Sharing a cool thought for summoner ability in the future

I don't play summoner at all, but I have been into endgame so I know more or less how summons work. I know a lot of players like egis, but a lot of FF fans kinda wish they were more in line with classic FF summons.

First things first.

1. They're adding Levi and Ramuh.
2. They plan on balancing summons so that each is equally desirable or so, or at least balancing it so that switching them out at certain times would be beneficial.m

Those two points said, I present to you an ability. Behold, from FF 3 and later FF 5, the Call ability!

Call--Swaps current summon for a random egi (or calls a random egi if no egi is out) at no MP cost. Egi performs special exclusive attack (such as Earthen Fury or Judgment Bolt) when summoned and replaces last egi. Off GCD, 4 minute recast, costs 3 aetherflow.

In this manner, Summoners get a seemingly useful ability with a bit of a random element, but this also brings players what they want: classic FF style summons. The ability will be fairly strong, sure, but the random element might have an undesirable effect, meaning the summoner will have to summon the desired egi after the attack, but at least the burst damage will compensate for not having the desired egi. Having the desired egi would just be like Bard or Blm procs. You got lucky.

Those attacks already exist only they're not nearly as flashy and certainly aren't worth 3 aetherflow stacks. The skill is known as 'Enkindle' and allows your summoned avatar to use their signature attack. This results in a 200 potency (roughly) attack, which differs slightly based on which Egi used it.

What I think you're after is a super powerful 'summon' which arrives, does crazy damage and then leaves. Perhaps those may be added somewhere along the line, but it doesn't really fit well into the game design we currently have. Back in the old 1.0 days there were talks of primal shards which could be earned by an FC. These would allow a group to summon not a mere Egi, but a fully fledged Primal under their command. The skies would darken in the zone when such a creature was summoned, and they would only remain long enough to perform their signature attack before leaving.

Sadly, it never arrived and I don't think it ever will.

The biggest problem is balancing. You want a super-powerful avatar but at the same time you forget that the summoner alone is quite powerful. Once you've stacked your DoT attacks you're already doing a large amount of damage, and then you add in the damage your Egi is doing over time and it's not hard to see why their one of the stronger classes.

I should have mentioned I know about enkindle but if this worked like that only it was random, and if it's not worth three aetherflow then maybe up the potency for the Call version, or decrease the aetherflow cost? I really think it could work.

The problem is the random nature more than the skill. Different Egi's have different strengths, which is why Garuda is pretty much the 'standard' summon for most content; she's ranged and can extend the duration of your DoTs. By swapping her out for say, Titan, you're not only sacrificing overall damage but you're potentially hindering the party by stealing aggro since Titan's attacks also build enmity.

The attack can negate enmity or something like that, but the idea is that it's helpful for burst DPS at an instant and after that you switch if you didn't get the one you wanted. Keep in mind they're going to reevaluate the egis so that they're each useful in party content.

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Originally Posted by Altijacek

The attack can negate enmity or something like that, but the idea is that it's helpful for burst DPS at an instant and after that you switch if you didn't get the one you wanted. Keep in mind they're going to reevaluate the egis so that they're each useful in party content.

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prelim patch notes already list what changes(there might be more) are coming to the summons. what you propose would really have to be the best thing ever to justify either a full stack or less. calling any egi at random for an attack doesnt seem like it would work well because titan exists. get titan? now you have to summon something else=less mp. in fights that mp gets hard to manage(as smn/sch mp shouldnt be a problem) proper stack management makes a huge difference.

But I just don't see the benefit to using this over Enkindle. Enkindle is guaranteed burst damage, with no luck involved. Also the potency needed to warrant three aetherflow stacks would have to somehow be better than the 900 potency that the 3 Festers give you. It just seems that the risk versus reward of calling the wrong egi would make it impractical to use, especially in end game content. Having to re-summon an egi can severely hinder your DPS, and losing the dice roll on a move like this could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

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Originally Posted by Altijacek

I don't play summoner at all, but I have been into endgame so I know more or less how summons work. First things first.

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Well, as a SMN, I thank you for trying to get us something.

But I am lost as to why, someone who don't play a role, tries to fit into that role and engage a debate.

If it's because your FC mates have been talking a lot about it, I guess it would make sense for them to go and post it. *shrugs*

Anyway, concerning your points, I am more than happy with Enkindle, and now that Aerial Slash will be cast non-stop, I can't wait to see the effects on our DPS output and the rotation (should we let Garuda on free mode, will it cast it all the time, shall we make a macro?).

Once again, thank you for the thoughts.

Enkindle could have a large damage (or utility in some summons case) buff followed by dismissing the egi and putting it on Enkindles cooldown, in this way Swiftcast - Summon - Rouse - Spur - Enkindle would work as an old fashioned 'big flashy high damage summon' type move but at a cost of locking out an egi for a while. Give Summoners an option for big burst at a cost of sustained DPS.

The one ability I would really like to see given to us SMNs when the lvl cap rises is dual summoning in which we can summon 2 egis showing how much more we learned in our art.