3.0 summoner raid rotation / dps tips

So im a new FF14 player in general 3 weeks in and have had no prior raiding experience with the summoner so im not sure how it played out before.

It would seem keeping dots uptime to 100% is #1 and before 3.0 you filled in with ruin spam and fester, now with the new abilities im trying to figure the best way to incoprate them so im here asking you guys to post your thoughts and opinions so far.

I am hardly the best SMN around nor the most optimal but I do have experience. I main as an ACN since EA of ARR. Also I have beaten T13 before echo and nerfs. People also tell me that I do very high DPS, but I do not have an average parse number. I hope my view on SMN helps you.

Raiding as a SMN isn't all too hard, but you can't be a slouch either.
Knowing what pet to use, keeping Rouse and Spur up keeping dots and Shadow Flare up, ruin spam, using Fester and Energy Drain, and entering Dreadwyrm Trance can be a little tough for a new player. SMNs are great in splitting their dps across multiple targets in raids due to the nature of their spells.

When the boss is still and there are NO adds, use Ifrit. He does more dps then Garuda when enemy isi immobile especially now if the enemy does a slew of physical attacks since Radiant Shield now affects party members.
Use Garuda on a boss that moves around or when there are adds. She can get on adds much faster than Ifrit since she doesn't have to move into melee range. Garuda also makes splitting your DPS much easier. There are many adds that cannot get close together so using bane is out of he question sometimes. You can put your DOTs on both targets and use Contagion on the target that will live longer.

Fester is basically your most damaging spell over the course of an entire fight. You should use most of your Aetherflow stacks on Fester. Since we do not have the new raid yet, I cannot say when it is the best time to use Energy Drain, but for now I will say if you are at 35% of your max mp, use it once. Bane and Painflare when appropriate.

You DO NOT want to rush into Dreadwyrm Trance. There is no point in using Aetherflow stack just to enter it. You can only enter the Trance once per Aetherflow stack so just use your stacks correctly and use Dreadwyrm Trance when you can. The key is to be able to use Dreadwyrm Trance before the cooldown on Aetherflow is done. This is so you don't waste anytime, mp, and dps. Basically you want to use 3 Aetherflow abilities in a minute.
Now optimizing Dreadwyrm Trance damage increase require is a bit tricky. According to one of my static members, my dps went up after I started doing this. What you want to do is to use your Aetherflow stacks in a way where the cd for your next stack is almost up. You can enter Dreadwyrm Trace and use Aetherflow together and be able to use 2 Festers while in the Trace. This is a net gain of 60 potency. While not much, it does add up overtime. Also refreshing your dots in Dreadwyrm Trance is also great since dots keep the damage increase over their entire duration. Ruin 3 is just filler like Ruin 1 outside of Trance so don't feel bad if you don't use it for the entire duration of Trance.

Outside of SMNs openers, there isn't a set rotations since we use dots. Openers differ for what pet use.
IFRIT: Raging Strikes> Tri-Disaster> Ruin 2> Fester> Ruin 2 > Rouse and Spur> Ruin 2> Enkindle> Fester>Ruin spam> Bio 1( before RS wears off)> Ruin spam> refresh dots> repeat/improvise.
GARUDA: Raging Strikes> Tri-Disaster> Miasma 2> Fester> Contagion> Ruin2> Rouse and Spur> Ruin 2> Enkindle> Ruin Spam> Ruin2> Fester > Ruin Spam > repeat/ improvise

Here are some tips:
1) Always use an instant cast spell ( Bio/ Ruin2/ Miasma2) before using an oGCD like Fester. This helps with optimizing auto attacks.
2) Cast Shadow Flare as the the tank is pulling the boss and refresh it with minimal overlapping
3) Auto Attacks add a good bit of damage over time so try to stay in melee range when possible
4) Try to cast you dots with minimal overlapping if durations. Casting around 2 seconds are left is best depending on your spell speed
5) Miasma 2 should only be used on a single target when you use contagion. By itself, it is weaker than Ruin but Contagion helps in a lot.
6) Refreshing your dots during any kind of damage increase is a great idea. It can be Foe's Requirem and Trick Attack as well. Your dots will keep the potency when they are applied even if the effect would end. Using Tri-Disaster for this is a great idea.

If you are looking for a much more in depth guide about SMN, there's guide to it in this very forum.
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...Summoner-Guide


I hope this helps and hopefully you find a good raiding group.
Sorry for any typos and the lack of actual parse numbers, I always forget to ask what it is w hen I'm being parse and typing on a Wii U gamepad is not easy.
I'll add something if I remember if I forgot something.

Great info Z! I don't raid much due to real-life schedule conflicts and off-peak play times, but always looking to refine my damage output. On a side note, is it my imagination or does Bane now affect more than 3 adds?

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Originally Posted by JerinRycik

Great info Z! I don't raid much due to real-life schedule conflicts and off-peak play times, but always looking to refine my damage output. On a side note, is it my imagination or does Bane now affect more than 3 adds?

