Summoner Equipment

[Irovesa]

Hey guys, I hit level 50 with my Summoner very recently and I feel a little overwhelmed by all the end game content and where to begin. More specifically regarding gear.

I have all level 55 equipment at the moment, with the exception of my body armor, but I'm hoping someone could give me a little direction here. Which dungeons should I be running and what equipment should I be aiming to find as a summoner?

[BinaryJack]

Welcome to Lvl50.
This is where the real fun starts.

I suggest that you start asking in your FC for help with regards HQ gear, dungeons and hm primals.
You're going to need it.

Get your Erudite Picatrix of Casting ASAP in the market or through crafting classes.
You will also need to get 2 x determination iii materia that needs to be melded to the tome.
This tome will boost your skills quite a bit and is part of your relic quest.

You might be lucky and pick a cheap-ish one up in the market with the two materia already included.
My FC (Metamorphosis on Shiva) created one for me with the materia at a fraction of the cost!

Note that you will not be able to use it during the first phase of your relic quest so have a back up available - Deus Ex Verbis is a good idea for a backup while you are working towards your relic weapon.

The first thing you want to do is open up your hard mode dungeons, especially Halatali Hard Mode.
This is done through talking to NPC's in Vesper Bay, Waking Sands.
Halatali HM will give you item lvl70 gear which will boost your points considerably and the mobs and bosses are quite easy. As far as I know is that the queing is not too long either.

Your goal with hm dungeons is loot, myth and soldier tomes.
You will need all three to survive the rest of the game. Item level (ilvl) is your primary focus.
Soldier tomes will boost your gear considerably as the items you are able to purchase will be ilvl90 and ilvl100.
That being said, you will need a lot of myth and soldier tomes for sets.

As a side note, when you unlock your HM Primals, the suggested ilvl is a complete and utter lie....or a very sick joke.

Honestly, I am having more fun now, just leveling up my classes and jobs than I did pre-50.

[Irovesa]

Ok sounds good. I did a few runs of Ifrit HM trying to get the Ifrit Grimoire, but it hasn't popped up in the chest yet. I attempted a hard mode run of one of the dungeons and we couldn't get past the first boss, people started to quit and I just never tried again, figuring I would need to upgrade my gear before attempting it again.

I did purchase a erudite picatrix of casting from the market and did upgrade it with the required materia for the relic quest, but don't have the money to invest on another one of those books.

[Kirinichibon]

Keep doing the level 50 zones, quests, and dailies to unlock everything. Then start your relic quest asap. Set aside 900 myth for your weapon upgrade as soon as you're done with your relic. Getting the HM primals completed for your relic quest is your first priority.

Collect as much i70 gear as you can while you're doing your dailies. Focus your myth purchases on items to give you accuracy to ~450, then anything that doesn't have spell speed. Myth chest, gloves, legs, and boots are likely your best first purchases to reach your initial accuracy goal, depending on your loot luck. Hop into some CT groups if you can, but don't bother queuing for it for more than ~20 minutes.

Once your ilvl average is around i80, start farming coil. Coil 2 groups should be easy to get into and a good place to start farming. You can start doing extreme primals around then also, and you should have a couple soldiery pieces as well. Start with the soldiery accessories that are considered BiS (there are a few topics on this)...or fill your remaining i90 gaps on items that don't have spell speed.

This will likely take 3-4 weeks

Once you're nearly or at i90, start farming leviathan and turn5 for a new weapon. The levi book can bridge the accuracy gap for later raiding and has a chance at a mirror upgrade, but the t5 weapon can be worth farming if you can. You're now ready for the second coil - this set of zones is the top raiding content right now.

While you're doing all of this, take time to optimize your UI and controls. Learn how to time your cooldowns, especially contagion and r/s/e. You should be able to place your pet, obey<t>, heel, and steady quickly without thinking about it. IMHO, this above all will make you a better summoner than most.