My desire is to see summoner return a unique and worthy role representing the legacy of the Final Fantasy franchise. I've played summoner since 2.0, mostly as a main, and I can honestly say that I have never liked the DoT management involved. These abilities have always made it feel like it was designed after the Warlock class from World of Warcraft rather than something from the Final Fantasy universe. However, I do concede that these abilities have allowed summoner to somewhat shine as the more mobile caster option, which I do enjoy.

Another post I read really got me thinking, and recently Square Enix has revealed some fairly awesome stuff!



Final Fantasy XVI really shined in its showcase as the protagonist employed his adopted Eikon powers in a fast paced combat style. If FFXIV could rework summoner, possibly moving away from its traditional role in the franchise, it sure seems like we could be sitting on an vastly different and extremely fun class.

I think adopting a similar styles for the Eorzean summoner could really work since the devs seem to desire and prefer class ability with quick and momentary graphical effects, such as Enkindle or Aetherpact, rather than allowing summoners to maintain a large summon such as Bahamut.

No doubt this is because of the stress it places on servers and gameplay. However, it doesn't need to be mutually exclusive. Both could also be incorporated as well! A small summon to fight alongside its summoner who jumps into the fray employing the wrested aether won in their deadly battles against the Primals.

This seems like it would also give the devs a lot more freedom in how they could build the class. Currently, playing summoner feels like a chore maintaining DoTs and spamming ruin.

However, this isn't to say I don't love certain things about the current summoner. It is obvious that the devs have put in massive amounts of hard work into their past reworks of summoner, which has been evident throughout every expansion. Truly, I can only imagine that they are sick and tired of the massive reworks summoner has required and don't want to look at it again, but here's to hope!

What do you all think or suggest?