Newbie Arcanist/Summoner looking for help

Alright...now that I've gotten the classes I want leveled, it's time to go after the next class that intrigues/intimidates me.

I'm revisiting the ARC/SMN class, however, with pet management, I feel it might intimidate me a bit. Can experienced summoners give me tips, "rotation" ideas, and advice on how to manage my pet? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

usually with Ifrit you can leave it on sic. Titan is only useful pre-50 doing stuff solo. Once you get powerful enough with your abilities you will be ripping hate off him super easily. As for Garuda you'll want it on obey so that it doesn't use its knockback for regular content as that's annoying. you will want to control its use for bosses as most cannot be knocked back, and for using contagion. although these days more ppl are using ifrit-sic for everything.

I don’t really have any beginner guide resources, but I do have these for when you get closer to 70 for you to revisit at that time. I’m trying to “re-learn” SMN since I haven’t played it since around 3.4 in HW, and it’s entirely different now in SB. But here’s the sources I’ve been looking at for level 70 play (for whenever you get there).

This is sort of a generic FAQ; it also has a lot of links to other sources.
This is a basic rotation/opener guide.
This is more advanced, in the event you find you enjoy the job and would like to optimize it for raiding in the future.

For open world solo I would use Titan or Garuda. Which one depends upon your level in relation to the mob and how many enemies you have to deal with. More or less it is Titan when squishy or there are more than a couple of enemies. I also use him for B ranks until I out gear them. Once I am equal to or out gear the mobs I will usually use Garuda as the faster they go down the less damage I take. I don't use Ifrit solo as he tends to take more damage being melee and needs more time spent on Sustain. The exception on Ifrit was if I am with an independent group or in a party. For these situations I use Ifrit for the Radiant Shield buff. I followed this all of the way up to level 70.

For dungeons and raids I pretty much use Ifrit exclusively for the Radiant Shield buff. I switch to Garuda if Ifrit isn't getting healed (whether by the healer or too many Sustains) during heavy enemy AoE fights. I will also switch to Garuda sometimes if we have multiple Summoners or mostly casters for Contagion but this is rare. Rightly or wrongly I use Ifrit on automatic. Garuda tends to be mostly on Obey in dungeons/raids or on automatic when solo in the open world.

As far as rotations here are some links:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...3LQBPy1E/edit#

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...y0TrCa0qg/edit

Alright...I'll go ahead and give these suggestions and links a try. I'm so used to rotations, but the whole pet thing felt a little complicated (which is funny, considering I've taken SAM to 70 without a guide and have some experience with DRG). I've gotten a little more comfortable, but I know the real part lies with SMN. I'll have the job unlocked tomorrow.

imo only use Garuda in real raids (when boss moves around a lot, or have 2 or more casters, or is aoe heavy), IF you can use "obey" on Garuda (!)... otherwise just go Ifrite "synced"..

(I'm ps4, trying obey means for me; cant take anyother cross class skills or even rez.., .. besides hate the "lagging"/Q-ing of the pet commands too, so I just always go Ifrite synced, which is Ok,.. but cant obtain the same level as my blm)

It isn't as intimitating as it looks. For starters your pet will not die or take damage except if it gets hit directly or by a physical aoe. That is usually solo content or a small number of bosses as most use magic based aoe attacks that Ifrit can stay in without taking damage.

As for individual egis beyond Garuda they are all on sic and require very little micro management. Garuda is the odd ball as it is best on obey so you stop the knockback and control when contagion goes up. Dps wise though it has been proven more beneficial to us Ifrit in most groups unless you have a good amount of magic based dps as contagion only boosts magic.

Best thing to do is get use to your summons early on and try things out.

