Pros and cons of smn and blm

[SarenyiaSarenyia]

So I posted about switching over to blm for my dps class, but I realized that I actually have summoner at 50 because I use to main scholar. Which do you like more and why? On a side note I plan on maining red mage so maybe it would be better to get use to something like black mage?

[Lollie]

tldr: based on what we have seen so far, imo brd is probably going to be the closest experience to rdm (no one knows yet though).

Quick over view
smn requires some pet management, has higher aoe, is more mobile, has more button presses and shorter cast time. Fast, poison chucker, with ogcd burst. Battle rez.

blm has stat prep work more specifically having the proper amount of pie, less button presses, rooted for casting longer (is still fairly mobile but takes preplanning), higher single target, infinate mp. Slower, prepwork based, glass cannon.

Personally I prefer blm because I like the gear esthetics more, and the slower more methodical playstyle.

[ManuelBravo]

Personally I liek BLM more. Just have to keep in mind your surroundings, sprint, and remember the golden rule, "Interrupt your casting and live, is better than pulling it off and dying."

[Silverquick]

Well to be honest I like both equally, Why did I end up with SMN as the main rather than Blm?

First of all it was a better Soloer... with the Pet.
Someone said to me once... when I play my SMN I miss my Spike damage and when I play my BLM I miss my pet. Its very true at early level perspective. BLM was better or rather easier in early level dungeons as you have your AoEs at those levels. SMN you seriously have to work for your dmg at 15th-20th level in dungeons. But nothing can touch you as a SMN and you can solo any boss mobs in FATES. While there is no doubt they both do ludicrous amounts of AoE damage at the highest levels... at earlier levels that is how they break down.


SMN was a better soloer, BLM had better nukes at lower levels. Dungeons at 15th level I was doing similar amounts of damage whether I was one or the other, but I had to work a lot harder as SMN for it.

That said it was a Trick of Fate that made SMN my Main... I had intended to level both equally and be able to swap one for another depending on my Mood. I get just as many Coms on BLM as I do SMN so I'm thinking I'm good at both.

BUT while on THM I thought ARC meant Arcanist when I first started... it actually meant Archer...you can imagine my surprise showing up to the BLM Quest giver going... WTH?

So Arcanist side already had Thm which was required for Summoner... to level BLM meant I had to stop there and level Archer... which I did... but by that time SMN was so far ahead I gave up on leveling BLM equally.

I have BLM to level 38, and SMN to 59 at this point and I've acquired a new Job that given my shoes is more versatile at the same level as SMN... namely SCH... so now I can swap DPS for Healing whenever its needed or called on for some run or situation. And I'm learning to play SCH in lower level dungeons so I can get the hang of it.

I mean to get back to BLM as soon as I can finish HW MSQ, but at this point SMN is my main.

My really do like both of them though... BLM is a Nuke Mage, SMN is a DoT mage... Well ok Dreadwyrm does change that.

There is ONE more small thing... that has made me worry about going BLM...

As I get higher in level, the dungeons require more and more movement and dodging. As a SMN once I start to kick in major damage the Boss targets the crap out of me... and I end up running round from all the backline damage and attacks he starts throwing at me. (That Dulahan Boss the other night just would not leave me alone)...

After seeing the upper level dungeons... like Keeper of the Lake, and knowing how stationary the BLM has to be... I wonder if you'd ever even GET to do any damage from all the running around... so I have hesitated lately.

[LunaFaye]

So I posted about switching over to blm for my dps class, but I realized that I actually have summoner at 50 because I use to main scholar. Which do you like more and why? On a side note I plan on maining red mage so maybe it would be better to get use to something like black mage?

Yoshi loves playing BLM and that's why we see so much love being thrown at that class. It's probably save to assume that if you wanted to level a casting class, BLM might be your friend. I on the other hand love my smn. I love the mobility, the aoe and the great damage output when played correctly compared to the level 50 version of that job. Do I like the pets that come with it? No, and I would love seeing that option being removed but that's not going to happen.

While I have a blm and like their huge burst damage, standing around while casting or in a circle, is getting pretty much boring for me personally. Or some fights make you run around like chickens, poor blm's and mnks is all I can say to that. Not a fan of mechanics screwing up your overall dps or rotations, and while I am not saying that the mechanics are bad or difficult, but having to run from one side of the map to the other every 2 minutes is not what I call mechanic. At the end of the fight there's so much difference in my dps when being on blm in comparison of running the same fight on my smn.

after all it's more relaxing and less frustrating playing smn. But with that out of the way, I don't think that RDM will be anything like the smn and since we have not much information on that topic at the moment, I just make some assumptions.

I think Yoshi got lonely in the back of every fight and thought to himself "it would be nice to have a friend, but he/she can't outshine me!" It was done, the dev team got to work and voila here's the red mage. Obviously it's a hybrid class and that means this job will be the next new buddy. Now every blm can have a friend that stands with him/her in the corner/back of the map and spam skills. It's the perfect companion!

[Neela]

i don't know much about Blm endgame rota. But Smn rota is more like a priority system than a fix rota -> being more flexibel in movement or emergency-res. Smn have some insta skills too making them even more flexible in movement. Although my Blm shared Smn gear on lvl 60 - I ll never got used to Blm over lvl50 content but I personally got bored with the cls mechanic fire, fire, fire looking for a proc -> ice, blitz -> fire, fire... but it seems there are a lot of people who like this way of rotations and big spike dmg numbers. ^^

[Gaj85]

I have never tried Summoner (never even started Archanist). I main as a Black Mage though and I love it. It gets a little frustrating sometimes if you have to dodge a lot of AOE but overall it is great. I love the massive amounts of damage I can achieve.

[Blonde_Huntress]

BLM really pays off at higher levels in particular once you get versed in the types of AoE a dungeon/raid/etc is going to throw at you. I personally feel that SMN is more forgiving of mistakes than BLM. SMN has better movement, can still keep pressure up, and already has an additional DPS tool in their egi. DWT is pure burst fun. Rune III spam to the final Deathflare for 12 seconds is always, always fun. Especially on a crit hit.

With BLM, if you're moving you're not attacking. Level 60 BLM really does play different than level 50 BLM. Fire IV/Blizzard IV with UI and AF management is tight. You really have to make sure you're not about to get AoE bombed because it wastes precious time that you could be nuking. Again, this is where it really pays to have knowledge of a fight. BLM is really fun once you get the hang of the changes level 60 brings.

[GunksFoy]

Black Mage is also the second highest in personal DPS, behind monk. It's a ton of fun to play, and learning to move and optimize your dps while managing mechanics is part of the fun. There is also the benefit of seeing 15k+ crits. Smn has huge crits with Death Flare too, but Blm will hit consistently high with Fire IV at max gear level.

[Red_Mage_87]

I play both Summoner and Black Mage, both has their pros and cons, but both are equally as useful and fun to play. Depending on the instance, I choose either BLM or SMN, if it's with a group I know and trust I go BLM if it's a PUG I go SMN. I like the pure power of BLM because if you are good at your rotations, timing, positioning you will push out some impressive DPS. I like the versatility of SMN, being able to do burst damage while managing your pet, and being able to do an emergency rez can make a difference sometimes in recovering from a potential wipe.

The cons of playing BLM is the potential to get interrupted during a rotation and having to readjust the rotation according to the incoming attack. You also want to make sure that you don't eat attacks for the sake of DPS, a bad DPS is a dead DPS, keep that in mind. The cons with playing SMN is the fact that they do burst damage and that keeping your DOTs up at all times, also selecting the right Egi for the job.