm on merciless library and he ran out and melted. Regardless, I love this guys AI where he runs out and aggros the the enemies, zombies/skellys then jam up the enemies then my ranged specters machine gun stuff. I'm willing to put the work in to make this guy viable, but if the devs want to buff him that would be great.

I really want this skill to be good, and I like the risk of losing the gear for the reward of having a strong minion, but atm the guardian is just so frail that I dont want to invest any uniques to make him good.

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bearhammer wrote:

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he doesn't need specialized nodes as he's intended as a companion to Str builds.

Do you have a quote from the developers on that? Even though the gem is red and Guardian needs Strength to level, I highly doubt this because:

Necromantic Aegis is required to keep him alive.

Animate a shield. Don't need aegis, a shield guardian is quite tanky in level appropriate gear.

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Lots of other summons around him are required to keep him alive.

The passives that do increase his life/damage are required to keep him alive.

He's as tanky as a player, give or take, in the same gear as he's wearing. Think about that for a bit. He's as dependent on gear as you are.

He needs some better base life, but he doesn't need other minions to stay alive.

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Increase Item Quantity itemization is highly recommended to keep him properly equipped.

This is a minor issue, I personally think they intend him as an endgame companion when he starts to get really good.

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In its current state, the Guardian is an extremely piss-poor companion to a strength-based attacker. Also, the Guardian increases the melee damage of other minions, not the players with him.

No the guardian gets a bonus to HIS OWN damage, to offset the fact that he has to use an item to deal damage. He does not in any way affect other minions.

You have to use him differently than other summons, and yes he's better on a summoner than a non-summoner, but if you wan ta throwaway HP sack he works and if you want a tankier companion you need to invest in his gear as well as your own. The most efficient way to do so is just to give him your cast-offs. That'll keep him roughly as effective as you are.

I am a full summoner build using the following items and have switched out my spectre in the six-link for animate guardian (for fun and testing purposes). I have found this build to be decent in both tanking and damage dealing. The gem is only level 15 but I hope he will become even stronger as it levels and I can use higher tier items. I use added cold damage in my last slot since I run with a frost mage who uses frostbite. I was considering faster attacks.

1. Animate Guardian
2. Minion Life
3. Minion Resistances
4. Multistrike
5. Life Leech
6. Added Cold Damage/Faster Attacks

I find with white items he is a passable dps/tank but with rare item investment he can dps enough to leech back life while tanking tougher foes, including bosses and fire/chaos alchemists.

There should be a way to unsummon your guardian. Right click the top left icon or something. As it stands, the only way to get rid of your current guardian seems to be to get it killed.

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No the guardian gets a bonus to HIS OWN damage, to offset the fact that he has to use an item to deal damage. He does not in any way affect other minions.

He does indirectly. The guardian can't guard at all. If on the other hand a stronger minion is tanking a mob, he can add damage. In traditional RPG games, archers or mages add damage while the fighter tanks.

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You have to use him differently than other summons, and yes he's better on a summoner than a non-summoner, but if you wan ta throwaway HP sack he works and if you want a tankier companion you need to invest in his gear as well as your own. The most efficient way to do so is just to give him your cast-offs. That'll keep him roughly as effective as you are.

I think that is a horrible waste of items because he'd still be dumb. I gave him level equivalent rares and magical items as a test. He lasted an extra 2-3 minutes, which was much better than 5-10 seconds after combat. He died to the first yellow named mob we found, whereas he'd often die to unnamed white mobs beforehand, despite having all slots filled with gear within 3 levels of max level dropped.

I didn't read through this whole thread, so sorry if this is a repeat:

You can put animate guardian in your weapon and use weapon swap x2 to fully heal it instantly.

Edit: With the same mechanic (or bug) you can slowly build up your animate guardian but putting it on your off weapon and switching to add items, then putting it on your main weapon when it has a full set.

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DamageInq wrote:

I didn't read through this whole thread, so sorry if this is a repeat:

You can put animate guardian in your weapon and use weapon swap x2 to fully heal it instantly.

Edit: With the same mechanic (or bug) you can slowly build up your animate guardian but putting it on your off weapon and switching to add items, then putting it on your main weapon when it has a full set.

This got patched today.

The problem I see is, that without good items the Guardian is not really tough. But since the guardian isn't really tough while testing it out, only people who got lots of rares they don't need are going to use them for the guardian. This may work for 2nd chars/twinks in their early levels, but not in the beginning of a new league.

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Sneakypaw wrote:

The problem I see is, that without good items the Guardian is not really tough. But since the guardian isn't really tough while testing it out, only people who got lots of rares they don't need are going to use them for the guardian. This may work for 2nd chars/twinks in their early levels, but not in the beginning of a new league.

This. I'm in a new league, below mid-levels. I don't have 6L or summoner uniques.
I can't afford spending expensive gear for AG.
I could heal him by swapping weapons, but I can't anymore.

Why I should even bother spending time and creating minion that has average dps of maximum 1,5 zombies and survivability of 2? They can be raised immediately. They are staying close to me.

While AG gets massacred by any spell damage, running off-screen.
I can forgive this AI to Animate Weapon, since item is consumed after 30+ seconds anyway.
But to AG? No.