Summoner Demystified: A Guide for Beginners

[Alisa180]

Introduction

Welcome to my Summoner guide! Now revamped with actual formatting and a level-by-level guide!

While the old guide was essentially a hodgepodge of tips, meant to bring potential Summoners up to a good (but not great) level, this one is much more focused on building up through the leveling process, and establishing something of a foundation for optimal openers. I've adjusted my old 'starter opener', but endgame is still not the main focus of this guide. There's other, far better guides for that, such as Connecting the DoTs on this very forum, and Hai Hai's Summoner guide.

I've cleaned up a lot of things, based on how I've improved these past couple months as a SMN. At this point, I have to concede that one poster here perhaps had something of a point. Maybe I *should* have waited until I got better before writing my original guide.

On the other hand, the original writing of the guide was born of a productive kind of frustration. On the forums, people often complain of poor DPS, and their unwillingness to improve. But in my experience, most players are very open to constructive criticism, and suggestions for improvement. I've only encountered the 'stubborn subpar DPS' a few times while playing. And I’ve had at least one person say that my original guide was very helpful. My guide is a constructive way of trying to address the problem.

See, part of the problem is most job guides are geared to endgame players, looking to do bleeding edge endgame content. For beginner-midcore players just trying to research the basics of their class it's...less than ideal. I speak from painful experience. I looked up Hai Hai's guide, with the intent of learning my class, and got utterly overwhelmed by things like stat weights, DoT breakpoints, etc. Hardly something you can just link to someone just starting out.

Some may say, "Well, it should be self-evident what your basic rotation is." But that's not quite the case. It's not entirely obvious at first that you should cast Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio in that order during openers. For some, it's not even evident that Arcanist/Summoner is a DoT class (especially if this is their first MMO). It's not entirely obvious (especially to new MMO players) that using Topaz Carbuncle in dungeons is a really bad idea.

My ranting aside, the goal of this guide remains mostly unchanged. It assumes very little of the readers, and is geared towards those beginner and midcore players. I'm not the best Summoner in the world, I fully admit that. But I’ve gone from believing that I was no good as a DPS, to somewhat pulling off the 2F/1P opener in combat while handling mechanics (meaning I’m pulling off fair numbers in combat). It wasn't an easy road though, and I’m hoping my guide will smooth the learning curve for some.

Tip for Controller Players
Hit 'Start', go to 'System', then 'Character Configuration'. Select 'Hotbar', and go to the 'Cross' tab. There, you'll find an option to enable the expanded crossbar. Do it. Summoner has a *lot* of abilities, and you'll need the extra slots.

A final note: Chotbar=Crossbar/Hotbar

So You Want to Be an Arcanist?
Here's a fun story: When I first started FFXIV, I knew I wanted to become a White Mage. Well, thanks to a derp, I mixed up Arcanist and Conjurer, and started as the former believing it became WHM. I learned my mistake well after the fact. Oops! Turned out to be the good kind of mistake in the long run, though. ACN are a pet-class (one of my favorite types of class), and in-lore Badass Bookworms who used the power of math (Being kinda a math and academic nerd myself, I obviously related).

Arcanist is sometimes recommended as a starting job to those new to FFXIV. This is for several reasons. First, the class itself doesn't start gaining its real complexity until level 30, which is also when you pick up one of the two jobs (or both, if you so choose). Second, Carbuncle is an awesome asset at early and mid-level (and beyond if you go SMN). Emerald Carbuncle serves as a good chunk of your damage with very little effort from you. And Topaz Carbuncle gained at level 15 makes it one of the best classes for soloing, and distinction that continues even after you become a SMN.

Arcanist is unique in that it splits into two different jobs: Summoner and Scholar. The former is a DPS job, and playstyle-wise an extension of ACN. The latter is a healer job, and therefore a radical shift in playstyle after ACN. Both jobs, sharing the same class, also share the same Attributes and Attribute bonuses.

As a result, there are two types of Summoners: Those who go straight from ACN to SMN, and SCHs who decide to give the DPS half of their class a shot. This guide is primarily aimed at the former, as well as those leveling ACN/SMN as their first job.

Advantages
-Summoners are unquestionably the best AoE job in the game. You will be ripping through trash mobs at a good pace by the time you hit level cap.
-We're the most mobile job in the game right now (to the chagrin of Bards).
-We're also one of the best soloing ones
-We're the only non-healer class who can use Raise (Resurrection) in combat
-One word: Deathflare.

Disadvantages
-Our single-target burst is arguably the worst of all the DPS classes. This comes back to bite us *repeatedly*, since it means our handling of adds is piss-poor.
-We have low single-target damage overall in comparison to other DPS, as a trade-off for our excellent AoE. The problem with this is, the vast majority of endgame is single-target fights. We are many things, but DPS chart-toppers we are not (outside of AoE situations).
-While tales of us being 'hard' are somewhat exaggerated, there *is* a lot to keep track of. This guide is meant to help one build-up their skillset and hopefully create a manageable learning curve. But I won't be surprised if it becomes too much for some.
-Apparently, we also lack any kind of defensive abilities (Black Mage, for example, get Manawall/Manaward, which nullifies a certain amount of physical/magical damage respectively). This makes us squishy even by caster standards. That's probably why we got the tank pet.

