Best SMN rotation: Teach me Mogster.

[Mortechai]

I have BLM, BRD, MNK and SMN at 50. They're all not in "terrible" gear. I've at least moved on to AK sets for all 4. The word on the street is that summoner is the number 1 single target DPS class at the moment. I just don't see it to be honest. Let me get this out of the way up front: I don't and never will use a parser. From a strictly "feels" point of view, watching the numbers on my screen, my BLM puts out more damage. Unless I'am doing something terribly wrong on summoner, or just don't understand the class, or whatever, it just doesn't "FEEL" like it's pulling ahead of BLM like people are saying. For discussion's sake I'll toss what I do for both classes below the text.

On BLM:I start the party with Thunder III, then Fire III, then spam Fire I till I'm just above a Blizzard III in MP, hitting Thundercloud and Firestarter as they pop, and then hitting Blizzard III, recasting Thunder, and then repeating the cycle.
That being said, the amount of damage I'm seeing on screen is quite nice, Fire I's landing for ~500dmg, critting in the mid 700's(Under AF3), Firestarter F3's hitting in the 700's, critting ~1100 etc, TC's hitting 800's and so on.

On SMN:I start by dropping Shadow Flare(Yes on single targets as well), Miasma, Bio2, Bio, then I Fester(Or bane next if AOE), then I Ruin II until Fester is up again, all while I have G-Egi out. Rinse, repeat etc.
TL;DR The damage doesnt FEEL like its up there. I am seeing my dot numbers on screen and I have considered SMN being a more mobility capable DD in movement-intensive fights, but it just doesn't have that same up front look as BLM. Please review and correct.

[Powercow]

I'm no expert on Summoners, but...

Ruin and Ruin 2 have the same DPS. Just use regular Ruin unless: you can not stop to cast, you need the Blind debuff applied, if it's the last Ruin before you plan to move, or if you need the open off-gcd space to use another Fester or something.

Use Thunder on Summoner. Even without the procs, it's still a good spell, and it does far higher damage than Ruin. The only time you won't use it is if you need to conserve your MP, which can be an issue on AoE fights.

When you apply your DoTs and use Fester, make sure you wait a half second or so after the last DoT is applied to let the game register it. If you, say, went Bio -> Fester immediately, the game will not register the Bio effect and Fester will do much less damage. Give it a half-second or so.

Those are the basics I know. Somebody else will come in with more detailed info.

[Maku]

On SMN:I start by dropping Shadow Flare(Yes on single targets as well), Miasma, Bio2, Bio, then I Fester(Or bane next if AOE), then I Ruin II until Fester is up again, all while I have G-Egi out. Rinse, repeat etc.
TL;DR The damage doesnt FEEL like its up there. I am seeing my dot numbers on screen and I have considered SMN being a more mobility capable DD in movement-intensive fights, but it just doesn't have that same up front look as BLM. Please review and correct.

Using Raging Strikes after ShadowFlare. Use Thunder and Miasma 2 as well. There are very few fights that you need to worry about being in melee range so you should be using Miasma 2. Spamming Ruin II is pointless. It is more MP intensive and the Blind will build up resistance fast if not already really full resistance cause of tank. Ruin 1 is better for when you actually have time. When you add in Thunder and Miasma 2 to your rotation you get busy. Then there are Rouse and Spur that you are not mentioning.

[Mortechai]

Using Raging Strikes after ShadowFlare. Use Thunder and Miasma 2 as well. There are very few fights that you need to worry about being in melee range so you should be using Miasma 2. Spamming Ruin II is pointless. It is more MP intensive and the Blind will build up resistance fast if not already really full resistance cause of tank. Ruin 1 is better for when you actually have time. When you add in Thunder and Miasma 2 to your rotation you get busy. Then there are Rouse and Spur that you are not mentioning.

Sorry, I should have mentioned those. I am using my abilities as well. I try to pop them on bosses, before dots and try to get a Fester out while they're still up.

[Shamirah]

Bio2 > Miasma > Bio

Don't cast Miasma before bio2.

[Coraliine]

ALWAYS Bio 2 before Miasma. It's a longer DoT, and does some sweet damage.

My go to, which has proven very useful and usually gets high numbers is:
Single Target
Bio 2 > Miasma > Bio > Fester > Thunder > Virus > Raging Strikes > Ruin 2 > Ruin spam. I refresh DoTs as needed, Fester when it's off CD. If I can I'll use a Miasma 2, but on boss fights I often don't bother. I almost never drop Shadow Flare on a single target, but that's because I need to get instant cast from THM still (once I have that it'll be the start of my rotation). Ruin is my filler. On the move I use Ruin 2. They do roughly the same damage, Ruin 2 offers the Blind, which is quite nice but less mana efficient, so I use it sparingly.

AoE
Shadow Flare > Bio 2 > Miasma > Bio > Bane as I'm running in > Miasma 2 > Ruin 2 as I'm moving a little out to avoid AoE > Thunder > Bane again if I'm using Garuda and she extends my dots, if not Fester > Ruin as filler, Ruin 2 if moving > Refresh dots and Shadow Flare

[GameGeeks]

Is raging strikes even worth it? I'm not sure if it effects the whole dot time or just the first tick. If the latter it's not worth it save for a very small percentage increase in DPS on a two minute cooldown.

[Coraliine]

Is raging strikes even worth it? I'm not sure if it effects the whole dot time or just the first tick. If the latter it's not worth it save for a very small percentage increase in DPS on a two minute cooldown.

It's worth it for Ruin spam/Ruin 2. There are definitely a few instances where I cast ruin 3+ times in a row, and it is useful for that. It's also a level 4 ability, not at all difficult to get.

I don't know if it effects the whole dot, or anything like that. I guess someone will have to test it. I might do that this evening, will post results.

[Ragnirok]

Dots are in fact affected by Raging Strikes. I try and use contagion with those RS improved dots so. Also shadowflare on a single target is a biggy. I try and maximize its up time but there are some bosses you can't do it on.

My opening rotation is RS>Bio2>Miasma>Bio>wait till bio activates>Fester>Thunder(into contagion right after the cast finishes)>Shadowflare Ruin> Fester>Ruin
>Rouse>Ruin>Spur>Ruin>fester
From there I prioritize my class dots to maximize fester damage and then SF and then Thunder because SF is more potency per CT for the same mana cost

[PessimiStick]

Is raging strikes even worth it? I'm not sure if it effects the whole dot time or just the first tick. If the latter it's not worth it save for a very small percentage increase in DPS on a two minute cooldown.

All DoTs are snapshotted. The full duration benefits from the stats you had when you cast it. RS is amazing.