I Love 4.0 Summoner. A lot.

[Letz]

Pet's as you said can be set to "Sic". Red Mage requires much more thought then Summoner. Summoner is much easier to do damage, (Albeit less damage.)

The fact you think Smns can leave their pet on Sic is why you find it "easy to do less dps", and why you view Red Mage as more complicated. The intricacies Smn had in HW are still there, just in different areas. Please read research on the class, like Eirene's:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...d3LQBPy1E/edit

For SSS dummies, Smn's dps requirement is quite high, which means competitive dps is still possible. When you see that you aren't doing that level of dps (which you've admitted), your instinct should be to look up what you're doing wrong. (Surprised you haven't already done this, since you claim to be a dps raider.) I believe you didn't have this issue with Rdm since the class is well-designed and simpler to pick up- something I cannot say about Smn.

[Ariomi]

The intricacies Smn had in HW are still there, just in different areas. Please read research on the class, like Eirene's:

You seemed to miss the fact the OP mentioned that after they use the first contagion, they put their pet on sic to fight less with clunky ai.
Also Smn doesn't have a single intricacy from heavensward.

Try lining contagion up properly once and putting garuda on sic. I know it's taboo to suggest that, but after you line it up properly once you want to use it on cd anyways, and garuda is much better about casting it fast herself than when you order her to do it.

Losing or missing Aetherflow? Only if you die. Dropping aethertrail attunement because of pushing phases or unexpected event? Impossible, even in a11s.
Mana issues? Gone the moment every summoner ever put Lucid dream on their hotbar. Squeezing out fester's in dreadwyrm trance? Thing of a past. Lining up Tri-disaster with dreadwyrm trance? Automatically done for you! Want to Ruin 4? Wait till it procs and cast a spell you would probably cast anyway.

Face it dude. Summoner has been made so easy, with everything from all summoner's dots taking a combined total of 2.5 seconds to cast, to fester's cd being cut in half. It could not get any simpler then it is today. The only thing they could do to make the class easier is take the controller/keyboard out of your hand and play for you.

[Letz]

Also Smn doesn't have a single intricacy from heavensward.

Yes.. which is why I said, "Just in different areas."

Also, I am not referring to anything the OP said or didn't say. I am telling you that putting the pet on Sic is a choice that will make the class simpler but lower your dps. Which, again, is something you, personally, are having an issue with.

So again, I will state my perspective on your problem. If you were able to do respectable dps as a summoner, I doubt you'd find it faceroll easy. And, again, you yourself say you aren't satisfied with your Smn dps, while at the same time finding it overly simple. So, logically, you shouldn't have a hard time believing that your playing the class improperly.

[Ariomi]

Yes.. which is why I said, "Just in different areas."

Took me two pulls in Lahsmi ex to get a good parse on summoner. Purple parse numbers, with no astro, and the only buff being battle litany.
And there is literally nothing to the class. Dots up, Ruin 3 till your mana is lower, Ruin 3 More when Lucid Dream, Fester thrice Dreadwyrm Contagion Tri-Disaster ruin 3 spam deathflare. Repeat until Bahamut, Ahk morn as he is summoned, ruin 2 addle ruin 2 until ahk morn off cooldown and back to dots and dreadwyrm.
And those intricacies, you talk about, revolve around Summoner as a whole being dumbed down. You can debate with putting your pet on sic with the Op. I don't do it personally but the fact they do it, means Summoner requires even less effort.

Summoner's current intricacies include: Deciding to Contagion the first dreadwyrm trance then using it on the next one, or going into dreadwyrm early and popping contagion on bahamut. Using as much Ruin 3 as possible to get the most out of lucid dream, using addle to squeeze out one last wyrmwave, and that's literally it.

I have an issue with summoner when ways for it to outdps a bard are made impossible. Can't fester in dreadwyrm, and everything about the class is funky.

https://www.fflogs.com/statistics/17#boss=42

Click here. You will be hard pressed to find a fight where Summoner has more dps then a bard, a support class mind you. Support class meaning lower personal dps, with the trade off of high utility. And unless every summoner who has ever played including you doesn't know how to play the class properly and there is a way to achieve higher numbers then a bard, then the class is too simple, and the dps too low.