Can someone give me an in-depth explanation why Summoner is arguably the worst DPS?

[Romsca]

Akiza the harbinger has spoken. We are all doomed.

[Sunako]

Summoner is not useless in this game. It is only weaker in current content because melee can shine now.
This is parse from Lucrezia's T13 clears http://i.imgur.com/PN6PfA9.jpg they do not bother using caster dps at all.

[Ardan]

Wow, it's like the 2012 Mayan calendar bullshit all over again.

[Romsca]

Just ignore Akiza. I've seen doomsayers so many times before and rarely are their predictions true.

[Lilyarel]

Heres what I'm understanding. Summoner has really good single target DPS but their issue is mana because of it being so small, their damage fluctuates a lot throughout a fight and just isnt as reliable as another DPS. The utility they have is nice, but something like res does more damage than good because of their small mana pool making them deal less damage until thye use several Energy Drains and Aetherflows. A Black Mage doesnt have a res utility, but their DPS is reliable and consistent throughout the fight.

I've heard people say movement hurts Black Mage dps and favors Summoner. I have also hear movement isnt that big of a deal as people make it out to be.

[Romsca]

That's the jist of issues for dps sake. Summoner could possibly use a boost in weapon damage and I'm talking like 2-3 points at most. Any thing else I think just falls into the argument of does it feel summonyish or match the iconic image of what a summoner has been in past games.

We do have good single target dps, but where it gets even better is when mobs can't be grouped together to AoE. Summoner can set dots on all the targets and just maintain durations. If there is three monsters that's 110 potency per second for just bio, bio 2 and miasma on them. Just not many fights with mechanics like that, think the 4 dragon heads in "battle in the big keep", BCoB turn 1 snakes, Vassagos in LotA, etc. But with current mana pool and regeneration rates, we can't even maintain single target dps for too long before running out of mana.

[Minorinz]

Summoner is not useless in this game. It is only weaker in current content because melee can shine now.
This is parse from Lucrezia's T13 clears http://i.imgur.com/PN6PfA9.jpg they do not bother using caster dps at all.

I wanna see them do all of coil t10-t13 without casters. I'm pretty sure it's possible at this point, but hey SE knows better!

[Dextro]

I wanna see them do all of coil t10-t13 without casters. I'm pretty sure it's possible at this point, but hey SE knows better!

I'm the caster in my group (BLM) but I've recently been replacing myself with my alt-character (NIN) due to not needing anymore drops on my main, so I can tell you from experience that yeah.... all the turns are possible without casters.
It does get a little crowded around the boss, though... hehe

[Sleigh]

I'm the caster in my group (BLM) but I've recently been replacing myself with my alt-character (NIN) due to not needing anymore drops on my main, so I can tell you from experience that yeah.... all the turns are possible without casters.
It does get a little crowded around the boss, though... hehe

My exact same situation, got every DW piece on my main so I'm going NIN next week on my alt. T10 and T11 are going to be a small raid DPS loss due to the unique advantages a caster brings, but T12 and 13, caster is truly pointless.

[Akiza]

Summoner's have good single target DPS but Black Mage outshines them in single target dps. T
The only reason why people are using alts now is because farmed all the gear on their main. They still will request Summoners who have t10- t13 on farm so that excludes most of the people that main Summoner just getting into Final Coils.