Am I doing SMN wrong or is there just a LOT to do?

[Kolsykol]

A good thing being busy is you don't become a mindless zombie... have you tried mindlessly pressing a few same buttons over and over and over... Well if that's your thing, I have nothing to say.

Just because you have more buttons doesn't mean that it's less brainless really.
I don't think that Egi Assault needs to be two buttons, I like that it gives ruin charges tho.
I think that they could've gotten rid of Fester and have made an Egi attack that used Aether instead if they wanted to go down that road of making us feel like we're using our Egi's more.
Deathflare and Enkindle Bahamut also don't need to be two separate buttons for example.

I only have so many buttons to use that I feel make for comfortable and fluent gameplay, when I run out of them it ends up feeling less smooth and as if my rotation is bloated.
I know that Impact was changed now, but it was like with Jolt 2 and Impact in Stormblood. There's no reason for them to be two separate buttons, Jolt 2 just should've turned into Impact when it proc'd.
The fact that it's two buttons doesn't really make the game feel more involved or deep imo it just means that I'll have to play in a more awkward way.

[AlphaFox]

I admit it is a bit busy for my taste and that is still leveling it to 71. I liked what I heard, read and saw but upon execution just so much going on that I don't have it in me to really commit. Least not right now.

[dinnertime]

SMN is a lot more active now which is great, but honestly the direction it went isn't the way to do it. There's a lot of things to keep track of than before (and the most out of every job apparently) when imo it already had just enough before. Egi Assaults being the main complaint from most people. The damage for both isn't satisfying either. Yeah it's 30 secs on both, but it still feels bad/underwhelming to use.

There's more buttons than ever, too. Splitting Aetherflow into Energy Drain and Energy Siphon seems like pointless decision-making. Meanwhile Dreadwyrm Trance and Deathflare hasn't been merged into one button yet, nor Summon-Bahamut and Enkindle Bahamut/Phoenix. Having so many mundane buttons makes playing SMN more annoying than it should be. I like most of the changes, but imo the job needs more tweaking.

[Anvaire]

i like it, but it is a bit overwhelming at first. It gets a lot easier when you get to 80 and have demi-phoenix because it, like Bahamut removes the ability to use Egi Attack. I think the easiest mistake is thinking you need to use all of the egi attacks, you don't. as long as you use 1 stack of them just before bahamut and phoenix, you'll naturally have space to use them after bahamut/ phoenix clears off.

That said the priority system i use is:

Dots
Trances
Energy Drain/Syphon / fester/painflare
Bahamut
Enkindle
Devotion
Egi Attack 1
Egi Attack 2

You don't need to blow your first DWT, nor summon Bahamut immediately. I Often finds its better to delay Bahamut, as long as he is summoned at 25-20 secs remaining on the trance cooldown, you shouldn't clip into trance.

Other than that it's just about keeping the flow going, which is strangely quite refreshing despite how busy it is. I've found its got a lot easier the more times i've tried it. (Wiping on Titania ex helped a lot in this regard)

OH - i also keep an egi Attack 1 in reserve for that sweet emergency Titan shield its useful for those stacks people forget to stand in :^)

Either way, i loved the 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 Summoners and i also love the 5.0 one

[Kyohei]

Yes it's definitely more busy but that's actually what i like about it. I've long looked for a job to play that isn't boring me after 30 min at the start of ShB and SMN was the one, while i absolutely hated SB SMN. I feel like i've actually something to do and there's like 3 layers of rotation rather than one for others jobs.

Still at lvl 77 right now but what i'mdoing right now is :

1st layer: tri-disaster, energy drain (or the aoe one), dreadwyrm trance+devotion, use egi assault coupled with insta ruin IV and eventually insert some fester/painflare, blow dreadwyrm trance at 1-2s left
By that time you have energy drain cd ready and stacks of insta ruin.
2nd layer: Summon bahamut and akh morn, tri disater, energy drain, use a stack of ruin, fester, use stack of ruin and possibly another one, second akh morn, fester/painflare, use last stack of ruin, then proceed to ruin II spamming until bahamut goes away
You then have some time before phoenix trance is up so i'm using it to reapply dots, energy drain and replenish stacks of ruin (using egi assaults) .
3rd layer: phoenix trance+ devotion, fountain of fire, fester/painflare, brand of purgatory, and repeat it until the time's up (while inserting some energy drain at some point instead of fester cause no more stack of aetherflow)

