Returning summoner!

[Dexterity-Jones]

Hello friends;

I just returned to the game, after along absence, (left when Abyssea 1st came out..... moving to another country on the other side of the world, tends to hamper the MMO lifestyle)

My SMN is currently @80, and I'm lost after a 2 year absence.

What should I be doing? I think at one time I was working on building a staff for Fenrir, those trials they put out, but I'm not 100% sure anymore as to what I should be doing, or what my goal WAS at the time..heh.

Is scholar the preferred sub job for SMN now? or is it still Whm?

Any new summons I should be aware of? (I dont think so eh?.... still need Odin I)

So lost, lol...


Any advice, or better yet anything I should be reading would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[Arcon]

Get to 99 first, it should not be hard. The trial staves are still the best for the avatars you wanna use, so should still work on those, but when you get the chance, do the empyrean armor as well. Keep an eye out for those shouts.

SCH is generally preferred atm, but that won't be the case much longer, seeing how the Embrava nerf is imminent.

[Annalise]

Odin is pretty useless. It's not a bad idea to get him, but he really doesn't see any practical use.

Red Mage I would say is the preferred sub. Refresh for self as well as convert is nice. I basically never run out of MP anymore. While solo I have 3/tick refresh before refresh, 6/tick with refresh. Sch may have some uses for weather if your perpetuation set is really bad.

After 80 the bloodpact wards get some nice buffing.

Garuda's is great for movement speed.
Leviathan's is a pretty potent AoE attack down.
Shiva's is pretty potent AoE Evasion down.
Ifrit's is enfire that does ~43/hit at 99
Ramuh is AoE stun, it can last a really long time, it's really good
Titan is great, AoE buff Earthen armor, if something hits for 75% of life or more, damage is reduced by 45% (stacks with bard song, up to 95% total combined)
Carbuncle is AoE multiple status removal, useful at times
Fenrir ward is useless
Diabolos Ward is pretty bad. Low accuracy and expensive dispel

[Sargent]

Odin is pretty useless. It's not a bad idea to get him, but he really doesn't see any practical use.

Odin's still useful on HNMs ou can't zerg down with PD/Embrava (i.e. Arch Omega/Ultima, I imagine Odin II). After the SP update I can see Odin > Astral Conduit being a very useful combination for a quick burst of damage on these mobs.

As was said, sub RDM in terms of sub job, working on AF3 is good but please don't consider it the "be all and end all" in terms of SMN gear because it just isn't (and too many people think it is). In terms of Magain stavees, work on a Pet:MAB staff and probably Thunder Perp staff (Ramuh is more or less the preferred Avatar in terms of Endgame for Thunderstorm/Shock Squall), the MAB staff in particular is easy to obtain. Also work on upgrading your Relic Armour to +2 because all pieces are very useful.

[Arcon]

Odin's still useful on HNMs ou can't zerg down with PD/Embrava (i.e. Arch Omega/Ultima, I imagine Odin II). After the SP update I can see Odin > Astral Conduit being a very useful combination for a quick burst of damage on these mobs.

Using Odin can only be done once, as it will remove the Astral Flow status. Unless you were referring to Odin > other Avatar, which would work, but regular DDs will still be preferred for Odin II.

[Sargent]

I'm not debating that normal DDs would be better in most circumstances (Arch-omega being an exception due to the PDT), and yes I was referring to the use of your best Meritted nuke immediately after with Astral Conduit. It's situational, same as Alexander (however Alex being the much more useful of the two)

[Dexterity-Jones]

Cheers, thanks for that information everyone.

I must confess, I never actually got my hands on any summoner relic gear, I've done Dyna, but could never seem to get a drop. I was always too busy doing everything else but my own gear advancement, in the end anyways.

...which reminds me I have a few of the main story quest lines to finish, how are they?


In terms of Magain stavees, work on a Pet:MAB staff
Magain stave? PEt:MAB? magic...attack bonus?


I'm heaps behind everyone, and I suspect all my gear is pretty pathetic nowadays, but that's ok, I'm sure I can tinker away with it.

[SpankWustler]

Magain stave? PEt:MAB? magic...attack bonus?

It's one of the ice-stick Magian trials, branching off from the main at Trial 846 (http://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Staff_Trials) as far as I know. In terms of what is involved, it is very analogous to the -perpetuation trials.

[Dexterity-Jones]

Awesome, thanks for that.

and thanks to you all for the advice. much appreciated.


You can still only do one trial at a time correct?

[Tsukino_Kaji]

I would do the elemental stalves that have perpetuation on them and then swap in Soulscourge after your BP activation.

[Sargent]

You can still only do one trial at a time correct?
Nope, can have up to 10 active at a time I believe

I would do the elemental stalves that have perpetuation on them and then swap in Soulscourge after your BP activation.
Elemental Staves would help a lot with maintaining MP but the be fair, the Pet:MAB staff is one of the quickest weapons you can do. All Trials can be done in Uleguerand Range, although Beaucedine [S] is better for the undead trial.

[Dexterity-Jones]

For the trials, you still need to kill mobs that yield EXP, correct? I.e being level 99 and killing level 75 mobs is a waste of time?

[Arcon]

For the trials, you still need to kill mobs that yield EXP, correct?

Yes.


I.e being level 99 and killing level 75 mobs is a waste of time?

No. Lv.56 mobs and high will still count as Easy Prey and give EXP at Lv.99.

[Dexterity-Jones]

Awesome, thanks mate.

Half through my 200 crabs for -4 dark perp staff, and just about have my 4 merits saved to do, what? G7? 8? whatever limit break this is, lol.

Kufta tunnel, page 2, kill 5 crabs, one haunt. Working pretty well for me.

[Mirril]

This reply might be rather late. Summoner is such a popular forum, after all. So much reading to get through!

I believe you can have up to 5 magian trials active at any time. Magian trial logs apparently can't handle more data than that.

It's worth getting some of the relics for summoner. Dynamis is easy nowadays and no longer costs 500k a run. There are items which drop in the Dynamis zones called "forgotten -----" that are used to upgrade relic armor pieces to +2.

Good +2 relics to have are Summoner's Bracers +2 and Summoner's Horn +2.

With Summoner's Horn +2, And the +2 Caller's body/feet, Evoker's Ring and a Chatoyant staff +1 you can keep anything out indefinitely. (-3,-4,-3,-1,-3=-14 perp cost which is the highest you can get)

[Demon6324236]

I believe you can have up to 5 magian trials active at any time. Magian trial logs apparently can't handle more data than that.10blahblah

[Elphy]

While good the magian perpet/bp staffs are not really needed and a huge time sink. The empy+2 gear has tons of perpet reduction/refresh on it and the relic +2 has all the bp reduction you can use (caps at -15 so you dont even need it all), the Chatoyant staff also gives you -3 perpet cost and with /rdm and its refresh/convert you never are really hurting for mp

btw on that note..


Chatoyant staff +1

doesnt exist lol the Chatoyant IS the +1 version and there is no Chatoyant Staff +1. Just wanted to clear that up to avoid any confusion.

The debate over the pet matt magian staff and the soulscourge is ongoing and gets incredibly heated. I myself think the magian one is far superior to the soulscourge. But Ive had this fight many times so wont debate it again, thats just my opinion.

Cap staff and merit Shattersoul, its a fantastic ws for smn outside of retribution and Im a firm believer in melee beside your pet. Some mobs/engame of course its a bad idea but it makes things go so much faster and shattersoul can pull some good numbers especially if you make a gear macro for it.

There is also alot of great gear with smn skill+ on it making elemental siphon give back a really good chunk of mp.