The Grand Summoner FAQ and Advice Compendium

[pandabearcat]

I would like to add to be extremely proactive in your mana management, especially in progression.

I would also go on to say that unless you will be moving for a VERY long time (like > 3 seconds) and/or something MUST die asap, and will wipe you if it doesn't (like heart), do not use Ruin II at all.

The only time I would justify using Ruin II is the 2nd fester during RS. It is ludicrously expensive spell for a tiny, tiny dps boost (remember its only 80p!)

Just a note that also miasma II should not be used single target unless you have contagion...it is already extremely inefficient, and contagion barely makes it do more damage than Ruin (it goes up to 120p).

Also when you Miasma II, feel free to right click a target to smack it once with your book.

Effective? Nope! Tiny dps increase? You betcha!

Also I would like to note that yes, if you have the chance to precast, Shadowflare is your best bet.

However, I typically use precast time to do cooldowns instead (rouse > spur > rs), then I have time to enkindle before rouse/spur disappears, and don't have to delay the two by ~20 seconds.

Its just preference really, no real reason why one is spectacularly better than the other.

EDIT: for the "resummon your pet point", as long as the target will live for longer than 12-15 seconds, even hardcasting summoning your pet will be a dps gain. So resummoning it is always top priority.

Another reason to proactively manage your mana, so if you do need to resummon your pet, you're not completely dry afterwards. Furthermore, in case you need to res someone, you will not be severely hindered.

EDIT2: for the "bane not breaking sleep" thing, this is also true for Shadowflare. And for the "dots do not break sleep" tip, only dots that have not been applied do not break sleep. Applying a DoT (even one without an attack potency) will still break sleep. Again, bane is the exception here.

EDIT3: for large trash pulls, use bane's tiny range to your advantage. Contagion bane the leftmost mob, for example, then dot up the right most mob, and bane that to the right side. In this way you can "get around" bane's 4 target restriction with minimal chance of overwriting DoTs.

EDIT4: I noticed you didn't put up a single target rotation. Past the 4 DoTs that must be up at all times, also make sure you have shadowflare up (yes, even single target). Shadowflare is actually our more efficient DoT, if the target stays still. On a extremely mobile fight, don't bother with Shadowflare.