Incorporating Contagion into the base SMN skill set will improve other pets viability

[Nerastarel]

I would love if SMN pet's were all as viable, but Contagion is just way too useful in endgame content (extremes and savage) to use anything other than Garuda.

Please consider incorporating Contagion as a base SMN skill.

PS: It would be awesome if you make Contagion a ACN skill since that would benefit SCH too but now I'm just being greedy.

[Cabalabob]

As you noted if it was an ACN skill it would be usable by SCH which would be far too overpowered since SCH already has the best dps of all healers. But if they made it a SMN job ability then ACN wouldn't get access to it, gimping ACN further than it already is (not that this really matters since ACN is dead once you hit 30 anyway) but the point is contagion is in a very precarious place where changing it would alter the balance of all 3 jobs and class, not just SMN.

SMN pets are fairly well balanced at the moment anyway, ifrit is better for trash that will die fast, Garuda is better for sustained fights like bosses and Titan is best for solo as your personal tank. Contagion isn't as much of a dps gain over ifrit as it used to be in 2.0

[Rawrz]

I would love if SMN pet's were all as viable, but Contagion is just way too useful in endgame content (extremes and savage) to use anything other than Garuda.

Please consider incorporating Contagion as a base SMN skill.

PS: It would be awesome if you make Contagion a ACN skill since that would benefit SCH too but now I'm just being greedy.

Lol... If SCH could have that...

SMN using contagion on unbuffed Dots (Bio II, Miasma, Bio): (35+35+40) x 5 = 550 Potency
SCH using contagion in CS buffed Dots (Bio II, Miasma, Bio, Aero): [(35+35+40+25)x1.1] x 5 =~743 Potency.

The addition of Aero and Cleric Stance give it a natural advantage. (Thinks about this Wet Dream fuel)

[Neophyte]

Actually this would be a good idea.

I'd suggest to remove Tri-Bind and give us Contagion (60s CD as before) and add Tri-Bind to Garudas Abilitys (30-60s CD now, pot/bind can stay the way they are). This would acutally make Tri-Bind kind of useful (as long as mobs are not immune to ist effect), since it's no huge dps/mp-loss anymore if you use it at all.

[Nekotee]

If you exchange contagion and tri-bind with garuda
No one will use garuda and it will be Ifrit full reign

Ifrit is already on par with garuda in usefulness and strengh (minus contagion)
MSI removing contagion would kill garuda

[Llynd]

Lol... If SCH could have that...

SMN using contagion on unbuffed Dots (Bio II, Miasma, Bio): (35+35+40) x 5 = 550 Potency
SCH using contagion in CS buffed Dots (Bio II, Miasma, Bio, Aero): [(35+35+40+25)x1.1] x 5 =~743 Potency.

The addition of Aero and Cleric Stance give it a natural advantage. (Thinks about this Wet Dream fuel)

Actually not, even on sch, it will only consider the 3 ACN dots, not aero ^^.
And yeah it could be good for sch too, better dots gameplay !
And no, sch got the worst dps of all healers. ( they can only maintain it longer because of the mana).

[Nekotee]

I follow rawrz

SCH get the best DPS of all three because of all the DoTs and the unlimited mana
Whm is the worst, one high burst and then mana struggle all the way
Ast is Medium, good mana regen poor DPS toolkit

Give SCH contagion and it will be far too OP

[Neophyte]

If you exchange contagion and tri-bind with garuda
No one will use garuda and it will be Ifrit full reign

Ifrit is already on par with garuda in usefulness and strengh (minus contagion)
MSI removing contagion would kill garuda

Maybe they have to balance the dps-output of the egis... but Garuda would still be useful, if you really want a ranged dps and not a melee one, who can't dodge and has no gapcloser. Like everything where there are some adds with relative low health (add Phase, 2nd Boss A6S.. Ifrit would have much downtime there... or something not from savage.. like the final Boss in neaverreap: many weak adds, invulnerable Boss, lots movement) or the boss having hardhitting AoEs+debuffs around him (which affects Egis... less common now, but could be re-implemented).

Just to add: Single target Ifrit does like 7 dps more on a dummy (10 min parse with ilvl 228). Plus 2(-4) dps per (buffed) Enkindle + (at the very best) 21 dps (with my ilvl 220 tank and 6*50 pot hit from radiant shield) every minute.
That's 30 dps gain for having to move instead of being a range.

In some content it will be better to use Ifrit, in some other it will still be Garuda. And isn't this exactly what we want?

[Neophyte]

Actually not, even on sch, it will only consider the 3 ACN dots, not aero ^^.

No. Contagion is applied on every DoT from you, including Bio2, Miasma, Bio, Miasma2 and poison pots (which were a thing back in 2.x).
Bane only spreads Bio2, Miasma, Bio.

[JackFross]

Contagion really isn't a massive gain in dps, though. It barely changes anything. You get to cast more Ruin, because I guess that's what you want to do? If you use that time for extra Ruin III's at full mana cost out of dwt then sure it's a higher burst gain, but you can't sustain that for very long.

All that Contagion affords you is convenience (and a super amazing potent set of long dots if you snapshot under RS+DWT and contagion them) whereas Ifrit beats it in all other ways, not least because Ifrit actually gains personal dps by using its cooldowns, whereas Garuda loses DPS by using them.