I noticed that, in my lower level periods, I managed to get 5k-10k extra exp by using medium level combat familiars. I also found it quite enjoyable to use them, but only in the areas where they will start attacking by themselves.

Also I found the hydra to do quite nice damage already! It's not to great, but it ain't exactly shabby. Same goes for the fire titan.

 

Usually the following happens. One goes out to kill monsters, finds out the area isn't multicombat thus.. a support familiar is the only real alternative. Combat familiars aren't allowed.

In areas where multicombat IS used, often requires prayer / lots of food. Thus a support familiar to take more food or to heal you is pretty handy dandy. Think about GWD, the extra supplies in a BoB or the extra heals from a Unicorn outweigh the benefits from a .. geyser titan for instance.

 

Also on behalf of the other skills, they are just extremely useful. If you have a few spare GP, they are always worth it to use!

@ the above post:

 

When I was around 85-90 slayer, I would try my best to always use a combat familiar. I found that using an EE and bringing food usually allowed me to last an entire task without banking. Back then I used Guthan's plate, Verac's skirt, fire cape, 10% strength prayer, and a cannon (which was a pretty efficient way to slay at the time :D ).

 

Soul split definitely changed that, though. Soul split allows you to maximize your offense without ever having to worry about healing. It makes using combat familiars much easier. It was kind of difficult to stay alive sometimes before I had it.

Dno, I agree with the OP somewhat. Been 98 summ for months (don't ask, I stop leveling things at 98 if I can help it), I used the iron titan a lil bit but it wasn't ground breaking. I can totally see using it for slayer though. But vs player etc. it's a joke on anyone > level 100. The interface is sloppy and it's a pain to use it effectively. I like using Yak most of the time.

 

Also, I think the combat familiars < the iron titan/geyser titan need a little rework. Make specials better mostly.

 

The smoke devil with a charged helm is amazing at chaos devil daggs though.

With Yak:

Item found: Godsword Shard 1

*Shard banked with scroll*

Connection lost please wait attempting to reestablish

My 4 usual items are kept

 

Without Yak:

Item found: Godsword Shard 1

Connection lost please wait attempting to reestablish

WHAT? A SHARD PROTECTS OVER *insert item worth way more than a Shard here*? RAGEQUIT!

 

That example alone should demonstrate why Summoning is combat related. And of course my invo spaces more than doubling. Also, Steel Titan allows me to kill TDs way faster than with a Yak/Uni.

Steel titans - Slayer's best friend.

Yak/Tort/Bird/any other BoB - Look at single pkers/Solo boss hunters

Yak - Lets you make 2.5-3.5m/hr at DKs

Unicorn - Lets you solo TDs for as long as it's summoned

Oh and Summon/Def pures pretty much rips everyone.