summoner dps how to do it

[Ryuko]

Don't judge yourself on dummies. Judge yourself against other players, especially summoners. Examine how well you do in each phase compared to the others... and if you find that they are consistently outdoing you despite having similar gear, ask for advice. People are usually very helpful/friendly when it comes to discussing a job they like!

[Aikaal]

Well, I'm a main Black Mage. I'm getting prepared for 3.0 because I main caster. I'm trying to get the logic of playing a Summoner. So far what I got is this:

You will not get Mana Song.
Like BLM, you should time with your bard a second Voiced Foe when your third RS and second Pot are available + Contagion and all pet's buffs.
You should Ruin II to lace your off-gcds (Fester, Aetherflow, Poison Pot, Pet buffs)
You should run about 500~800 mana until they boss is low enough to spam Ruin II to get extra melee attacks and finish the fight at 0 mana.

I might be missing some stuff...

[Panteleon]

For me it's situational depending on the pet I'm using. (at least for the opener, otherwise you just reapply as they fall off due to the different timers)

Ifrit I do Bio - Miasma - Bio 2 - Because Raging Strikes is 20s and Bio is 18s this allows me to get two buffed Bio's. If I did Bio 2, Miasma, Bio, then Raging Strikes would fall off before I would reapply Bio again unless I clipped it at like 8 seconds.

Garuda is different because I will only use Raging Strikes with Contagion, and with it being the ideal AOE pet, I will want Bio to have a lot of time left when I Bane it due to it being 40 Potency/tick VS 35 Potency/tick. So that's where the Bio2, Miasma, Bio order comes to play.

I love you. I thought I was crazy because, when the thread initially got going, so few people were talking about this.

With single target, it's such a big difference in damage to start and end RS with Bio I (before Contagion... yes I still use Garuda single target) that I couldn't understand why nobody was acknowledging it as the de facto opener. If you cast a Ruin, it's only 80 potency + 20% buff from RS... so 16 extra? If you use the same GCD for a Bio I reapply, it's 5 more ticks at 40 potency = 200... + 20% is 40 extra! Then if you Contagion after the RS is done, you get 15 more seconds on everything (and all maintain their RS buff for the remaining 15sec). Why would anybody just do a Ruin in that slot? Or blow their Contagion after only the first three (unless they need to Bane)?

You're also absolutely right about Baning, too. Bio I needs to go last in that situation, but I don't think it matters whether Bio II or Miasma goes first. You're still going to lose 3-4 seconds worth of tick from the first DoT for casting time on the subsequent DoT's; at that point, Miasma and Bio II have the same potency. It's the same loss, whichever you cast first.

Here's how I do it now:
- X-Potion of Intelligence
- Raging Strikes
- Bio I
- Bio II
- Miasma
- Fester
- Ruin II
- Quickcast (within Ruin II GCD)
- Shadowflare
- Miasma II
- HQ Potent Potion of Poisoning (within Miasma II GCD)
- Bio I
- Fester
- (+/- Another Ruin II under the RS here, depending on timing flubs)
- (Now that RS is over)
○ Contagion
○ Ruin II ->Rouse/Spur -> Ruin II -> Enkindle

EDIT: And, honestly, only reason I don't use Ifrit is because I'm uncomfortable getting a parser and haven't figured out a way to account for travel time and such for his melee attack (does he miss at all or readjust in fights?). Ifrit really is better DPS-wise? That wasn't just a fad?

[Havenchild]

EDIT: And, honestly, only reason I don't use Ifrit is because I'm uncomfortable getting a parser and haven't figured out a way to account for travel time and such for his melee attack (does he miss at all or readjust in fights?). Ifrit really is better DPS-wise? That wasn't just a fad?

Ifrit is superior all around even with some travel time. Add a MNK and a War/ Nin for slashing debuff and you are far above what Garuda can give you.
To compare I used to use Garuda for T11 add phase and with a single caster I could maybe get 520 ish or so on an ok run, (pet loses alot of DPS in that add phase with that switch back to Ifrit).
When however I got rid of Garuda even for that add phase and just focused my node down with Ifrit on the Melee node, the parse was over 558. Definitely shouldn't look down on Ifrit ever now and learn to main it.

Garuda is only good for 2 phases atm in all of final Coil, MAYBE 3.

