Quote Originally Posted by BlueMage View Post
Are the DOTs called anything different in the Japanese version? I always found it strange that summoners and even arcanists/scholars are loaded primarily with "death and decay" warlock type spells such as Miasma, Bio, etc.
No, they actually carry their English names in Katakana. Bio, Miasma etc. They read the same in Japanese.
These are staples of the FF series though, so I don't think it always carries the connotations that the words themselves do.
This was my main point about considering FF13 in regards to the class in general, as SMN are Saboteurs to SCH's Synergist role.

Ruin for example is only used in FF13, but in that game it is used by a Commando and for tactical purposes. The word itself may seem more destructive than how it was used in that case. I believe, they may have taken some queues from that game in consolidating the theme of the ACN as a strategist, one which can specialize in offensive and defensive strategies.

SCH does, in fact, borrow paradigms names. SMN's comparison is mostly by association, as I've not really gone into SMN yet.
Panda said, though, that SMN turns into more of a power grab, which may contradict this. I will have to see for myself but in terms of dots and Ruin, you may think of them as tactical for the most part as they come from the ACN. In the way a Saboteur weakens the enemy.