Summoner feels really, really dumbed down now

[BaconBits]

Actually SMN and RDM are two of the best designed dps jobs now in the game, no useless bloat, pretty visuals and strong class fantasy. If you want something overly cryptic to play to feel ‘rewarded’ for mastering it, then maybe try another genre or picking up martial arts in real life. Because I personally want to have fun and be entertained in a game like FF and not trying to figure out a 30 button rotation with 3 dot timers, 5 cool downs and a pet to micro manage.

Why do you think Square is not cracking down on addon users? Because they know most dps jobs are unplayable without them.

The hell kind of whackjob take is this? I barely even touch SMN and even I can tell the job is as shallow as a kiddie pool. To call it bare bones would actually be an insult to bare bones. In fact, I'd even go so far to say it's as simple as DNC, if not even moreso.

It's one thing to not want to deal with a long and involved rotation while also having to maneuver around pet jank, it's another to have a job veer so far in the other direction that even the simplest of simpletons could excel in it. Especially when there were already plenty of simple jobs for people to choose from to begin with.

And if you genuinely think most of the dps jobs are unplayable without addons, then maybe the problem is you.

[WlyemR]

People need to really reel themselves in a take a second to think about the so-called loss of complexity between 5.0 and 6.0 Summoner. They have all the exact same skills under different names.
One of the main complaints I see is that SMN is nothing but a Ruin spam job now, but I ask you, what was Egi Assault except a different flavored Ruin? You spammed Assault, then Ruin IV, then fell back on Ruin III. The only difference now is the name: Rite and Catastrophe. The only real change now at lower levels is that the spell animation is the same, just with different cast times and potencies. I do believe they could have put more effort into that, but in the end, it would still be the same spell with a different color, just like 5.0.
Enkindle is now Summon and Summon II. Same spell, faster cast.
The only true loss to SMN is Tri-Disaster>Bane and in its place is Astral Flow. The only real problem with Astral Flow is that it comes way too late in the interaction with the three Primal Summons at level 86. If we were to get a lesser form of the 86 Astral Flow abilities at an earlier level, that would go a long way toward alleviating the tedium.
Overall, SMN lost nothing except the dots and some button bloat. All of the other skills are till there in some form.

[rewd]

People need to really reel themselves in a take a second to think about the so-called loss of complexity between 5.0 and 6.0 Summoner. They have all the exact same skills under different names.
One of the main complaints I see is that SMN is nothing but a Ruin spam job now, but I ask you, what was Egi Assault except a different flavored Ruin? You spammed Assault, then Ruin IV, then fell back on Ruin III. The only difference now is the name: Rite and Catastrophe. The only real change now at lower levels is that the spell animation is the same, just with different cast times and potencies. I do believe they could have put more effort into that, but in the end, it would still be the same spell with a different color, just like 5.0.
Enkindle is now Summon and Summon II. Same spell, faster cast.
The only true loss to SMN is Tri-Disaster>Bane and in its place is Astral Flow. The only real problem with Astral Flow is that it comes way too late in the interaction with the three Primal Summons at level 86. If we were to get a lesser form of the 86 Astral Flow abilities at an earlier level, that would go a long way toward alleviating the tedium.
Overall, SMN lost nothing except the dots and some button bloat. All of the other skills are till there in some form.

Egi Assaults were flexible skills with charges that you could use for on demand mobility and to get Ruin IV charges which represented the build up to Bahamut, tying up together your filler phases with your burst.

You are right, though. Just same thing under a different name. Exactly the same.

[tearagion]

Actually SMN and RDM are two of the best designed dps jobs now in the game, no useless bloat, pretty visuals and strong class fantasy. If you want something overly cryptic to play to feel ‘rewarded’ for mastering it, then maybe try another genre or picking up martial arts in real life. Because I personally want to have fun and be entertained in a game like FF and not trying to figure out a 30 button rotation with 3 dot timers, 5 cool downs and a pet to micro manage.

Why do you think Square is not cracking down on addon users? Because they know most dps jobs are unplayable without them.