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Yes, SE took off the Bane cap so now everything is affected in range. However, for every enemy hit after 4 and up, the dot damage is half. Still great though

Couple of things...
1) Ifrit only does magical damage now, they changed that with HW
2) I'm not a level 58 Summoner yet so I can't compare personally but I have heard call to save Raging Strikes, Tri-Disaster, and Contagion for Dreadwyrm Trance rather than using them right at the start of the pull, and it seems like a good idea to me at least on paper.

Don't mind me, my main DPS is SMN but I'm only just now starting to level it past 50 so I'm trolling about every smn-related thread I can find :P

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Originally Posted by praysolace

2) I'm not a level 58 Summoner yet so I can't compare personally but I have heard call to save Raging Strikes, Tri-Disaster, and Contagion for Dreadwyrm Trance rather than using them right at the start of the pull, and it seems like a good idea to me at least on paper.

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That's because FFXIV uses multiplicative buffing. RS 20% and DWT 10% together will give a 32% total boost (1.2*1.1=1.32), vs doing them separate for only 30% overall. It'd actually be less since Ruin III and Deathflare wouldn't get the 20%.

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Originally Posted by Saggo

That's because FFXIV uses multiplicative buffing. RS 20% and DWT 10% together will give a 32% total boost (1.2*1.1=1.32), vs doing them separate for only 30% overall. It'd actually be less since Ruin III and Deathflare wouldn't get the 20%.

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Yes, you are correct that it would be a net gain. I'm just used to raiding with a ninja that starts with trick attack in the first 15 seconds I didn't think about mentioning stacking RS and DWT together. It depends heavily on the fight to, like RavEX and BiEX.

And thank you, I knew i forgot something regarding Ifrit
I honestly haven't done much testing in 3.0 yet because im lazy/busy.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...eview?sle=true

That guide, courtesy of reddit, really helped wrap my head around things. It starts basic and works it way up slowly.

Just hit 60 yesterday but here's what I think:

For the new skills I think you should use Aetherflow + Trance + Tri-disaster + Contagion together, they are all on 60s timer. Raging strikes before Trance as well for the dots, you can use it every 3 rotations as it is on 180s timer. Then Fester or Painflare and Ruin 3 only, while still in Trance. Think it works pretty well.

Saving your last stack of Aetherflow when you come out of Trance is kinda important, or you will lose your stacks before the combo above is ready.

Contagion, Tri-D and DWT have the same oGCD value.

Which means for each DWT, you'll be able to cast Tri-D and Contagion to apply full DOT potency with full dot Duration.
This has no GCD cost, no mana cost, so it would never be a dps loss.

But, depending on the moment you use it, it could give you more or less dps. It's all about manually refreshing dot or not before Tri-D.

For example, if a dot expires 3 seconds before you would use DWT + Tri-D, you may not use a GDC for putting this dot that would tick only once.

Also, do not use Miasme 2 any more on single target.
Miasme 2 has 70 potency (20 + 50 dot).
We use it only with contagion, so it has a potency higher than ruin (20 + 100).
Contagion is now used under DWT, because it's the best moment to use it.
There is no point in using 120 potency dot with high mana cost when the DWT allow us to use ruin 3 for the same

potency, direct damage, distant spell, and same GCD.

Basically, the only moment we could use miasme 2 on single target is also he only moment where we have another spell that does the same thing in much better way.

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Originally Posted by Koyuki38

We use [Miasma 2] only with contagion... [which] is now used under DWT....
There is no point in using 120 potency dot with high mana cost when the DWT allow us to use ruin 3 for the same potency, direct damage, distant spell, and same GCD.

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Now here's a question. I'm not there yet so I can't test the rotation out myself, but I was thinking that going into DWT I'd use Miasma 2 to give me time for off-gcds, instead of a Ruin 2, since I'd be using Contagion to extend the dot. Like this...

Aetherflow > Raging Strikes > Dreadwyrm Trance > Miasma 2 > Tri-Disaster > Contagion

Unless I'm wrong about what is or isn't off global (I'm only level 53 right now), without that Miasma 2 in there we'd be using five OGCDs in a row, which, since Ruin 3 has a cast time, would mean it only makes sense to throw an on-gcd instant cast in there. Am I missing something in that logic?

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Originally Posted by zcrash970

Yes, you are correct that it would be a net gain. I'm just used to raiding with a ninja that starts with trick attack in the first 15 seconds I didn't think about mentioning stacking RS and DWT together. It depends heavily on the fight to, like RavEX and BiEX.

And thank you, I knew i forgot something regarding Ifrit
I honestly haven't done much testing in 3.0 yet because im lazy/busy.

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The only job I'm consistently with is my wife's BRD, so I'm the opposite, usually assuming I won't have Trick Attack.

Either way, I think you'd get more DPS out of RS+DWT than RS+TA, since Ruin 3 (sorta) and Deathflare are only in DWT and since DWT lasts longer than TA. I mean, not enough to change anything, it's 2% for 10ish seconds, just technically more.

Using miasma 2 instead of ruin 3 would be ok and allow to cast fester/tri-D without losing dps.