If the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, then by all means give this job a try!

Leveling

Level 1-15

Level 1: Ruin
Not much to say here. Get used to Ruin'ing everything (*shot*) because this is going to be your go-to filler spell for a long time. If this is your first class, after you complete the first 'Close to Home' quest, remember to head back to the Arcanists' Guild to pick up the first 'class quest.' Class (and later job) quests are important, because you need to to complete the class quest chain to unlock the relevant job quests, and almost all of the job quests (and a few of the class quests) grant you important abilities upon completion. Make a habit of returning to your class (and later job) trainer every five levels for the next quest.

Of course, if this isn't your first rodeo, so to speak, there's probably no need for me to tell you that. XD.

Level 2: Bio
Your first Damage over Time (DoT) attack! Arcanist, and in extension Summoner, are a DoT class first, and a pet class second. This should literally be the first spell you cast in any battle for the next few levels. Start making the habit of re-casting it whenever the timer on the enemy expires. In-between, spam Ruin.

Level 4: Summon
When I first started ACN, the class trainer mentioned Carbuncle. My thought?: Carbuncle? What Carbuncle? I can't use Carbuncle yet. A few levels later...Oh.

Carbuncle is an adorable beast who is going to be your best friend for the next 30 levels. This is where the 'pet' half of the class starts. In 'Actions and Traits,' you'll find a section dedicated to pet commands. You want to put two commands somewhere on your chotbar: Obey and Steady.

´Obey' commands your pet to attack whatever you are targeting at the moment, except it refrains from using certain attacks unless you command it otherwise. The basic advice is you *always* keep the Summon I pet on Obey, whether its Emerald Carbuncle, Garuda-Egi (SMN), or Eos (SCH).

For Emerald Carby, in the early levels the primary reason for this is it has a knockback attack that annoys the hell out of tanks. Especially Gladiators/Paladin, who have difficulty holding threat at low levels. There's another, more significant reason, but it doesn't come into play until level 40.

Level 4: Physick
Physick is a healing spell, and until you hit level 50, its a good idea to keep it somewhere on your chotbar. This is because magic-user gear until that point has both Intelligence AND Mind, meaning Physick heals are fairly effective. Physick is used primarily for healing yourself when out solo, but it's looked down upon to use it in dungeons unless you're a SCH. You aren't the healer, after all. That said, you'll occasionally run into groups where the healer can't handle it, or worse dies on you. On these occasions, 'SMN heals' are very much welcome.

In my opinion, it's really too bad SMN can't help with the healing after level 50, while SCH can still greatly contribute to DPS thanks to Cleric Stance. But that's just me talking as a career healer, and also with several memorable occasions where my 'SMN heals' helped salvage a bad run.

Level 6: Aetherflow
Did you do your class quest at level 5? If not, go back and do it.

Aetherflow, frankly, isn't that big a deal at lower levels. Despite that, you'll want to put it somewhere on your chotbar anyway, because it will eventually become one of the core components of the class, and both SMN and SCH.

Level 8: Energy Drain
After this level, thanks to the Aetherdam trait, whenever you use Aetherflow, you gain an Aetherflow stack. The only thing you have to spend this on right now is Energy Drain, which does single-target damage and restores your MP in the process. Later on, you’ll get more stacks and more things to spend them on.

Start making the habit of keeping AF on cooldown and using ED whenever possible. Its a good chunk of single-target damage. Don't sweat if you can't remember. I didn't use Energy Drain much leveling up myself, and most won't side-eye you for not using it so long as you are keeping up your DoTs.

Level 10: Miasma
First: Class quest! That's still a thing!

Second: Your next DoT! This is applied alongside Bio at the start of a battle. Your opening rotation at this point should ideally be"
:
Aetherflow -> Miasma -> Bio -> Energy Drain.
As with Bio, keep Miasma applied to the enemy at all times. Theory says that you should be refreshing it at 2-3 seconds, but I wouldn't concern yourself with that. Just make sure it stays up!

Note: Bonus Attribute Points
Here's a fun bit of trivia: The devs actually regret having SMN and SCH split from the same class. One reason is because as a result, they share the same Attributes, including bonus Attribute Points. The rule is to dump those points into your job's 'primary stat.' The problem? SMN's primary stat is Intelligence, with SCH's is Mind.

And you can't put points into both (well, you CAN, but it's very a poor idea).

Now, granted, this isn't TOO much of an issue nowadays, but back in the day it was a big problem. You see, your Grand Company (chosen at level 20 for new players) sells an item capable of resetting your Attribute Points, called 'The Keeper's Hym.' At the start, one of these set you back 10,000 GC seals (!!!). Luckily, in 2.4, they reduced it to a much more reasonable 250 seals. Now its somewhat common for Arcanist players to buy 99 Hyms at a time, and redistribute their points based on whether they are playing SCH or SMN. Still annoying though.

