Suggested Ways to Improve Summoner
I am very excited for Dawntrail, but as a Summoner main, I find myself disappointed in the information coming from the media tour on the job. SMN was my first job in XIV when I started in 4.4 and it's been my WoL's canon job in my mind through the MSQ for each expansion since. I raided through all of Eden (even on 5.0 SMN) and enjoyed the complexity and skill expression the job had. I think the Endwalker version of the job captured the job fantasy well, but it has robbed the job of skill expression and feels very simple and boring to play now.
It feels like the dev team might not know what they want to do with the job or how to expand it, but I would hope that we will not have to play this same version for another 2+ years waiting on the 8.0 job reworks.
Looking at Pros and Cons -
Endwalker/Dawntrail SMN Pros -- Straightforward rotation. Easy to learn.
- Establishes core rotation early.
- Expresses Job Fantasy Well
Endwalker/Dawntrail SMN Cons - - Very little skill expression
- Samey feeling of Demisummon phases
- Phoenix feels less exciting than Bahamut
- Carbuncle feels vestigial.
- No longer feels like a casting job.
My following post will discuss some possible adjustments to counter these cons.
Gem Summon Phases
Currently, Summoner’s rotation is extremely tight. The Demi-Summon > Gem Summon phases only leave room for one Ruin 3 and one Ruin 4 cast. At all other times you are using summon casts and it makes the basic spells feel pointless at lv 90 play. Additionally, lack of OGCDs fills the job with mostly dead air until you hit your burst phase to cram in 4 festers under buff windows, while the other 100 seconds of rotation is GCD focused.
I propose relieving this tightness by pulling back on the summon phases and changing them slightly.- Summon Ifrit, Garuda, and Titan become full cast GCD spells and keep their meaty potency value. This makes the summon still feel big and impactful.
- They now share a CD to give you time in their ‘form’ Still has to load gem charges from Demi-phase.
- Each Summon Spell grants a stack of Ruin 4
- Instead of granting a number of new GCDs, your summon phases instead change ruin 3.
- Ifrit - Power phase. Ruin 3 gains potency and grants Hellfire charges. Once you have x charges of hellfire, you press Astral Flow to cast Hellfire with damage based on your charges.
- Garuda - Speed phase. Ruin 3 becomes instant cast like Emerald Rite does now, becoming a movement phase. Keep slip stream for Astral Flow.
- Titan - ‘Melee’ phase. Ruin 3 becomes full cast time and combos with Astral Flow follow-up skill at a ‘generous’ melee range.
Carbuncle
That probably doesn’t sound radically different but I propose that these summons also interact with Carbuncle. Carbie feels useless. You just have to have him around, so why not let him fight with us again.
- Carbuncle deals a minor amount of follow up potency after each Ruin. It’s minor, and can be projectile to not deal with pet AI shenanigans we had problems with before. It also thematically connects them to Bahamut and Phoenix.
- Energy Drain, Fester, and Painflare are removed.
- We replace ED with Rouse, a skill that buffs our Carbuncle and gives them OGCD attacks based on our summons.
- Ruby Rouse - Carbie does a fiery dash line aoe at our target. Possibly follow up into Crimson Strike.
- Emerald Rouse - Carbie teleports to the slip stream and does a damage pulse (like hollowed nozuchi on NIN). With our instacasts in this phase from above, it may have multiple charges. Or it could be something you use at the end of slipstream to get a final burst of damage.
- Topaz Rouse - Tumult multicharge OGCD that ramps up in power. Can weave after Astral Flow combo action so it’s 3 hits in 2 GCDs.
- This would reintegrate Carbie into the kit, better thematize our OGCDs and give us a little more to do, helping each mini phase feel a bit more unique while maintaining a caster identity.
- Ruin 4 stacks provide movement opportunities