Can someone give me an in-depth explanation why Summoner is arguably the worst DPS?

[Akiza]

That is not true, check the t13 world first clear, they had a couple of deaths and got res'd, the healer pop'd a mana potion for that too. For progression, res is quite useful, it's just not recommended because of the limitation smn has on mana consumption but it greatly enhances the progression sequence. However on hardcore farming, I agree res is completely worthless..

If a healer is low on mana the Bard will play mana song because it helps the raid if a Summoner runs out of mana from using battle Rez than s/he is screwed.

[ViviAnimus]

In the past I actually used Aerial Slash, but it didn't seem to actually up my DPS, maybe I was mistaken? Should only use RS when three stacks are up and preferably use two festers during that period? And please eleborate on the off gcd abilities which can be used more wisely. And yes, my gear absolutely is pretty horrible for SM

Edit: I actually used Shockwave and Aerial Slash and ended up doing less DPS than I did on the parse video. Timed my Raging to have two Festers. I usually time my raging about 20 second before contagion so I get like almost a minute of RS dots. That > 1 more fester, right?

[Sunako]

Shockwave and Aerial Slash should have shorter recast time than actual attack so your garuda dps should increased by those skills. During raging strikes you should use 2 festers + energy drain in case you will need mana later. By gcd i mean that you should time more your festers during you apply bio like in 1:06 you use fester and bio have 6 sec time left. You could wait that 6 sec and then use bio + fester at same time. And i never seen that kind of opener you use bio -> rouse -> spur -> miasma. You can use those abilities as off globals between instant casts.

[Dwill]

Shockwave and Aerial Slash should have shorter recast time than actual attack so your garuda dps should increased by those skills. During raging strikes you should use 2 festers + energy drain in case you will need mana later. By gcd i mean that you should time more your festers during you apply bio like in 1:06 you use fester and bio have 6 sec time left. You could wait that 6 sec and then use bio + fester at same time. And i never seen that kind of opener you use bio -> rouse -> spur -> miasma. You can use those abilities as off globals between instant casts.

Energy Drain should also never be casted during the initial Raging Strikes, it just result in a damage loss due to having one less Fester and early on, the additional MP will just be overkill. Even later on during an encounter, Energy Drain should be used when you're starting to get low, not when you are in Raging Strikes.

Ah yes, I see. Although my opener is actually quite good I would say, it bursts very high every time. Although I am still more fond of the idea to use raging, apply dots and reapply at the end of raging so you have a lot of dot time with RS. Good hint on the bio / fester, though. I'll take that with me. Cheers mate

Opener should be:

(Pre-pull: Raging Strikes > Intelligence Potion -> Bio II (Start pre-casting when your tank runs in)

(Pull): Bio II finishes > Miasma > Bio > Queue Contagion > Fester then (Make sure Bio is applied to not lose a full potency Fester) > (Miasma 2 if MP allows it(Short encounters)Ruin II > Swiftcast > Shadowflare > Rouse > Ruin II > Spur > Ruin II > Fester > Ruin II > Enkindle > Ruin > Ruin > Ruin II > Fester > Ruin II > Aetherflow

Then use off GCD during the encounter whenever you think MP will allow it and refresh DoTs when they have 3 or less seconds remaining. Energy Drain when your MP starts to dip too low.

[Sunako]

Energy Drain should also never be casted during the initial Raging Strikes, it just result in a damage loss due to having one less Fester and early on, the additional MP will just be overkill. Even later on during an encounter, Energy Drain should be used when you're starting to get low, not when you are in Raging Strikes.

I said in case you need mana. If you need use that energy drain later without raging strikes isnt it dps loss? If you know exactly how many energy drain you need in the current match, you should use those during cooldowns are up and not at the moment you have 100 mana.

[Dwill]

I said in case you need mana. If you need use that energy drain later without raging strikes isnt it dps loss? If you know exactly how many energy drain you need in the current match, you should use those during cooldowns are up and not at the moment you have 100 mana.

If you use Energy Drain to begin with, it's a DPS loss. There is such a thing as a middle ground. Waiting to use Energy Drain when you are at 100 MP is pretty worthless but using it when you're still above 2500 MP isn't much better.

