Torn between Black Mage and Summoner!

[SeraviEdalborez]

Did....did you even read my post? And if you are seriously saying that using ruin 2 ALL THE TIME (which the OP said he was) and spending twice the mp for the exact same damage is optimal....you are insane. If you actually bothered to read my post I said FOR WEAVING AND MOVING. Even bolded and underlined it in this post for you to help alleviate the lazy.

It is optimal for damage. Period (as long as you are in melee range, which as I described is possible for most fights). Ruin2 + autoattacks > Ruin1.

Read literally 2 posts above you.

[Havenchild]

You can't auto attack while casting, but you can auto attack between casts if it aligns with the auto attack timing.

Start casting Bio II, set up auto-attack immediately after you press the skill, watch as the auto attack goes through even before you finish casting that Bio II.

[SeraviEdalborez]

Start casting Bio II, set up auto-attack immediately after you press the skill, watch as the auto attack goes through even before you finish casting that Bio II.

Not sure what your idea of "before you finish casting" is. That's when the cast ends but before the animation finishes. Which is not unique to any spell.

Ruin 2 is done to avoid the "can't AA because I'm casting" thing.

[Havenchild]

Not sure what your idea of "before you finish casting" is. That's when the cast ends but before the animation finishes. Which is not unique to any spell.

Ruin 2 is done to avoid the "can't AA because I'm casting" thing.

The attack goes through 3/4ths of the way into a Bio II cast. Before both the animation and the cast time concludes.

Pretty sure you can test it with something longer in cast time like Shadow Flare?

[Lycia]

The Ruin 2 vs Ruin 1 argument has been going on since launch of ARR. They do the same damage, and both can be used depending on the player. Some players see SMN as a melee range character to get the extra book hit in, while others (myself) don't really care about it. Both arguments have their pro's and cons. Personally, I'm against us being in melee range because of casting timers. We have to move enough as it is, and to having to add watching out for close attacks seems counterproductive for me. I may be wrong, but having the peace of mind that I can stand back and play range just makes things a bit easier for me. I hope that doesn't make me a bad smn...because I still melt things

[Havenchild]

The Ruin 2 vs Ruin 1 argument has been going on since launch of ARR. They do the same damage, and both can be used depending on the player. Some players see SMN as a melee range character to get the extra book hit in, while others (myself) don't really care about it. Both arguments have their pro's and cons. Personally, I'm against us being in melee range because of casting timers. We have to move enough as it is, and to having to add watching out for close attacks seems counterproductive for me. I may be wrong, but having the peace of mind that I can stand back and play range just makes things a bit easier for me. I hope that doesn't make me a bad smn...because I still melt things

It doesn't. But the risk of death is the mark of a true SMN!

Turn 2 Enrage, parts of Turn 5, Turn 6, Turn 8, parts of Turn 9, Titan EX, Ifrit EX, Ramuh EX: The party is stacked behind or near the boss in all mainstream strats anyways. There is 0 additional risk of death.

This is pretty true.

Not sure what your idea of "before you finish casting" is. That's when the cast ends but before the animation finishes. Which is not unique to any spell.

Ruin 2 is done to avoid the "can't AA because I'm casting" thing.

I was confused by what you meant here initially. You are correct. It only auto-attacks if it's lined up with when the cast finishes, whereas by contrast the Auto-attack is more guaranteed in between instant cast skills.

[SeraviEdalborez]

Personally, I'm against us being in melee range because of casting timers. We have to move enough as it is, and to having to add watching out for close attacks seems counterproductive for me.

Turn 2 Enrage, parts of Turn 5, Turn 6, Turn 8, parts of Turn 9, Titan EX, Ifrit EX, Ramuh EX: The party is stacked behind or near the boss in all mainstream strats anyways. There is 0 additional risk of death.

Turn 1, Turn 4, Leviathan EX: Little additional risk by being in melee range (with exception to knights and soldiers in T4).

Turn 7: If your setup has 3 ranged and you are not the kiter, being in melee range forces fireballs to hit the other 2 ranged which can be beneficial. Only attack to really dodge is Circle Blade.

Garuda EX, Moogle EX: Chaotic, unsafe.

[Vallhallix]

I got my SMN all the way to animus, but I had to retire him. Got boring, replaced all my SMN att points with SCH points instead. I went full time BLM. BLM is just a much more rewarding class and personally I love the raw power and direct damage of the BLM more it kills quick without remorse. Honestly don't think i'm coming back to SMN unless there's some major changes. Just being a DOT class kind of sucks. Even with the ability to raise. Raising while awesome in dire situations is also a major dps loss especially when people keep dying. You spend more aetherflow stacks trying to recover the lost MP rather than using the only strong burst attack the SMN has ie Fester. It can prove troubling when you don't have heavy hitters like a BLM or MNK in your party to make up for the damage you lose from not festering.