SMN opener

[Rakith]

Hi everyone
I would like to know from my HL SMN fellows if they all use pet swap in their opener. Is it a real dps increase ? Is it absolutely worthwhile ? I play with a controller and i find it hard to sqeeze more abilities in my cast bars... Thank you

[NewAgeDoom]

It was my understanding that the pet swap opener was only for EXTREME min-maxing, and had such a low margin for error that it generally wasn't worth it unless you manage to pull it off PERFECTLY.

But I'm still a relatively new player, and not really a SMN main, so take my word with a grain of salt to rival the Dead Sea.

[FeliAiko]

It's more a raid DPS gain than a personal one IIRC. So in that sense, yes, it's worthwhile.

[ChaoticCrimson]

I attempted the pet swap openings for a short time, but found it was a bit of a nuisance handling it while playing on a PS4 controller. If you can get the hang of it though, it's pretty great, really. It also probably depends on the fight and party composition too, as well.

[Nemekh]

Yes and yes.

Controller can make it finicky, but there's merits to performing it for a minor personal gain as well as a general party gain for that time window. It is always worth performing correctly. Even Japanese controller players have started picking it up now

If you want a more seamless and more hassle-free version of the swap, I recommend my comfy pet swap shown here.

However, it is important to note that an opener is only but a small portion of a larger fight total. While they matter, keeping play clean and your foundations correct is far more significant overall for squeezing as much as possible out of the job. There's generally a lot, if not too much focus, on just the openers by players.

[ShaolinMike]

I just learned the pet swap opener two days ago. I've had no issues with it on a controller. It's just a matter retraining your muscle memory to adapt to the first few GCDs. After that, it's about the same as the "regular" openers.

[Nemekh]

I just learned the pet swap opener two days ago. I've had no issues with it on a controller. It's just a matter retraining your muscle memory to adapt to the first few GCDs. After that, it's about the same as the "regular" openers.

It was nice to see when it clicked for you in the Discord. It really isn't so bad, just a little different!

[Aomine1992]

It's worth while but not something that you absolutely need to do, you can try other openers there are plenty on YouTube that have viability...the thing I like about SMN is I've seen alot of different openers achieve some of the same results. Good Luck

[Rakith]

Many thanks for all your messages guys. I will practice then.
Nemekh, Can you explain the reason of flaming crush before summoning Garuda ? Thank you

[TelosNox]

Flaming Crush before summon is to enforce Garuda to use Contagion first, so you can swap early. That way you can keep the pet on sic and don't need obey.

I see many top logs that don't petswap. That's the reason why I asked too about the petswap opener.
At Kefka for example I prefer a non petswap opener that uses enkindle very fast. That way I can use enkindle a second time right before the first graven image (it runs about 12 seconds then). It is no problem that not the whole duration is used because after graven image you will directly use bahamut and enkindle will be off cd after that.

If you use petswap you won't be able to use that enkindle before graven.

In general for me it feels like petswap is some kind of minimalistic optimization that needs a lot of additional work.
I think the overall gain for raiddps is somewhere between 10-50 if you have no second caster.
(And if you have a second caster then you can stick with Garuda)