SMN redesign in expansion?

[Romsca]

IMO SMN is supposed to be an amazing magic based job with power so great that it rivals that of primals...the act of summoning a mere fraction of a primal's power alone should make the job feel powerful...but it doesn't...it just feels flat...I don't mind the egi's but I hate that the overall feel of the job is very simplistic...no real power no real status when compared to other DD's...
I don't want them to make SMN like it was in XI...I want XIV version to feel as powerful and as awesome as XI version was...a redesign of the egi's and/or spells...make it stand out.

Ever stand in middle of the three Vassagos in LotA and dot all 3? Ever try tanking Cerberus in WoD with Titan (was awesome, whole alliance was cheering him on, lost it at 20% hp on Cerberus)? Summoner has tactical uses, just not as useful with current content and methods to clear said content.

[Dyvid]

I doubt we'll see a complete redesign that a few people are begging for, sorry but SMN is always going to be a DoT class. I do think SE needs to rethink the pet mechanics and what they do. How different can you really make a dps pet when there are 6 primal Egis? I don't want a simple reskin like what they did with carbuncle and garuda.

[Akiza]

Don't forget what happen with Leviathan and Shiva, the summoner died.

Actually Lady Iceheart didn't die because unlike the Leviathan Summoner she retained full control over the Primal when she transformed into Shiva.

[Romsca]

Actually Lady Iceheart didn't die because unlike the Leviathan Summoner she retained full control over the Primal when she transformed into Shiva.

Alright, then after 3.0 we'll make Lady Iceheart our poster girl for summoner reform in the new age.

[Razard]

Actually Lady Iceheart didn't die because unlike the Leviathan Summoner she retained full control over the Primal when she transformed into Shiva.

Looks like no one remembers what Alphinoud said after our altercation with Shiva. Something about keeping it between Himself and The Warrior of Light. Because if this got out, that the Enlightened races where Summoning Primals, it would give the Garleans all the reason they need to launch a full scale genocide campaign against Eorzea. Also if one remembers, Moenbryda mentioned that the reading for Shiva where the same as the Primals. Possibly meaning she was doing the same kind of damage summoning a Primal does as well. Through her own body or not.

Not only that, we are part of an organization dedicated to ending the Primal threat. I can imagine the guys will not welcome the player character if they started acting suspicious and turning up to the base cosplaying as the things they are trying to stop. Thancred:" Oh <insert name here> have you done something different to your hair? You look a lot more Ifrit-y than usual". And that's not going into the code red, kill on sight mentality the rest of Eorzea has with the Primals.

But I suppose such details are missed when it's not what YOU want it to be.

[Lilyarel]

*snip*

Well they certainly dont seem to mind the Egi's...

*SUMMONER QUESTLINE SPOILERS.*
Another thing. Tristan was able to absorb his summons essence and it super charged him. Why cant we do the same?

[Natsuno]

Tri-Disaster, I think summoners as a whole should have a separate thread to discuss this skill and see if we can be creative in its uses.

I think there is iirc....

Found it:

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...r-Tri-Disastor

[Dyvid]

I knew there was a reason I had Akiza on /blist. At what point did we get from wanting a pet class that is icon to FF Summoner to just running around as Titan?! Egi's are the essence of a primal melded with the element they represent. This is why Titan is floating rocks, Ifrit is molten fire, and Garuda is a windy feather bird. Here is the only truth we know of Primals, they require prayer and aether. A single summoner doesn't haven enough aether in them to bring forth a living god. Even Iceheart had to amass crystals just like all the other beast tribes to bring forth Shiva.

Now on subject I do think there has been enough feedback on all the forums to re-examine Egi appearance and consider a revamp for the 60 level cap, not huge hulks running around but more defined Egi version of the primals themselves ( Garuda ). I also believe finally adding FC or party Summoning would greatly help ease the communities feelings toward the whole Egi appearance problem in general because everyone would now get to see the large cinematic appearance of Summons that have been a FF staple since 1998 when FFVII first introduced it.

[Yggberry]

Hmmm. Actually I think it is very easy to re-design summoner and make it more interesting. Right now I feel that summoner doesn't play like the real Final Fantasy summoner. It feels like a spiritmaster in Aoin without fear.

First, they need to get rid of all the current summoner skills. Fester, Enkindle, Tri-disaster, and Spur should be all scratched. Instead, use those skills for new pets instead. Each new summon gets their own skill icon.

[Yggberry]

Next, I would change Summoner's design to Dragon Nest's Gearmaster play style. Summoner will have a cap of the number of summons they can have at once on the field. Let's say 3 not including carbuncle. Summoner also can't summon duplicated pet like having 2 Titan out on the field at the same time. Summoning one Titan after another will desummon the first Titan. After that, restore both carbuncles so summoner can still have a controllable pet. Make Ifrit, Titan, Garuda, and other pets in the future uncontrollable. Let them just attack, buff, or heal on their own. Have a separate menu for each pet to setup pet skills that you learned so that the pet will perform them when they are summoned. Something on the line like the companion menu for our chocobos. And this also get rid of the stupid limit that each pet can only have 4 skills.