S8 SMN PvP Guide [Feedback wanted]

Hey,

TLDR (since the guide is long enough) I tried to make a SMN guide since there's not much PvP content minus a healer guide from thana and a MCH guide from Lace that I can't find anymore. Could do with the feedback, I didn't really have much idea what I was doing and despite trying to edit it, was still quite long. Don't hold back, because I want to improve on this. Someone in WPD get Feves' attention for me pls.

Also volume warning, when I was watching it back I had my headphones on 30% so I didn't lower it enough in vegas lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjjfCQ2rkK8

Errors I already picked up:
Called Bio 3 "Bio 2" instead when explaining abilities.
For some reason said Cometeor had an MS effect, it doesn't, it's increased damage taken rather than reduced healing taken.
I forgot Wither in the text explanation of generic SMN burst rush
My accent is actually disgusting I hate talking

Don’t have any problem with the guide caz it’s helpful for new players

Btw wither makes me feel like I’m a melee when bursting, probably need concentrate against good tanks/in actual ranked games
And since there’s no more cc skills, lb is harder to be used properly (I used to lb ppl in culling etc)
LB the WH totally wastes the dmg up debuff imo

But well, at least smn now have mch lv burst every min

(No need to worry about accent you sound pretty good)

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Originally Posted by Arthur_Gwen

Don’t have any problem with the guide caz it’s helpful for new players

Btw wither makes me feel like I’m a melee when bursting, probably need concentrate against good tanks/in actual ranked games
And since there’s no more cc skills, lb is kind hard to use probably (I used to lb ppl in culling etc)
LB the WH totally wastes the dmg up debuff imo

But well, at least smn now have mch lv burst every min

(No need to worry about accent you sound pretty good)

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Yea I probably should have explained Wither is melee range and to be careful when using it.
If you LB the WH box, more often than not you'll catch someone in it if they're even going for it, but I should have explained this in more depth. WH box ofc got buffed this patch with more HP so apparently it's semi-worth it again especially if you can hit someone else.

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Originally Posted by BloodRubyXII

Yea I probably should have explained Wither is melee range and to be careful when using it.
If you LB the WH box, more often than not you'll catch someone in it if they're even going for it, but I should have explained this in more depth. WH box ofc got buffed this patch with more HP so apparently it's semi-worth it again especially if you can hit someone else.

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WH now 6000hp, but hitting some random ppl isn’t the point, or say not worth

In case I can use ranged lb in culling 3+ or sudden death, maximize the utility of 25% dmg up
What’s the point to hit WH when I can just deathflare+ruin and try to burst some random target get hit by it

Probably just have to try harder to catch the chance, most of the time only one lb per game anyway

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Originally Posted by Arthur_Gwen

WH now 6000hp, but hitting some random ppl isn’t the point, or say not worth

In case I can use ranged lb in culling 3+ or sudden death, maximize the utility of 25% dmg up
What’s the point to hit WH when I can just deathflare+ruin and try to burst some random target get hit by it

Probably just have to try harder to catch the chance, most of the time only one lb per game anyway

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Good point. The walls have also added more clumping/narrow chokes as well now tbf too, which does take the sting of not being able to secure cometeors with tribind.

This is dope! It's great that you explain why WHY behind things.

Some indication to good comps as a SMN would be great. Although not something you can control in solo queue, it's would be nice for people to know which jobs you have great synergy with - Angelus wrote a nice piece on this in the caster channel on WPD. I don't really agree with the concentrate/bolt thing for Light Party.. that's a very MCH option to take. In Light Party if you position yourself correctly, you probably won't get CC'd, and if you are going to, you can easily communicate to your team to stop their burst until you are able to again. I wouldn't use Miasma III on 4 targets at once, that isn't much pressure since you are going to be on two targets at most, a WHM regen will easily cover this, and in the case of the other healers, it's not anything to cause concern to them. I think using both DoTs on 2/3 (if you time Muse correctly) is more pressure.

Coming from my own personal gameplay, I much rather prefer the pressure from Ruin IVs instead of instantly wasting it for burst. That's not to say it's invalid, but keeping your distance and getting those hits off is actually a lot of pressure which seems to be lacking nowadays. (People just think about the burst and not everything before it, and then wonder why they can't kill stuff). There is of course no set way to do it, the best skill you can have is your ability to adapt and judge situations. I do a Aetherflow skills -> DWT -> Deathflare burst if I'm freshly dead and have to wait ages for Bahamut + 3 Aetherflow stacks. Ruin IV -> Deathflare is absolutely fantastic with a Melee LB and will most likely kill if you get the timing right and doesn't cost a lot resource wise.

As for additional actions, you will never catch me without Muse, but Safeguard/Bolt is perfectly valid. In season 5 and 6 I took Muse/Bolt. Season 7 was the introduction to the "sync burst" meta we have now for Chaos, so I now take Muse/Safeguard. I'm sceptical of Bolt's usefulness in the new iteration of the Crystal Tower Training Grounds, the map is tiny and you won't escape much with it, and you won't need it to catch people running when their healer is dead. I would say no to taking Muse as a new SMN, for you not to be a detriment to your team, you need to learn how to position/kite properly with Muse.

Traits I take are Increased Damage Dealt, Decreased Damage Taken, Increased MP Regeneration. Pretty self explanatory.

Cometeor is a great LB, and even without Tri-Bind it can still be effective. Using it for Wolves Heart is valid sure, but you know if you do it every game then the tanks will easily predict it. As you stated, it can be used to bait out the enemy tank LB which is valuable if you are about to hit culling. Also, not a lot of people use it as a defensive. You see your healer in trouble? Put the LB on top of them, if the enemy team sticks on the healer - Good. If the enemy team dodges the AoE and relieves pressure from the healer. - Good.

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Originally Posted by Feves

Snip

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Appreciate it Feves, cheers. I'll probably have like a shorter video at some point to cover things like comps, more indepth job mechanics/synergy etc. I never really thought about defensive LB, so this is good information for me personally too.

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Originally Posted by Feves

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This is treasure.