SMN to BLM

I'm going to switch over to BLM for my main. Im getting tired of trying to control my dam pet at end game stuff. I play on a ps 4 and its a pain trying to set up my hot bars to manage everything, and I don't want to use a mouse. I already use a KB with my controller and that is enough.

So I can use my character now and just switch classes, right?

a Summoner sick of "controlling" your pet in endgame content?
you should try scholar.

but, anyway, just change weapon and you are magically a Main BLM, yah.

you will have to level BLM first

I recently lvled BLM to 50 myself and have both BLM and SMN at i94 average ATM. BLM was my main in FFXI so figured would give it a shot. Just the change in pace of how it plays is quite refreshing. I put all my bonus stat points into INT, should I put one or two into piety, like I read a few others post?

what kind of pet controlling is worrying you? I'm clearing t9 and im also on ps4. i dont find the pet management to be hard at all.

huh, pet management is almost non-existent for smn... i110 smn with T9 weapon fwiw

I think i'm over reacting here.

All you have to do is keep your Garuda-Egi on Obey and place the following three actions on your bar or cross hotbar: Aerial Slash, Contagion and Shockwave. Upkeeping Contagion is mandatory. Using Aerial Slash every 15 seconds is ideal, since it is now instant cast. And utilizing Shock Wave is situational and completely up to you whether you should use it or not. For Ifrit-Egi, just put him on sic and the rest is history. Aside from that, you place your pets to specific locations to avoid 1HKO if applicable (i.e. Heaven's Fall, Mountain Buster or Boulder Clap) and then reset their actions to Obey. All of these things can be weaved into your off-GCDs, so losing DPS is not really in question. I hope this helps to some degree and best of luck to you, my fellow Summoner.

Do I have to use garuda end game??? What if I want to use Ifrit only? I'm thinking I would get allot of people telling me to use garuda. I keep up on my dots faithfully so contagion would not be a big loss to me.

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Originally Posted by velric42

Do I have to use garuda end game??? What if I want to use Ifrit only? I'm thinking I would get allot of people telling me to use garuda. I keep up on my dots faithfully so contagion would not be a big loss to me.

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IMO it really depends on the fight. I play on PS3 so i don't parse myself but I'm told I am higher on T8 with Ifrit then Garuda so obviously he is a viable option and you don't only have to use Garuda.

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Originally Posted by velric42

Do I have to use garuda end game??? What if I want to use Ifrit only? I'm thinking I would get allot of people telling me to use garuda. I keep up on my dots faithfully so contagion would not be a big loss to me.

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Contagion isnt really a DPS increase by itself aside from extended a Raging Strikes DoT. Its a DPS increase because its times you can just be nuking, AND it helps conserve mana.
Ifrit is fine in some fights, but a rule of thumb is anything where the boss isnt a stationary dummy or in fights he would easily die- just use Garuda

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Originally Posted by Sen_Terrechant

Contagion isnt really a DPS increase by itself aside from extended a Raging Strikes DoT. Its a DPS increase because its times you can just be nuking, AND it helps conserve mana.
Ifrit is fine in some fights, but a rule of thumb is anything where the boss isnt a stationary dummy or in fights he would easily die- just use Garuda

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I would have to agree. I haven't gotten my SMN to 50 yet, but since Garuda is ranged and does good damage, over all I would imagine she would be best in most end game scenarios. If you have to focus on healing ifrit because he is taking too much damage that would take from your dps as well. I have yet to play end game with SMN so I can't say for certain but I imagine myself at least using garuda in most fights, or Titan (less so on him though as he is more of a tank than a damage dealer.) Like said above though, depends on the situation.

I too started out as a SMN. I was the biggest SMN fanboy too. I guess once you go BLM you don't go back. BLM is superior in almost everyway. Crowd control, AOE pretty much infinite mana. There's not a situation BLM doesn't rule in. PvP, Mobs, single target. Ive had much better experiences in all these situations with my BLM than I did my SMN.

The drawback to SMN all its damage is build up over time, its one burst ability requires aether. BLM getting procs can do double the amount of fester switch to blizz 3 and do it all over again while fester is still on cd. SMNs one big burst AoE is tied to the pet Garuda and has a hefty cd making it pretty much useless in battle. Its basically like a weaker Flare with a cd.

As a SMN I always felt weak. I was a good SMN and still did great dps but it always felt puny. I felt like I had to do too much work just to do half the equal damage other classes such as BLM do and more. As a BLM I feel STRONK. BLM takes down enemies fast with no remorse.

