Just sayin... (SMN)

[Ecks007]

But, what did I get? I got this..little...gardening tool thingie. Ifrit looks about as useful as a weed remover. Titan looks about as useful as a hoe. And Garuda looks like a nice bug repellent. Titan is supposed to be tanky, but a boss can kill him off rather quickly, as well as about 3 dungeon mobs. and ifrit's dps isn't even worthwhile with how quickly he dies. Which leaves us with Garuda, the only DPS smn that can actually stay alive long enough to perform its role.

Well you are entitled to your opinion, but that doesn't make you right.

Titan can tank whole dungeons if you use him right, with cooperation from your healer. The only set back is that PS3/4 players don't seem to be able to target Summoner pets, where as PC players can by clicking on them. That aside, I've used my Titan numerous times to tank level 50 dungeon mobs and bosses. I'm not saying it's as good as having a Pld or Warrior, but it is a viable option if for whatever reason your tank bails. You'll need decent gear though, or like others have suggested, summon him with +vit gear on.

Heck I even had a real fun time once in dungeon with another Summoner and a healer (can't remember which job they were) after our tank bailed at the start of Lost City, we managed to kill the first boss before another tank finally que'd in. That was probably the most fun I've had in a dungeon in a while.

I will admit that once you get the Garuda minion, Ifrit essentially becomes obsolete. But I believe they are buffing Ifrit in 2.3, haven't really compared how it will stack up with Garuda yet, but it is what it is. Right now the only time I generally use Ifrit is if I get CM on my main scenario duty roulette and I get beat to the cannons have to melee, because I can use Ifrit to stun the Colossus effectively.

As for their appearance, I personally like them. It works for this game and I find them pretty artistic creations of the primals they represent.

[Jandor]

Titan-Egi is a decent tank, it'd be nice if he had a way to quickly move up the aggro table but other than that I think he's pretty much fine. No one should want him to be as good as an actual PLD/WAR though.

As for the appearance of the summons, it'd be nice if they were a little bigger (or grew bigger when using Spur.) But other than that I actually quite like the stylized appearance.

[Gerolan]

My wish is that they would change titans model to that of the adds in extreme titan, they actually look like titan, unlike the giant crusty popcorn we currently have, as for useless though, none of them are, Garuda is always useful due to contagion , ifrit can be preferable in some fights, and as others have said, titan can tank dungeons if you play it right, I've run a few where tank left due to not liking the one that popped, and 3 manned it with titan .

[Naria]

I'm happy with smn as it is, mini-abstract summons and all.

[Ghastly]

Those digimon egis look terrible..............
I just wish they would give us the option................the option to choose egi or a different more real version of the primal. Call it "glamour your egi" or something...but they all look like toys right now.

[Jamez82]

I wouldn't mind seeing new egi models but they'd have to tie it in with the lore so it would probably be a later level trait with the description of "mastery of summoning allows you to channel more of a primals essence without being tainted by it" or something to that regard.

[Gerolan]

I wouldn't mind seeing new egi models but they'd have to tie it in with the lore so it would probably be a later level trait with the description of "mastery of summoning allows you to channel more of a primals essence without being tainted by it" or something to that regard.

That's always been my thought on it, that when a cap increase comes, it might deal with us learning more on how to control the egi, thus transforming them to show they have been enhanced, sure hope anyway

[Sigiria]

Without going as far as to summon the actual primal, think it could have been better if the egi were more impressive than the first ladybug you meet around the cities.
It seriously looks like something went wrong during the summon, I'm so sad each time I see Ifrit egi's fully exposed spine lacking half of his body or garuda egi's broken back that I want to put them out of their misery.

Also laughed during the smn quest when you got told that the egi is the picture of the primal that remain in your mind, made me feel like:


Well toning down the sacrasm, I think it could have been best to make them look at least like when Titan summon his egi, bit bigger with colors more close to the primal than a plain glowing texture.
Really hope one day SE will going back on what they said and try to put a bit more work on the Egi.

[melflomil]

when I fought Ifrit at level 20 and I seen his moves, radiant plumes, Hellfire, flamethrower and eruptions.I thought man I can't wait to summon him to do those moves. Since they are really strong moves I thought they would have a long cool downs especially Hellfire. I was a little disappointed when I first summoned him as those moves where not available. I could of lived without the moveset but the way he looked completely killed it. I didn't care for the size but the model details. Carbuncle looks like carbuncle. Not enough people are complaining about it.

[Lemuria]

So, if I read the OP right, he's quitting because of a single class? Oh well, bon voyage I guess.

I'll freely admit that Summoner's aren't nearly as reliant on their summons as they were previously, but isn't that arguably a good thing? In FFXI, you were basically a backup healer using whatever skills your measly WHM job could provide in the gap between blood pacts. It wasn't particularly fun, though I admit the pets at least had some crazy damage at times.

Personally, I think the fault with summoner is the same as the fault with every spell ever. Elements are worthless. What is the point in so-called element aspect damage when it literally makes no difference to the target? Fireballs on Ifrit, Aero on Garuda, Stone on Titan and so forth... it makes no difference at all. So, when summoner comes into the game, they have no way of making them different from each other, which is why they've been shoe-horned into tank/range/melee roles.

Their biggest faux pas was the removal of elemental weaknesses, strengths and the various combat intricacies that such a system provides. Summoner is the result of one big bad decision, and is just doing the best it can in the world that was created for it.