I am new to playing a summoner and was told by another character in game that my DPS was way low. Any ideas on rotations or where I can find them?
Bio 2 -> Miasma -> Bio -> Fester/Bane (depending on enemy #'s) -> Ruin -> Ruin 2
Summoner Rotations
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03-10-2014, 04:54 PMRaynsFallingSummoner Rotations
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03-10-2014, 05:22 PMBombast
Raging Strikes - Virus - Bio/Bio2/Miasma (Order isn't terribly important, though it may be prudent to open up with Bio First) - Shadow Flare - Bane (If Multiple Enemies), Or Energy Drain (If you need Mana now or for future stability), or Fester (If neither of the other two options apply) - Ruin 2 - Rouse - Ruin 2 - Spur - Ruin 2.
Continue to spam Ruin 2 and Aetherflow moves constantly. Interrupt Ruin 2 'filler' as DoTs need replenishing and as long cool down abilities come back up (Virus, Rouse, etc). If you get into mana troubles, simply stop using Ruin 2 and start using Energy Drain until you are back at a sufficient mana level, then continue Ruin 2 spamming (ALWAYS have enough mana to maintain DoTs. Never withhold DoTs to maintain mana).
Honestly, calling what Summoners do a rotation is a bit weird. Your essentially just juggling DoTs, activating damage increasing abilities as they pop, and spamming Ruin 2 to pass the time until someone dies and you have to raise them because the healers are busy.
Oh, and remember to use Eye for an Eye. Everyone loves it when the Summoner remembers to use Eye for an Eye.
EDIT: Also, remember to pass the love around. If enemies are too far apart to Bane, then you are better off bouncing back and forth between mobs, maintaining all your DoTs on everyone, then you are focusing and Ruin 2ing one mob. If there's 5 or more mobs, then cycle through all of them, giving all of them Bio. Use Miasma II when there's more then 4 mobs. -
03-10-2014, 05:22 PMAmoteas
Well there is no real rotation for smner. When applying first dots to a target you do bio 2 -> miasma-> bio after that refresh the dots when they are close to falling off, also keep shadowflare up. How to use aetherflows isnt that complicated, you need multiple target dps = bane, mp= ED, single target dmg= fester. Use ruin 2 when you need to move or before a off gcd spell if mana allows it( rouse,spur,fester,ED). There is a smner opener which allows you to fit in all dots,contagion,shadowflare and 2 festers all under ragingstrikes. Its fairly easy but takes some practice!
I would not recommend using ruin 2 "spam" it drains alot of mana for no extra dps :p it does add some dps if you can auto attack at the same time, i usually do it if mana allows on mobs that need to die fast, T4 dreads and maybe asclepius in t5 -
03-10-2014, 05:24 PMZamii
Thats almost correct, shadowflare comes after fester.
The one thing i tell all summoners, and i cant stress this enough, summoners do NOT have a set "rotation" we have a priority order, should go without saying but there's a lot of people who don't get it.
Also, for aoe you should hit a miasma II after the bane, once everything is dotted up if its 4 or less targets in total, go ahead and spam a few blizzard II if you can spare the mana, otherwise, just ruin the ones with higher hp, any more than 4 targets and you will need to keep refreshing all the dots since they will fall off by the time your done casting on the others.
Aside from that, unless you need to save your cooldowns for a particular phase, make sure your rotating them when they are up, we dont have the best cooldowns compared to other classes but it all adds up.
final note, again should go without saying but keep aetherflow on cooldown at all times. -
03-10-2014, 05:49 PMAmoteas
Yes shadowflare comes after first fester in opener didnt say it came before, i never stated the opener :p on mobile so didnt wanna type it now.
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03-10-2014, 06:02 PMRyuko
I've had a lot of summoners ask me for some sort of 'guide' to playing SMN, and I always hesitate to write a comprehensive one because, while there are certain things you should always do (keep your dots up 100% of the time for example), your priorities vary from fight to fight. What you use your aethercharges for exactly will vary from fight to fight, whether it be primals or T5. The posts in this thread cover the basics pretty well, but if you have any questions about specific fights, please ask those, as you will get the best advice regarding specific situations rather than 'overall rotation'.
