SMN vs BLM

[patseguin]

I'm a new player and I'm trying to decide what the job will be that I want to play in end game. I'm currently a 41/15 SMN and like it so far. I've read though that BLM is much better dps and SMN is not even desirable in some groups. I played WoW for a long time and obviously SMN is like Warlock and BLM is like mage. I played both in WoW but Mage was my favorite as I liked burst damage and didn't like managing dots. Is it simple enough for me to go back and level the classes needed for BLM?

[OlyverW]

Summoner does get involved with DoT maintance and is a big part of the the damage you can do coupling the DoTs with Bane to spread it to a small group or fester on a fully DoT'd enemey ( Bio Bio2 Miasma).

yes this game allows for very fluid transitions between classes / jobs you can play them all and switch at anytime to whichever you want to play with

I switch between SMN and BLM all the time

[sciondar]

Both are cool in their own way. BLM will allow you to feel powerful with the damage you can cause compared to a SMN. However, with a SMN and knowing your pets you can really help the group since you can send your pet at different targets if needed while you tackle an add or mechanic. Once you understand what your pets abilities do it helps you focus on what is needed and when.

[Maero]

Both classes are super fun to play as. Blm does more damage but smn is very useful because dots and use of pet. Sometimes bosses or enemies die because of dots
Based on what you have mentioned i think blm would be the class for you but highly suggest leveling both classes.
Summoner is said to get changes in the near future so we are not certain yet of it's true potential. Just as a reference however, when this game first began (not1.0 but 2.0) smn was far more potent.

[Garotte14]

First I will always recommend to someone to play whatever they enjoy the most. After all, you are the one paying for it so you should play the one you are most comfortable with.

With that being said the differences between SMN and BLM really shine through in hardcore raiding. Running your daily dungeons and roulettes, as well as primals, it doesn't really matter which one you go with. SMN has great raid utility with a battle raise, SuperVirus, and Eye for an Eye. BLM also has really good utility with Apocatstasis and a slightly weaker Virus and Eye for an Eye. BLM is a little better at damage, but a SMN's DoTs really come in handy during parts where the boss can't be attacked (Dots are still ticking) SMN can attack better with lots of movement, and BLM has better AOE and burst damage. Raiding though is were the real problem with SMN currently lies. In Final Coil the fights are so much longer which cause SMN to have serious MP issues. Your Battle raise is useless because if you use it, your DPS will suffer greatly. If you die once, you'll be running on fumes the rest of the fight unless Mages Ballad is up for extended periods of time, which lowers the BRD's DPS.

So these are just some things to take into consideration. In a hardcore raiding type of environment, BLM edges out SMN. But as others have said, there will be some changes coming to SMN in the future which will most likely address the issues they are having.

[Neuflune]

I'm currently a 41/15 SMN and like it so far. I've read though that BLM is much better dps and SMN is not even desirable in some groups... I played both in WoW but Mage was my favorite as I liked burst damage and didn't like managing dots...

By 41/15, you mean you're level 41 arcanist and level 15 thaumaturge? Thus summoner? Since you're that close to being Level 50, continue your main story and then go back to thaumaturge to unlock Black Mage. If one of your battle classes reaches level 50, the succeeding classes get a boost in exp gained.

As for people's comments on summoners... it truly is vexing that groups tend to leave out certain classes. DRG and SMN are some of them. My main is SMN -but- my secondary is PLD and let me tell you, a decent SMN can trump an average BLM anyday when it comes to DPS. Because SMN are 'unwanted', they tend to work harder to learn their rotations and control their summons. Just because BLMs have 'burst' DPS doesn't mean spamming skills will get them somewhere, which is unfortunately what most of the BLMs that I randomly PUG with tend to do. But as I said, this is from my experience as tank and it might be different in other data centers.

SMNs can also manage two targets at once, one for them and one for their summon (helpful in fights where the adds are all over the place but you need to hit the boss too) while BLM can only hit multiple mobs if they are in one area. That said, go with the play style that you prefer; that is, BLM.

We can all potentially -get- all the classes. I have all of them at Level 50 myself. What's important is to start out endgame with the class that you want so that learning its rotations won't feel like a chore to you.

[Niwashi]

If one of your battle classes reaches level 50, the succeeding classes get a boost in exp gained.

There may be other reasons for wanting to get your first class to 50 (the level itself unlocks a few things, and finishing the story unlocks a lot), but that XP boost on lower-leveled classes is not one of them. All it takes to get that XP bonus is to have one battle (DoW/DoM) class that's at a higher level than another. It doesn't matter how high it is or how many levels difference there is, and there's nothing special about the number 50. Someone who, as soon as they hit the level 10 requirement for unlocking other classes, starts doing so, will immediately have that bonus on all classes that are in the 1-9 range, just by having another class at 10. And someone whose highest battle class is 41 already has that XP bonus on all battle classes that are in the 1-40 range.

[Garotte14]

As for people's comments on summoners... it truly is vexing that groups tend to leave out certain classes. DRG and SMN are some of them. My main is SMN -but- my secondary is PLD and let me tell you, a decent SMN can trump an average BLM anyday when it comes to DPS.

A skilled SMN can out DPS an average BLM? Well duh. A skilled BLM can out DPS an average Monk. Hell, a skilled War can out DPS a lot of crappy DPS classes. But an equally geared and skilled BLM can out DPS a SMN. When comparing two classes you should always put them on equal playing field. That includes gear and skill level. As to your other comment, DRG is left out of most groups because it pulls roughly the same numbers as Ninja, but has zero raid utility. And SMN is left out of most groups because of their MP problems and the fact that their best utility (Battle Raise) is pretty much useless in final coil because of the effect it has on their already dire MP problems. Can groups still get by? Of course. But its just preference.

[Neuflune]

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My point was this: [ Because SMN are 'unwanted', they tend to work harder to learn their rotations and control their summons. ]

Nowhere in my post did I say that SMN trumps BLM on burst damage. As a tank I've seen better DPS for SMN than BLM running the same content, except in important raids such as Coil. I've even had to tank for "ice" mages... BLMs who use nothing but ice skills. Seeing as the TS will have to progress through endgame before getting through Coil, I'm talking about everything else but Coil. As for DRG, even during Coil 1, I've seen PFs with nothing but Bard and BLM slots so the exclusion isn't all because of Final Coil.

Edit:

Totally my bad. I read my post again and realized how that sounded like.

I meant to say that as a tank, I've come across many decent SMN and only average or below average BLM. If I could choose, I wouldn't run duties with those BLM -just because they are BLM-, which is what exclusion does. Parties assume that BLM > SMN just because of the class potential, but from what I've seen there are better SMNs than BLMs. I've wiped in Pharos Sirius with BLM in dreadwyrm gear because they ignored the mobs and used 1-target skills on the boss only, I've run with ice mages, I had a coil clear with a BLM that had DPS so abysmal even though it was his main class that the rest of us had to pop potions every now and then just to make up for that; but as I've said it may be dependent on my data center, or I could just be really unlucky.