Arelith

I've been doing some playtesting on the Blackguard vs. the Fiendlock with regards to their summons.

Having played and levelled both 30, I find that there currently is a major issue with the survivability of the Blackguards summon compared to that of the warlock. Even with buffs from every wand possible, +4 ac from div shield and Imp Invisibility, the demon gets utterly demolished in what would be considered "epic" environments. I found that I spent more time heal-kitting my demon than I spent fighting alongside it. The warlock, with the changes to negative energy blast, can easily keep their summon alive and topped off. Additionally, if the Blackguards summon dies, they have 10 minutes of down-time compared to the warlock who has less than a minute of down-time.

I am aware that a work-around exists by going the, in my opinion, optimal PDK/ROG/BG spread. Having played that to 27, the ability to shield your summons does actually do wonders for the fiends survivability at the cost of own personal melee potential.

I know that the suggestion thread is locked, but giving the BG some fiend sustain, perhaps in the form of their weapon imbue healing summons on hit (their blade feeding the lifeforce of their enemies to their fiend or whatever), could alleviate the absolute terrible feeling it is, to have to heal kit your summon 80% of the time as a non-pdk bg.

You have to keep in mind that the warlock and BG fiends, despite being identical stat-wise, serve very different roles. For the warlock, the fiend is their primary form of defense. They're very vulnerable in PvE without it, so being able to sustain it is critical. The BG, on the other hand, is a formidable melee combatant even without the fiend summon. If the fiend goes down and the BG does need to retreat, the undead summon is also available as a distraction. Giving the blackguard the ability to sustain the fiend without sacrificing some combat prowess, as in the BG/PDK/Rogue build, would - in my opinion - be a bit much.

Maybe when BG's finally assume their rightful place as martial warlocks (and paladins arent alignment locked), therefore lose Dark Blessing/Smite in favor of more hexblade like boons... We could see something like what you're describing