I do want a job with that stuff, as I like being challenged by my job and the fight simultaneously. And what the..? Addons are not at all necessary for anything, the closest you get (still very far) is XIVAlexander on MCH if your ping is really high.

[CKNovel]

Why do you think Square is not cracking down on addon users? Because they know most dps jobs are unplayable without them.

Bait, right? Surely it's a bait.
I play savage since Stormblood, ultimate since ShB, never needed an addon.

[gsharkboy]

I've played since HW but only signed onto the forums now because the state of SMN now makes me feel so sad. I even loved the shadowbringers clunkiness of summoner. Now it just feels like the simplest physical dps job in the game. No other job in the game feels like old summoner and I feel really lost whenever I log in. Have any other former Summoners found a new job to call home?

[rewd]

Actually SMN and RDM are two of the best designed dps jobs now in the game, no useless bloat, pretty visuals and strong class fantasy. If you want something overly cryptic to play to feel ‘rewarded’ for mastering it, then maybe try another genre or picking up martial arts in real life. Because I personally want to have fun and be entertained in a game like FF and not trying to figure out a 30 button rotation with 3 dot timers, 5 cool downs and a pet to micro manage.

Why do you think Square is not cracking down on addon users? Because they know most dps jobs are unplayable without them.

It depends if the only thing you care about is aesthetics or actually care about gameplay design

I agree that they are perfectly designed job if we are talking about flashiness. Some people care about more than that, but thanks for proving the point.

[WlyemR]

Egi Assaults were flexible skills with charges that you could use for on demand mobility and to get Ruin IV charges which represented the build up to Bahamut, tying up together your filler phases with your burst.

You are right, though. Just same thing under a different name. Exactly the same.

You still have your Ruin IV blasts during Bahamut. Its called Astral Impulse.

[rewd]

Does anyone have an explanation as to why SMN discussions always seem to attract either trolls or clueless clowns? It can't be a coincidence anymore.

[mathias-merodach]

People need to really reel themselves in a take a second to think about the so-called loss of complexity between 5.0 and 6.0 Summoner. They have all the exact same skills under different names.
One of the main complaints I see is that SMN is nothing but a Ruin spam job now, but I ask you, what was Egi Assault except a different flavored Ruin? You spammed Assault, then Ruin IV, then fell back on Ruin III. The only difference now is the name: Rite and Catastrophe. The only real change now at lower levels is that the spell animation is the same, just with different cast times and potencies. I do believe they could have put more effort into that, but in the end, it would still be the same spell with a different color, just like 5.0.
Enkindle is now Summon and Summon II. Same spell, faster cast.
The only true loss to SMN is Tri-Disaster>Bane and in its place is Astral Flow. The only real problem with Astral Flow is that it comes way too late in the interaction with the three Primal Summons at level 86. If we were to get a lesser form of the 86 Astral Flow abilities at an earlier level, that would go a long way toward alleviating the tedium.
Overall, SMN lost nothing except the dots and some button bloat. All of the other skills are till there in some form.

People, like myself, call it a Ruin spam job, because for the majority of your time leveling it is basically all you are doing. Gemshine itself, when it activates after using a summon, is called Emerald, Topaz, or Ruby -Ruin- with the only update being a half name change at 72 that I've seen from being synched down. The majority of these uses being what Ruin 2 allowed you to do. The same thing happens with your AoE. In addition to that, what further lends itself to being a Ruin spam job is that your basic Ruin and Tri-disaster are locked while you are in summon phases, serving absolutely no purpose other than to be greyed out.

Egi Assaults were a bit more than just that. With a max of 2 charges, even at 80, between I and II, they were not exactly spammable. And yes, they were different. Emerald Carbuncle/Garuda's 1 was an AoE attack and there 2 was a AoE that left a wind swirl on the ground for further DoT. Topaz/Titan's 1 was a shield, 2 an AoE. Ruby/Ifrit's were the simplest in terms of what they did; 1 a single target attack and 2 an AoE. And your Assaults and Enkindle, Aetherflow/Energy Drain and Fester/Painflare were all much easier, more convenient, and more able to be planned for weaving with your GCD's.