Summoner Demystified: A Guide for Beginners

[RedHerb]

Uh... I don't want to bash your guide, because I'm not the greatest SMN and this is coming from your heart, I can tell.

HOWEVER!

There's a lot of misinformation in here. You really should practice a little bit more before you begin trying to make a guide. There's still a lot you need to learn, especially when it comes to weaving in between your GCD rotation. Never, ever, pop 4 oGCDs back-to-back like that. That's a mess.

Never leave Garuda/Carbuncle on sic, the pushback is annoying. Especially to a tank who know has to chase this mob across the room.

If you're in DWT, might be a good idea to Tri-D -> RuinIII -> Fester -> RuinIII -> Deathflare. Honestly if you've got Garuda out and you're feelin' a little fancy with weaving, you can even swing an Enkindle (with Rouse and Spur in there) as well as a cool Contagion for fun to stretch out the DWT'd Tri-D.

[Solarra]

In light of this thread, I've gone back and forth in my head over making a SMN Beginner's/Leveling Guide of sorts, divided into 4 parts (15-30, 30-50, 50-60, then 60 & Endgame) with sub-sections for each. In your case though (being a lvl 15 Arcanist according to your Lodestone), I'd say for now you can apply the majority of what OP mentioned here as you level up to 50 at least.

Thanks for the reply. My Arcanist is on hold at the moment as I'm concentrating on getting through the MSQ.

I do hope you go ahead and make your guide, I find a little hand-holding through the early stages can really make a difference to how comfortable I feel with a class. Even at low levels is nice to know you are using your abilities correctly and making a solid contribution.

[Havenchild]

In light of this thread, I've gone back and forth in my head over making a SMN Beginner's/Leveling Guide of sorts, divided into 4 parts (15-30, 30-50, 50-60, then 60 & Endgame) with sub-sections for each.

This was the way I was intending to go about it. You would then elaborate on the skills in these level increments and how they adjust your playstyle uptil this point. I was intending on getting it done but progression hit pretty hard in terms of time management. If OP could do it this way, I could link it in the other thread and give credit.

[Alisa180]

Uh... I don't want to bash your guide, because I'm not the greatest SMN and this is coming from your heart, I can tell.

HOWEVER!

There's a lot of misinformation in here. You really should practice a little bit more before you begin trying to make a guide. There's still a lot you need to learn, especially when it comes to weaving in between your GCD rotation. Never, ever, pop 4 oGCDs back-to-back like that. That's a mess.

Never leave Garuda/Carbuncle on sic, the pushback is annoying. Especially to a tank who know has to chase this mob across the room.

If you're in DWT, might be a good idea to Tri-D -> RuinIII -> Fester -> RuinIII -> Deathflare. Honestly if you've got Garuda out and you're feelin' a little fancy with weaving, you can even swing an Enkindle (with Rouse and Spur in there) as well as a cool Contagion for fun to stretch out the DWT'd Tri-D.

I fixed the guide to change the thing about Garuda/Carbuncle.

I'm very well aware I have problems weaving oGCDs. I've made that clear repeatedly in the guide, and eve have a whole section dedicated to addressing it. Popping 4 oGCDS might be messy, but it works for now. FYI, I myself don't pop Killing Strikes at the start anymore, and have Rouse+Spur on a macro.

Additionally, I've recently stumbled upon information that suggests Enkindle is not affected by Killing Strikes and DWT. If so, then popping that plus Rouse+Spur at the start is perfectly fine.

FeliAiko says she's going to make a guide of her own, and I hope she does. I suspect it will be better then mine. The quality of my guide aside, as Solarra has shown, there's a very real need for DPS guides that assume nothing from the reader. This serves the niche until either something better comes up, or I improve upon it.

In other news, happy 3.1 everyone! I've added a couple useful macros to the guide. And still procrastinating on actually adding formatting the damn thing. >_<;

This was the way I was intending to go about it. You would then elaborate on the skills in these level increments and how they adjust your playstyle uptil this point. I was intending on getting it done but progression hit pretty hard in terms of time management. If OP could do it this way, I could link it in the other thread and give credit.

