(Extremely Gimped Iconic Summon) that is EGIS

[Lemuria]

I wonder how many times we have to point out that Summoners in ever FF were just White/Black Mages with huge mana costing nukes that were overshadowed by the ara/aga tier.

Well, actually if you go by previous games Summons generally didn't HAVE an MP cost associated with them. It was often a set number of 'charges' or a special ability, such as Yuna or FFXII's 'mist' summons.

Final Fantasy 7's summons did have an MP cost associated with them but they were also mind-meltingly devastating. Capable of inflicting easily as much damage as a powerful limit break or more, especially with Knights of the Round (up to 130k damage!), beaten only by Omnislash for 150k damage.

FFXI's avatars have 'Blood Pact' abilities which could unleash strong damage on opponents, grant team buffs or even heal party members. Each avatar added something worthwhile, so it was always good to mix things up in a battle. There was also Astral Flow, which allowed you to unleash devastating skills, even rendering your party nigh invulnerable for a period or instantly destroying opponents with Zanetsuken with Alexander and Odin respectively.

FFXIV Egi's are... well, kind of weak. Putting aside their damage output, they only have four abilities each, most of which are purely attacks. The only Egi worth using is Garuda, with Titan only being useful as a tank for soloists and Ifrit being a melee only attacker. Their 'signature attack' is only mildly more damaging than their basic ones, and they have zero player buffs.

So yeah... FFXIV summons are kind of forgettable compared to their far more impressive history.

[Fayto]

snip.

Oh I'm not arguing that XIV's Egis aren't bad because they are, I'm just stating that Summoners in FF has been a subclass to everything else outside of the ones with a job system like Rydia and the like. Recently they've made summons more impactful, as with X's summons.