Why is Summoner the most ignored, misunderstood and broken job?

[Arciel]

SMN's job is simple. Be a time sink as a second job. Everything square has ever done with SMN in this game has required you to have aanother job at maximum level. Hunting pacts, fighting avatars, carby miits, etc. They have changed some things around like with mini fork battles, but the original intent has always been the same. SMN is not popular because it's good as a job. It's popular because it's iconic in the Final Fantasy series. I'm not saying not's not good as a job, but other pet jobs are treated better. I'd just like to go over the perspective of what SMN looks like from the point of view of someone looking to have it as their only main job.

Spells:
- You only get them past lv20.
- Spirit pacts don't become useful until elemental siphon (which is the first good way to restore MP)
- You don't get fenirir/diabolos until/after/around the time you fight Maat.
- After this point, you have to go through Aht Urghan missions to get a pair of Avitars that are uselees in most situations and when they're useful require support from a bunch of conditions.
* So basicly, you have to wait until lv20 to get something that is useful in a party. Then once you get them at 20 those are the ones you use more or less forever. You get some other ones along the way but not used nearly as much.

Perpetuation:
- Good luck getting help with carby mitts when you're lv20.
- Ele Staffs and the first regular perpetuation- gear starts to kick in around the same time at 50/51.
- Up to this point, you've had to use yag drinks to keep yourself going if you're not resting all the time. You also get Avitar's favor around this time.
- Evokers ring is the next big thing, but as you progress in levels, the perpetuation cost is rising so this -1 does not count for much. Oh, and this is also about the point you saying to yourself "why doesen't my AF1 help with perpetuation?"
- Magian / Nyzul / Dynamis gear is avalible to you ny this point. But good luck finding a LS that will help you get it while your job still requires you to rest a lot.
* This is always an uphill battle. Every pact you use is 1 step closer to losing your pet. And with so little gear that has it and how long it takes to get, you spend a lot of time resting and not being useful at all. There needs to be more items to adress this or the overall perpetuation needs to be lowered.

Other notes:
- Blood pact recast times are way too long for stuff that's bundled together.
- My SMN is a Taru. I like to mele as much as the next guy. But with my HP the way it is, if there is any AoE damage mele is out of the question.
* If SMN is for burning MP, split up the pacts or lower the recast timers. If SMN is suppoed to mele, give them more HP or damage- and something that converts the damage they deal to MP more efficiently thn spirit taker. These two things are what keep SMN from being useful in all situations.

I know a lot of what I have to say has been said in this thread, but not in this way.

I honestly think square has no intentions of changing smn. They might add stuff 90+ but it is the way it is for a reason. It's bussy work for fanboys who want to be summoners at any cost.

You make a very good point about the job, that SMN is in fact meant to be a rather advanced job. based on the way tools we get are acquired, it is perhaps the most advanced job in the game in terms of having to require another job to unlock tools for this job itself.

Tho, I'd like to put forth my opinion on several points

- We get spells pretty early on through spirits, but a lot of what we get isn't dependable, so its not exactly earliest Lv20.
Also for all intents and purposes, Thunderspark lets you deal magical damage by Lv18 (tho, whether you can obtain him at that point is a different story. Besides that, however, Level Sync has made it so that procuring stuff for your own job later in its levels isn't necessarily a wasted activity)

- Agree on Fenrir and Diabolos. If you're only a SMN, you'll need to be like 75 to get them. However this only matters if you weren't 75 before they were introduced, cos otherwise you'd still not have them anyway.

- Alex and Odin seem a little understated here. They can't be used below 75 so its fair to say that they aren't the kind of avatars that fall under the 'get it with another job' status.

- Evoker's Ring seems rather fair, to be honest. Its a semi-arduous quest back in its level, but avatars are soloable by 75 (by todays standards of stats/abilities) and we have to consider that they weren't meant to be solo fights to begin with anyway.

- Perpetuation needs are kinda like the EXP curve in FFXI. It initially gets steeper and steeper until it hits a certain point (it used to be 55+, then 70+) where the grind is made a lot easier somehow by something special (in the case of perp, EQ, in the case of EXP, camps).. and eventually become non-existent issues at end-game.

