Is Summoning Skill important? What does it do?

[Jobe]

ok guys i have been to many a forum seeking what is the purpose of the Summoning Skill, but every place says something different. Some say its the accuracy of the avatar, some the strength, and some say it doesnt affect the avatar at all! i just want to hear what Quetzalcoatl has to say about it

 

[Direwolf]

Word on the street is it helps with bloodpacts and the avatars acuracey rate.

 

[Phraust]

Picture it like your Sword Skill, Staff skill, Elemental Magic Skill, etc...

The Higher the number, the more effect that shill has.
I was leveling SMN, and I send Carby out on some rabbits and did minimal damage, then sat in a corner watched Law & Order and raised my SMN skill from a lvl 3's level of summoning skill to a capped lvl 9. Carby could suddenly actually do damage. I don't remember fully but it was dramatic, going from Summon skill 7 or 8 to lvl 30.. Carby went from hitting like 6 damage to hitting in the mid 20's.

 

[Rones]

SE interview. From that interview:

8 ) Exactly how does the SMN "summoning" skill affect avatars?

The summoning skill affects the chance of interruption when a spell is being cast, as well as the casting time of summoned spirits (i.e. Earth Spirit, Water Spirit, etc.).

This agrees with what most high lvl smn tell me. So smn skill looks like a waste of time to bother raising.

 

[Shakaar]

I don't think SE gave us the full scoop on what the skill does in that interview. From my personal observations the skill seems to affect avatar accuracy, defense and HP. Didn't seem to notice any change in melee damage or bloodpact damage, but having a high skill helps with not getting resisted I'm sure. In any event, summon skill is the ONLY native magic skill summoners have, so why not raise it? Contrary to popular belief, summoning skill is actually an easy skill to raise.....to a point. I've said this in another post somewhere, I was able to level my summon skill several levels in just an hour or so, then when I was about 5 levels from the cap the skillups just dropped through the floor. So keep it around 5 levels from the cap and you won't be out there for hours just trying to get a .1. You most likely won't miss the 5 levels unless you're fighting IT++++ anyway.

 

[Direwolf]

SE giving us an utter lack of information on how something works, or giving barely enough info to mislead us? Wow what a suprise... I can't think of any other instances of this... no... wait... Crafting... direction vs day vs moon vs crystal.... Mining/logging/harvesting based on moon day and ore... Item drops...and I am not even going to think about Desynthing... No wait I changed my mind SE is a bunch of sneaky bastards... Damn them...

 

[neophytal]

yeah wish we could get a final answer on a few things

 

[teng]

To me, it seems the skill affected defense and damage taken aka summon dun die so fast.