1) T13 - When the Storm Spawns, fully buffed DoTs + Bane on at least 4 targets + fully buffed Enkindle
2) T12 - Bennu Rebirth Phase, RS Dots + Contagion + Bane.
3) MAYBE - T10 Add phase, but you will burn over 1k MP on this fight which is very very costly, due to the nonstop duration (assuming you're not Energy Draining)

[Sunako]

There is few things how i do dps with my SMN

Using ifrit
- Move ifrit under your target hitbox so your flaming crush have enough range hit with it
- Use pet on obey because radiant shield is usually dps loss
- I usually keep boss on focus and using focus target steel cyclone + flaming crush so I can use special abilities against boss during I wanna hit adds and ifrit usually stick on the boss(flaming crush also do not need target)
- I usually use both crimson cyclone + flaming crush during spur + rouse so ifrit can do one more attack during spur + rouse
- If your target is moving do not use flaming crush

Using Garuda
- Try always extend your already buffed dots
- Try avoid using contagion during spur + rouse because that will lower your pet dps
- If you wanna interrupt some mechanics with shockwave, use pet on steady mode at first so you can get your skill almost instantly and interrupt something like golems in t9 (that also have nothing 2 do with dps but good 2 know if you are new smn)
- miasma 2 may increase your dps with contagion if you do not run out from the mana. If you run out from the mana, you can forget that.

Using raging strikes / x pot
- Try always save 2x fester and apply bio 2x during RS duration and if you use garuda, try extend your buffed dots with contagion

Poison potion
- you can extend your potion duration with contagion

Mana control
- Some offgcd abilities can be used during swiftcast shadow flare and during you apply bio. You do not always need move and use ofgcd abilities during you spam ruin2 that is usually dps loss if you run out from the mana in long fight that take like 10m+ once you are gonna progress things. If you need move, try do it during you apply bio. Right now mana control do not mean anything because most of players have 130 gear and current content is kinda joke, but try do it with ilvl 110 gear.

Trick attack
- It is probably hard time thing sometimes with trick attack but try save one fester for trick attack if you have ninja in your party.

Using swiftcast
- You do not always need save if for ress or shadow flare. Sometimes it is good for something like earth shakers if you need apply any kind of castable dots during you dodge mechanics.

Using shadow flare
- Try use it during downtime and cast shadow flares always if you can not target boss or anything else. Try keep shadow flare up all of the time if you know your target is not gonna move around. Shadow flare have longest cast time so it is the best skill use with swiftcast. Precasting shadow flare in the opener works often against most of bosses.

Maintaining dots
- try keep all your 4 dots on your target all of the time (bio2, miasma, bio, shadow flare). If your target die in under 10sec it is probably better use only ruin and energy drain.

[Judge_Xero]

Don't judge yourself on dummies. Judge yourself against other players, especially summoners. Examine how well you do in each phase compared to the others... and if you find that they are consistently outdoing you despite having similar gear, ask for advice. People are usually very helpful/friendly when it comes to discussing a job they like!

To a degree. There are a few variables that effect SMN damage.
Blunt/Slash, Foes(BattleVoice) Trick Attack since you can get a full dot duration. Selene to a degree.

So I think a solo dummy parse of at least over 6 minutes is a good tool. 6 minutes will get you past that initial burst damage where Ifrit was doing 400 DPS, and allow the SMN to plateau as well. As it will even out any lucky crits as well to give a much better idea of normal DPS.

Just because I feel that comparing a SMN in a Monk, War, Bard (who will sing Foes all day long), Ninja, Selene - Party Composition
to
Dragoon, Dragoon, Bard who doesn't sing Foes because healers need MP, PLD, PLD - EOS, BLM - Party Composition

will give way different results on SMN damage.

...but I don't think it matters whether Bio II or Miasma goes first. You're still going to lose 3-4 seconds worth of tick from the first DoT for casting time on the subsequent DoT's; at that point, Miasma and Bio II have the same potency. It's the same loss, whichever you cast first.

I would still start with Bio 2 in an AOE situation. The main thing is that Bio 2 has the longer duration and allowing Miasma to fall off 4 mobs early sucks. If they die before the dots run their duration though then it doesn't matter.

[Sunako]

I am aware of that but you will drain your mana faster and it's pretty inefficient. I know SMN enough to acknowledge that. This becomes a problem on fights like T12 where you have no downtime and it last 9 minutes or more :\

Yeah but if we are supposed 2 have 3min parse then it is viable option. It also depends on fight duration. You probably do it yourself too if you had only 1k mana left after 3min. If you know how 2 control your mana you should survive around 7 - 8 min without mana problems. Or probably you used ruin2 more than you are supposed 2 be.

this is with 2k mana left and without using any potions
http://i.imgur.com/GvgnGlx.jpg

EDIT: I m running with t13 accuracy. Maybe without accuracy smn can reach 600~ against dummy in 3min fight.

[Aikaal]

Mmm, I was usgin Garuda also. Maybe that was my issue lol

[Judge_Xero]

Mmm, I was usgin Garuda also. Maybe that was my issue lol

Yeah, give Ifrit a try. Also consider how much the secondary stats effect damage.

I used the BLM bis gear with high spell speed and it was almost a 20 DPS loss for Ifrit. For an almost 0% gain on SMN.

[Akiza]

Here is how to DPS on Summoner
Step 1-Be a Black Mage
Step 2-Don't look back