How to Be a ACN/SMN.(Accepting any and all feedback)

[xxalucard]

Whatever you do OP, _DON'T_ do this. ^

Basically, there is no 'rotation', because doing good DPS relies on keeping DoTs up all the time, and with varied timers, the order of spell casting is always going to be something you determine on the fly..

*snip good advice*

I agree with 99% of what Torin says, and think it's a great starting template for those first playing SMN.

A couple of weeks ago I recently started taking advantage of auto-attacks as a Summoner, and they actually add up to a lot of damage.

If you can safely stay in melee range of a boss, you can get in an auto-attack in between spells. You cannot auto-attack while casting, but after things like Bio, Ruin II, Bane, or Fester, your queued auto-attack will instantly hit.

Because of this it's actually a DPS gain to use Ruin II more than usual, and the only reason I go Ruin ~ Ruin II in something like the extreme primals is because it helps manage MP.

Otherwise, if MP permits and you can safely be in melee range without wiping the raid, spamming ruin II more often can lead to more DPS with the auto attacks hitting during the GCD. It messes up the blind, yes, but usually the tank doesn't rely on that blind anyway.

With relic+1 or the extreme primal book, each auto attack hits for around ~66 damage, and crits for 100+ damage. I originally thought the attacks would be negligible, but it's like having another DoT up 24/7.

[Kevee]

If you can safely stay in melee range of a boss, you can get in an auto-attack in between spells. You cannot auto-attack while casting, but after things like Bio, Ruin II, Bane, or Fester, your queued auto-attack will instantly hit.

fyi
Auto Attacks start queueing about the last 1/4th of a cast.

If you just continually cast every GCD, every 5-6 casts you'll see an auto attack netting 5-6 DPS.

Along with that, auto attacks CAN go off during the cast, in that last 1/4th or so.