Consider it done. It will take a few days, naturally, not to mention 3.1 is finally out so that will take up a chunk of my time. But I can see how this is a good idea, and will start re-writing accordingly.

[Solarra]

I am delighted you are continuing with this project

As I said originally, you have a nice writing style. You present the information clearly and come across as very approachable at the same time.
I think new players reading the guide will appreciate the fact that you aren't afraid to admit to making the odd mistake now and then. It is going to reassure them when they find themselves struggling with some of the harder aspects of the class.
Truly exceptional players often don't remember what it was like to be a beginner or never really found things difficult at all. It's hard for someone like that to help a person who is struggling because they are not going to understand why.

Some people might feel uneasy when someone writing a guide or trying to teach something admits to not knowing everything. To me that says you can honestly assess your own knowledge and you don't have ego problems. It also suggests you are the type of person who will constantly reassess what they know and continue to learn and improve.
I have a lot of respect for the way you have handled criticism as well, discussing the issues raised, taking suggestions on board and making changes.

I've bookmarked this thread and will be coming back regularly. I'll also point any friends who are starting Arcanist in this direction.

[FeliAiko]

FeliAiko says she's going to make a guide of her own, and I hope she does. I suspect it will be better then mine. The quality of my guide aside, as Solarra has shown, there's a very real need for DPS guides that assume nothing from the reader. This serves the niche until either something better comes up, or I improve upon it.

(It's he, not she)

Well it was just a thought as far as making a guide... but I've ended up acting on it and got a working project up so far. I've cut out and spliced in a small section of what I've done below; hopefully it gives an indication of the direction I wanna take it and if serves its purpose well enough.

Disciple of the Grimoire: A Summoner Starter Guide

by Feli Skylar of Odin (EU)

Learning the Art (Levels 15 to 30)

The Starter Rotation

Below is the opening single target rotation for Arcanist, beginning from Level 15. I’ve highlighted oGCD abilities in italics, which will be a persistent trait throughout this guide.

Bio II* -> Miasma -> Bio -> Energy Drain -> Ruin spam -> refresh Bio -> refresh Miasma -> Ruin spam
*Available at Level 26

Once you get to the ‘Ruin spam’ stage, your general gameplay becomes a priority system where you:

1. Refresh your DoTs (Miasma at 3-4 seconds remaining, and Bio at 1 second remaining)
2. Refresh Aetherflow (assuming you have no stacks available, otherwise use those first, then refresh)
3. Ruin spam if the above two conditions have already been met.

To elaborate further on #2, at Level 20 you gain the Aetherdam trait, meaning each use of Aetherflow will give you 2 stacks instead of 1. Or, in other words, two Energy Drains per Aetherflow use. This means that whenever you’re in a situation where you have one stack left, and Aetherflow is close to being available, then you wait until it’s off CD, spend that stack on Energy Drain and refresh Aetherflow immediately after. For example:

Ruin spam -> refresh Bio -> Energy Drain -> Aetherflow -> refresh Miasma -> refresh Bio II -> Ruin spam

Notice how the Energy Drain and Aetherflow refresh took place between refreshing Bio and before you had to refresh Miasma? As Bio is an instant cast ability, that gives you 2.5 seconds (because of the GCD) where you have time to use up to two oGCD skills in succession during that window, setting you up in time to refresh Miasma in one smooth motion once the GCD ends. Other instances in which you can take advantage of Bio in this way are:

refresh Bio (GCD begins) -> Energy Drain -> (GCD ends) use GCD ability
refresh Bio (GCD begins) -> Aetherflow -> (GCD ends) use GCD ability

Meanwhile, at the same level you gain an extra Aetherflow stack, Emerald learns a new skill: Downburst, giving you your first AoE ability. Speaking of which, the initial AoE rotation for Arcanist is as follows:

[Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio] on first target -> [Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio] on second target -> [Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio] on third target, etc.

Once you have all 3 DoTs up on all targets, you can revert back to the 3 priorities listed above as you Ruin spam your main target. Once that target dies, then repeat with your new main target, and so on.

