Need help with Summoner

Just got SMN to 50 and I really enjoy playing it, however I ran AK last night for the first time and feel that I did terrible DPS wise. I am using the bio ll, miasma, bio, virus (when available) fester or bane whichever the situation calls for and putting up rouse and spur on my pet. I am also using thunder and ruin and I have tri disaster and energy drain as well though I am not confident about when to use them. Please if anyone has a great rotation they are willing to share it would be great. I want to be a great SMN, not a good one!

Hi, Noni.

I am way too lazy to look you up and see which abilities you have... but here are some you will want to consider getting/using if you don't have them already: Swiftcast and Thunder from BLM, Raging Strikes from BRD

For single target (not bosses... just any normal mob):

Bio 2 > Miasma > Thunder > Bio ... Fester on cooldown. (Remember to wait a second before using Fester after casting Bio, otherwise you will not get the full Fester damage possible... it takes a second for dots to show up on the enemy bar. You can wait and watch, if you want.)

For multiple targets (three or less):

Bio 2 > Miasma > Bio > Bane > Swiftcast > Shadowflare > Miasma 2 (must be near mobs) > Ruin 1 spam...

To maintain 100% DoT uptime, start recasting your rotation when Bio 2 (pink debuff) is around 14~ seconds left. Remember to wait before using Bane -- for the same reason I explained above. Don't forget about Miasma 2 (aoe around yourself), as well. Some summoners prefer to drop shadowflare first and THEN start the dot rotation and Bane. I do not like this method because it takes the tank a little bit of time to position everything, so where I drop shadowflare might not be where the mobs end up standing for that encounter. However, you can start your dot rotation on the first mob a tank pulls and by the time your dots are on and ready to spread, most mobs should be gathered. Then you can use Swiftcast to drop Shadowflare quick and keep going. Absolutely no time is wasted this way.

For multiple targets (more than three -- which will take a WHILE to kill):

Bio 2 > Miasma > Bio > Contagion > Wait for Contagion to land > Bane > Swiftcast > Shadowflare > Miasma 2 (must be near mobs) > Tri-Disaster... Rinse, repeat.

Contagion is a Garuda ability that extends all DoT timers by 15 seconds. If you use it on the FIRST mob you DoT up, you can then spread your DoTs with a lot more time on them... leaving you with more time to AoE or single target spam.

Ideally, you should keep Garuda in Steady when not in battle. At the start of battle, command your pet to attack using Obey. Do not forget to change Garuda's target as targets die. The reason you will use Obey instead of Sic is because you will want to save Contagion for when YOU want to use it.

On boss battles:

Bio 2 > Miasma > Thunder > Bio > Contagion > Raging Strikes > Fester on cooldown. Use Ruin 1 as your filler spell between Festers. Remember to refresh DoTs when Bio II is around 14~ seconds left to maintain DoT uptime.

Also, at a crucial moment ... Use Rouse, Spur, Enkindle. I like to pop it off at the beginning of boss fights after my first fester, but the timing is up to you. Keep in mind that the timing of your pet buffs are not the same... so, feel free to pop off any pet buffs that are ready again after you have already used Enkindle on that boss fight (assuming there are no important moments where you need to push out dps).

There is no 'perfect' moment to use Virus, therefor it should NOT be part of your rotation. However, there are good times to use it... feel it out. In Titan, you will want to use Virus right before Mountain Buster (if a Virus isn't already up from someone else), for example.

Aetherflow should be used whenever available -- so make sure you finish off your Aethercharges if your Aetherflow is ready again. Use Energy Drain if and ONLY if you are going low on mana. Do NOT wait until the last moment to use Energy Drain, either... otherwise you won't have enough mana to keep your DoT rotation rolling...

If you happen to pull hate and a mob is almost dead, use Ruin 2 to finish it off. Ruin 2 has the added effect of blind so the mob is unlikely to hit you as long as it is blinded. (Note: please do not use Ruin 2 in a situation where a tank needs to use the blind effect on Flash. Some paladin tanks use Flash right before Mountain Buster in an attempt to dodge the hit... if a summoner is using Ruin 2, the diminishing returns will make it so the blind effect of flash won't work. So, make it easier on paladins and only use Ruin 2 when a mob is ALMOST dead. There are exceptions, but this is a general rule. Ruin 2 is good while kiting as well.)

I am very confident with my rotations and usually out-dps most people. Using these rotations will put you far ahead of others with similar gear. However, try not to be TOO discouraged by your current damage... doing AK runs with Relic+1/AFv2 people can make you feel insignificant, but SMN damage is still very good even with just DL/Relic. Also note that your pet is dealing out about 50~ dps give or take per encounter, so that is added onto YOUR dps, making a total dps number much higher than what you think it is.

Thanks so much! I am getting the hang of it but I find the pet commands difficult for some reason....I set up a great pet bar but am not able to use it easily because I am playing with controller, so may switch. I did much better yesterday and with this new rotation I should be ok. Not trying to out DPS anyone, just want to pull my weight in parties. Again thanks for the useful information.

nuff props goes out to you Ryuko!...

my SMN is useless since it's MIND based now :(

but before resetting my points for SCH, I did enjoy playing SMN, so I'm going to steal this rotation anyway in case that issue is fixed in the coming patch ^^

Noni: glad I could help. Summoner actually got a lot easier since SE made it so you could command your pet while also casting. That change was made a few weeks back. Before that, you had to not be casting (or doing anything really) to be able to tell your pet to attack, follow, move, etc... Of course, you still have to time when to use Spur/Rouse/Enkindle, but the change with the other abilities makes it made it much easier to be a summoner (and a scholar too -- this change also helped out our scholar friends). Unfortunately, I don't use a controller so I don't know how to help you there. I use 3 bars (plus one more for my pet)... Feel free to message me in game if you have any questions.

Nevik: I feel your pain. That's the exact reason I haven't played scholar at all since getting my relic. I wish they'd let us set points for both, but I am too in love with summoner to go the 15/15 split (which is apparently okay if arcanist is not your preferred class).