A little worried, not about servers though, about Summoner!

[Viridiana]

Was this the Marlboro dungeon? The one with the poisonous yellow water? Whatever its called I can't remember. Summoner/Scholar are the absolute worst fighting that malboro beast and I can see exactly where they're coming from. That dungeon relies heavily on AoE and smn doesnt provide. I don't think its even possible to complete without atleast one BLM.

I've completed it with a group of WAR/BRD/LNC/SCH. So, yes, it's doable.

[Bustercucumbers]

The problem with summoner is that you have a bunch of spells that have long cast times that put debuffs on the monster. Then you have a nuke that also has a long cast time. All the while you have to make sure that all your debuffs (which aren't perfectly set on durations) are on the monster, while you have to keep nuking with another spell that takes time to cast. Then you have to manage your pet because if you leave him on auto attack mode he uses his spells at the stupidest times. All of this you have to do perfectly while dodging mechanics in order to do good dps, where say an archer can just shoot and run. A job with a bunch of dot based spells that have long cast times and instant dots that put you in gcd hell. It's annoying, and I have begun to play other classes at 50 now because of it. Maybe Summoner should get a five minute cooldown move that puts all their debuffs on the target at once.

On a side note, the summons are so lack luster. Ifrit-egi is somewhat different, but even he has an ability that makes no sense for him. Why should an offensive pet have a fire shield? Why not give a damage shield to titan? Titan and Garuda-egi are just carbon copies of topaz and emerald carbuncle. I was quite depressed to see that they weren't different at all except for a tiny bit more damage and a 5 minute move that is mediocre.

The worst thing about Summoner is that after all the stuff you have to deal with to bring moderate damage to the table, they bring nothing unique to the party. I can't think of one reason someone would want a summoner over any other class in the game. Can anyone think of anything that a summoner does that is needed in a party?

[DezyRavioli]

I've completed it with a group of WAR/BRD/LNC/SCH. So, yes, it's doable.

Oh right I keep forgetting about BARD. They're pretty good for it too. Regardless, if you're main source of damage is coming from two SMN's it's not going to happen.

[Tsukino]

Between the Teratotaur in Qarn and now story Garuda I'm probably just going to try switching to BLM for a bit. There's too much to keep track of and too many instances where you need burst damage and simply can't deliver, and I feel like I'm doing a disservice to my DF parties.

[TritonRM]

ive been a whm 50 as my main and done everything with it. but i have been waiting for summoner since day 1 of 1.0 and now that its here i want it to be my main. hearing your story worries me about that. im not up to that level yet because i cant even get in to play >.> but i really hope i can make it my main without people turning me down for stupid stuff

Hoping it was just a few people, and not the majority. MorbidCoffee said it can be done with a SMN. So probably was just a streak of bad luck.

The problem with summoner is that you have a bunch of spells that have long cast times that put debuffs on the monster. Then you have a nuke that also has a long cast time. All the while you have to make sure that all your debuffs (which aren't perfectly set on durations) are on the monster, while you have to keep nuking with another spell that takes time to cast. Then you have to manage your pet because if you leave him on auto attack mode he uses his spells at the stupidest times. All of this you have to do perfectly while dodging mechanics in order to do good dps, where say an archer can just shoot and run. A job with a bunch of dot based spells that have long cast times and instant dots that put you in gcd hell. It's annoying, and I have begun to play other classes at 50 now because of it. Maybe Summoner should get a five minute cooldown move that puts all their debuffs on the target at once.

On a side note, the summons are so lack luster. Ifrit-egi is somewhat different, but even he has an ability that makes no sense for him. Why should an offensive pet have a fire shield? Why not give a damage shield to titan? Titan and Garuda-egi are just carbon copies of topaz and emerald carbuncle. I was quite depressed to see that they weren't different at all except for a tiny bit more damage and a 5 minute move that is mediocre.

The worst thing about Summoner is that after all the stuff you have to deal with to bring moderate damage to the table, they bring nothing unique to the party. I can't think of one reason someone would want a summoner over any other class in the game. Can anyone think of anything that a summoner does that is needed in a party?

We can battle rez. And um.. Well yeah. Sure we don't pack a punch like BLM. As long as it's not a DPS race, I think we hold our own.

[Zeargi]

Was this the Marlboro dungeon? The one with the poisonous yellow water? Whatever its called I can't remember. Summoner/Scholar are the absolute worst fighting that malboro beast and I can see exactly where they're coming from. That dungeon relies heavily on AoE and smn doesnt provide. I don't think its even possible to complete without atleast one BLM.

It's most definitely doable without a BLM, I've done that Guildheist several times now as a SMN/ARN. Of course some run included a ARC, so there was AoE, but a few runs were with LNC. If the want to make ARN more AoE they just need to change SMN I's AoE Attack to have a lower cast timer. Because with Bane I usually clear lost of things out, That's also pending of I can inflict it. ^^;

[Solshine]

Are you using the swift cast from thaum in battle, you have to use it more than once, but it does speed up the cast time.

[Fantasy9]

In 1.0 BRDs were the one class nobody wanted and now it is SMNs.

[EdwinLi]

The thing about Summoner is that the Job is a Condition Damage DD Job.

To maximize output of Summoner Job you must first slap on condition damage and then use Ruin until you drain enough of your mana and refill it then use Aetherflow to stack Aetherflows for the higher damage skills.

Stacking condition damage may feel a bit slow but it begins to show when you stack enough such as stacking Bio + Miasma + Bio II + Miasma II = 120 damage per second = 240 every 2 seconds compared to the other DD class that have to wait 2.5 seconds to 2.1 second just to perform 120 damage then 200 damage and repeat.

Then you use the Aetherflow points for Fester which does 100 potency per condition damage (Bio, Miasma and Bio II) which with all 3 makes it perform 300 potency damage per hit every 10 seconds with no cost of mana nor affect cooldown of MP skills.

You also need to use the Aetherflow for Bane to spread the condtion effects to other enemies which can easily drain 20% of the other Normal enemies HP in dungeons after you killed the current target of the group with out risking Aggro.

Also, Energy Drain for regaining some MP back as well and to perform more damage.

Then you also have to spam Ruin II since it is a instant cast. As long you remember to reuse Astherflow and Energy Drain to fill back the MP you'll be fine.

The effects of condition damage may not appear much or simply average but combined with the stacking of other players condition damage (with classes having very little amount of them) the damage enemies take per second can be very heavy.

[BruceyBruceyBangBang]

I'm sorry, but SMN does just fine in AK. We were able to clear it in place of a BLM for a few runs and I didn't notice a difference between the two. I know this is thrown around a lot, but maybe talk with other SMN and see what their rotations are and strats. Maybe you don't have the quality of gear needed to keep up with the DPS.