Barely anyone uses Garuda. It's a DPS loss because you're better off with Ifrit because he procs ruin IV more often. The only pets you need on obey are the dps ones. The tank ones, Titan/topaz, are fine and generally work better on their own.
You honestly have no reason to summon Garuda. None of it's attacks have the same potency or support that Ifrit gives. All of Ifrit's attacks are above 100 in terms of potency and it's Enkindle attack is twice as powerful. When you're soloing anything you're better off with Titan as it's a lot safer. With the return of sustain soloing fates and other content is possible. You just have to remember not to summon bahamut when you only have titan between you and the boss.

Okay...here is what I've gotten thus far. After getting my SMN to Lvl 35, I caved in and bought a jump potion to hit 60. I've been running PoTD just to get a general feel of the class beforehand, and while I did take a look at the guide, a lot of this won't apply til I hit 70, though I know as I unlock more skills, it'll be much more relevant and I will practice them as I gain levels. So, this is generally what I'm using at Lvl 60. Please let me know if I'm screwing something up, or where I can improve at (btw, I am wearing the Shire Philosopher set that came with the jump).

The vast majority of the time, Ifrit is out. Before a pull, I will do this:

Aetherflow, Rouse.

During a pull for multiple targets: Tri-Disaster>Bane/Enkindle/Shadow Flare>Painflare>Tri-Bind until oGCD is available>Painflare>repeat Tri-Bind until oGCD is ready>Painflare>DWT>Ruin 3 until about a second before DWT is up>Tri-Diaster>Deathflare>Aetherflow when available (I find myself waiting for Aetherflow to come back up after this)

For single targets: Tri-Disaster>Fester/Enkindle/Shadow Flare>Ruin 3s>Painflare>Ruin 3s>Painflare>DWT>Ruin 3s until a second before DWT is up>Tri-Disaster>Death Flare

Pretty sure it's not optimal, but it's tough finding a rotation for 4.1 SMN at level 60. Seeing a rotations that include Quelling Strikes, which SMN doesn't have access to.

I don't really go on a strict rotation for SMN. I mostly just focus on setting up and maintaining DoTs while throwing in whatever's proc'd and punching out as many Ruin 3's that I can during Dreadwyrm (for single-targets anyway) or just going right to Deathflare so I get Bahamut faster (this for mobs mostly). Because my SMN has 3 hotbars, I don't use the pet hotbar--sacrilege I know. I pretty much use Ifrit for everything unless the boss is going to be all over the place, and never Titan (though I am going to start using him for Alliance roulette since OT's NEVER PICK UP ADDS *screams*) unless yeah. Worldmap.

They've changed SMN so that if you have 3 stacks of Aetherflow and it comes off CD, you can't use it to regain MP or... anything until you get rid of your stacks. It's super annoying. Just mentioning it in case you remember it the way it was--but if you were still Archanist, it probably doesn't matter.

So, melt things with DoT... -Oh, don't forget about your Raise utility. Yeah yeah, RDM is awesome but SMN's don't have to do any follow-up healing (mostly because they can't, really) so you can get someone up and get right back to DPS'ing. And still be a hero. *Thumbsup*

Alrighty. I know something feels off when I have no aetherflow, but that could be because of my level. I picked up Arcanist way back in 3.56, but never bothered with it until now, when I'm seeing that my main ranged DPS is almost always taken (RDM) and I want the challenge of a non-meta class. I'll keep the MP regen part in mind...mostly just trying to stay in practice with my DoTs...I keep forgetting to throw out a Shadow Flare.

The last I knew for less than four targets you are better setting your DoTs individually using three Painflares in-between. For more four or more enemies you would use Bane, Painflare, Painflare. This should get you to DWT where you would use Tri-bind until Deathflare. I usually single target Ruin III > Ruin II/IV while waiting for AoE oGCD to be ready as it gets an enemy down faster than the 30 potency spread across x number of enemies. This could be wrong as I'm not into the math but anecdotally things seem to go faster. During this I am weaving pet and Shadowflare actions as available.

