10 Dominate Mind

  • AP cost: 3
  • Cooldown: 5 turns
  • Usage: Countermeasure against hostile summoned creatures

Most summoner mages in Original Sin 2 can handle their own well against multiple enemies. However, if those enemies are also the result of Summoning, then things get more complicated and can become too much. Summoner versus summoner fights are often too protracted and messy.

That’s why Dominate Mind is a good solution to get the upper hand against another summoner. It lets the caster control any hostile summoned creature for two turns. It’s essentially a Charm spell for bound creatures. It’s highly recommended against enemy Incarnates.

9 Farsight Infusion

  • AP cost: 1
  • Cooldown: 3 turns
  • Usage: Buffing your Incarnate and giving them a ranged attack

Incarnates are a summoner’s bread and butter but their base version can be a little underwhelming in the offensive department since they can only attack in melee range. They do have skills of their own but there are times when you wish they’d just deal with that pesky enemy mage without wasting AP.

Farsight Infusion alleviates that issue for Incarnates. It’s a buff that grants them magical armor. Apart from that, the infusion skill also gives the Incarnate a ranged attack. No longer do they have to reposition in order to chase down retreating rogues or other slippery enemies.

8 Rallying Cry

  • AP cost: 2
  • Cooldown: 3 turns
  • Usage: A dedicated healing skill for summoners

One of the reasons why summoners in Original Sin 2 tend to be more independent than other skill schools is because they have a healing ability. That would be Rallying Cry. It restores a decent amount of Vitality or health and also gives some magic armor.

What makes it even more special than other healing skills is that Rallying Cry increases the healing and magic armor restored depending on how many allies are near the caster. That includes totems, Incarnates, and other summoned creatures.

7 Dimensional Bolt

  • AP cost: 2
  • Cooldown: 1 turn
  • Usage: Direct damage and creating surfaces

Of course, there are still times when a summoner must get their hands dirty. Sometimes the Incarnate draws too much aggression or those totems get crushed easily. Thankfully, Summoning has a direct offensive skill that’s decent enough in a pinch.

That would be Dimensional Bolt. It’s a ranged spell whose damage type is random. That does make it a bit unreliable but against raw Vitality or health, it works anyway. Additionally, a surface is created depending on the damage type, making it useful for creating variations of totems.

6 Ethereal Storm

  • AP cost: 4
  • Cooldown: 5 turns
  • SP cost: 3
  • Usage: For mass direct damage or mass healing

Ethereal Storm is a bit difficult to use as Summoning skills go. Depending on the RNG’s whims, this skill will obliterate an area full of enemies or revitalize you and your allies since it summons multiple projectiles with random elements. These chaotic projectiles will then target the enemies or heal friendly units.

Either way, the skill is a great finisher or clutch move so it’s good to have. The only downside is the hefty cost. It’s the most expensive ability in the Summoning discipline but it has its uses, particularly in tough fights.

5 Soul Mate

  • AP cost: 1
  • Cooldown: 5 turns
  • Usage: For increasing survivability and tactical advantage

Speaking of surviving tough fights, the Soul Mate skill is one of the best abilities for that endeavor. It’s a low-cost skill that lets you transfer over some of the healing and armor restorations you receive to another character, be it friend or foe. It’s not resisted by any type of armor.

Why would you want to cast it on a foe? Well, that works as a way to damage enemies if you’re undead or if the enemy is undead. Otherwise, it’s a useful ability to have when keeping your allies or summoned creatures alive.

4 Door To Eternity

  • AP cost: 2
  • Cooldown: 3 turns
  • SP cost: 1
  • Usage: Keeping your summoned minions alive

We did discuss before that your minions as a summoner are as good as companions, right? Sometimes they hold some sentimental value especially if they manage to win battles for you. You can make that scenario more frequent with Door to Eternity.

This ability is a nifty Source skill that has a relatively low cost and can be used often due to the low cooldown. Door to Eternity prevents your summoned creatures from dying, even if their Vitality reaches zero. This only lasts for two turns but mass healing and skills like Soul Mate let you bring them back up.

3 Summon Inner Demon

  • AP cost: 1
  • Cooldown: 6 turns
  • SP cost: 1
  • Usage: Grants offensive demon avatar, magical armor, and the Terrify status to enemies

Skills that do more than one thing are always welcome in Divinity: Original Sin 2. You not only get to save up AP but also introduce some combos quicker. Summon Inner Demon is one such skill. While it’s a Source skill, it’s rather affordable.

The caster gets a demonic avatar on top of them for three turns. This demon can Terrify enemies, attack, and also give magical armor. Don’t be put off by the long cooldown, the skill downtime is only three turns due to the long duration.

2 Elemental Totem

  • AP cost: 2
  • Cooldown: 1 turn
  • Usage: Summoning
  • elemental variations
  • of stationary attackers

One of the reasons why summoners are so annoying to fight in encounters is this skill. Elemental Totem lets summoners conjure up several capable attack outlets. They also assume the element of the surface from where they’re summoned.

That makes them a versatile ability for summoners. They can either be a mix of physical and magical damage so they’re strong against anything, really. If you can get resourceful and creative with elements, these totems can even stunlock certain targets.

1 Conjure Incarnate

  • AP cost: 2
  • Cooldown: 5 turns
  • Usage: Summoning a mobile and independent demon that fights for you

The Summoning skill school has been the ideal discipline for Lone Wolf runs during the early to mid game all because of this skill. At Summoning 10, the Incarnate becomes a giant rage monster that can tank and deal tons of damage at the same time.

They also have a unique ability depending on the element of the surface where you summon them. With a Summoning 10 Incarnate, you can take Fort Joy for yourself if you want. That’s how broken these things are for Lone Wolf characters.

NEXT: Divinity Original Sin 2: The Different Modes And What They Mean