SMN vs BLM

[Sleigh]

"Is the rotation overly complicated?"

No sir, not really. In fact I dare say it's one of the simplest if you're using Garuda, since everything lines up with the opener and every minute after so that you're using filler for a large portion of it.

"Garuda vs Ifrit?"

They're both very good pets. Garuda is the popular choice right now though, the DPS isn't much lower than Ifrit and Contagion is not only stronger due to Dreadwyrm Trance, but doing mechanics is much easier while being able to R2 without any DPS loss while doing them. You should probably play it by fight, though I'd say most would favor Garuda.

"Does SMN have anything like this where your rotation changes drastically?"

Yes, but it's simpler than Enochian upkeep since it isn't so strict. The SMN game is about keeping up DWT, or more importantly, using a DWT per every 3 Aetherflow stacks, never dipping past that or dropping your stacks before you use DWT. It's actually pretty simple unless there are a lot of phase shifts and you don't plan for it. Nothing too crazy.

"Pet management?"

If using Garuda, basically you Contagion along with your DWT, use the AoE skill when there's AoE to be done, and otherwise Obey it to the target you wish to be focused down (80% of fights you don't even have to or want to switch it off from the boss). It's very basic and simple. Ifrit, it's mostly the same except you want to use ALL the skills as much as possible, which is why many SMNs just use Ifrit on Sic which is even easier than using Garuda on Obey.