Summons are a new combat system in Granblue Fantasy: Relink - Endless Ragnarok that adds active battle options and passive support to your existing character build. In the full game, the normal progression route is to reach the new Fatebreaker skyfarer grade and complete the Summons tutorial. Once the system is unlocked, you can equip up to four Summons, with each Summon providing its own trait. Actual summoning is restricted to Fatebreaker content—Chaos-difficulty or higher quests—and certain areas of The Conflux.
That restriction is important. If you unlock the menu and then enter an older quest expecting to call a Summon, nothing is necessarily wrong with your save. Summons are designed as part of Endless Ragnarok's late-game combat layer rather than a replacement for ordinary skills throughout the entire game.
What Summons actually add to combat
Cygames describes Summons as the power of enemies and allies brought into battle, with their own attack skills and support abilities. The practical way to think about the system is as another layer on top of your character, weapon, sigils, skills, and Master Traits. A Summon does not make those systems irrelevant. It gives you another decision to make when a fight creates an opening or when a particular support effect fits the party's plan.
This is why a good Summon setup should begin with the encounter rather than with a universal tier list. Ask what your current party lacks. If your normal build already clears safely but struggles to capitalize on openings, an offensive Summon may be more useful than another defensive layer. If you are learning a Chaos boss and losing control of dangerous phases, reliability can be more valuable than chasing the largest theoretical burst.
The official systems page deliberately describes Summons in terms of unique attack skills and support abilities rather than declaring one best choice. That is the right mindset for a first build: learn what each equipped option does, identify when its effect is useful, and change the loadout when the quest changes.
How to unlock Summons in the full game
There are two official descriptions that fit together. Cygames' June unlock notice says Summons become available when you begin Endless Ragnarok's story and obtain your first Summon. The launch-scale Ver. 2.0.2 notes give the system requirement more precisely: reach Fatebreaker and complete the Summons tutorial.
For a returning save, use this progression check:
- Make sure Endless Ragnarok and the current game update are installed.
- Progress far enough to reach the new Fatebreaker skyfarer grade.
- Begin the Endless Ragnarok progression and follow the Summons tutorial when it becomes available.
- Obtain your first Summon and inspect the new equipment options rather than assuming it behaves like a normal character skill.
- Test the system in a Chaos-or-higher Fatebreaker quest or an eligible Conflux area.
If you are still trying to start the new story, remember that Ver. 2.0.2 requires both The Tale of Bahamut's Rage (Proud) and Cycle 3 of The Conflux before the Endless Ragnarok chapter begins. That prerequisite is easy to miss if you cleared Proto Bahamut before installing the expansion and assumed the story would appear immediately.
You can equip up to four Summons
The Ver. 2.0.2 notes explicitly confirm that each Summon has its own trait and that up to four Summons can be equipped at a time. Treat those four slots as a loadout, not as four trophies you never change.
A useful first arrangement is to avoid stacking four options that all solve the same narrow problem. Instead, look for a mix that gives your main character meaningful choices across the fight. One slot can support your most common damage window, another can cover a situation where your character is weaker, and the remaining slots can be tested against the mechanics of the quest you are farming.
Do not copy a four-Summon list without checking what the player was fighting. Endless Ragnarok's Chaos progression and Conflux rooms ask different questions, and a setup optimized for one boss can be unnecessarily awkward somewhere else. The same principle applies to co-op: your own loadout should complement what you can reliably execute rather than depend on strangers reproducing a showcase rotation.
Where Summons can and cannot be used
The most common source of confusion is the content restriction. According to the official Ver. 2.0.2 notes, Summons can only be used in Fatebreaker quests (Chaos or higher) and in certain areas of The Conflux.
That means unlocking a Summon does not turn it into a universal button for every old Proud, Maniac, Hard, or story encounter. When troubleshooting, first ask whether the quest itself supports the mechanic. Only after confirming that should you treat a missing summon prompt as a setup problem.
The Conflux is also not a blanket exception. Cygames says "certain areas," so do not assume every puzzle, transition room, or objective permits the same combat actions. Conflux already changes from run to run through its own temporary traits and buffs, making Summons one tool inside the mode rather than the definition of the mode. For the cycle and reward route, use the Endless Ragnarok Conflux guide.
