Some changes that I think could help nudge summoner in a better direction.

I'm someone who deeply appreciates the summoner job. In particular, I've always loved having to put more effort into a rotation to receive high returns in damage. However, I noticed that 4.0's summoner feels a little more clunky than it has in the past. I also noticed that we don't actually provide that much utility in raid, and I think there are some simple solutions to help out the job.

A huge fix for summoner right now, would be a turret Bahamut. There is absolutely no reason for Demi-Bahamut to constantly be on top of my character. Akh Morn and Wyrmwave both have a range of 100 yalms. As long as Demi-Bahamut is on the arena, and I'm within range to use Enkindle Bahamut (25 yalms), he has no reason to be moving around. It's especially annoying since he prioritizes moving over attacking, so If Bahamut tries to micro adjust because I nudged my character out of an aoe, he won't use Akh Morn because the timer ran out while he was moving. Please give us an immobile Demi-Bahamut!

Another improvement for Summoner involves changes to Aetherpact and Devotion. a 5% single target buff feels weak in comparison to a Redmage's 10% buff on all physical damage party members. Devotion may also affect damage taken and healing output, but 5% on a single party member does not make a noticeable difference in a raid situation. I believe it would be better for devotion to be a Bahamut action rather than an egi action. Changing the Aetherpact skill so that when Bahamut is out, and you use Aetherpact, Demi-Bahamut will use devotion which will give a 10% devotion buff to all party members in an aoe around him.

Proposed changes


Summon Bahamut
Summons Demi-Bahmut to fight by our side. Each
time you use an action on a target, Demi-Bahamut will
execute Wyrmwave on the same target.
Duration: 20s
Dreadyrm Aether Cost:2
Cannot summon Demi-Bahamut unless a pet is already
summoned. Current pet will leave the battlefield while
Demi-Bahamut is present, and return once gone.
Cannot use while under the effect of Dreadwyrm Trance

Summon Bahamut Change
Summons Demi-Bahmut to fight by our side. Each
time you use an action on a target, Demi-Bahamut will
execute Wyrmwave on the same target.
Duration: 20s
Dreadyrm Aether Cost:2
Cannot summon Demi-Bahamut unless a pet is already
summoned. Current pet will leave the battlefield while
Demi-Bahamut is present, and return once gone.
Cannot use while under the effect of Dreadwyrm Trance
Demi-Bahamut remains immobile when summoned

Aetherpact
Orders pet to use Devotion. Party member must be
within 30 yalms of pet

Aetherpact Change
Orders Demi-Bahamut to use Devotion.

Devotion
Increases attack potency and healing magic potency of the closest party member within a 30-yalm radius by 5%. Also reduces damage taken by that party members by 5%.
Duration: 15s

Devotion Change
Increases attack potency and healing magic potency of all party members in a 15-yalm radius around Demi-Bahamut by 10% also reduces damage taken by all affected party members by 10%.
Duration: 15s

There are definitely more factors other than a moving Bahamut and an odd single party member buff that contribute to summoner feeling weird in some situations. But I think these two changes could help push the summoner job in a more positive direction.

One key thing some people hate is that Demi-Bahamut is tethered to Aetherflow for max DPS output, while another is that he follows the player around instead of staying put like Garuda would. These two issues are tied to the way Wyrmwave works; basically it's not an auto attack. Personally I would love to see action create procs instead. Here is my Demi-B changes I posted in another thread.

Demi-Bahamut:
*Make Wyrmwave his auto attack, change to 3s recast.
*Ruin, Bio, Miasma have a __% chance to change the next Wyrmwave to Mega-Flare - 250 potency
*Change Enkindle Bahamut recast to 45s or once per summon.
*Change Ahk Morn with Tera-Flare: 1360 Potency attack (combine two Ahk Morn into one big attack)
*Add party wide Buff, Eikon's Favor - Critical Hit rate increased by __%.

As for Devotion, just make it a party buff or AoE buff where players have to stay in range of the pet.