Reasons why SMN is frustrating and difficult.

[RLofOBFL]

I know there are 10000 threads about SMN already but I wanted to consolidate all the issues into one thread. SMN and MCH are in bad spots right now, but MCH just needs potency buffs whereas SMN needs some skill changes to help make it less messy(imo).

SMN as of now is exceedingly clunky. Optimal DPS requires an insane amount of difficulty and focus. I played all classes well in 3.x and I think this new 4.x SMN is definitely the hardest to play successfully, especially with a controller. I spent a lot of time practicing on a dummy and its absolutely frustrating me. That is just my personal experience, but here are the reason why I don't think SMN works well. Though some are just me throwing in frustrations of the way the class plays that aren't picked up on easily.

~Ruin 2 > ogcd > ruin 2 > ogcd > ruin 3 > ruin 2 > ogcd, your main attacking basically, doesn't feel very smooth at all. It feels stiff.

~Did you know since they nerfed Ruin 3, you're supposed to basically skip your first DWT and you're supposed to just use Ruin 2, Tri disastor, Ruin 2, Shadowflare, Ruin 2, Deathflare?

~You HAVE to force Bahamut out ASAP or its a heavy dps loss, which also means if you don't start with a pre used Aetherflow, you're considerably weaker such as in dungeon boss fights.

~The opener requires you to summon Ifrit, use Radiant Shield then resummon Garuda right before the fight starts That's ridiculous.

~The OGCD number is asinine. Why are Deathflare and Dreadwyrm seperate buttons? Why are Summon Bahamut and Ahk Morn separate? SMN has the most button bloat besides PLD, except unlike PLD you need all of them for maximizing DPS. 18 if you include the 3 from the current pet. All absolutely required or you'll lose DPS(okay not Bane in most cases).

~The GCD number is equally unnecessary, Miasma 3 and Bio 3 are rarely hardcasted anymore at all, maybe once per minute at most. Why are Ruin 1 2 and 3 different buttons? Just make Ruin 1 into Ruin 3, the dps gain would be minor and honestly probably deserved. Tri Bind is just...unnecessary but I don't think it gets in the way since it's almost useless anyway.

~Why does Addle cause Bahamut to attack and is necessary to use for max dps?

~You need Aetherflow before summoning Bahamut or you'll miss 3 wyrm waves and lose dps, which you guessed it, is a dps loss

~The Bahamut phase is made unfun by the ridiculousness required in it, Ruin 2 > ogcd, but don't use the ogcd 1 second too early or 1 second too late before the next Ruin 2 or you'll miss a wyrmwave and lose dps. And don't click Ahk Morn in the last few seconds or it won't count bc pet delay.

~Why is there still pet delay.

~On top of having to be 100% on your toes to play well, you have to worry about your pet dying. There is almost no downtime to move it since you're almost constantly doing something complicated.

~Death makes you lose Aetherflow and Bahamut build up and your pet, basically if you die once you're a heavy liability to your team, you lose everything AND have to resummon your pet, leaving you almost MPless unless Lucid is off CD.

~Bahamut is huge. I personally love it but it's definitely a problem when you're not the one summoning it and it blocks out the view.

~Devotion is really difficult to control for no good reason.

~The rigidness of the rotation is like a much more complex 3.0 MCH. Despite all the classes becoming a fair bit easier and more fluid to supposedly let the devs add more mechanics to fights since you'd be able to pay more attention to the fight as said by Yoshi P, SMN has actually only become insanely more difficult and I imagine causes a lot of tunnel vision deaths.

~The skill floor and the skill ceiling are ridiculously high. Imo, if you play very casually, this class is not for you. The dps difference between good and bad is very large. You almost need a guide or at least a few hours wacking a dummy to get somewhat of a feel for the class.

Feel free to mention anything I may have forgotten, dispute/answer my points, call me a baka or recommend solutions to these issues.