Summons are not the same thing as Primal Bursts
These two systems arrived together and are easy to blur, but they solve different combat moments.
A Summon is part of the new loadout system. You equip Summons, benefit from their traits, and use the summon mechanic in eligible content. A Primal Burst is a party payoff tied to Skybound Arts. Cygames says Primal Bursts activate after a full burst when the required battle conditions are met, calling on the power of Proto Bahamut or Excavallion.
So if you see Proto Bahamut appear after coordinated Skybound Arts, do not assume that animation is simply one of your four equipped Summons. Think of the systems separately: Summons expand your individual/party tactical toolkit, while Primal Bursts reward a successful four-member SBA sequence under the appropriate conditions.
This distinction matters when planning co-op. You can make a Summon decision based on the current phase without automatically committing the whole party's SBA gauges. Conversely, holding four Skybound Arts for a Primal Burst is a coordination decision that affects everyone. The upcoming Primal Burst guide covers that mechanic independently.
The demo has a separate Summons test route
Players who want to understand the mechanic before committing to the full progression route can also encounter Summons in the official demo. Cygames says Quest Mode contains four quests; clearing the first three unlocks Sephira's Sanguine Glimmer, and that fourth quest allows access to Summons.
This is useful because the demo's route is not the same as the full game's Fatebreaker progression. If you used Summons in the demo and then started a fresh full-game save, do not expect the feature to be permanently open from the beginning. The demo is designed to showcase the mechanic, while the full release integrates it into Endless Ragnarok's progression.
The demo also supports crossplay matchmaking, making Sephira's Sanguine Glimmer a practical place to see how the mechanic feels in a party before deciding how much weight you want to give Summons in your late-game build.
A practical first-Summon test
When the system opens, resist the urge to judge every Summon from one damage number. Take a character and quest you already understand so the new mechanic is the only major variable.
On the first run, pay attention to availability: when can you summon, and which boss phases make the option awkward or valuable? On the second, pay attention to the Summon's support trait and whether it changes a decision you already make. On the third, compare it with another Summon in the same slot. If the second option produces less spectacular numbers but creates more reliable clears, that can still be the better farming choice.
For co-op, also watch how many resources and openings the party is already coordinating. Endless Ragnarok adds Primal Bursts, Link mechanics, Summons, skills, and ordinary SBA decisions to the same fight. More systems do not mean every system must be held for one giant sequence. A clean summon that secures a phase is better than losing the quest while waiting for a theoretical perfect window.
Common Summons mistakes
Trying to use them in unsupported content. Check for Chaos-or-higher Fatebreaker content or an eligible Conflux area before troubleshooting your loadout.
Treating four slots as a fixed best-in-slot list. Each Summon has its own trait. Change the loadout when your controlled character, party role, or encounter changes.
Confusing a Primal Burst with an equipped Summon. Full-burst Primal Burst mechanics and the four-slot Summon system are related additions, but they are not the same trigger.
Testing a new Summon, new character, and unfamiliar Chaos boss simultaneously. Too many new variables make the result meaningless. Test the Summon first on eligible content whose major mechanics you already recognize.
Assuming the demo unlock carries over as normal progression. Sephira's Sanguine Glimmer is a demo showcase route. In the full game, follow the Fatebreaker and Summons tutorial progression.
Where Summons fit in your Endless Ragnarok progression
Summons make the most sense after you have a stable character foundation. Get comfortable with your main's skills, weapons, sigils, and defensive timing; reach Fatebreaker; unlock the system; then use your four slots to answer the content you are actually playing. If you are still deciding which system deserves resources first, the Endless Ragnarok systems guide explains how Summons fit alongside Master Traits, Chaos quests, Conflux, Weapon Transcendence, Backup Characters, and Primal Bursts.
The central rule is simple: Summons expand a working build; they do not replace one. Use their attack skills and support abilities to strengthen decisions you can already execute, then revise the four-Summon loadout as your Chaos and Conflux progression changes.