Anyway, you get your first bonus points at level 10, and you want to place them into Intelligence for now. If you intend on playing SCH, you'll be able to invest into a Keeper's Hym later to redistribute those points to Mind.

Level 12: Virus
This...isn't going to see much use, honestly, especially if you plan on going SMN. Later, you can apply it to bosses in dungeons, provided you remember, but Virus duty is usually reserved for healers. You can get away with not having this on your chotbar.

However, SMNs get more mileage from this in cutting edge content, where it's a valuable utility if a SCH isn't in the party. Or they can coordinate with the other healers. It just sees very little use in casual content.

Level 15
Congrats on hitting level 15! If this is your first class, you now have access to the rest of the city states, including the other Guilds and their respective classes.

For me, I stuck around Gridania and leveled Conjurer, thanks to the aforementioned mistake I made when I started playing. I loved ACN, and this guide is proof I eventually returned to it. But in my previous MMO, World of Warcraft, I had mained a healer class, and had every intention of doing so again. I would be CNJ, and later WHM, until I hit the 2.x MSQ much later, at which point out of sheer frustration I would finally level SMN (I kept getting crappy DPS for a story required dungeon). It was an ideal time to level SMN too, since thanks to HW's release, DPS queue were unusually fast. They still aren't that bad, but then, I have incredible patience for that sort of thing.

But enough about my experiences. Point is, if you're new, there's no shame in trying out a few of the other classes for fun. In fact, leveling other classes is eventually required, both to unlock jobs, and to obtain valuable cross-class skills. I'll get more into that later.

Also, before you board the airship to leave the city, make sure to do your level 15 class quest first!

Topaz Carbuncle
There are TWO class quests this time, so watch it. The first one grants you Summon II and the second version of your best friend: Topaz Carbuncle. Go into 'Actions and Traits', and place 'Sic' somewhere on your chotbar. There are a couple things to keep in mind with Topaz Carbuncle:

Rule #1: Never EVER use Topaz Carbuncle (and later Titan) in dungeons. Ever. Just...don't. Not only do they do less damage than Emerald Carby, but their enmity generating abilities screw with the party tank, making their job that much harder. Tanks have enough to deal with. Don't add to it.

Rule #2: Keep Topaz Carby on Sic, it's more effective that way. The tricky thing to remember here is if you change to Emerald Carbuncle for a dungeon to switch the pet to 'Obey'. Basically Emerald Carby/Garuda=Obey, Topaz Carby/Titan=Sic.

Soloing
Remember how I said earlier that ACN/SMN are among the best jobs/classes for soloing? That deserves a special expansion here.

The key is in Topaz Carbuncle (later replaced with Titan-Egi), a 'tank' pet. Yes, your own personal tank. Most other jobs have to rely on their chocobo to fill the role. Unlike your chocobo, Topaz/Titan can be used in dungeons and quest duties. Including MSQ and class quest duties, making them a cakewalk in most cases. There are several videos of level-capped SMNs tackling things like Turn 1 of the Binding Coil of Bahamut or, more recently, Garuda Extreme (unsynched, of course). These are incredible feats, and fun personal challenges if you are so inclined, but should also give you the general idea of how useful the tank pet is when you are on your own.

Make a habit of Sic'ing Topaz/Titan on enemies, 'pulling' them for you. In quest duties or other occasions such as leves, Sic them on any enemies that are attacking you, peeling them off. Then sit back and sling your spells safely from afar. Keep an eye on your pet's HP bar, and use Physick (and later Sustain, more on that in a sec) as necessary to keep them alive. Done correctly, you'll often going entire quests without losing even half your HP bar.

As casters, the tank pets are one of the best things, allowing us to avoid the struggle of keeping alive other casters go through, especially during more difficult quest duties. We can even solo FATEs using them, with our pet tanking the boss/enemies. Given FATEs are a common XP grinding method, you can see how that's useful.

Dungeons
This is also the point where you start doing dungeons. I re-iterate some of my earlier advice: Use Emerald Carbuncle in dungeons, and keep it on Obey when you do. Often, there will be a single enemy the other DPS will focus on (indicated by faster falling HP in the enemy list), or the tank will mark an enemy as '1'. Use 'Obey' to order Carby to attack that enemy and help focus it down while you work through your AoE rotation.

Your AoE rotation at this point, unfortunately, consists of applying Miasma -> Bio to every enemy in a mob. Yes, this is time-consuming, and yes, this is a pain in the ass. But as our single-target burst sucks, this is actually the most productive thing we can do, followed by Energy Drain -> Ruin'ing the enemy Carby and the other DPS are working on. Our AoE eventually gets better, don't worry. *MUCH* better.

Level 16-30

Level 18: Sustain
This is basically the devs' way around the fact that SMNs can't effectively Physick their own pet once they hit level 50. Use this instead of that when it comes to pet healing.

Level 20: Aetherdam II
Using Aetherflow gives you 2 stacks now. Translates to using Energy Drain twice with every AF use. Won’t get anything else to spend it on for a little while yet, sadly.

Level 22: Resurrection
Hoo boy, this is a big one, whether you plan on playing SMN or SCH. Not in terms of rotation impact, but in terms of party support.

