Originally Posted by
Kisshu
A major problem I have with SMN is how bound it is to the two minute rotation. It's much worse than other jobs imo, at least other jobs can delay and realign with burst, but SMN is just stuck once it starts unless you want to spam Ruin 3 a lot.
Take Byakko Unreal, initial burst is no problem, 2 minute into the fight it's also ok, but after that you're screwed. around 2:30 into the fight you enter the fall phase and it takes around 90 seconds, so that would put you at the 4 minute mark and ready for burst. The problem is that you used Solar Bahamut at the 2 minute mark, didn't use Phoenix on cooldown, so now your 2 minute burst for the rest of the fight will be Bahamut/Phoenix instead of the stronger Solar Bahamut. Unless you want to spam Ruin 3 to align, you're stuck. Most/all other jobs don't have this problem as their cooldowns will be ready after the fall phase.
Or take Jeuno, unless you want to spam Ruin 3 (or AoE) on the first pack, you have to use Solar since most of the SMN kit is locked behind the Demis, and then you again drift on the boss.
The job is so railroaded on the 2 minute burst rotation that it breaks when the content doesn't align with it, especially if you're stuck on Bahamut/Phoenix and can't activate it on cooldown.