I am getting irritated with Summoner in endgame content

[Strawberrycocoa]

Working (slowly, I'm a bad grinder) on progressing through content and I am seeing some pretty big drawbakcs to Summoner in some aspects. Specifically, if my pet dies to aoe damage I lose a lot of DPS because Garuda's gone and I can't always stop to re-summon without dying myself. Plus aoe scenarios like Garuda's Razor Plumes are giving me trouble because I don't seem to have much effective AOE ability unless I am missing something. I can dump three dots then Bane but that still leaves them alive and doing damage while the dots eat them. Can spam Blizzard 2 or Miasma 2 but they're not that strong damage wise.

Kind of feeling like I should have leveled Black Mage; no pet reliance, and stronger AOE. :\ Advice?

[xxalucard]

Kind of feeling like I should have leveled Black Mage; no pet reliance, and stronger AOE. :\ Advice?

I suggest you read one of the many threads that explains how to DPS as a summoner.

For Garuda's adds, you can refresh your dots on Garuda right after she does mistral shriek and bane onto the plumes. You can start an early Aerial Slash or Enkindle and hit them with Miasma 2 before they disperse. You can also set up shadowflare somewhere in the middle of the rocks they go to. You have plenty of effective AoE skills at your disposal.

Having said that, most groups these days are geared enough to just skip the razor plumes.

I'm not really sure what to say about your pet dying-- I don't think my pet ever died in any of the hard modes, even when I first started playing the game and had terrible gear. If it actually takes a lot of damage you can use sustain to keep it up.



TL;DR: Play black mage

[Strawberrycocoa]

TL;DR: Play black mage

Even with all that advice the TLDR is still to play Black Mage... XD

[NintenPyjak64]

If you take a look at playstyles of BLM/SMN, WHM/SCH, and PLD/WAR, you'll notice one is easy to play while the other is more complex to maximize then the other. That's where BLM and SMN draw the line, SMN is a complex DPS class, but all it takes is some getting used to. Go to Whitebrim in Coerthas and beat on the level 50 training dummies until you feel comfortable with the playstyle, but one important thing about playing a new instance is learning how to adapt to new scenarios you already know.

For Garuda HM I'd recommend Miasma 2 on the Plumes, try to use Garuda-egi's AoE on a pack (NOT THE ENKINDLE!), then stay on Garuda. Make good use of Place and Heel to keep your egi alive

[xxalucard]

For Garuda HM I'd recommend Miasma 2 on the Plumes, try to use Garuda-egi's AoE on a pack (NOT THE ENKINDLE!), then stay on Garuda. Make good use of Place and Heel to keep your egi alive

There's no reason to *not* use enkindle if it's up during one of the razor plume spawns-- you're hitting the boss with it too.

You target Garuda when you aerial slash or enkindle (just like with bane) and time it so it also hits the adds.

[NintenPyjak64]

There's no reason to *not* use enkindle if it's up during one of the razor plume spawns-- you're hitting the boss with it too.

You target Garuda when you aerial slash or enkindle (just like with bane) and time it so it also hits the adds.

My emphasis was to point out that Garuda has a standalone AoE that not many people use/know about

[OmegaSinX]

Pet Dying ? Swift Cast > SummonI,II,II Problem Solve .

AoE DPSing ? Raging Strike> Shadow Flare, Tri-Disaster, Miasna II, You normal dots, Bane, Contagion, Fester, Spur and/or Rouse + Aerial Slash > Aerial Blast, Dead. You have way to many anwsers for aoe. If your press on time, fester each 1 by 1.

Advice?
1.Learn to control Pets. MACRO's help alot. With Both Rouse and Spur up, Aerial Blast is a 490 Potency Attack (Aerial Slash/Blast) , and Slash is 176 Potency.
2. Level your Subs, Swiftcast (26THM) is pretty much neccessary if your serious about play smn long run.

Sure BLM might have better Burst Damage, Just like DRG has more Burst Damage than MNK....

But regardless if other classes may better burst, Overall SMN and MNK are BEST DPS Classes in Game hands down.

[SummonerSenah]

I would look into getting Swiftcast if you don't already have it. Very useful for resummoning in a hurry. To prevent a summon from dying in the first place, I use Heel or Place to make sure your egi is not over poison or fire. For Garuda HM I actually used Ifrit-Egi but most people would advise against that, so try at your own risk. :P

[PetiteMalFleur]

Get swiftcast ASAP. Your THM is level 17 so it would not take long at all. There will be times your pet will die. Spending 10 seconds hardcasting your summon or taking the dps/healing nerf is too much of burden on the raid. Plus you can help your healers by rezzing for them as well. Use "sustain" on your pet whenever you are expecting any aoe damage or you see it getting hit. Place your pet where it can dps while taking little damage. Make sure you reposition your pet if it gets knocked out of range.

[jars]

swiftcast is not optional

in a some aoe situations like turn 4 and titan ex summoner aoe damage is aces. I put up RS and bane on the first set of soldiers on turn 4 and they melt. no blm can do that