At some point, likely around level 30 but sooner if you can/want to, you'll want to drop by the Tharmaturges' Guild in Ul'dah and pick up the Tharmaturge class. Then, you want to level that to 26. At level 26, THM gets something called 'Swiftcast'. Swiftcast is an incredibly useful skill, that both SMN and SCH can cross-class. It's mandatory that you get it at some point.

Why? Three words: The Combat Raise.

As someone once said, a Swiftcast Rez can mean the difference between a wipe and a clear. This was in reference to healers, but it applies to Summoners too. Yes, you have a duty to help with the Rez, even if you don't go SCH. That's a good thing, though.

In a four man group, a SMN is a welcome safety net if the healer goes down. Even if it's not the healer, SMN can easily afford to spend a GCD to Rez someone, especially if said healer is experiencing a crunch, or has recently expanded Swiftcast. In raids and other eight-man content, if things are going south a SMN Rez can make all the difference. If more than two people die in a short span of time, a good SMN will have the decency to Resurrect the third (or, god forbid, fourth) once the healers have expended Swiftcast Raising the first two.

Being a career healer, I find it easy to identify opportunities, but it pays to periodically look at the party list (also to check on your pet's HP). If someone is either A) Not rezzed within a couple minutes or B) You see one of the healers hard-casting Resurrection/Raise/Ascend, you'll be doing a *huge* service by jumping in with the Rez. As a perk, it will often earn you a commendation too!

The occasions you use Resurrection as SMN may be relatively rare, but when you do it will almost always be a literal matter of life or death for the entire party.

I'll get more into cross-class when we reach the level 30 section, as that's often the best time to do it if this is your first class.

Level 26: Bio II
Your third and final DoT! At this point, your single-target rotation should be:

Aetherflow -> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Energy Drain -> Ruin filler and a second Energy Drain. Keep both AF and ED on CD, and keep up your DoTs.

Yes, you still have to DoT every enemy during trash pulls in dungeons. Tough it out, you only have to do it for four more levels.

Level 30
Level 30 is an important level for a simple reason: This is where you finish your last class quest, and proceed to obtain your job. Do your final class quest, it's required both to unlock the first job quest, and obtain one of your more important abilities.

Bane
Remember when I mentioned how SMNs are currently the AoE kings? Well, here's one of your big AoE abilities. Bane is the reward from the final Arcanist class quest. It spreads all your applied DoTs on an enemy to up to eight surrounding enemies. That's right, no more individually applying DoTs to every enemy! It's as amazing as it sounds.

Bane consumes an Aetherflow stack, which means you now have a very solid use for AF besides Energy Drain. This is also when you need to start learning AF stack management. When in dungeons, you always, ALWAYS want an AF stack at the start of a trash pull so you can Bane your DoTs. You can 'refresh' DoTs on a mob by applying them again and re-Bane'ing, but watch your Aetherflow cooldown! You do NOT want to be unable to Bane at the start of a trash pull.

Note: Aetherflow Management
Managing your AF stacks is one of the core tenants of both SMN and SCH. Ideally, you always want a full set of stacks and AF off CD at the start of a pull. In practice, with PUG groups and such, this is impractical, since most are focused on clearing the dungeon as fast as possible.

General rules are 1) If AF is off CD but you have stacks left, don't refresh until you've spent said stacks. 2) On the flipside, if you are out of stacks and AF is still on CD, mash it the second it's ready.

At this point, your AoE rotation should be:

Aetherflow -> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Bane -> Blizzard II filler (see Cross-Class below).

The Choice: Summoner or Scholar?
Thanks to the Keeper's Hym price reduction, it's perfectly viable to do both, especially for the first 50 levels since they share gear. In fact, some will even recommend going through dungeons as SCH, due to healers having faster queues. I didn't, personally. Why? Because after obtaining Bane SMN starts cutting through trash mobs like a hot knife through butter and it's one of the most amazing feelings in the world. (Also, right after the HW release, DPS had nigh-instant queue times).

...I like AoE, okay?

This guide is Summoner-focused, so you'll have to find info on Scholar elsewhere. Just be aware that if you go SCH, it's a pretty radical shift in playstyle compared to transitioning to SMN, by virtue of the fact that you are going from a DPS class to a healer class. If you haven't played a healer before, I wouldn't recommend going SCH right away. Level Conjurer and run some dungeons to learn the healing role first (And you need CNJ level 15 to unlock SCH in any case).

Cross-Class
Level 30 is an excellent time to pick up cross-class skills. Both SMN and SCH want THM's Swiftcast at 26, but you'll also pick up Blizzard 2, which is useful as AoE filler. And you need THM at 15 to unlock SMN anyway.

You also want to level Archer. At level 4, you get Raging Strikes, which is an essential DPS CD. At level 34, you get Quelling Strikes, which is an important enmity-handling tool. Er, okay confession time, I haven't picked up Quelling Strikes myself yet (likely to the frustration of several tanks). You can probably get away with waiting until SMN is level 50 or even 60 (thus granting all sub-50 combat classes a 100% Armory experience bonus if this is your first job), before going back and picking up Quelling Strikes. Our relatively low single-target burst damage makes managing threat less of an issue compared to other DPS. But don't follow my example in this case and never get it at all. (I plan on fixing that soon, okay? I have plans to try out Bard in the near future.)