One main thing I do want to stress, though, is the importance of juggling abilities that are ON the global cooldown (dots) and abilities that are OFF the global fooldown (Aetherflow, fester, energy drain, pet buffs). Then, to make things even more confusing, are abilities your pet has that you can use WHILE casting (Contagion for example). So, to maximize overall dps, you'll want to use Ruin 2 between anything you are going to use that is OFF the global cooldown. For example, if you are going to use your pet burst... Ruin 2 > Rouse > Ruin 2 > Spur > Ruin 2 > Enkindle. If you did Ruin 1s in between those abilities, it would take more time. You don't want to use Ruin 2 ALL the time because it IS an mp drain, but rather in strategic moments. I like to use it before Fester, when I need to use 'off global cooldown' abilities, when a mob is about to die, when I've pulled aggro on a group of mobs and the mob will probably die soon so there's no point in letting the tank get it back (for the blind effect), aaaaand the most important: movement! Throwing a Ruin 2 while dodging is better than nothing. Ruin 1 should be used when you have no filler (off global cooldown abilities) coming, and so you would not save any time by using Ruin 2 in those moments.
The reason most summoners choose to start with Bio II > Miasma > Bio is because Bio is instant and you can Fester right after Bio lands, again... not wasting ANY time because of juggling 'on' and 'off' global cooldown abilities. You can refresh dots in the opposite order if the mob will die soon (Bio > Miasma > Bio II) to save time, but if the mob has a lot of HP, I just like to refresh dots in the same order I put them on in -- starting when Bio II has about 15 seconds left (this will maintain 100% dot uptime). There are exceptions to this rule... for example, dreadknights in T5. You will want to use Miasma FIRST because of its added weight ability that helps slow it down as it marches towards a target. For those, I usually do Miasma > Bio II > Bio. You don't have to worry about timing because they should most certainly be dead by the time Bio is even close to falling off. -
03-10-2014, 10:53 PMRaynsFalling
Thank you very much........All this information is very helpful and I feel more confident about my Summoner. :)
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03-10-2014, 11:07 PMWrydasMy starting rotation and short explanation
If I had a dollar for everytime I wrote this out. Abilities which are in parenthesis are meant to be cast in between the global of the ability to the left of them. I can only think of 1 boss where you wouldn't want to use enkindle early. You wouldn't start off like this on a boss like Twintania you would wait until you actually start striking her to start this rotation.
Raging Strikes > Bio II > Miasma > Bio + (Swift Cast) > Shadow Flare > Ruin II + (Fester) > Ruin II + (Rouse) > Ruin II + (Spur) > Ruin II + (Enkindle) > Ruin II + (Fester) > Ruin I till Fester > Ruin II + (Fester) > Ruin II + (Aether) > Continue to use Ruin II when you want to cast an instant unless low on mp.
