Summoner Rotations

[Ryuko]

I've had a lot of summoners ask me for some sort of 'guide' to playing SMN, and I always hesitate to write a comprehensive one because, while there are certain things you should always do (keep your dots up 100% of the time for example), your priorities vary from fight to fight. What you use your aethercharges for exactly will vary from fight to fight, whether it be primals or T5. The posts in this thread cover the basics pretty well, but if you have any questions about specific fights, please ask those, as you will get the best advice regarding specific situations rather than 'overall rotation'.

One main thing I do want to stress, though, is the importance of juggling abilities that are ON the global cooldown (dots) and abilities that are OFF the global fooldown (Aetherflow, fester, energy drain, pet buffs). Then, to make things even more confusing, are abilities your pet has that you can use WHILE casting (Contagion for example). So, to maximize overall dps, you'll want to use Ruin 2 between anything you are going to use that is OFF the global cooldown. For example, if you are going to use your pet burst... Ruin 2 > Rouse > Ruin 2 > Spur > Ruin 2 > Enkindle. If you did Ruin 1s in between those abilities, it would take more time. You don't want to use Ruin 2 ALL the time because it IS an mp drain, but rather in strategic moments. I like to use it before Fester, when I need to use 'off global cooldown' abilities, when a mob is about to die, when I've pulled aggro on a group of mobs and the mob will probably die soon so there's no point in letting the tank get it back (for the blind effect), aaaaand the most important: movement! Throwing a Ruin 2 while dodging is better than nothing. Ruin 1 should be used when you have no filler (off global cooldown abilities) coming, and so you would not save any time by using Ruin 2 in those moments.

The reason most summoners choose to start with Bio II > Miasma > Bio is because Bio is instant and you can Fester right after Bio lands, again... not wasting ANY time because of juggling 'on' and 'off' global cooldown abilities. You can refresh dots in the opposite order if the mob will die soon (Bio > Miasma > Bio II) to save time, but if the mob has a lot of HP, I just like to refresh dots in the same order I put them on in -- starting when Bio II has about 15 seconds left (this will maintain 100% dot uptime). There are exceptions to this rule... for example, dreadknights in T5. You will want to use Miasma FIRST because of its added weight ability that helps slow it down as it marches towards a target. For those, I usually do Miasma > Bio II > Bio. You don't have to worry about timing because they should most certainly be dead by the time Bio is even close to falling off.