That's how i'm doing it for now, i don't know if it'll help you OP, but it can tell the reason why i like SMN now. It's because i feel i'm always doing something different thanks to those three layers and it's very nice to not be spamming something endlessly or repeat the same the same 4-5 button the same way everytime

[Taranok]

Kyohei, if you want busy jobs that feel good, play Machinist, Dancer, or Bard. All 3 of those jobs are designed, top down, to have busy rotations. Having a rotation on par with those 3 on a caster DPS is not good design, it does not flow well, and it's certainly on the wrong class because Red Mage actually has the tools to deal with being busy.

The class was massively embusied between SB and ShB, and while it's fine to change classes, you don't take a low-moderate busy class and throw it to the far end of the spectrum making it the busiest class in the game, that's just bad game design to begin with. And if you are going to do a change like this, which the devs have done before with Black Mage, then the class needs to flow and feel good with the new rotation, which SMN does not. It does not flow, and it does not feel good, regardless of how busy it is.

So if you seriously want a busy DPS rotation, play Bard, Machinist, or Dancer, they are vastly better designed busy rotations, with Bard being the most consistently busy closest to SMN's current playstyle, and it feels a lot better because every attack is instant and it can do its full rotation while moving without penalty if you're good enough.

[Kio]

Smn is a bit too chaotic at the moment, and certain abilities such as dread wrym trance aren't obvious when they are available to use. There's just no rhythm or flow to it unlike some of the newer jobs. Man I miss the Heavensward summoner.

[Barta]

Summoner is painful to play at this point, and a chore. When I clear this.... Whatever dungeon, the Grisytla Gray Chasm or whatever, and unlock ShB content I will be changing to BLM.

SMN was fine in ARR and HW, but has consistently sucked since.

[ksuyen]

Yes it's definitely more busy but that's actually what i like about it. I've long looked for a job to play that isn't boring me after 30 min at the start of ShB and SMN was the one, while i absolutely hated SB SMN. I feel like i've actually something to do and there's like 3 layers of rotation rather than one for others jobs.

Still at lvl 77 right now but what i'mdoing right now is :

1st layer: tri-disaster, energy drain (or the aoe one), dreadwyrm trance+devotion, use egi assault coupled with insta ruin IV and eventually insert some fester/painflare, blow dreadwyrm trance at 1-2s left
By that time you have energy drain cd ready and stacks of insta ruin.
2nd layer: Summon bahamut and akh morn, tri disater, energy drain, use a stack of ruin, fester, use stack of ruin and possibly another one, second akh morn, fester/painflare, use last stack of ruin, then proceed to ruin II spamming until bahamut goes away
You then have some time before phoenix trance is up so i'm using it to reapply dots, energy drain and replenish stacks of ruin (using egi assaults) .
3rd layer: phoenix trance+ devotion, fountain of fire, fester/painflare, brand of purgatory, and repeat it until the time's up (while inserting some energy drain at some point instead of fester cause no more stack of aetherflow)

That's how i'm doing it for now, i don't know if it'll help you OP, but it can tell the reason why i like SMN now. It's because i feel i'm always doing something different thanks to those three layers and it's very nice to not be spamming something endlessly or repeat the same the same 4-5 button the same way everytime

This is exactly how I feel about the job. Also I have a similiar setup of 3 layers:

Layer 1. Dreadwyrm Phase

Layer 2. Bahamut Phase

Layer 3. Phoenix Phase

And in between wave in Egi Assaults, Devotion, Ruin 4. It's busy but not muddle. It has very clear phases that you can follow through.

[LegoTechnic]

SMN is busy and a lot of fun, but the design certainly seems to run towards "weave abilities constantly, all the time", because that's in effect what you do. Practically every cast has an additional ability with cooldown to weave, and you're almost always doing it. That's certainly fun, but it's a whole lot to keep track of given the variant cooldown timers, and while you don't really notice after you've been practicing for a while, the second you switch to something like RDM and get the same results with much less effort it does kind of strike you.

But I am a firm proponent that not every class should play the same (RIP healers), and SMN definitely appeals to those who want an active, busier playstyle with their fingers dancing across the keyboard. For those wanting a simpler, more relaxed time, then that's what RDM is for.