Summoner likes and dislikes, an attempt to compilate thoughts on Summoner.

[Silkerin]

lv 80, titania farmed, innocence not even stepped inside because my damn vpn is fuky atm, and playing the current smn with the latency i have without is even worse than most imagine. Overall, When you get to Phoenix trance, it feels great and like how a smn should be on ff14 (probably), but before that, it is just a job with identity crisis, is it a dot mage? a gimped beastmaster? a summoner? who knows? not the devs who were in charge of it.... So I say, get rid of the beastmaster aspect entirely, and leave it for the future beast master job (who we all know will be a damn limited job that will be useless and soon after release forgotten).

LIKES:

• Bane: The changes were good, the ruination spread was especially nice;
  
• Phoenix trance with Phoenix: This is how the trances show have been from start, especially nice that it isnt a ruin spam like how dreadwyrn/bahamut;
  
• DOTs: They powering up ruins as well is great;
  (Desired change: make it power up all of our damaging moves * pets included *, but... well.. considering the job is currently a ruin spam machine, it kinda already powers up 75% of the actions used...)
  
• Outburst: Finally an aoe spam spell;
  (Desired change: With the current aoe capabilities of smn, this needs a slight potency buff and maybe a cast time reduction even outside of trance);
  
• Ruination: 30s increase was good;

DISLIKES:

• Egi assaults: Terrible. While a finer control is needed for sch, for smn, I dont particularly see it being needed. They refresh so quickly, and there are very few good windows to weave them in (almost only dreadwyrm trance);
  (Desired change: Just make Egis be on Sic and let them use the moves automatically and get rid of egi assaults and give us something good isntead)
  
• Ruin 4: Terrible too, being tied to the clunky egi assaults makes this annoing to use by association;
  (Desired change: Just make it a charge spell, give us the 4 or something charges, and when it runs out of charges it becomes ruin 2 until it has a charge again * but is this doable? dunno *)
  
• Energy Drain/Syphon: I get it, it was the lazy solution so people dont have to wait for aetherflow, but theres really no reason for needing 2 versions of the same skill;
  (Desired change: I wont say to give back aetherflow the way it was, just make energy drain become energy syphon with a trait, 100 potency to the target and 40 to those around it.)
  
• Lucid Dreaming: Having to use it every 60s is kinda annoying, the current cd is really not needed considering that it doesnt affect aggro anymore;
  (Desired change: How about having double the refresh potency on double the cd?);
  
• Painflare: Now that we are moving away from bahamut, this could have been renamed to something different, and considering the current smn aoe, this needs a buff;
  
• Egis: they dont make you feel like a proper smn the way the are now considering that drk and mch can call temp pets;
  (Desired change: Make carbuncle the pet you keep summoned 100% of the time, and isntead, you call egis temporarily, having both out at the same time, the 3 sharing the recast timer and each having their niche. basically a pet that is always out and the egis/bahamuth/phoenix being the temp pets you call alongside it.)
  (Desired change 2: if above is not possible, make it so enkindle also make them "demi" versions, for 20s or so upgrades them to their demi forms and finish with their signature move.)
  
• Dreadwyrm trance: While the changes to cast time were nice, when you get firebird trance it feels lacking;
  (Desired change: make it call bahamut during dreadwyrm trance and skip "bahamut phase" entirely * basically copy firebird trance but dreadwyrm *, it would synergize well with the cast reduction and speed up their rotation. My ideal would have been calling 1 egi from the change i mentioned above, and after it is done you can get into this new trance and from there the firebird trance.)
  
• Bahamut AND Phoenix: like mentioned constantly, they are clunky needy children;
  (Desired change: Just make them autoattack by themselves and dont having to be so close to you all the time, or at least make the priority to be attacking instead of moving.)
  
• Aetherpact: for what it does, it needs a shorter cd;
  
• Enkindle(s): Why there are still 2 separeted enkindles? is it not possible to have it become the enkindle for bahamut and phoenix and still remember the cd for the normal enkindle?;
  (Desired change: if the changes i wanted to egis arent possible, make THIS the thing we can use more often for them, not the weak skills, but the ones they are famous for, also having the same 10s cd like the enkindle for the big guys, so all "3" enkindles can be condensed in 1 action.)
  
• It also needs an overall potency buff.
  
• Physic: just... why? either make it good, or get rid of it.

This is what i remember form the top of my head.... but you know what could have helped this whole thing? with all jobs? if they actually made a poll or some sort of research with the player base about what they feel the jobs are lacking or should be about, get a few select players to give their inputs and beta test the jobs (maybe the people from world first) and a few others who obviously would have to sign a temp non disclosure thing. That way they would avoid the so many reworks that happen iand the "we made this, hopefully it is good, we didnt have time to test it, so...." moments.