Question about Summoner =)

So, I've found a job that I absolutely love to play, the Summoner, but I do have a couple, or a few, questions.

Assault I and II. Do I use these any time I can?

Deathflare. Should this be used when Dreadwyrm Trance is about to end?

Fester. Should this be used on cooldown?

1. You never want both charges of an Assault off cd but beyond that the 2nd charge can be held until you move or need to weave an ogcd. Make sure you won't miss out on any charges when going into Bahamut or Phoenix and that you don't waste any Ruin 4s either.

2. All Trance does is reduce cast times so really you're free to use it whenever. Being in Trance helps if you need to move a lot, otherwise you can Deathflare whenever is most opportune: Finishing off enemies, after getting dmg buffs, when you're ready to go into Bahamut (Assaults expended + buffs if possible) before a boss goes untargetable, etc.

3. You have a lot of time to use it so again if you can hold onto it until you get a buff that's good, and be wary about using Ruin 2 or 4 just to weave Fester if you can help it (Ruin 2 being a dps loss and Ruin 4 being better saved for Bahamut and/or buffs unless you have extra you need to spend), better to fit it in naturally than forcing it. Otherwise just make sure you don't have to delay Energy Drain or waste any Aetherflow.

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Originally Posted by Aikeiko

So, I've found a job that I absolutely love to play, the Summoner, but I do have a couple, or a few, questions.

Assault I and II. Do I use these any time I can?

Deathflare. Should this be used when Dreadwyrm Trance is about to end?

Fester. Should this be used on cooldown?

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These are complicated questions, as is anything to do with Summoner. For much more detailed answers and reasoning I definitely recommend The Balance discord. They have a lot of resources that are kept up to date by the community.
https://discord.gg/thebalanceffxiv

Egi Assault: Yes and no. They are effectively a Ruin replacement and are almost always a dps increase over using any Ruin spell, but they also provide weaving and movement opportunity. Use them often but pay attention to when you need to move, when you need to use an oGCD, and avoiding capping out the cooldown timer. Some of them have timing to worry about as well. E.g. you don't want to use Garuda's Egi Assault II until the tank has settled in on a big trash pack pull since it creates an immobile ground AoE. Using it while the pack is still being pulled would result in only hitting them for the up front damage and losing out on all the DoT damage. I also delayt the second Garuda's egi assault II so I don't overwrite the first ground AoE.

Deathflare: Yes and no. The main reason to use it early in order to line up Bahamut with the raid's buff window, in particular during the opener. It's also used early throughout the rotation to keep it lined up with it. Without going into detail, it's usually used about 2-4 GCD after starting trance. Also, if you know the boss is going to jump or combat is going to end before the end of Trance then you can use it early. That said, if you're in a pug then it is mostly pointless to try and line up buff windows beyond the first one, and there's little reason to worry about buff windows in 4-man content so I just use Deathflare at the last second to get the most movement utility as possible out of the trance.

Fester: Yes and no. Ideally you want to time these to line up raid buff windows, so they're not always used immediately. In 4-man content or in pugs, however, I personally don't bother trying to line them up outside of the opener.

Thanks =), I don't really do raids, atleast not yet. I do queue for them sometimes in the duty finder, but not often.