I feel like the general idea is that it's meant to be a tricky class that builds up to huge numbers if the player is on their game, IE, keep Bahamut-egi out as much as possible. That's a fun style on paper, but right now SMN's numbers don't really reflect how otherwise punishing the job is.

I think the current difficulty curve verses other DPS is hurting the job, as well, and being linked to SCH has borked some early skills. Also, the inability to really heal the pet is a joke. Fix that SE.