Summons and Cubics

The summoned creatures of spellcasters

Summons are creatures called by summoners and some other classes, and cubics are artifacts a caster calls into service. Unlike pets, they need no quests or binders, but they do need crystals.

The three summon types

Type	Purpose	Experience	Crystals
First	hunting monsters and earning experience, but useful in other situations too - a mage's "workhorse"	30%	a few
Second	mainly one-on-one or small-group PvP	90%	very few
Third	mainly large-scale battles: clan and alliance wars, sieges, raids	90%	very many

The mage decides for themselves when to use each summon.

All summons consume the experience the player earns from killing monsters, but they do not gain levels themselves. The only way to raise a summon's level, and with it its stats, is for the character to reach a higher level of the summoning spell. Summons take from 30% (first type) to 90% (second and third types) of the player's experience.

Using a summon in a party has no effect on other players' experience - the biggest misconception among players unfamiliar with summons.

Crystals and lifetime

Summoning requires crystals, in most cases D-grade. Which ones and how many is usually stated in the summoning spell's description.
A small number of crystals is taken when you summon, and then, while the summon stays in the world, D-grade crystals are taken every few minutes.
A summon cannot stay in the world for long: 20 to 80 minutes depending on what you are doing. If the summon just follows you around, 80 minutes; if you fight nonstop, 20 minutes; in practice it is usually somewhere in between.
Crystal consumption also depends on activity, but the total comes out the same - whether you fought for all 20 minutes or just ran around for 80.

A summon returns to its own world if:

enemies destroy its body - then it can be summoned again after a while (summoning specialists can keep summons out almost continuously);
the character logs out or loses connection;
the character runs out of crystals to sustain it - so always carry enough.

Control

A summon is controlled much like a pet, with two differences: a summon cannot be named, and it always follows you, whereas a pet can be told to "sit". Like pets, every summon has special skills.

First-type summons of the Elemental Summoner, Warlock and Phantom Summoner can restore MP - up to 120 MP at a time.
Second-type summons have a powerful combat spell or a powerful physical attack.
Third-type summons have a powerful spell that hits several enemies at once, or damage reflection.

Only one summon can be out at a time. If you have a pet out, you must recall it first, and vice versa.

Summons of other classes

Dark Avenger summons the Dark Panther - something between the first and second types.
Artisan and Warsmith summon the Mechanical Golem and Big Boom - first-type summons.
Warsmith can also summon the Wild Hog Cannon and Siege Golem - the most expensive summons in the game, but also the most damaging: Dwarves use them to break castle walls and gates during sieges.

Cubics

Cubics do not consume the player's experience. Crystals are needed only to summon them, not to sustain them, and summoning costs less than for first-type summons. A cubic stays in the world for 15 minutes, then returns to its own world.

Cubics cannot be controlled: they follow the caster on their own and "decide" for themselves when to use their skills. The worse the character's situation (low HP, unequal odds and so on), the more often cubics use their skills.

You can have several cubics out at once, but this requires a sufficient level of the Cubic Mastery skill.

Summoners

Playing a summoner is very interesting but also very hard: you have to control not only your own character but also the summon, which takes some dexterity. The best advisers here are experience and knowledge.

Warlock

The Warlock's special spell increases the summoned creature's movement speed, letting it fight successfully even against nimble archers.

Summons:

Kat the Cat (first type) - restores up to 120 MP at a time.
Mew the Cat (second type) - a spell resembling Wind Strike.
Kai the Cat (third type) - a physical damage reflection spell.

Cubics:

Binding Cubic - immobilizes enemies, but rarely uses it.
Storm Cubic - a spell resembling Wind Strike; uses it a little more often than the Binding Cubic.

Elemental Summoner

The Elemental Summoner's special spell increases the summoned creature's magic attack. This makes it strong in PvP: the summon's magic damage exceeds even the most powerful Sorcerer spell.

Summons:

Unicorn Boxer (first type) - restores up to 120 MP at a time.
Unicorn Mirage (second type) - a spell resembling Wind Strike.
Unicorn Merrow (third type) - a spell resembling Frost Wall: damage to several enemies (AoE).

Cubics:

Life Cubic - heals, and the lower the character's HP, the more often.
Aqua Cubic - a spell resembling Chilling Flame: gradually drains the enemy's HP (DoT), but rarely uses it.

Phantom Summoner

The Phantom Summoner's special spell increases the summoned creature's physical attack, letting it fight well against both monsters and players.

Summons:

Shadow (first type) - passive vampirism: part of the damage dealt becomes the summon's HP.
Silhouette (second type) - a spell resembling Life Drain: all damage dealt becomes the summon's HP.
Soulless (third type) - a spell resembling Poison Cloud: poisons several enemies at once (AoE). It can also detonate enemy corpses, dealing heavy damage to all enemies near the exploded corpse.

Cubics:

Poltergeist Cubic - lowers the enemy's physical attack, physical defense and attack speed, but does not use it very often.
Spark Cubic - stuns the enemy, and does so quite often.

Additional notes

From l2db.ru (2009):

Servitors are either controlled or autonomous. The owner controls a controlled servitor in combat, but only one can be summoned at a time. Autonomous ones (cubics) cannot be controlled, but two or more can be summoned at once.
Controlled servitors are either fighters or mystics. The higher the servitor's level, the more crystals it takes to summon and maintain.
A servitor stays in the world for at least 20 minutes; the time is shown in the servitor's status window.
According to l2db, a low-level mage can summon a servitor no more than once every six hours, while a mage of level 40+ can summon almost immediately after the previous one disappears (depending on skills learned after the second profession).
Cubics can be summoned by the Temple Knight, Shillien Knight, Warlock, Elemental Summoner and Phantom Summoner. Crystals are needed only to summon them. Cubics have no status window; they cannot be killed, but an enemy can dispel the spell and the cubic disappears. A cubic can be summoned together with a pet.

Controlled servitors by class

Class	Servitors
Wizard (Human)	Kat the Cat, Mew the Cat
Elven Wizard	Unicorn Boxer, Unicorn Mirage
Dark Wizard	Shadow, Silhouette
Artisan	Mechanical Golem
Warsmith	Siege Golem, Big Boom, Wild Hog Cannon
Necromancer	Corrupted Man, Reanimated Man, Cursed Man
Elemental Summoner	Unicorn Merrow, Unicorn Seraphim
Warlock	Kai the Cat, Cat Queen
Phantom Summoner	Soulless, Nightshade
Dark Avenger	Dark Panther

Cubics

Cubic	Effect
Aqua Cubic	wraps the enemy in cold air, dealing damage
Binding Cubic	paralyzes the enemy
Life Cubic	restores the owner's HP
Phantom Cubic	weakens the enemy's P.Atk, P.Def and Atk.Spd
Spark Cubic	stuns the enemy (similar to Stun)
Storm Cubic	attacks the enemy, imitating its owner
Vampiric Cubic	drains the enemy's HP and restores the owner's HP
Viper Cubic	poisons the enemy, reducing its HP

Cubics compared with controlled servitors

	Cubics	Controlled servitors
Commands	no	yes
Attacking on command	no	yes
Can be neutralized	yes	yes
Artificial intelligence	yes	yes
Range	small	large
Several at once	yes	no
Together with a pet	yes	no
Status window	no	yes