Unlocking Summoner
If this is your first job, you should be aware in advance that SMN is somewhat unique in that you have to make MSQ progress in addition to leveling up to unlock a few of the job quests (pre-3.0, that is). There's a very good in-lore reason for this, if you pay any attention to that (which you should because holy hell FFXIV's lore is amazing). So you can't skimp the MSQ if you want to make job progress. Just FYI!

The quest to unlock, 'Austerities of Flame' starts at the Arcanist guildmaster. You have to have cleared the MSQ quest 'Sylph-management' in order to unlock it (and all the other job quests, for that matter). Accept it, and it will lead you to the SMN job trainer, Y'mhitra. The reward for completing this quest is Summon III, which allows you to summon Ifrit-Egi!

Summon III
Congratulations! You can now summon Ifrit! So, for the next ten levels or so, you'll want to use this guy in dungeons instead of Emerald Carbuncle. He's just straight up more powerful, and even better, you can leave him on 'Sic.' In the long run, Ifrit will sadly be more or less supplanted by Garuda, but for now...

At this point, your single-target opener should be:
Aetherflow -> Killing Strikes-> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Energy Drain -> Ruin filler. Use ED whenever possible.

Our single-target is going to get a bit better in a few more levels, don't worry.

Note: DoTs and Buffs
This verges into theorycrafting territory, but its still important to know. Damage over Time attacks in this game 'snapshot' buffs. In other words, if you cast a DoT under the effect of a buff like Killing Strikes, the buffed DoT will remain so until it falls off or you re-apply it, even after you yourself are no longer under the buff's effect. A critical part of SMN's damage is piling on buffs, casting DoTs, then extending the timer using Contagion (obtained at level 40).

Level 31-50

Level 34: Eye for an Eye
If you're playing SCH, this is one of your big CDs. As a SMN though, you can afford to just leave if off your chotbar. Like Virus, it sees use at higher level play.

Level 35: Titan-Egi
You have to have to have completed the Main Scenario Quest, "Lord of the Crags", in order to accept the level 35 job quest. For me, I’m STILL not sure how I got through that (mind I was White Mage at the time). To this day, I still groan and cringe whenever the Naval (both normal and Hard) comes up in Roulette. I hate Titan so friggin’ much.

Do your level 35 job quest, earning yourself Titan-Egi (which replaces Topaz Carbuncle) and more importantly Fester!

Level 35: Fester
Fester is a single-target attack that does damage based on the number of DoTs you have up. Essentially, it's our main source of single-target 'burst' damage, alongside Ruin. Set-up properly, it will be your single hardest-hitting attack until you get Deathflare.

Your single target rotation at this point should consist of:

Aetherflow- > Killing Strikes -> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Fester.

At this point, take Energy Drain off your chotbar. You won't use it unless you are really shitty at managing your mana, which shouldn't happen if you're following this guide.

Level 38: Ruin II
An instant-cast version of Ruin. It's a key part of weaving oGCDs, so I would recommend replacing Ruin with this in preparation for that. It will also give you much greater mobility. At least one fellow SMN I've talked to removed Ruin off his chotbar altogether, but if you're hitting up Leveling Roulette, I would recommend leaving it 'cause of Level Sync.

Note: Summoner Mobility
Summoner is considered complicated or 'hard' compared to other DPS jobs, and while I think its exaggerated a little, its also not hard to argue there's truth to it. Giving how much there is to keep track of, it might come as a surprise to some to learn that Summoner is one of the, if not *the*, most mobile jobs in the game.

Here's the deal: With the exception of two of our DoTs, Bio II and Miasma, later Shadowflare, and *much later* Ruin III (which isn't used much relatively speaking), once you get Ruin II all of the abilities you use are instant-cast. Yeah, you read that right. As a caster, this is *huge* in terms of mobility, since it means we can move while still dealing damage. This is a luxury melee jobs don't have, since moving means ceasing their rotation and a resulting drop in their DPS.

The other factor is our DoTs and our pets. Even if we aren't actively casting anything (and something mechanics prevent us from even instant casting on the move), if you have all your DoTs up and your pet is alive and attacking, a good chunk of your damage is still happening without any input from you whatsoever. This means a properly played SMN can be relied on for a consistent baseline of damage throughout the fight, even if it might not be the highest. Most of our DPS fluctuation comes from our handling of our oGCDs, as well as DoT management (e.g. letting our DoTs drop).

This also means out of all the DPS, a SMN is often the best choice to handle a mechanic, since several of them require one to cease attacking momentarily. It also fits nicely with our Resurrection utility. We can easily spare both a GCD and the mana to Rez someone.

Note: Working with oGCDs
Ruin II has two utilities: Maximizing mobility, and weaving oGCDs. It's the latter thing I want to bring special attention to.

