SMN in T8

[Erai]

My BRD is there to do their job, bait missile, deal DPS and then sing FOE for melee cause they really need it as they TP hunger faster than healer/mage mana starve.

I am a SMN in my static and let's face it, no matter how perfect your run is, your DPS will not win melee. Conserving BRD's mana for FOE is what you should be doing to sustain your melee's DPS. Garuda's profile fits nicely for mana conservation.

You can say your ifrit deals more damage and you will not run out of mana cause your BRD is constantly ballad-ing you. But did you manage to see the big picture as a whole team?

Except on what fight does a SMN using ifrit need a ballad specifically catered to them? 1 Ballad on Turn 8, which is the most mana-intense fight is more than enough, and at least during progression healers get that ballad at some point. Mana concerns are mentioned a lot in this thread, but there really isn't any situation where it's relevant. Turn 6 is too short, Garuda is close on Turn 7, Turn 8 1 Ballad is enough (A short one), Turn 9 you don't even need a ballad at all.. even if you pet swap constantly. So in what way is the whole team affected?

I only lose to our Monk on Turn 8, and not by much. (He's in the 440-450 range) The rest I can take if I try hard enough - SMN should easily top T9 DPS.


Also yes, ifrit does do mixed damage. The more you take away from him debuff wise, the less his dps is. If he has all debuffs available, he will smoke Garuda. (My other post still stands though, there's no reason not to use both on a fight.. Garuda should always be used at least for the opener, and ifrit from then on.)