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Originally Posted by Vallhallix

SNIP

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then by all means get urself a dps meter and watch HOW FREAKING FAR SUM DPS > BLM DPS

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Originally Posted by Empressia

then by all means get urself a dps meter and watch HOW FREAKING FAR SUM DPS > BLM DPS

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Well tbf not anymore post BLM buffs.

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Originally Posted by Vallhallix

As a SMN I always felt weak. I was a good SMN and still did great dps but it always felt puny.

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That statement is so contradictory. 400 DPS while with a lot of little numbers that adds up or 400 DPS with a few hard hitting skills is still 400 DPS in the end.

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Originally Posted by Dwill

That statement is so contradictory. 400 DPS while with a lot of little numbers that adds up or 400 DPS with a few hard hitting skills is still 400 DPS in the end.

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Yeah, but I do see what he is saying here. I went from SMN to BLM and "visually" there is a difference on how we perceive the damage being done. It is all just burst though. I noticed immediately that I was killing things faster as a SMN at the time though. I like both classes. There are some scenarios where I prefer my BLM and others where SMN shines. Burst is nice for killing adds off quickly while the DOTs SMNs have are nice for the over all fight. We all have our roles so People should play what they want and be content knowing that. I would personally like something....anything done in a patch that might help make it a bit easier for a BLM to catch up with over all DPS in end game though.

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Originally Posted by drmambo1999

I would personally like something....anything done in a patch that might help make it a bit easier for a BLM to catch up with over all DPS in end game though.

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Black Mages are fine with damage right now.

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Originally Posted by Dwill

Black Mages are fine with damage right now.

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Lol. I have been enjoying my run as BLM so what I said above isn't an immediate need, to be clear. However, I am still running into debates on the damage issue. I am also having issue getting into some parties because the general opinion of said party is that BLM DPS is "bad". Perhaps this is just a carry over from before the fix. I play on ps4, so I don't have means to parse my DPS. I have tried asking around for a PC player to, but no such luck yet. I feel as if I do decent damage in fights that I have been in, including my (FINALLY) first attempt at T5, but I guess I am just remaining skeptical because of the occasional turn aways I have gotten because of my Job. Perhaps with time that will die down. At any rate, my opinion on OP's topic here is, play what makes the game fun for you. :D

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Originally Posted by drmambo1999

Lol. I have been enjoying my run as BLM so what I said above isn't an immediate need, to be clear. However, I am still running into debates on the damage issue. I am also having issue getting into some parties because the general opinion of said party is that BLM DPS is "bad". Perhaps this is just a carry over from before the fix. I play on ps4, so I don't have means to parse my DPS. I have tried asking around for a PC player to, but no such luck yet. I feel as if I do decent damage in fights that I have been in, including my (FINALLY) first attempt at T5, but I guess I am just remaining skeptical because of the occasional turn aways I have gotten because of my Job. Perhaps with time that will die down. At any rate, my opinion on OP's topic here is, play what makes the game fun for you. :D

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And plenty of people in-game think that Summoner do terrible damage and that Bards top the meters. What the general in-game populace think about the damage that each job outputs is irrelevant when there are factual numbers that contradicts their opinion.

If you're a good Black Mage, your damage is perfectly fine.

I smn everything besides t8 in second coil now. I only go blm on that fight because I'm lazy and can turret. It's still a dps loss for me, but that's the difference in weapons.

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Originally Posted by Dwill

That statement is so contradictory. 400 DPS while with a lot of little numbers that adds up or 400 DPS with a few hard hitting skills is still 400 DPS in the end.

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This is only in drawn out fights. A BLM will dispatch an enemy before a SMN has everything set up. This coming from someone who tested it. Both classes equally geared both with Animus. SMN does well in long fights, not so much dispatching enemies swiftly which is very necessary for dps checks. If you have both a SMN and BLM attacking a single enemy both starting at the exact same time the BLM would have either killed or have the enemy at 25% health by the time it takes a SMN to get all dots up, shadow flare and fester. Even in drawn out fights i'd still give it to BLM for being able to dispatch enemies faster. A SMN is sort of horrible getting rid of adds in dps checks. They have to do much more work just to do equal dmg output as others at base. I think SMN only advantage is when there's heavy mechanics involved that require constant moving but even then a BLM is able to pop manward/wall and eat the damage. Thats why BLM has those skills it was meant to sit and eat some damage while getting some good burst dmg in. There's also the chance of that you'll get procs. Ive gotten them while running many times and they're instant so moving is a non issue. SMN is a good class but ultimately I prefer having other DPS with me as many don't know how to play a SMN at its maximum potential.

