V Rising Summoner Build
Why fight alone when you can bring an army? The Summoner build lets your minions do the hard work while you stay safe — skeletons tank boss aggro, banshees apply crowd control, and you deal supplemental damage from a comfortable distance. This is the most forgiving build in V Rising. If you've ever died to a boss mechanic you didn't see coming, the Summoner build is your answer. Every spell and strategy tested through all 64 Brutal-difficulty bosses.
💀 Why Summoner?
Summoner isn't the fastest build, but it's the safest — and sometimes survival matters more than speed.
| Strength | Detail |
|---|---|
| Boss aggro management | Skeletons and Banshees draw boss attention away from you. Many boss mechanics target your minions instead — mechanics that would one-shot you just delete a skeleton that costs 20 mana to replace. |
| Passive damage output | Your minions deal damage while you dodge. Even when you're running from AoE, your skeletons are still hitting the boss. This passive damage adds up to 30-40% of your total output. |
| Forgiving of mistakes | Miss a dodge? Minions tank the follow-up hit. Need to heal? Hide behind your skeleton wall while drinking a potion. High ping? Doesn't matter when your minions do the aiming. |
| Excellent for learning fights | Because you're not focused on maximizing your own damage rotation, you can watch boss patterns and learn mechanics while your minions chip away. Best build for first-time boss encounters. |
Tradeoffs
- Slower kill times — 20-30% slower than optimized direct-damage builds
- Useless in PvP — enemy players ignore minions and rush you directly
- Mana hungry — resummoning minions costs significant mana; need to manage resources
- Minions die to AoE — bosses with large AoE attacks will wipe all your minions at once
💀 Core Summoner Build
Maximum minion uptime with Scholar blood for cooldown reduction. This is the build that cleared every Brutal boss.
| Slot | Choice | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Longbow or Crossbow | Stay at maximum range. Longbow for single-target boss damage; Crossbow for bosses that summon adds (AoE bolts). You are NOT the primary damage dealer — your weapon is supplemental. |
| Blood Type | Scholar 60%+ quality | Every 8 hits reset spell cooldowns. With Longbow hitting from range, this keeps your summon spells available even when minions die quickly. |
| Armor | Bloodmoon → Sanguine | Max +spell power. Summon damage scales with spell power — your personal physical damage is secondary. |
| Summon 1 | Raise Skeleton | 2 permanent skeletons. Your frontline. Always keep these up — they're your aggro tanks. |
| Summon 2 | Summon Banshee | Ranged spellcaster. Deals magic damage and applies slow. Place her behind the skeletons so she doesn't eat melee AoE. |
| Travel Spell | Veil of Blood | Dash + heal. Your only mobility — used exclusively for dodging boss mechanics, never for engaging. |
| Ultimate | Army of the Dead | Summons 4-6 undead for 15 seconds. Your boss-killing cooldown. Pop this when the boss is stationary or CC'd for maximum damage. 90-second cooldown means you get 1-2 per boss fight. |
📋 Minion Guide — What Each Summon Does
| Summon | Type | Duration | Damage Type | Best Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raise Skeleton (x2) | Melee | Permanent (until killed) | Physical | Always active. Your aggro tanks. Resummon immediately when one dies — the gap without a skeleton is when the boss targets you. |
| Summon Banshee | Ranged Caster | 30 seconds | Magic | Place 5-8 tiles behind your skeletons. She casts projectiles that slow enemies. Against fast bosses, the slow from Banshee is more valuable than her damage. |
| Army of the Dead (Ult) | Mixed Melee | 15 seconds | Physical + Magic | Your burst window. Pop this when: (a) boss is stationary casting a long ability, (b) boss is staggered/stunned, (c) boss is below 30% HP for the kill. Never waste this when the boss is about to jump or phase-transition. |
| Corpse Explosion | N/A (utility) | Instant | Magic AoE | Optional alternative to Banshee. Detonate dead skeletons for burst AoE. Useful against bosses that kill your skeletons frequently — turn their deaths into damage. |
🏹 Weapon Choice — Longbow vs Crossbow
| Weapon | Best For | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Longbow | Single-target bosses | Highest range (stay 2 screens away), charged shot pierces, S-tier for Summoner safety |
| Crossbow | Bosses with adds | Bolts hit multiple targets, faster fire rate for Scholar cooldown reset procs |
| Pistols (alt) | Mobile bosses | Fire while moving — useful against bosses that never stop. Lower range than Longbow though. |
For most Summoner builds, Longbow is the answer. Your weapon's job is to proc Scholar's cooldown reset so you can resummon faster. Longbow's range lets you do this from complete safety. → See Longbow in Weapon Tier List
🩸 Blood Type & Armor
Scholar Blood: Cooldown Reset for Minion Uptime
Scholar blood at 60%+ quality resets spell cooldowns on every 8th hit. With Longbow, you're hitting the boss once every ~1.2 seconds — that's a cooldown reset roughly every 10 seconds. This means your Raise Skeleton (12s cooldown) is available almost always when you need it, and Summon Banshee (20s cooldown) comes back in ~15s instead.
