Quote Originally Posted by Rongway View Post
It wasn't about min-maxing at all. It's about how upon learning Summon Phoenix you immediately became weaker because Bahamut->Pheonix was objectively weaker than Bahamut->Bahamut, and this isn't a min-maxing issue (because there is no choice involved) but a "leveling up should never make you weaker" issue.



This is a non solution because then there would be a min-maxing issue in that nobody would ever use Phoenix in a competently played party because there would never be enough incoming damage to require that healing and it would sacrifice dps.
Yes, it would be entirely situational, so people who maximize DPS will hardly ever use it, or maybe never use it unless the fight demands a ton of mobility and Bahamut becomes more of a turret-like phase.

The issue is that the current functionality of Phoenix is essentially just a reskin of Bahamut with some regeneration, and it still isn't the best design.
If Phoenix remains as it is today, things will never evolve, and it will always be Bahamut -> Titan, Ifrit, Garuda -> Phoenix > maybe Shiva, Leviathan, Ramuh.

And if the rotation follows this logic, the new elemental summons will simply be reskins of Ifrit, Titan, Garuda.

I know this would favor min-maxing for more experienced players, but isn't it a valid choice for a summoner to have the option to choose their summons based on the situation?
That's how Yoshi-p originally sold the rework and that was actually not the case, the only strategic choice in the current summoner rotation is not to use Ifrit during needing mobility phases; everything else simply doesn't require any thought.