Apparently I'm distracting (and not the good kind)

[Jamillion]

My skin is thick, as people complain about everything. I never understood why people be so focused on what another person is doing. I was in a dungeon as NIN. I used a Morel Salad HQ. The DRG lol'd at me, asking why I'm not using a Truffle HQ. I never responded. Like, seriously... Do your job, and leave me alone.

You should have answered "Because I'm not wasting food on you"

[LegoTechnic]

I appreciate the feedback, though my original concerns had to do with whether Miasma II and Blizzard II are "bad" or not. I'm going to admit most of my rotation comes from head-math and not guides or any expert advice.

Blizzard II is stronger AoE DPS any time you would otherwise be using Ruin and are hitting at least two or more enemies. That said, it is also one of your least effective moves. It's better than Ruin but nothing else, so using it is indeed good in AoE situations. Miasma II is the same, as it has an effective potency of 70 on a target if the dot is allowed to fully tick down, but since trash dies too quickly most recommend to only use it if there are three or more mobs (as the dot doesn't always get to complete in most parties). You are indeed playing well if you're using these two abilities properly.

As for why the tank took offense, it could be something as simple as the sound of the move annoyed him. Maybe he had a headache. Maybe his mother was killed by spontaneous ice crystals exploding out of the freezer. It really doesn't matter, but he apparently couldn't deal with it (or just didn't want to), and you adjusted accordingly, which allowed you to complete the instance without further issue. But no, using those moves when appropriate is a sign that you are actually doing your job unless it's the rare instance where you need to focus something down quickly (like a final sting bee), but that shouldn't be the case that early in the instance. My personal guess is that he just wasn't used to seeing it, and it annoyed him amidst the massive bomb explosions that accompany Pharos Hard. Additionally if you're also using Shadowflare then it does get rather "colorful" for a tank in narrow areas if their camera decides to be lame. So it goes.

Sometimes a good player has to step back and baby a less-effective party member in duty finder or you'll never get anywhere. That doesn't make you less of a good player, and it doesn't make them a better one either, but it's not always conducive to get into a playstyle debate in roulette runs. Dungeons are unfortunately stupid-easy, so you don't often see people playing at their best in roulettes, and that's just something you have to be ready to deal with.

[FeliAiko]

The Tank was an idiot. Bottom line.

Using Miasma II and Blizzard II on multiple targets is perfectly fine, as that's how they're meant to be used. I tend to see the latter being ignored a lot by SMNs I come across, but Blizzard II is really good for large pulls - especially when under DWT. MP cost aside, it's a nice filler while your DoTs are doing their work.

[Dotsusama]

This is why I turn off/minimize party effects. I get tired of the shiny flashy stuff going on and it makes it hard to keep up with what the trash packs or bosses are doing. Your tank had the option of turning THEIR settings down if it bothered them so much.

Also: was your WHM not using Holy? Because THAT is a much much MUCH more distracting spell than Blizz II or Miasma since it covers the entire screen in a brilliant flash, has a loud ringing sound, and lingers for seconds... usually long enough for the second cast to take its place.

[Kumori_Kumo]

Tank here. Blizzard II all you want. If I can dodge stuff while there's a venn-diagram-from-hell of Shadow Flares from the two Summoners and Scholar, then whoever you get can put up with an ice effect that shouldn't even apply to 95% of the splats they'd care about.

Seriously don't even understand why this was a complaint.

[UBERHAXED]

How does this guy play with melee dps?

[ChaozK]

After giving myself the day to mull over this (I'm a fairly anxiety-and-depression prone guy, by the way), I came to the same conclusion as you did. That's part why I ditched most of my AoE abilities in favor of just finishing the run.

I appreciate the feedback, though my original concerns had to do with whether Miasma II and Blizzard II are "bad" or not. I'm going to admit most of my rotation comes from head-math and not guides or any expert advice.

You did everything right with using miasma II and bliz II. Its actually very common that most SMNs dont put in the effort to use these two skills for aoe as they have to be used in melee range and cost a bit of MP but they are nonetheless essential to having high AOE dps as a SMN and its a shame so few SMNs use them. Dont let that experience discourage you from using those skills. The tank was an idiot outright.

On the visual complaint, its true that a lot of skills block your view in melee range but thats on the tank or melee player to solve, not on you. I myself have party effects turned off so i can still comfortably see AOE indicators and the mobs flank or rear.

[Namir]

As a main SMN it is true, even I think that we are a bit too flashy when we get all our aoe moves going. The combination of painflare, shadowflare, miasma II, blizz II and the occasional dragon head and deathflare do make for quite a lightshow concentrated in a very small radius (on top of mobs). I usually try to stand to the side of mobs while still hitting all of them with blizz and miasma and have had no complaints so far even if it is a bit hard for even me to see at times. Regardless, if the tank is paying attention they should not be getting hit by any AOE just as the SMN aoeing isn't. My guess is the tank was tired or just bored (like most people running dungeons for the 100th time) and was not in the mood to put in the extra effort of paying closer attention to the telegraphs. Nice to see more SMNs using all their skills to their maximum potential though, the amount of SMNs that never use either of those two skills is insane.

[Knahli]

My skin is thick, as people complain about everything. I never understood why people be so focused on what another person is doing. I was in a dungeon as NIN. I used a Morel Salad HQ. The DRG lol'd at me, asking why I'm not using a Truffle HQ. I never responded. Like, seriously... Do your job, and leave me alone.

Ahaha, this comment made me laugh a lot. Even if I haven't had very many bad experiences, there's nothing but truth in it.

[cgbspender]

Snip

In fact, if the animations created by your AoEs were disturbing him that much (why not?), it should easily be fixed by simplifying party's skills animation under the personal setups. And assuming he doesn't know about that, he should have told you about this way sooner.