Summoner Revamp Ideas

[Jamez82]

How about making resistances a visible frickin difference. My ifrit egi does as much dmg to fire based creatures as he does to ice based ones.

Really?

REALLY?

[PriyaJugulataris]

It's impossible at this point to introduce resistances.

[Mimilu]

There could be some vanity modifications to the Egis, such as the option to turn Garuda-Egi into a Ramuh-Egi or Shiva-Egi, but, beyond that there's not really all that much that the job needs.

I really hope that they don't replace the current Egis with new ones like Ramuh and Shiva and let them be there own Egis, with something that can compete with Contagion. I really don't like that Garuda is the only summons worth commanding (Titan's a tank and shouldn't be used in parties and Ifrit is too buggy and squishy to be used often) and even then, it's for either placing or Contagion. When I compare SMN to SCH, even though most people only use Eos, you have so much more usability and control with SCH's pets. While Titan can remain the same for soloing, I wish they would fix Ifrit's buggy attack, and change both his and the rest of Garuda's moves to actually make them usable and worth controlling.

[Kitru]

I really hope that they don't replace the current Egis with new ones like Ramuh and Shiva and let them be there own Egis, with something that can compete with Contagion.

I could actually see that, assuming that the devs gauge the value of the replacement properly. All SMN pets follow a pretty basic loadout comprised of an ST attack, an AoE, a CC utility/attack, a nuke, and a wildcard. CC/utility could remain identical to the equivalent Egi (though it would probably work best being thematic: Ramuh would probably get stun while Shiva would get KB or bind) and the nukes are all just variations on "big AoE damage on long CD". The only real difference is the wildcard, which can be pretty much anything. They could give SMN a certain level of support capability by giving Ramuh and/or Shiva group buffs akin to Selene and Eos' buffs (e.g. Ramuh increases magic defense by 20% for 20 seconds every 90 seconds; Shiva reduces elemental resistance on a single target by 10% for 15 seconds with a 90 sec CD); as such, Garuda/Ifrit would still be the best straight up DPS pets but the others would have niche functionality for groups (for those previous recommendations, Shiva would be amazing for caster heavy groups while Ramuh would be quite useful for AoE intensive fights).

Even so, that's not really discussing a revamp of SMN so much as addition of new capabilities to expand their given role/functions.

[Sanguisio]

Just LOL....

[SkyHighDN]

when i meant leviathan as a healing egi.... i was thinking like a healing buff egi...... could cast regen, and maybe ballad over short increments, while still casting tidal wave as a aoe cone line attack..... it'd be kinda like levia & asura in FFIV combined... which would not defeat the role of a SCH at all.... it would actually be more bard like.... DPS would be down due to non dps attacks, but a ballad like ability and a regen like ability would be bard like (regen will be a bard song in the future, gauranteed, just like all FF's)..... wouldnt be an aoe healer, but a aoe healing buffer

[Katchii]

I agree that SMN doesn't feel much like a Summoner compared to previous final fantasy games and we could use more summons that have more specific specialized roles in a group like in FFXI (not nearly to that extent, but similar in execution). However, I like how the actual Summoner has to actually cast spells to be effective rather than just sit back and let the pet do all the work.

Over time I'm sure that it will be improved, but for now I enjoy playing it the way it is.

[Mimilu]

...Garuda/Ifrit would still be the best straight up DPS pets but the others would have niche functionality for groups...

What I think they should do with Ifrit is make Radiant Shield a buff he can cast of a selected target or they should just get rid of it for something more suited for a Melee DPS. I mean, he really has no use for it, seeing as he rarely ever gets more enmity then his SMN, so when will he get hit to take advantage of its spike damage. With Radiant Shield as a targetable buff, he will now have more utility, being able to place it on the tanks and it will give us a reason to keep him in Obey so he won't spam Crimson Cyclone and ruin the tank and/or DPS's stuns (that is IF Burning Strike is his default attack, I've never placed Ifrit in Obey to find out...).

[Mimilu]

Blahblahblahblah

Also, I think they could give Garuda an Aero-DoT spell that can be effected by Contagion, just so she can have something else you can command her to use when needed... >w>

[Gormogon]

I really like OP's idea of each summon bringing a sort of buff/debuff since there needs to be a reason for uniqueness and customization. While it would be nice to have every summon usable they aren't like FFX or FFXI summons where they fight along side you in their full form. So having some sort of aesthetic mechanic like summoner barding.

It can be implemented under companions and just have a selection "Summon" which allows us to toggle our Egi "I" "II" "III". Where I is magic, II is tank, and III is physical.

Personally I'd prefer if Enkindle would be revamped to allow egi's into a mini-primal for 30 seconds while it uses it's strong ability. Yet since that idea seems to not even be a possibility I'd rather push for summoner barding.