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Originally Posted by KaivaC

Okay...here is what I've gotten thus far. After getting my SMN to Lvl 35, I caved in and bought a jump potion to hit 60. I've been running PoTD just to get a general feel of the class beforehand, and while I did take a look at the guide, a lot of this won't apply til I hit 70, though I know as I unlock more skills, it'll be much more relevant and I will practice them as I gain levels. So, this is generally what I'm using at Lvl 60. Please let me know if I'm screwing something up, or where I can improve at (btw, I am wearing the Shire Philosopher set that came with the jump).

The vast majority of the time, Ifrit is out. Before a pull, I will do this:

Aetherflow, Rouse.

During a pull for multiple targets: Tri-Disaster>Bane/Enkindle/Shadow Flare>Painflare>Tri-Bind until oGCD is available>Painflare>repeat Tri-Bind until oGCD is ready>Painflare>DWT>Ruin 3 until about a second before DWT is up>Tri-Diaster>Deathflare>Aetherflow when available (I find myself waiting for Aetherflow to come back up after this)

For single targets: Tri-Disaster>Fester/Enkindle/Shadow Flare>Ruin 3s>Painflare>Ruin 3s>Painflare>DWT>Ruin 3s until a second before DWT is up>Tri-Disaster>Death Flare

Pretty sure it's not optimal, but it's tough finding a rotation for 4.1 SMN at level 60. Seeing a rotations that include Quelling Strikes, which SMN doesn't have access to.

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As far as AoE goes, I've found Tri-Bind is only worth it if
A.) You're up against 5+ mobs, or
B.) If you're in DTW fighting 3+ mobs since the trance boosts Tri-Bind's potency from 30 to 100.

Other than that, apply your DoTs+Bane, use Ruin 3 + Ruin 2, and Painflare, and of course Deathflare when you're wrapping up DWT. Don't forget about your pet's Enkindle for AoEs too!

And as for single-targeting, the basic rotation I tend to follow after Aetherflow is Tri-D >Fester >R3+R2 >Fester >R3+R2 >Fester >DWT > R3X6 (weaving Tri-D if needed) >Deathflare. Repeat that process once more, then wait for Aetherflow to come off cd while keeping up DoTs, weaving R2 and OGCDs, and doing R3+R2 during the downtime. Then you can summon Bahaumt after you refresh your Aether stacks, Fester+R2 > Akh Morn, then weave R2 with Fester, Addle, and Tri-D at the end before the second Akh Morn. You get another round of downtime (this time without worrying about DoTs hopefully) until Aetherflow is about 17 seconds before it comes off cd, then you can use the DWT you built up during Bahamut.

To be honest, I'm still practicing that single rotation myself since I'm also pretty new, but that's the gist I've picked up reading guides (which seem to be the same ones others provided to you earlier, actually). But while you're still leveling, mostly just focus on DoTs, R3+R2 and Fester, then DWT >R3X6, all while weaving in OGCDs when available and you should be fine I think. But if any more experienced SMNs have anything to add or change I'd be happy to hear it as well!

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Originally Posted by Shiroe

imo only use Garuda in real raids (when boss moves around a lot, or have 2 or more casters, or is aoe heavy), IF you can use "obey" on Garuda (!)... otherwise just go Ifrite "synced"..

(I'm ps4, trying obey means for me; cant take anyother cross class skills or even rez.., .. besides hate the "lagging"/Q-ing of the pet commands too, so I just always go Ifrite synced, which is Ok,.. but cant obtain the same level as my blm)

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Pet skills don’t lag they are simply animation locked and not chainable if u use gcd in between u feel way less „clunkyness“ - since mp and casttimes have been adjusted there are some fights u should/could take advantages of radiant and con in the same battle if u really wanna make it your main cls :0

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Originally Posted by KaivaC

when I'm seeing that my main ranged DPS is almost always taken (RDM) and I want the challenge of a non-meta class. .

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Actually summoner is meta caster class right now. It is even most played caster class based by fflogs last 2 weeks right now. On top of that ppl not usually want to play with 2 casters because they share same gear set, so your chance finding parties may not raise from that department.