Proper gear at lv90 can net you like 4-6mp/tic refresh back with avatar out, which is something totally unheard of before moving past the 75 cap. In reality, this wasn't something that was made possible through more perp cost gear but the abundance of refresh gear options instead. With this, perp cost is no longer an issue for SMN mp anymore, the weight now shifts entirely on BP costs, for which Blood Boon helps in some ways.. but not enough, I think

[Arciel]

melee-mage summoner nonsense

...and...

Vision
Mystics who conjure avatars to fight by their sides, then sit back and enjoy the show while paying close attention to their MP as their minions deliver devastating blows to adversaries and provide aid to allies

We intend to make it easier for avatars to wreak havoc upon enemies, but also emphasize how vital the act of managing the source of their magical powers is to summoners.

This is Square Enix telling you to shut up.

[Razushu]

...and...

melee-mage summoner nonsense

Vision
Mystics who conjure avatars to fight by their sides, then sit back and enjoy the show while paying close attention to their MP as their minions deliver devastating blows to adversaries and provide aid to allies

We intend to make it easier for avatars to wreak havoc upon enemies, but also emphasize how vital the act of managing the source of their magical powers is to summoners.

This is Square Enix telling you to shut up.

So this is what vindication feels like

[Dallas]

Mystics who conjure avatars to fight by their sides, then sit back and enjoy the show while paying close attention to their MP as their minions deliver devastating blows to adversaries and provide aid to allies

I look to my side and I see an avatar. Also, Arciel, guess where my MP surplus is going? [singing] I got more MP than you-ou. [/singing]

Raz, you feeling vindicated? Wow you're going to hate this game. LOL.

[Korpg]

Mystics who conjure avatars to fight by their sides, then sit back and enjoy the show while paying close attention to their MP as their minions deliver devastating blows to adversaries and provide aid to allies

I look to my side and I see an avatar. Also, Arciel, guess where my MP surplus is going? [singing] I got more MP than you-ou. [/singing]

Raz, you feeling vindicated? Wow you're going to hate this game. LOL.

Green: Conjure avatars, they summon right next to you. Also, the fight by their sides is a play on words, in case you didn't notice.

Orange: What SE honestly thinks a SMN should do. If they melee, that is the Summoner's choice. Can't help the Summoner if they die all the time from AoE though.

Plus, what is MP good for if you have too much of it, melee or not? Its not like neither you nor I are hurting for it.

Maybe with this new job ability, you would realize how much MP you would run out of if they do the job correct.

[Razushu]

I look to my side and I see an avatar. Also, Arciel, guess where my MP surplus is going? [singing] I got more MP than you-ou. [/singing]

Raz, you feeling vindicated? Wow you're going to hate this game. LOL.

Dallas, Dallas, Dallas my silly little friend, SE has delivered unto us what they want SMN to do. Like always you read the first few words and lose focus, your homework from now on will be to read my sig each and every time I post if nothing else. If it sinks in you'll find yourself useful more than 1/10th of the time and on trash mobs. WE all have surplus MP now little guy, there's no such thing as resting for any of us.

You still really think you've contributed to the game, which I have not stopped laughing at each time you post that nonsense.

[Dallas]

It really does seem that you are scraping the bottom of the FFXI experience, Korpg. The rest of us know when we arrive at a mob that should not be meleed. Hopefully not even you believe your tripe.

Raz, post lost.

[Razushu]

It really does seem that you are scraping the bottom of the FFXI experience, Korpg. The rest of us know when we arrive at a mob that should not be meleed. Hopefully not even you believe your tripe.

Raz, post lost.

For a SMN that mob is 9 out of every 10, go zombie something.

[Dallas]

Raz, your inabilities are your problem. You and Korpg seem to be the only SMN who get their butts kicked by normal mobs.

[Razushu]

Raz, your inabilities are your problem. You and Korpg seem to be the only SMN who get their butts kicked by normal mobs.

I can melee on trash mobs just as well as you, I could melee on anything T- but they die quick enough anyway the problem here is you insist on meleeing on things a SMN has no business being near and call it contribution(rather than liability).