If you're relatively new to FFXIV, and you start out playing as a caster, early on you're conditioned to having your Global Cooldown filled by cast-time. You have a grand total of two oGCDs (Energy drain and Aetherflow) for quite a while, and neither are exactly important or impactful during the early levels.

As a result, a problem I ran right smack into when I started working on my opener is what I call 'GCD instinct.' In other words, I kept waiting out the 2.5 GCD before using any other ability, including oGCDs, defeating the purpose of them. Threw off quite a lot when trying to learn better openers, as you might imagine.

Honestly, there's no real cure for this except lots and lots of practice. A good example of early oGCD weaving would be hitting Bane/Fester right after casting Bio during an opener. Practice, practice, practice, and you'll get the hang of it eventually.

Level 40: Tri-Bind
The most useless and forgettable ability in SMN's arsenal. No, I'm not exaggerating. Leave it off your chotbar and instead focus on a key pet ability you get at this level.

Level 40: Shining Emerald/Contagion
Here's a big one. At this point, you should make Emerald Carbuncle your 'go to' pet again. Why? its right above this paragraph: Shining Emerald (called Contagion when used by Garuda). An invaluable part of the SMN's rotation, *the* reason we have our Summon I pets on Obey (well that, and the knockback attack that will drive tanks nuts). Slap this ability straight on your chotbar.

What does this ability do? It adds 15s to all your DoTs currently applied to the target. Take a sec to let that sink in. This ability is going to be part of both your single-target and AoE rotation.

Your AoE opener is now going to be:

Aetherflow -> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Contagion -> Bane -> Blizzard II filler

While your single-target opener is now:

Aetherflow -> Killing Strikes -> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Contagion -> Fester -> Ruin II filler

Level 40: Aetherdam III
Starting at this level, you will gain three stacks when you use Aetherflow. What this translates to right now is more Festers in single-target, and more leeway to refresh DoTs on a mob using Bane.

Level 42: Rouse
Despite the description, this is pretty much just one of your DPS CDs, and should be treated as such. This is one of two 'pet enhancing' abilities that should be blown as part of your single-target opener, and after level 48 you shouldn't be afraid to pop it during mob pulls in dungeons either.

Your single-target opener should now be:
Aetherflow -> Rouse -> Killing Strikes -> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Contagion -> Fester -> Ruin II filler

This is going to change nearly every other level now, so bear with me!

Level 45 Garuda-Egi
Fun fact: Garuda (the boss) was a ROYAL PAIN for me to defeat. It got to the point where my FC mates at the time had to carry me (I was a WHM at the time).

Like the previous Egis, you have to have completed the quest 'Lady of the Vortex' and defeated Garuda to undertake the level 45 SMN quest. Upon completion, you'll gain Garuda-Egi and your second pet CD: Spur.

Level 45: Spur
Spur is basically an 'enhanced' Rouse, and in single-target, you should always pop Spur alongside Rouse (not necessarily the other way around, as I'll explain shortly).

Your single-target opener should now be:
Aetherflow -> Rouse -> Spur -> Killing Strikes -> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Contagion -> Fester -> Ruin II filler

Level 46: Miasma II
This is *not* an enhanced Miasma. On the contrary, its an AoE like Blizzard II (meaning it targets enemies around you) that inflicts a DoT. It shouldn't be used in single-target, ever, but it does have a place in your AoE opener.

Your AoE opener is now going to be:
Aetherflow -> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Contagion -> Bane -> Miasma II -> Blizzard II filler

Level 48: Enhanced Rouse
This shortens the cooldown of Rouse to 60 seconds. For perspective, that's equivalent to Aetherflow's CD. After this point, don't be afraid to pop Rouse during mob pulls and such. Spur’s CD remains the same, hence it should usually be saved for bosses, especially if the group is moving fast.

Level 50

Congrats on reaching level 50! Complete your final Summoner quest (for now) and receive your first job capstone, Enkindle! You'll also receive your 'class capstone', Shadowflare. Enkindle just changes your single-target opener, but Shadowflare fits into both your single-target and AoE openers. For all intents and purposes, Shadowflare is a fourth DoT (and you should treat it as such).

Enkindle
I'll discuss Enkindle first, since its less words. Enkindle simply commands your pet to use its most powerful ability. Its pretty much a 3-minute DPS CD, and should ideally always be used when your pet is under the effect of both Rouse and Spur to maximize its effect.

Shadowflare
I'll admit, it was way longer then it should have been before I figured out Shadowflare. When you cast it, a targeting reticle appears, and a purple veil will appear wherever that reticle is positioned. Shadowflare has a long cast-time, and its not uncommon for some to use Swiftcast to mitigate it. It should always be up in some form, but that comes with the caveat that in fights where the boss or enemies are moving a lot, its just not worth it.

As an additional note, you will be internally cussing out a tank for moving an enemy out of Shadowflare at least once in your SMN career.

