Gonna reach out for some SMN advice

[jars]

keep shadow flare down

use garuda if you are not and manually do contaigion

keep rouse and spur on cd

[cotti]

And we have a whole DPS section on the forums, doubtlessly featuring SMN discussion.

[Ryuko]

In PvE: Bio II, Miasma, Bio. If fighting multiple mobs, Bane. If fighting multiple mobs that will take a while to kill, Contagion, wait for it to go off, THEN Bane. Shadowflare helps too, if you don't mind the ground AoE (there are certain situations where you won't want to damage certain monsters, so use it wisely). Remember to Miasma II if you are near the mob or trying to meet a dps check (AoE around self). Your main 'burst' is Fester. On many fights, you can throw it off on cooldown... on some fights, you will want to be more strategic about when you use it. (Example: if something spawns and you need to kill it fast, make sure you have DoTs up on the main mob, Bane, then Fester the new mob. Instant 700+ damage.) If you don't have Raging Strikes, level Bard to get it. It's very helpful for dps checks. Use Energy drain if and only if you are really hurting for mp, or you already used fester, are waiting on the cooldown, and you know something has to die FAST.

Handling your pet: The 'go to' pet in PvE for summoner is Garuda. For the best output, you will want to micromanage her by telling her to attack using 'Obey'. Then, you can tell her exactly when you WANT her to use Contagion. You have two pet damage buffs and Enkindle. If there isn't a particular time you MUST use them, pop them off on cooldown. Keep in mind that Enkindle is an AoE.

If you are following all of these rules and your damage is STILL low... it is probably your gear, or your parser is not very good. Don't forget that Garuda adds on 50-60 dps.

In PvP: The most 'annoying' ability you have is Miasma and Miasma II. It nerfs hp recovered by 50% (it's a good way to annoy those healers!). Bio is instant, so I usually throw Bio at someone, then Miasma, then Bio II. (The opposite of what I do in PvE, oddly enough). In PvP, many summoners prefer to use Ifrit because he has the ability to stun... and his 'physical' damage WILL interrupt spellcasters. I usually throw him at a caster target (usually blm/smn) to be a pain. If you are going to use Enkindle in PvP, make sure to pop "Rouse" first (it breaks your pet out of cc's). Another thing I would like to note in PvP... summoners are currently seen as a big threat and a class that will be 'nerfed' in some way in the future. Therefor, you do not want to just be 'out in the open'. Know where your healer is at all times. Some Scholars like to 'park' their fairy in a convenient location, so you can run to it for auto-heals.

[myahele]

I think I know what you mean. I am a former lv 50 whm and am leveling up a summoner.

The thing with a smn is that they are dot specialists. You probably won't be able to kill a single enemy as quickly as a blm or a cleric stance whm, but you still have the same dmg output. Instead of a quick death you deliver a slow one. Plus you have a pet to help out! On pvp I usually rank 2nd in dmg inflicted.

I noticed they make good crowd control + support for tank and healers.

There is also a very useful guide in the dps section too

[ispano]

-snip-

Miasma II should only be used on a single target if you plan to use contagion on it. Otherwise a single Ruin/Ruin II is more damage for the GCD. Two or more targets though, go for it.

[Sol_Aureus]

I recently wrote a guide on Summoner, you might want to look it over, it should help give you an idea of what you can do to improve yourself ^^

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...mmoner-A-Guide

[Balphagor_]

Thank you everyone for the help/advice, and I shall take a look at your guide Sol.