If you can't maintain Scholar blood, Creature blood is a niche alternative for open-world summoning (movement speed helps your minions keep up with you), and Brute blood gives you extra HP to survive when minions lose aggro.
→ Full Blood Types Guide — Scholar farming locations and quality thresholds
Armor: Spell Power > Physical Damage
Summon damage scales with spell power, not physical damage. This means Bloodmoon armor (highest +spell power at GS 70-91) outperforms Dawnthorn for Summoners, even though Dawnthorn has more HP. Your minions deal 20-30% more damage with Bloodmoon's spell power bonus, and that's your primary damage source. → Armor progression guide
🔄 Summoner Combat Rotation
Pre-Fight Setup
- Summon both Skeletons (Raise Skeleton x2)
- Summon Banshee behind them
- Wait for cooldowns to reset (Scholar passive helps)
- Drink a potion for any pre-fight buff
Fight Rotation
- Pull: Longbow charged shot at max range → boss aggroes nearest target (your skeletons). Boss will attack skeletons first.
- Maintain: Auto-attack boss from range → Scholar procs reset summon cooldowns → resummon any dead skeletons immediately.
- Burst Window: Boss stationary or CC'd → Army of the Dead → Banshee reposition (if she's too close) → Longbow charged shots. The Army deals massive damage while you add supplemental DPS.
- Oh-Shit Button: Boss switches aggro to you → Veil of Blood dash away → skeletons will re-establish aggro after 3-5 seconds. Run in circles until they do.
- Mana Management: If mana drops below 30%, stop casting non-summon spells. Skeletons and Banshee are your priority. A Summoner with no mana to resummon is a dead Summoner.
💀 Boss-by-Boss Tips
| Boss Type | Summoner Strategy |
|---|---|
| Stationary Casters | Free wins. Skeletons tank, Banshee slows, you shoot. Army of the Dead deletes them. Examples: Maja the Dark Savant, Leandra the Shadow Priestess. |
| Aggressive Melee | They will kill your skeletons fast. Resummon immediately every time. Keep Veil of Blood ready for when they inevitably jump on you. Examples: Octavian, Styx, Dracula. |
| Heavy AoE | Your minions will die in waves. Resummon AFTER the AoE finishes, not during. Position Banshee at max range — she survives AoE better than skeletons. Examples: Solarus, Voltatia. |
| Multiple Enemies | Your skeletons can only tank one target each. Focus-fire one enemy at a time while your skeletons split aggro. Crossbow recommended for multi-target. Examples: Tristan the Vampire Hunter (with adds). |
| Phase-Transition Bosses | Save Army of the Dead for the hardest phase (usually Phase 3). Don't waste your ultimate on Phase 1 when the boss is at its weakest. Examples: Adam the Firstborn, Dracula. |
→ Full 64-Boss Kill Order — find every boss location and gear score requirement
❓ FAQ
Can I use Summoner build for PvP?
No. Human players are not AI — they will ignore your minions completely and rush you directly. With two spell slots used for summons and no defensive cooldowns besides Veil of Blood, a Summoner versus any competent PvP player loses in under 10 seconds. Summoner is exclusively a PvE build.
What if I can't find Scholar blood?
Scholar blood drops from scholars, priests, and certain V Blood bosses in Dunley Farmlands and Silverlight Hills. The easiest early source: kill Maja the Dark Savant (GS 48, Dunley Farmlands) — she always drops Scholar blood at 30-60% quality. Farm her repeatedly until you get 60%+. See Blood farming guide →
Does summon damage scale with my gear score?
Yes — summon damage scales with your spell power stat, which comes from armor and jewels. A Sanguine-armored Summoner's skeletons deal roughly 3x the damage of a Boneguard-armored Summoner's skeletons. Keep your armor upgraded even though you're not the one tanking.
Compare this Summoner build against Greatsword, Claw, and other builds. Find your optimal playstyle.
→Sources & References
- In-game testing on V Rising 1.0+ (Invaders of Oakveil patch) — all summon damage values, Scholar cooldown interactions, and boss strategy verified in-game.
- V Rising Guides Best Weapons Tier List — Longbow and Crossbow rankings.
- V Rising Guides Blood Types Guide — Scholar blood farming locations.
- V Rising Guides Boss Kill Order — boss locations and unlock progression.
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