Cheers -
03-11-2014, 04:18 AMRiyos
I was always guessing, shouldn't it be better to use Bio->bio II->miasma? Bio is instant, and it's the most powerful dot, so why not using it immediately? If you use Bio 2 and miasma before bio use waste those 5 second in casting, while other dds are already attacking the mob/boss, if you use it at the beginning bio is hitting in those 7.5 second(each 3 second i know), so why not? If it's for fester you can ruin 2 after miasma and then use it
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03-11-2014, 04:29 AMRemn
I would becareful when using Ruin2, as it can/will mess up PLD Flash(blind) when he need it. (for example, in Titan HM, if PLD is tanking you prolly dont want to use Ruin2 as the PLD can use that to blimd Titan MB.) depend on the fight. plus the thing cost like twice MP and 0 DPS increase. xS
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03-11-2014, 04:38 AMAlistairePLDs don't flash to blind stuff, they flash for the enmity. You won't get in the way of that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Remn
And nobody seems to be mentioning using Miasma II for when you're going to use Contagion. Bonus points if you pop a Poison pot between bio/miasma II since those work with contagion as well. So Bio II > Miasma > Bio > potent poison pot > miasma II > contagion. -
03-11-2014, 04:40 AMWrydasThe damage you'd gain from applying BIO first is negligible, applying it last give you access to SC shadow flare and allows you to cast 2 festers with raging strike buffs without sacrificing your rotation. Additionally it simplifies your dot upkeep drasticly, I've tried all methods of dot upkeep and this is by far the easiest to maintain.Quote:
Originally Posted by Riyos
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03-11-2014, 04:42 AMWrydasQuote:
Originally Posted by Remn
All end game boss abilities can not miss or be dodged, so blind basically has no effect anyway. The gain you make from DPS is from the global cooldown. When you use RUIN II it allows you to cast fester, spur, rouse, sc, etc without losing seconds off your global cooldown thanks to animation lock. It is a DPS increase overall... A substantial one at that. -
03-11-2014, 04:44 AMWrydasQuote:
Originally Posted by Alistaire
The DPS increase isn't worth the mana cost or positional requirements, I use it on 2+ mobs but not on single target. Although yes it is a DPS increase and may be worth it with raging strikes up. I use it when I'm being enthusiastic but I don't usually consider it part of my regular rotation. -
03-11-2014, 05:24 AMAlistaireYeah doing that is not something I'd do when positional requirements prevent it. As far as mana cost goes? lol...couldn't run out of mana if I tried in most fights.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrydas
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03-11-2014, 05:40 AMWrydasReally in some fights with a lot of movement I often run out of mana because of RUIN II, I use it to weave in instants and when I have to move.... My bards sometimes hate me but they can't complain because I generally do the most dps hahaha. The primals are a good example of fights I go oom in because of multi dotting + moving.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alistaire
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03-11-2014, 06:14 AMjars
are dots up?
if no ---> cast dots
if yes ---> do I need to save my aetherflow?
if no ---> cast fester
if yes ---> cast ruin -
03-11-2014, 06:59 AMRemn
I do agree that blind not really effective on a lot Endgame boss, so far Garuda EX when tanking Her and sister is always a good idea to blind b4 they WW or down burst. ( i dodge a few what way.)
on Single target. You do not flash for Emity, you flash for blind. (unless you want initial snap aggro form newly spawn add otherwise you spam RoH combo).
Flash for Emity only a good idea when AoE tanking and snap aggro on newly spawn add. -
03-11-2014, 12:13 PMgivemeraptors
Another good thing to keep in mind is that it's generally worth saving Spur for (Rouse + Spur + Enkindle) but Rouse can pretty much be used anytime it's off cooldown and you can squeeze it between GCD. If you know the fight well and the ~time it takes to get through certain phases etc. then feel free to use Spur whenever you think it's appropriate.
If you're on a PS3 you may want to macro Miasma II and Contagion together. Bio II-->Miasma-->Bio-->run up and use Macro Miasma II + Contagion. Switching between your normal hotbars and pet hotbars on a PS3 is really...awkward and can probably eff up your timing. This makes it a bit simpler, keeps Contagion from being macro'd to a commonly used ability and still allows you access to it if you don't use Miasma II (normal hotbar access). -
03-12-2014, 01:01 AMAldoVonAlexandros
No no no, never spam ruin II, here, check this out, it will help u a lot http://shinra-ffxiv.guildwork.com/fo...ow-to-summoner
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03-12-2014, 01:11 AMMadoka
A thing about Bombast's post, Ruin 2 is not your exclusive filler move. Ruin is. Use Ruin 2 when you need to use an off GCD ability like fester or spur or something. Try and fit those in during the GCD from Bio and swiftcasting shadowflare as well. And make sure Garuda is on Obey.
Being a good SMN takes a lot of effort in learning how to play the class the best. -
03-13-2014, 01:35 PMmonkeythemanNEVER spam ruin 2....NEVER. does the same damage as ruin and cost twice the mana, only useful when you have to move or if you need to apply a blind.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bombast
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03-13-2014, 01:36 PMmonkeythemanPLD does use flash for blind....it causes big moves to have a chance to miss.....why would you not save blinds for that?Quote:
Originally Posted by Alistaire