I have been thoroughly enjoying the forge guard sentinel’s minion build as of late however I feel that there may be a few issues regarding the methods to summon them and the ways that they scale.
The three Primary ways to summon them is through warpath, multi-strike, or forge strike. while these aren’t bad options it feels like there should definitely be more ways to summon them such as through Manifest armor or Smelters Wrath.
Another thing that feels underwhelming is the Sunforged set. While I understand the set is designed to push a fire damage Forgestrike and Smelters Wrath playstyle with some minions to boot, even when i run the set it kills any and all momentum I have to use Smelters Wrath. it almost never feels worthwhile to use the full set. while the helmet provides an exceptional boost in armor the rest of the set has boosts that benefit Smelters Wrath and Forgestrike. For me the main draw of the set is the forged weapons and power they can get from an extra 3 weapons and +3 to forge strike but to have to give up the weapon, helmet, and chest slots for that just never equals out.
I don’t know if anyone feels similar about this issue but it feels like there could be a more focused idea for what the FG could specialize in.
Also why do the weapons and armor that are literally on fire not have Minion Fire Scaling
You are correct, minion sentinel builds are not scalable nor strong, there is no viable build in endgame for sentinel minion. Sentinel minion builds are for having fun during leveling which is depressing (except shieldthrow manifest armor).
Some ideas:
Idols for sentinels that support the minions.
If the minios are going to continue being useless at least make them support the sentinel (the ward support of forged weapons suck)
Tech tree for forged weapons.
Summon forged weapons with healing hands and greatly empower them with the skill.
Make forged weapons and manifest armor to copy your attacks! and match in strenght and speed.
For me the most disappointing thing is that sentinel minions get incredible 187,5 fire damage and 375 ignite chance from void cleave for some reason, but it requires a sword or an axe, when the set weapon is a mace
Forgeguard is outdated AF and needs a complete overhaul as much as the Shaman. If I play FG and after this a Rogue build it feels like Rogue is from today and FG is stuck in the 80s ^^.
I agree with most the sentiments here. The forged weapons overall are lacking. Although manifest armor definitely can be a beast for bossing the endgame. They have some unique scaling options which i’d like to see stick around though as it takes a different approach to minions as a forge guard.
Rive also works but may not be considered “Primary.” I enjoyed it for leveling up.
I agree, im sure this is do to the mastery and skills just being a bit older. If/when they do get updated id like to see forged weapons get there own skill tree or have more options inside forge strike. At the very least, a fire tag added by default.
I do like that as a minion they get the stats on your weapon which is unique to the forge guard.
No comment on the Sunforged set, i havent used it.
Here’s one from @LizardIRL that can do all the content in the game…
Dont forget you can get charges to void cleave and stack infusion beyond 5 stacks. I get a consistent 10 stacks thanks to the +1 charge on unique Darkstride. With 12 of them they feel pretty good in early empowered, but definitely feel inferior to say… Beastmaster Squirrels.
I agree hopefully it gets one within a cycle or 2!
I think there is plenty of ways to summon them, but I wouldnt say no to more.
And they certainly dont lack scaling, while slow, forged weapon builds can easily do high corruption, they are just not “omg blast 600 corruption while naked” tier. But as far as “viable end game build” they are playable to the 250-300 number fairly easily.
The builds just lack customization a bit because forge strike tree does not modify them a whole bunch past a certain point. Forge strike itself can be made to be all kinds of shapes with all kinds of unique build arounds, the weapons sorta are just default attacking minions that dont have any transformative nodes other then “make them totems which give you ward but dont move or attack”
Forged weapons might need to be separated from forge strike as their own skill. Forgestrike can still make them, but they have their own tree, thus allowing much more freedom to both skills.
Also yeah, its a product of FG tree also being really lame outside of hammer and anvil stances.
The Immovable Object
This is basically a retaliation build, but it’s mostly retaliation from minions. And it can push pretty high. It’s slow and boring for some, but I like this playstyle, so I had fun with it.
oh i do know about it, i did tier 4 julra with it and 400 corruption, i wouldnt count a “please hit my minions” as exaclty a minion build, hahahah. Indeed as you say it’s a bit slow.