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Originally Posted by Vallhallix

This is only in drawn out fights. A BLM will dispatch an enemy before a SMN has everything set up. This coming from someone who tested it. Both classes equally geared both with Animus. SMN does well in long fights, not so much dispatching enemies swiftly which is very necessary for dps checks. If you have both a SMN and BLM attacking a single enemy both starting at the exact same time the BLM would have either killed or have the enemy at 25% health by the time it takes a SMN to get all dots up, shadow flare and fester. Even in drawn out fights i'd still give it to BLM for being able to dispatch enemies faster. A SMN is sort of horrible getting rid of adds in dps checks. They have to do much more work just to do equal dmg output as others at base. I think SMN only advantage is when there's heavy mechanics involved that require constant moving but even then a BLM is able to pop manward/wall and eat the damage. Thats why BLM has those skills it was meant to sit and eat some damage while getting some good burst dmg in. There's also the chance of that you'll get procs. Ive gotten them while running many times and they're instant so moving is a non issue. SMN is a good class but ultimately I prefer having other DPS with me as many don't know how to play a SMN at its maximum potential.

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When talking about being optimal in end-game, the difficulty of the class is irrelevant. Summoners will have a harder time dealing with adds that die in less than 10 seconds but if anything lasts more than 10 seconds, Summoners will be just as good as Black Mages.

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Originally Posted by Dwill

When talking about being optimal in end-game, the difficulty of the class is irrelevant. Summoners will have a harder time dealing with adds that die in less than 10 seconds but if anything lasts more than 10 seconds, Summoners will be just as good as Black Mages.

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I'm actually happy when adds die so quickly (t6 middle bulb) because I can basically ignore them and allow the blm and drg to deal with them. This saves me 2 aetherflow (bane+fester) which I can use for other things. If things take a while to die, I can just dot or bane+fester them while ordering my pet to attack which deals respectable damage. Not to mention summoners are also great for LBing after putting up dots (dread in t8, ghost in t9 etc) because they lose the least amount of dps from not attacking.

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Originally Posted by velric42

I'm going to switch over to BLM for my main. Im getting tired of trying to control my dam pet at end game stuff. I play on a ps 4 and its a pain trying to set up my hot bars to manage everything, and I don't want to use a mouse. I already use a KB with my controller and that is enough.

So I can use my character now and just switch classes, right?

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You are soooo missing out. I use a Logitech G600 on PS4 and the level of control you get on a mouse is vastly superior to a controller.

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Originally Posted by Dwill

When talking about being optimal in end-game, the difficulty of the class is irrelevant. Summoners will have a harder time dealing with adds that die in less than 10 seconds but if anything lasts more than 10 seconds, Summoners will be just as good as Black Mages.

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It really takes more than 10 seconds for a SMN to close the damage gap with a BLM.
In fact, SMNs are generally just worse at clearing trash mobs than BLM. BLM's AoE really is the key here, so is their more immediate damage.

General idea in MMOs is that if a mob dies before your DoTs finish, it wasn't worth casting the DoTs to begin with unless they have a secondary effect (Snare, heavy, blind, etc).
SMNs are really only good at boss fights. BLMs dominate the other 90% of the run.

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Originally Posted by Mjytresz

It really takes more than 10 seconds for a SMN to close the damage gap with a BLM.
In fact, SMNs are generally just worse at clearing trash mobs than BLM. BLM's AoE really is the key here, so is their more immediate damage.

General idea in MMOs is that if a mob dies before your DoTs finish, it wasn't worth casting the DoTs to begin with unless they have a secondary effect (Snare, heavy, blind, etc).
SMNs are really only good at boss fights. BLMs dominate the other 90% of the run.

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10 seconds was a typo, I meant 20 seconds (which I will edit now, thanks for pointing it out). At 20 seconds, Summoners vs Black Mages damage will be entirely dependent on their proc. If Black Mages get 2 Firestarter procs within 20 seconds, they will be slightly ahead. If they only get 1 or none, they will be under Summoners and past 30 seconds, summoner will be ahead of summoners.

All of this is strictly single target dummy math which means that no one would be affected by mechanics, both can turret and would start on the add at full HP and MP. It is hard to take mechanics, movement and the likes in consideration for this but since it is widely known that Black Mage have an easy time bursting, anything living 20 seconds or more makes no difference between both jobs.

However, I fully disagree with your assessment that DoTs need their full duration to be worth casting. DoTs are worth casting when their DPCT is higher than the filler spell of the class in relation to how long the target will approximately live (Example: For a target that will die within approximately 10 seconds, casting Bio II for 3 ticks (105 total damage) will be better than casting Ruin for 80 even if Bio II doesn't have any secondary effect and doesn't last its whole duration).