[Necromancy] How do familiars fight?

[ziggy29]

I've been looking at the Necromancy FAQ and in it is listed the fighting ability of the familiars that can be summoned. That would suggest to me that they can help in combat.

How do you get them to fight? There seems to be no way to control them like you would control a pet with commands... and my familiars (all the way up to death adder) just stand around when I'm casting on stuff. I've seen horde minions attack when I am physically attacked but I've seen nothing else attack under any circumstances.

 

[UO Relic]

All the familiars fight only when they or you are physically attacked (have to usually take damage for them to respond). Which for a mage char makes them overly useless

 

[ziggy29]

All the familiars fight only when they or you are physically attacked (have to usually take damage for them to respond). Which for a mage char makes them overly useless

That would make sense, and it seems to be my experience as well. So unless you're a necro warrior, with the possible exception of the horde minion for hauling stuff this would be nearly worthless for a pure spellcaster.

 

[UO Relic]

Aye the horde minion for hauling and the wisp for mana regen are usefull for a mage template.

The other summons were meant for a warrior template but the few times I tried them i found they werent worth the mana used

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

When you hit something they attempt to hit also. Though they often miss because their Wrestling isn't great. The most useful one for this is probably the Death Adder as it can poison your enemy.

 

[[JD]]

yeah the death adder is kinda nice, the wolf would be good to control a pair of bake kitsune, but anyone with half a brain will 2 shot the dire wolf...

 

[Cloak&Dagger]

They all have "some" usefulness...Just depends on the application (ok not all, the highest tier Vampire bat is useless no matter what.)

 

[icm420]

Horde Minion is a summoned pack mule

Wisp is extra mana randomly based off karma (lower karma = more mana )

Wolf is stamina regen and the ability to tame any wolf creature in game. (bake kitsune being the most popular)

Death Adder does a weak poison attack

Vampire bat is supposed to give you life based on the damage it deals..but it's pretty bad.

They all only attack when you attack, much like an orc brute summon. you can't control them and they will randomly bite someone when they want to. Horde minion and wisp are the most useful, however the wolf can be extremely helpful in fel (stamina is important) and some people enjoy running around with a pet. Of course if you loose your wolf (as in someone or something kills it) you will not be able to control the pet you tamed until you bring the wolf familiar back out. I believe it's possible to bond a pet (im thinking bake kitsune here as it's the best "Wolf" in my opinion) but you must always have the wolf familiar out to control it.. it's been awhile since i messed with the wolf but i'm pretty sure if you tell your tamed creature to do something without a wolf out it will instantly untame and go crazy.. lol.