I have just recently completed some cool changes to the way that summons work

1) Summons that you cast from your own abilities will automatically level up as you level up (sort of how Pets work now).

2) Classes with talents that improve your spellcasting ability (like Spooky) and with higher Will (I'm looking at you, Privateers and Witchdoctors) will find their summons work a bit better than other classes.

3) Items that have unique summons power have a fixed level, just like they do now. This will make them a little more useful for players of all classes, but at the same time, like most items, you'll eventually outgrow them and you'll want to move on to another item.

(Sorry! I can't tell you when those changes will make it into the live game-- you'll have to bother Jack about that!)

(**Note from One-Eyed Jack ** : These are internally made changes that have not been published yet and will still need to be verified before being released to the masses -- thanks for the cool insider's look at what's in store for the future, Ratbeard!!)

Ratbeard on Jan 25, 2013 wrote:

I have just recently completed some cool changes to the way that summons work

1) Summons that you cast from your own abilities will automatically level up as you level up (sort of how Pets work now).

2) Classes with talents that improve your spellcasting ability (like Spooky) and with higher Will (I'm looking at you, Privateers and Witchdoctors) will find their summons work a bit better than other classes.

3) Items that have unique summons power have a fixed level, just like they do now. This will make them a little more useful for players of all classes, but at the same time, like most items, you'll eventually outgrow them and you'll want to move on to another item.

(Sorry! I can't tell you when those changes will make it into the live game-- you'll have to bother Jack about that!)

(**Note from One-Eyed Jack ** : These are internally made changes that have not been published yet and will still need to be verified before being released to the masses -- thanks for the cool insider's look at what's in store for the future, Ratbeard!!)

Awesome! I can't wait for this to go live! I really like the idea of summoned minions and am glad that their usefulness will be increased. I look forward to adding them to my strategies!

flash33 on Jan 28, 2013 wrote:

Excuse me ratbeard and one-eyed jack, but I have a question for you from another member over on pirate101 central. Basically they were wondering if companion-summoned minions like from old scratch and the crab hermit will level up as well or if they will fall into the item summoned category and not level up at all. I personally think it's the latter, but hey, it never hurts to ask after all.

Thank you for your time.

It looks like this change applies to minions summoned by the player and old scratch. The only exceptions are minions summoned by the player from gear, so non-witchdoctor's summoned minions will not scale. Examples of this kind of item drop from the elemental temples at the end of MooShu. Those will always summon at the same level.

Ratbeard on Jan 25, 2013 wrote:

I have just recently completed some cool changes to the way that summons work

1) Summons that you cast from your own abilities will automatically level up as you level up (sort of how Pets work now).

2) Classes with talents that improve your spellcasting ability (like Spooky) and with higher Will (I'm looking at you, Privateers and Witchdoctors) will find their summons work a bit better than other classes.

3) Items that have unique summons power have a fixed level, just like they do now. This will make them a little more useful for players of all classes, but at the same time, like most items, you'll eventually outgrow them and you'll want to move on to another item.

(Sorry! I can't tell you when those changes will make it into the live game-- you'll have to bother Jack about that!)

(**Note from One-Eyed Jack ** : These are internally made changes that have not been published yet and will still need to be verified before being released to the masses -- thanks for the cool insider's look at what's in store for the future, Ratbeard!!)

Is this how the summons from companions like Old Scratch will work(auto level up) or will they remain a fixed level like an item card summon?

Talkin The Plank on Feb 6, 2013 wrote:

I believe this applies to both Pirate summons and Old Scratch summons.

Sounds great Talkin the Plank! If it does I can't wait to use my Skeletal Corsair from Old Scratch in PvP once these changes are made!

Other companions have summons as well, such as the Crab Hermit companion.
Will these minions be similarly scaled as well.