[1.0.7.1] Familiar Conjurer - Beginner's Guide

Nice work on the guide :smiley:

Will try this out. NEver finished a Pet build.

I tried 2 pet builds in my GD career. First the fire pet build from da shiv and it was a waste of time cause i did not had the gear for it later and was to much of a noob to understand how specific items change the whole build.
Second was a skellymancer cabalist. Love the level phase but later in the game I hated the build so much. So much buttons to push and so much stuff to watch for.

Some question:
The level phase is this tested? Seems weird to level with familiar skill?

Much of this guide reflects my playthrough of a pet Conjurer on hardcore where all of my gear as self found. Familiars are way better early game than the other Conjurer pets, late game too. Particularly (in both cases) if you don’t already have the best gear. They are just awesome all around.

To get the most out of Familiars you need to use the “Pet Attack” command a lot.

Edit: I just added some info on how to use Pet Attack effectively to the “Piloting Tips” section.

Great. Thx you

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/8NKBglOZ

end of act 1. Leveling with familiar works actually great. Its nearly the same power level with the skellys. Walking Simulator - love it :smiley:

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/8NKBgXpZ --> on my way to act 5, everything still smooth.

I’m not 100% sure but I think Wind Devils apply Viper’s rr.

Nice guide. I’m building a very similar character, zapping Chain Lightning backed up by two trusty birds and a house cat. My devotion choices are different though, pairing Ultos and Dying God. Hand of Ultos on the birds looks really cool and clears the screen quickly. Wind Devils with Elemental Storm and Arcane Bomb bound too CoF. Giant’s Blood for some survivability. Anything you think I’m really missing out on by going for Ultos & Dying God over the other options?

Using Bysmiel’s Domination over Primal Instinct - bugs and birds don’t mix.

I’ve also found Mythical Blightstone Invoker to be a good weapon for the build. +2 Familiar on top of + pet damage, OA & Crit is nothing to scoff at.

I am curious. May I see a GrimTools link to your build? :smiley:

In my experience, Blizzard is better than Ultos. Ultos is a bit better for AoE as it can chain to targets that are not close together, but Blizzard hits way harder on single targets where it shotguns, and does have decent area. Pet builds already do pretty good against dispersed targets (Familiars in particular with Lightning Strike). Blizzard is also cheaper to get, as you don’t need as much Eldritch affinity.

Also, based on the description of what you DO have (Giant’s Blood + Elemental Storm + Hand of Ultos + Hungering Void + Arcane Bomb) you don’t have Time Dilation, which helps in a lot of different ways.

Outside of trying to shave a few seconds of Crucible clear times, you probably wouldn’t notice a huge difference either way.

Hi Sigatrev

Is this option of pet build easier compared to the Skelefamiliar build in which you post the incredible clear times of Gladiator crucible, for players beginning without the gear ?

Thank you for all your effort and time going into detail about this. This is really great for newer players looking to learn stuff about the game without struggling too much.

Regards
Gogga

If you’re lacking gear, a Familiar Conjurer is going to be a much better Crucible farmer than a Cabalist. Due to the fragile nature of Skeletons and the huge performance hit that occurs when they die and lose their buffs, the SkeleFamiliar Cabalist performance falls off very quickly if you have to substitute weaker items. Also, while the that build has extremely fast peak clear times, it’s not particularly sustainable because on most runs you’ll lost at least one or two skeletons, which means they lose their buffs, and subsequent runs are slower/less safe. Because of that it’s not the best Crucible farmer.

Even without peak gear though, the Cabalist would probably be faster to farm in the main campaign where skeletal death isn’t as big of a problem.

This is the devotion setup I’m using: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/nZonQGzV

I see, that makes sense. I don’t play crucible and the build already mows through most of what campaign has to offer, so I’ll probably stick with what I have if it doesn’t make much difference. Mostly because I like the aesthetic. :cool:

Nevermind dumb question

I have almost all of those items and my bat (have only one :P) crits for 12k, I must be doing something wrong.

I see, Ty.

Bat?

That is a magnificent Raven!

I call them bats because ravens are smart, these little dumb birds need to be micromanaged all the time :stuck_out_tongue:

If you post your current setup, we can offer some advice.

Here it is: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/0V0DeaJV

Granted, I don’t think I put any components or augments :), but it shouldn’t make a huge difference I assume.

I assume (hope) you mean you use them in the game but didn’t put them into the GrimTools link, because they do make a noticeable difference.

Based on what you’ve shown, here are some suggestions:

  • Using Elite Legion Voidcutter and Bysmiel’s Domination at the same time is a bit overkill on speed, particularly in the campaign. I’d switch the weapon for Claw of Hagaraz or the relic for either Mogdrogen’s Ardor or Primal Instinct.
  • Those rings aren’t at all useful to pet builds. If you don’t have access to the Glyph of Kelphat’Zoth, I’d recommend using the Wendigo Conjuring Seal’s from Barrowholm. In addition to providing some harder to get resistance and pet damage, the +4 Summon Familiar (between the two) will free up some other item slots for additional useful items. In particular, you could swap with medal for Mythical Mogdrogen Sigil or Beastcaller’s Talisman, and the shoulders for Mantle of Mogdrogen.
  • If you are actually using Survivor’s Ingenuity on the rings, you should probably switch that to Mogdrogen’s Blessing.
  • Bloody Pox is probably not worth the investment.
  • Wind Devil isn’t worth using if you don’t have a decent number of points to invest in Raging Tempest. If you can’t manage getting Raging Tempest to at least 7 or 8 (including skill bonuses) I wouldn’t bother using.

Great guide, well done!

If you plan on fleshing out the crucible section, you could add which blessings and what banner to use, plus maybe which map works best and why.