Summons

Many characters in DDO can conjure an ally to help them in their endeavors. A summoned creature appears where you designate and acts immediately, and it attacks your opponents to the best of its ability. You can only have 1 summoned creature of any type serving you at a time. Summoning a new creature of any type will return the previous one to its home plane.

The summoned creature cannot be given orders nor use ladders, climb walls, or jump off platforms, but will generally follow you and even teleport if you move far enough away. It can be affected by beneficial and detrimental spells much like any Hireling or party member. It's often more efficient spell-points wise to summon a new creature than to heal an existing one.

Duration
There is no spell timer shown on screen, so you have to figure out yourself how much summoning time remains. Most summoning spells have a maximum duration of 10 minutes (exceptions noted below). Summoned creatures don't disappear when you rest. They vanish if the you die or leave the instance. You cannot dismiss a creature.

Targeting
The targeting of the summons spells and effects is a little buggy at the time of writing.

Since summons doesn't target an object or creature or ally if you have anything selected in the target orb the summons should appear right on top of your character. This works. If you don't have anything targeted in the targeting orb, the summons should appear where you are facing, which is to say, at the position where your missile fire target / mouselook target icon would appear, were it visible. It doesn't need to be visible when you cast the spell, but to check you are facing the correct place, click and hold your right mouse button and drag the mouse around until the little white circle above your head, lies over the target position. This is just the same way you can target any positional spell or missile fire. But currently it is buggy for summons.

The bug is that sometimes (almost always) when you cast a summons spell it acts as if you were targeting something even when the targeting orb is empty. To workaround this bug, select something (e.g. yourself) and then deselect it using the escape key, then cast the summons spell. If you are facing a point that is out of range you will get an error message.

Summons vs. hirelings / companions / ...
The following creatures count as summoned and are subject to the restriction of a single summoned creature simultaneously:
 * Creature summoned via spell / effect
 * Racial Enhancement Defender
 * Undead created via Create Undead

In addition, you can have all of the following:
 * an Artificer Iron Defender pet OR a Druid Wolf pet
 * a Pale Master undead pet
 * a Favored Soul Archon
 * a Friend of Nature - Primal Avatar minor pet
 * one or more charmed creatures
 * one or more Hirelings
 * one summoned creature per hireling
 * a cosmetic creature companion

Improving summons
All of your personally summoned / charmed creatures and hirelings can be enhanced by the following effects:

Feats

 * Augment Summoning feat (also on and )
 * Improved Augment Summoning epic feat
 * Scion of Elysium legendary feat
 * Past Life: Druid feat

Enhancements

 * Nature's Warrior enhancements, such as Druid Blood Moon Frenzy I
 * Harper Agent Harper Leadership enhancement
 * Enlightened Spirit enhancements

Epic Destinies

 * Primal Avatar abilities, such as Natural Shielding
 * Magister's Grand Summoner ability

Misc

 * Buffs from Guild Airships

Buffs
Summons benefit from buff spells / abilities, just like any party member. Some buffs exclusively affect your summoned / charmed / hired helpers:
 * Pack Aptitude
 * Pack Presence
 * Tenacious Pack

Summoning spells

 * Summon Monster I to IX: Clerics, Favored Souls, Sorcerers, Wizards, Bards (I-VI)
 * Summon Nature's Ally I to IX: Druids, Rangers (I-IV)
 * Flame Turret: Artificers - 1 minute duration instead of the usual 10 minute of most summons
 * Create Undead: Clerics, Favored Souls

Clickies

 * - Summon Monster II
 * - Summon Monster III
 * - Summon Monster III
 * - Summon Monster III
 * - Summon Monster III
 * - Summon Monster IV
 * - Summon Monster IX
 * - Summon Monster IX
 * - Summon Unknown Monster - random from a list of 4 monsters, CR1-6
 * - Summon Unknown Monster II - random from a list of 4 monsters, CR10-16
 * - Summon Xoriat Horror - random from a list of 4 monsters, CR13-16 - 5 minute duration instead of the usual 10 minute of most summons
 * - Epic Thaarak Hound, CR35 - 5 minute duration instead of the usual 10 minute of most summons
 * Tier 2 Green Steel - Dense Stone Earth Elemental, CR12 - 5 minute duration instead of the usual 10 minute of most summons

Consumables

 * Scrolls:
 * Summon Monster I to VII can be purchased from vendors or found in chests; VIII and IX can only be found in chests
 * Summon Nature's Ally I to IX do not exist as scrolls
 * Flame Turret can only be found in chests
 * Create Undead can only be found in chests
 * Elemental Gem (Earth) - Medium Earth Elemental (Summon Monster V)
 * - Summon Monster VII
 * Gem of Freezing Tides - Greater Ice Mephit (Summon Monster IV)
 * Gem of Ocean's Winds - Air Mephit (Summon Monster III)
 * Greater Gem of Freezing Tides - Large Water Elemental (Summon Monster VI)
 * Greater Gem of Ocean's Winds - Greater Air Elemental (Summon Monster VIII)

Epic Destinies

 * Summon Dryad Elder - Primal Avatar Tier 4
 * Energy Vortex - Draconic Incarnation Tier 6
 * Call Kindred Being - Magister Tier 4