[ViviAnimus]

Ah yes, I see. Although my opener is actually quite good I would say, it bursts very high every time. Although I am still more fond of the idea to use raging, apply dots and reapply at the end of raging so you have a lot of dot time with RS. Good hint on the bio / fester, though. I'll take that with me. Cheers mate

[ViviAnimus]

I wish I had a T13 weapon. Not a Summoner book or BLM staff at the moment. Do you make videos, Shinryu? Wouldn't mind studying those. What is your opener?

[ShinryuReishiki]

I wish I had a T13 weapon. Not a Summoner book or BLM staff at the moment. Do you make videos, Shinryu? Wouldn't mind studying those. What is your opener?

Still missing the BLM weapon myself. As much as I'd like mine to drop, it'd be nice if our tanks could get something for a change...

What kind of videos? I don't think I'm someone that should be studied lol; I make lots of mistakes, and my numbers aren't anything special. I think my bests have been 500 T10, 480 T11, 500 T12, and 450 T13. We've been playing it kinda safe and holding DPS in second phase of T13 past few weeks, so I don't see myself managing any higher...

I don't really have a consistent opener... I've been trying a lot of different stuff lately. Since I can afford the MP hit now, this week I tried opening with Garuda-egi for Contagion and Rouse+Spur+Enkindle since Foe Requiem is guaranteed at the start, then swapping to Ifrit-egi. It seems to work pretty well, but I'm still fumbling around the whole thing.

I have considered making a video comparing Garuda-egi and Ifrit-egi, though. A lot more people are warming up to Ifrit-egi as a legitimate option, but it still seems like the majority of folks still think Contagion is some unbeatable ability...

I said in case you need mana. If you need use that energy drain later without raging strikes isnt it dps loss? If you know exactly how many energy drain you need in the current match, you should use those during cooldowns are up and not at the moment you have 100 mana.

I agree that using Energy Drain with cooldowns up is the best way to use it if you have to, as with Raging Strikes + X-Pot the loss versus a third unbuffed Fester becomes very minimal, but in the opener, the MP recovered may be wasted; that first Aetherflow should (mostly?) fill you up. I would definitely use an Energy Drain in a pet swap opener, however.

Out of the three abilities you list, only one is actually good for the group while the others help the BLM survive.

Not needing to be healed for mechanics is a big help to the group. Vastly reduced danger to 2 stack Rage of Bahamut, Earth Shaker, Tempest Wing, etc. gives healers more leeway and DPS time. In my group, I do handle using Virus, though, for the same reason; just one less thing for the SCH to worry about doing as he's putting up shields, covenant, soil...

Shadow Flare adds slow so that's 4. Can SCH do these two? Sure if you have one in the group. But SCH can also gives a 20% Magic Defense Buff for 20s so.... yea.

Shadow Flare's Slow is pretty great. There's one situation in Final Coil that it's particularly beneficial (Bennu phase), but it's a bit of double-edged sword when you're trying to avoid killing multiple Bennus at a time. (I may be guilty of just doing it anyway >_>) Also, there's 0 reason you wouldn't have a SCH in end-game content... If you're going to give up a healer spot, it's more likely the WHM.

Summoners always forget to claim their mobility and 9th body as part of their utility.

SMN doesn't have mobility any more than BLM does. In Second Coil, yeah, I didn't care; I'd run all over the place when playing SMN, but in Final Coil, I pretty much have to play as if I'm playing BLM when it comes to movement. For free movement, BLM gets Firestarter/Thundercloud and Swiftcast, and SMN gets Bio and Swiftcast; 2 chance-reliant procs versus an 18s DoT is pretty even, I think. Not really considering Scathe and Ruin II since they hurt a lot more than they help. Ideally, movement does not hurt a SMN as much as it can a BLM, but both jobs want to avoid moving as much as possible.

edit: saying that buffing smn will hurt blm isn't being dramatic, it's the truth, and it will be the truth for as long as pt structure dictates a binary decision between BLM and SMN. SMNs are very, very adaptable. This adaptability with the combination of damage reduction can and will muscle blms out if they are even on damage.

I agree with this. The only buff SMN really needs is an MP fix. It would allow them to have a mobility advantage again, resulting in a slight DPS buff; not enough to overtake BLM by any means, but enough to shrink the gap a little. Plus it could make the Raise useable without severely crippling the SMN like it does now... Mobility + Raise for a little lower DPS seems fair to me.

[scarebearz]

SMN doesn't have mobility any more than BLM does.

lol xD