Summoner or Black Mage?

[Victros]

I mainly enjoy caster classes. For me, the simpler the rotation in PvE, the better. Which has a simpler rotation and is easier (more relaxing) to play at 50, Summoner or Black Mage? Is there a big difference?

Thanks!

[Pantz]

Summoner vs Black Mage

Pet Vs No Pet

DOTs vs Direct Damage

[NintenPyjak64]

Black mage has a simpler rotation however you need quite a bit of knowledge of an encounter to keep your damage high (example: using your Aetheral Manipulation, Manawall/ward to maximize damage by getting into position quicker or taking less damage)

Summoner has no rotation per say. There's an opening rotation but once that's complete it's all a matter of priority. Summoner is more difficult then Black Mage but Summoner can deal higher numbers (over the course of the fight), has much better mobility and utility

Single Target Summoner is much better then Black Mage, unless 2 scenarios take place: The Black mage overgears the Summoner and the fight has minimal movement. For AoE, Black Mage reins absolute supreme (White Mage is the only real competitor in certain scenarios), Summoner can't come close but doesn't do terrible AoE DPS.

Personally: I do Summoner for Coil. I love the high skill cap and it feels rewarding being close to, if not top DPS. For most other content I do Black Mage instead. If I'm even playing the game when I'm not doing Coil (WoW has stolen my life), Black Mage is my preferred job. Nothing else really interests me (plus all my SMN gear can be used on BLM with the exception of the weapon), and BLM is "Lazy mode" for me

[Estellios]

BLM should be easy to figure out and you don't have to worry about controlling your pet, which is very important in order to maximize SMN damage. BLM has a higher skill requirement in late game fights as you usually do not have much if any time to stop and cast spells until you figure out how to take advantage of your barrier skills and movement skill to reduce your required movements as much as possible whereas SMN does not generally require you to do anything different.

So it's really up to you and how far into endgame stuff you see yourself going. SMN will start out a little more difficult but end up being a little bit easier due to content design. BLM will start out a bit easier but end up a little bit harder for the same reason.

[Victros]

OK, thanks for the replies. I'm lazy and like to move around as little as possible in a fight. Does one of the classes have an edge there?

[NintenPyjak64]

Black Mage, but to limit movement requires knowledge of the encounter as I mentioned before. Knowing when you use Manawall/ward to mitigate damage, when to use AM to close gaps fast are very important factors

[Victros]

Does BLM have a mana management system like the Astral/Umbral of Thaum? If so, seems like a lot to keep track of!

[Sagittarian]

BLM is built off THM, so yes they use exactly the same Astral/Umbral bit. But there isn't really anything to keep track of. You cast Fire3 to get a full stack of Astral Fire, spam Fire1/2 until out of mana, Transpose, cast ice spells until full, repeat. That's the simplified version. Really you want to throw in Lightning, eventually Flare (I don't have it yet), and some defensive stuff as needed.

I prefer SMN because there is more they can do but it does also mean there is more to keep track of. Drop initial DOTs, Contagion, Fester/Bane, then look around to see what else needs taking care of. Counting pet buffs I have 8+ cooldowns to keep track of, making sure the DOTs stay up, plus your pet doesn't show on the party list which means you can't count on the healers to heal it so you need to watch that.