Thread: 2.4 SMN Class Issues

I think a few alternatives outside of just adjusting Summoner MP issues are needed:

1) Separate the cooldowns for Elixirs/Ethers from Main Stat Potions (INT / MND)
2) Make Spellspeed effect tick time of DoTs. More SS, more ticks per DoT. Since Summoner has the most DoTs to begin with vs any other class, you give a good trade off to compensate their damage vs their MP usage.

You overall nailed this post with all of the issues hitting this class decisively and the gearing section was 100% undeniable truth. Why do both sets of gear cater towards BLM? We are being forced to choose between ACC/CRIT OR DET on almost all of our pieces, and if we somehow dont need the acc, we lose Crit to gain DET while giving us a pretty useless stat (SS) in return. What grinded my gears the most was the 120 Book. Honestly I can barely accept the gearing all around from the armors, but the wep is FLOODED with a useless stat that adds more detriment to the class then any benefit which is unacceptable. Now granted it's not to say I need optimal stat combos ALL the time, but if you're gonna force nearly all the gear you are REQUIRING, SMNs to use to be on par damage wise, at least make the stat (SS) which your shoving down our throats be useful to the class.

I however, disagree with one thing altogether and I truly do feel a BLM is excelling leaps and bounds over a SMN atm.

People still believing SMN have superior single target DPS to a BLM, have never played with a good BLM. This is true for the beginning parts of a fight, but the longer a fight drags on, a solid BLM WILL win in the end. You CANNOT play a Summoner optimally for an entire instance on FCOB because you will go OOM within less then half the instance on average. Not to mention BLM is self sufficient in its MP usage.

BLMs rule the AoE field already. SMNs can challenge them slightly on this field but there is not enough adds in group that can make a difference here in these new coil turns.

Originally Posted by Havenchild

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The OP did throw some numbers out there that favor BLM in single target. But honestly, unless Square decides to put some encounters in the game similar to T4 more often the utility a SMN offers alone I think is justifiable for a small damage advantage in Black Mage's favor, even if they are a little more durable through manawall/ward. If AOE does become more prevalent in the endgame then I could see the two becoming more equalized.

That said I feel like the biggest advantage a BLM has in single target right now isn't really from SMNs raw damage potential. Having tested both on a dummy myself under similar situations they both do close to the same with the BLM edging out a little more in general. The big problem is the SMNs lack of longevity in combat, which is what this forum post I feel is mostly about. I feel we need to adjust SMNs mana efficiency, not their damage. The way I see it, you fix SMNs mana efficiency, you fix the huge gap we're seeing right now between BLM and SMN in FCOB.

EDIT: This is assuming a BLM and SMN of equal skill/gear...Obviously a Black Mage who doens't even bother to bind AM to a key or has never heard of proc management will probably get blown out of the water by a SMN who at least knows to keep their dots up on the boss.