Summoner, minor musing as of late.

Was sitting in jeuno today, waiting for someone in ls to log in, and a smn and i began talking about avatars and well i got to thinking...

Avatars and Job traits. While im unsure if any avatars have a true job, its for certain they do have atleast some traits (Such as carbuncle's auto-regen). I also feel ive seen Ifrit double attack once or twice in my time and well, i was just musing, why not give them some more utility in the form of traits and adjust their performance. A few things that come to mind would be treating some avatars like certain jobs (trait wise, not JA).

Titan
-Martial arts/Hand to hand skill (Basically, hes got not one, but two big fists, why not have him use both?!)
-PDT down (hes made of STONE!)
-Enmity up (we could treat titan as a tank-pet like paladin, i know his damage leaves something to be desired, but if he was really hard to harm, then we might use him for that purpose!)

Ifrit
-Double attack (If he doesnt have it, give him it!)
-Attack bonus (With those fists/claws, i could see him be a very nice auto-attack job, and his favor would support this!)

Garuda
-Evasion bonus. (Of all the avatars, this seems fitting)
-Critical rate up (Once again, i dont think anyone would complain)

Shiva
-Magic attack bonus. (Our prime nuking pet, why not tailor her more toward it?)

Leviathan
-Magic damage taken down (Seemed to fit in my head for some reason...)
-Triple attack (Just thinking, his pacts never really were very great, and it might work for helping him magic tank, sides, with a body that long, id think this would fit)

Ramuh
-Store TP (Why not? Only one with an actual weapon and its a 2handed weapon...)

Fenrir
-

Diabolos
-

Carbuncle
-Treasure Hunter (Hes got a ruby, he isnt bad, is cute, maybe hes lucky?!)
-Gilfinder (Sure why not?)
-Cure potency + (Maybe?)


Still thinking. While none of these would fix summoner in total, it might create more utility for pets and deciding which to use when partying. I dont see it unreasonable personally, but feel free to offer feedback, and if you see any other traits that might be nice to add, feel free to post em and if they look good, ill add em to the list. I also think a general boost in all avatar survival would be welcomed, even just a minor 10% more hp or boost to that one pet damage taken trait would be nice.

avatars do have job traits, they are black mages and carbuncle is a whm, i think fenrir might be something else but i dunno about him.

as for the suggestions i completely agree. with atmas smn improved greatly but really it just put them to the place they should have been outside abyssea. smn with atma of the ducal guard and atma of the mounted champion is the way titan should be all the time, shiva should be like smn with atma of the beyond and atma of the ultimate, garuda should be like smn with crit dmg atmas, so on so forth, it would add some great diversity to avatars and define the roles smn can fill better.

I also think avatars should get an auto-cover job trait, that is, a job trait version of PLD's cover for physical and magical attacks that ONLY activates for the summoner (no other party members can use your pet for cover). the amount of times i've been able to ressumon an avatar but then get hit dead cause it's doing it's stupid summoning animation rather than defending me when solo... the avatars are supposed to be our protectors so they should really act like it. PvP aswell, monsters may have to attack the thing with most emnity but players can just ignore your avatar and go straight for the smn, it would be nice if you could hide behind your avatar and it would eat any damage directed at you. It makes sense seeing as unlike PUP and BST, SMN is completely reliant on it's pet, those other two can actually hold their own in a fight without a pet, but not SMN so they should be able to use their pet as a shield. (it's not like avatars have an incredible amount of health in the first place).

I don't think SE would ever agree to that, Their "Vision" Was to have Avatars chosen based on their Element. Giving them some Unique properties to stand apart from eachother would apparently "Cheapen" some. Frankly, I find it to be a lazy ass excuse, considering BST pets are very diverse, and some still get used over others depending on the situation. It doesn't need to be anything extensive, But basically, all Avatars right now are BLM's, Except Carbuncle, Which is WHM, I think they're all /WAR, but if not, they need to be... Either way, Lets fill in some Blanks.

Universal: Subtle Blow, Rework Base Damage Formula to be Stronger than it is now by about 1.3x, Not as strong as BST pets. (If BST pets average 400/hit, SMN pets should average 275~300)

Ifrit: Attack Bonus (Same as DRK), Slightly Higher Double Attack Rate(10% more), Overall BP Damage +5%.
Leviathan: High Magic Accuracy (Slowga/Attack-Down, Grand Fall), Slightly Beef up Spinning Dive, Regain+3(for Just himself, buffs up his Damage a little).
Ramuh: Critical Hit Rate Bonus (+10%), Critical Attack Bonus (Same level as THF)
Titan: PDT-85% instead of Normal 50% for Avatars, enhanced Defense. Strengthen Mountain Buster.
Garuda: THF Level Evasion(like Dipper/Falcor), Maybe TH1(like BST will be), Triple Attack II (6%).
Shiva: Higher Magic Attack Bonus than other pets (by about 20), Beef up heavenly Strike a Tad.
Carbuncle: Enhanced Cure potency on his BP's, Buff Holy Mist based on SMN Magic Skill, Grant Regain(3tp/tic to just carby, For his Magic BP's).
Fenrir: More Powerful Physical Hits than all other pets by a good margin(using Example above, Instead of 300, 350), Has Natural Hasso Effect and Zanshin, Low Rate of Triple Attack (5%).
Diabolos: Increased Magic Accuracy and Potency by wide margin. Beef up Night Terror by some margin.

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The Above gives each pet its own Uniqueness. Fenrir a strong Melee-DPS Pet, Ifrit a powerful Puncher, Ramuh a Critical hit Expert, Garuda the token THF, Shiva the Heavy Nuker, Leviathan having strong magic accuracy for higher end mobs, Titan being the Tank-type, Carbuncle being the healer, Diabolos being even stronger at consistent damage,

While i think this slightly goes against what SE Wants, They either need to universally buff every pet in melee DPS and BP Damage, or give them all a unique benefit.

Fenrir is known to be a Dark Knight as job. Though I'm not sure it really has any noticable differences except faster and harder attacks. (And I do not think faster is related to job)