Your single-target opener should now be:
Aetherflow -> Shadowflare -> Rouse -> Spur -> Enkindle -> Killing Strikes -> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Contagion -> Fester -> Ruin II filler

Your AoE opener is now going to be:
Aetherflow -> Shadowflare -> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Contagion -> Bane -> Miasma II -> Blizzard II filler

Level 50-60
Congrats on reaching Ishgard! I'm going to kick this off with a WARNING if this is your first time through 3.0. During the HW MSQ, certain enemies during quest duties will 'hard target' you. This means the 'boss' will be at max aggro towards you, and Titan CANNOT peel them off. So don't even try. Use Ifrit or Garuda when you encounter this.

After completing the Main Scenario Quest, 'Coming to Ishgard', at some point you need to head back to Y'mhitra to accept the first 3.0 SMN quest. Nothing will come out of it (aside from a troll move by SE), but you need to complete it before you can do the other post-50 SMN quests.

Level 52: Painflare
Strictly speaking, Painflare just adds more kick to your AoE at this point, though it has single-target uses (especially after level 58). It spends an Aetherflow stack, something that will be extremely important later on.

Your AoE opener is now going to be:
Aetherflow -> Shadowflare -> Rouse -> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Contagion -> Bane -> Miasma II -> Painflare -> Blizzard II filler

Level 54: Ruin III
Ruin III won't see its full potential until level 58. Until then, don't make the mistake of thinking its a 'upgrade' from Ruin II, because its not. Spamming it will both scream 'noob' and drain your MP faster then a primal drains aether. Its probably best to leave it off your chotbar until you hit level 58 for now.

Level 56: Tri-Disaster
Now we're talking! Tri-Disaster is an *incredibly* useful skill that applies all three of your Dots (Bio II, Miasma, and Bio) at once. Yeah, you read that right. It's on a one-minute CD, and is an essential part of your opener, as you might imagine.

At Level 58 (sensing a pattern here?) the better use of this skill will change, but for now there's no harm in using it to quickly apply your DoTs at the start of encounters.

Your AoE opener is now going to be:
Aetherflow -> Shadowflare -> Rouse -> Tri-Disaster -> Contagion -> Bane -> Miasma II -> Painflare -> Blizzard II filler

Your single-target opener should now be:
Aetherflow -> Shadowflare -> Rouse -> Spur -> Enkindle -> Killing Strikes -> Tri-Disaster -> Contagion -> Fester -> Ruin II

Level 58: Dreadwyrn Trance
Hoo boy. This is the 'game changer.' This is where SMN's rotation takes another jump in complexity and management. Most of the theorycrafting surrounding SMN these days is about getting into DWT, and then maximizing your time in it.

From now on, every time you spend an Aetherflow stack, you'll gain a stack of Aethertrail Attunement. This will last for 30 seconds unless you spend another AF, at which point you'll gain another AA stack and the timer will reset. Once you have three stacks of AA, you can enter Dreadwyrm Trance.

DWT greatly reduces the MP cost of Ruin III, while increasing your overall magic damage by 10%. Read that latter bit again. Remember how earlier I talking about how DoTs 'snapshot' buffs when cast? Time DWT right with other DPS buffs, and the end result is...well, its not impressive compared to most other DPS classes in single-target situations, frankly (our trade-off for being AoE masters). But it does contribute immensely to our numbers.

Summoner is actually lucky in that our 'capstone' (level 60 ability), while no doubt important and awesome, it doesn't radically alter our rotation upon obtaining, actually slotting neatly into the one developed around DWT. Compare that to say, BLM getting Fire IV at level 60. Mind you, getting the 'rotation changer' at 58 isn't *that* much better, but having two levels of easing into it is better than none.

The point being, even without being at level cap right now, you can start looking into building up your opener. I'll give you starting ones for now that should account for fair numbers. But if you plan on breaking into endgame, studying 'optimal' openers and working up to them is a must.

AoE Opener
Aetherflow -> Shadowflare -> Rouse -> Tri-Disaster -> Contagion -> Bane -> Painflare -> Miasma II -> Blizzard II filler -> Painflare -> Dreadwyrm Trance -> Blizzard II

In 99% of cases, mobs don't really last long enough to do much more than spam Blizzard II (or Ruin III if there's only one or two left) in DWT.

Single-Target Opener
Aetherflow -> Shadowflare -> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Fester -> Rouse -> Spur -> Enkindle -> Painflare -> Fester -> Dreadwyrm Trance -> Killing Strikes -> Tri-Disaster -> Contagion -> Ruin III
Ruin II filler as needed.

In addition to the usual rules (keep up DoTs and Shadowflare, Aetherflow management), you now need to watch the Aethertrail Attunment timer. You should also always be using Tri-Disaster+Contagion within DWT now.

You probably noticed a good deal of re-arranging in the single-target opener. I did say DWT is a game-changer. Instead of popping Killing Strikes as the start as you're now used to, you should now be delaying it until you enter DWT. Same goes for Tri-Disaster and Contagion. This helps you get plenty of mileage out of DWT, and (Killing Strikes)+DWT+Tri-Disaster+Contagion is one of the core parts of optimal openers (though the Killing Strikes timing is a little different).

Painflare was added to the single-target rotation to get you into DWT faster.