It’s during the Ruin spam stage that you fit in Downburst (make sure you have a keybind for it), like so:

Ruin (Downburst) -> Ruin -> Ruin -> etc.

Being a pet skill, using it during the Ruin animation/cast bar will not interrupt your spell. It does not have to be strictly done during your first Ruin cast, but do aim to fit it in as early as possible. With a cast time of 3 seconds, be wary of using Downburst on a mob with very low HP lest they die before Emerald has completed the cast, effectively wasting the skill.

Understandably, performing your opening AoE rotation will feel tedious, but this burden will change once you reach Level 30 and gain the ability Bane after completing your final class quest. At the cost of an Aetherflow stack, Bane will spread your applied DoTs from your current target onto all surrounding targets within an 8 yalm range. However, after 3 targets, the DoTs spread will only do 50% damage on the fourth enemy and beyond. It also comes with a 15% chance of the transferred DoTs having their durations reset to full, but only on a mob by mob basis.

Originally, this ability only had a target limit of 4 - including the source the DoTs were spread from. With the removal of this cap Arcanist (and by extension, Summoner) is now very useful in dungeon runs compared to before, as well as in raid scenarios where there are more than 4 enemies.

[Zepla]

Two things:

1. Blue Carbuncle should also be on Obey. Garuda-egi is just an upgraded version of it mechanically, so they share the same moves (just renamed). That means Carby also has Contagion (named Shining Emerald), so for those lvling SMN from scratch it's good practice to get used to keeping Summon I on Obey, period.

2. No reason to replace Ruin when you get Ruin II because that's not its purpose. If you have no reason to move, or to weave in an oGCD like Fester, then you simply spam Ruin I until DoTs need to be reapplied.

Other than that, seems all good so far.

Hi there, I'm leveling SMN and just hit level 40. Is there any compelling reason to use Ruin over Ruin II? Mana is not an issue for me at all.

On Reddit someone said that "Actually, Ruin II gives you a damage increase WHEN and only WHEN you are standing in melee range and have auto attack on." ?? This makes no sense to me... Can someone help me out? Thanks.

[FeliAiko]

The mana issues arise from long duration fights where there can be little downtime to compensate for the MP spent (i.e. raids and trials). Since dungeon bosses aren't generally long encounters and you get downtime inbetween trash packs then mana issues are less likely to be a problem at your level.

The issue with Ruin II is since its an instant GCD, you become locked out of doing other skills immediately, unless you have an oGCD (e.g Fester, ED, Spur) available to fill that gap with. Ruin on the other hand has a cast time roughly as long as the GCD so by the time the cast ends so does your GCD, giving you the freedom to cast again.

The point about melee range is that as you use Ruin II your character will use an autoattack, so it works out as 80 potency + AA damage. If you use Ruin II at range and you weren't forced to move or did an oGCD after, then you wasted extra mana just to do the same damage as a normal Ruin.

[Sleigh]

Hi there, I'm leveling SMN and just hit level 40. Is there any compelling reason to use Ruin over Ruin II? Mana is not an issue for me at all.

While it's still bad form to spam Ruin II over Ruin, this was a much bigger deal pre-2.5 (or some 2.5X patch) when they reduced Ruin and Ruin II's cost. Post-reduction I'll admit you can get away with spamming Ruin II over Ruin in a lot of fights, including raids, but it's a very bad habit because the fights where MP won't survive (like Savage A2, kinda A3 and A4), or if shit hits the fan and you want to use Resurrection or re-summon a cleaved Garuda/Ifrit, you'll be in the weeds MP wise.

[alphamax112]

Hi there, I'm leveling SMN and just hit level 40. Is there any compelling reason to use Ruin over Ruin II? Mana is not an issue for me at all.

On Reddit someone said that "Actually, Ruin II gives you a damage increase WHEN and only WHEN you are standing in melee range and have auto attack on." ?? This makes no sense to me... Can someone help me out? Thanks.

Ruin II only when you have to weave something or when you have to move constantly. Other than that just Ruin/Ruin III(in DwT).