Level 60

A Little History
The main 2.x raid was the Binding Coils of Bahamut. As you might imagine, the final boss was Bahamut himself, in the form of Bahamut Prime. Among other things the fight is infamous for its tankbuster, Akh Morn. Even today, unsynched, Akh Morn gives tanks headaches (and several of them PTSD). Many bad memories for tanks there. :P

Historically, SMN has had it rough. I'm not fully informed on the details (didn't join until shortly before 3.0), but their DPS wasn't the best, and BLM was much preferred in raids pre-3.0. It was bad enough that the devs *admitted* they knew SMN was having problems. Why didn't they do anything? Because any adjustments to SMN's DPS risked making the already ridiculous SCH even more overpowered. One of the more memorable instances where SMN and SCH sharing the same base class came back to bite the devs.

In the lead-up to 3.0, it was announced that, contrary to past promises, SMN *would not* be receiving any new Egis. Cue frustration and outcry. We've since been promised an 'Egi glamour' system, but that seems a long ways away at this time. The whole thing initially left SMN players quite bitter. Key word: initially.

Then the preview for SMN's changes in 3.0 was released. Among many other things, it was revealed that we would get ****ing Akh Morn. (For the record, I wanted to level SMN *before* they revealed this.) Along with the (still-distant) promise of Egi glamours, it was enough to not only calm much of the initial rage, but get players hyped for the class in 3.0. Very, very hyped.

And let's just say it lived up to it.

Deathflare
Deathflare is SMN's 'capstone' ability, the final piece in our 3.0 rotation. It's our single-strongest ability, both in single-target and AoE situations. You always, *always* want to end Dreadwrym Trance with Deathflare. Missing Deathflare feels horrible. Nailing it is one of the high points of playing a SMN, and it *never* gets old. Never.

As I mentioned earlier, rotation-wise very little actually changes. The only real change is that when you have about 3-4 seconds left on Dreadwyrm Trance, you should use Deathflare to end the trance. If there's *any* risk that DWT will end before you can fire off Deathflare (like say, you're avoiding mechanics while the DWT timer is ticking), there's no shame in letting loose early. Deathflare, like many other SMN abilities, is instant-cast, so you can use it if mechanics aren't letting you pull off another Ruin III before DWT ends.

AoE Opener
Aetherflow -> Shadowflare -> Rouse -> Tri-Disaster -> Contagion -> Bane -> Painflare -> Miasma II -> Blizzard II filler -> Painflare -> Dreadwyrm Trance -> Blizzard II->Deathflare

Single-Target Opener
Aetherflow -> Shadowflare -> Bio II -> Miasma -> Bio -> Fester -> Rouse -> Spur -> Enkindle -> Painflare -> Fester -> Dreadwyrm Trance -> Killing Strikes -> Tri-Disaster -> Contagion -> Ruin III -> Deathflare
Ruin II filler as needed

What's Next

I highly, *highly* recommend taking a look at either Hai Hai’s Summoner guide, or Connecting the DoTs on this very forum. The writers of both these guides have a far better clue then I do after this point. As I mentioned at the very start of this guide, I’m still learning and improving. I *might* come back and add some stuff concerning endgame, but probably not until after 3.2 drops.

Hope you enjoyed!

[SilverRhyme]

Sorry, Im just nitpicking, but Contagion only adds 15 seconds to your dots, it doesnt double it.

[Nosphuratu]

Decent guide also "Killing Strikes" is known as "Ragging Strike".

[Alisa180]

Sorry, Im just nitpicking, but Contagion only adds 15 seconds to your dots, it doesnt double it.

Oops! I'll go back and fix that! For some reason, I had it suck in my head Contagion doubled remaining duration.

Decent guide also "Killing Strikes" is known as "Ragging Strike".

DERP. And THIS is why I asked for others' input. I'll fix it right away, thanks!

[SilverRhyme]

Might want to mention that the Aetherflow ability you use must work properly to get an Aethertrail stack from it. Target must have dots so fester can deal damage,and bane must have dots to spread AND additional targets to spread to.

Sorry in advance if it's already in and I missed it.

[seekified]

Well, this came at an opportune time. I'm close to getting SCH to 60 and will start messing around with my free SMN after that.

[AriaEnia]

I always save my raging strike until dreadwyrm stance. My deathflare can hit 8000 - 9000 damage when crit (with foe requiem and/or trick attack)

[FeliAiko]

Two things:

1. Blue Carbuncle should also be on Obey. Garuda-egi is just an upgraded version of it mechanically, so they share the same moves (just renamed). That means Carby also has Contagion (named Shining Emerald), so for those lvling SMN from scratch it's good practice to get used to keeping Summon I on Obey, period.

2. No reason to replace Ruin when you get Ruin II because that's not its purpose. If you have no reason to move, or to weave in an oGCD like Fester, then you simply spam Ruin I until DoTs need to be reapplied.

Other than that, seems all good so far.

[koroko220]

Yes, I agree with FeliAiko. Ruin I is about half the cost of ruin II, even with SE having decreased costs. When my dots are up and it's ruin filler time I cast ruin I and use ruin II immediately after, provided I'm not low on mp.

[SilverRhyme]

Another reason not to leave Carbuncle on sic is so he doesn't spam his knockback skill