Does Summoner get better?

[DustyBlue]

They need to give its level 86 summon phase distinctions to earlier levels, for sure (same with the primal animations), but naturally they leave that as the new unlocks for now, since they gotta have something for new expansion leveling hype for existing summoners to strive for, and they had no other new ideas to put in that level range if they were to put all the new stuff in the pre-established kit

[Snowdove]

Sure, they look incredibly flashy and each one works a little different than the other (one is a long GCD cast, one is an insta-GCD cast and the last one is an oGCD), but if you already feel like there's not much to do with SMN and all you do is press what's available, 86 or 90 is not gonna change that.

You still cast each one, don't you? Or do you ignore some of them? I don't really know the rotation since I'm not near level cap yet.


It all just seems "press what is available".

[Grimoire-M]

You still cast each one, don't you? Or do you ignore some of them? I don't really know the rotation since I'm not near level cap yet.


It all just seems "press what is available".

Press what’s available unless downtime happens. Then try to squeeze in all three avatars and the Ruin IV charge while dumping Ruin III, and either Ifrit or Titan GCDs. Basically it’s only half interesting because you’re not allowed to play nice with downtime.

[NoxLumina]

A funny thing, once you pass from Lv79 to 80 you actually get a bit weaker. One you unlock Phoenix you lose a Deathflare per minute.
Pinnacle job design, that spicy chicken.

[VentVanitas]

Their intention was to make SMN more like a summoner, but they have ironically created even more of a ruin mage than it's previous iterations

[NoxLumina]

Pretty much, only now you Ruins are apple-, lemon- or strawberry-flavoured.

[Corbeau]

Oh c'mon, Ifrit Ruin does feel pretty damn different from the others. It's a solid base, it's just rather bare-bones compared to other max level jobs. Feels like it's missing an expansion or two's elaboration.

[Shuuli]

I have never felt bored before when playing Summoner, now I do. And no, you still just need to go through all of them as most of the times your Bahamut or Phoenix will be on cd and its better to go through the summones than not. As on what you choose in order is for me solely based on how much mobility you need at that certain moment.

The biggest difference compared to the prev SMN to me is that now I am forced to use swiftcast whereas before it was a choice, so it is most likely that I will not have it for the ressing, that would be a good raid utility. But sorry team, I need to do dmg quick on Ifrit so no res for ya (unless it is a must)

I am starting to change to dancer. I am loving it.

I will start leveling another DPS soon, just in case to have something for raiding. Right after I reach 90 with my pali.

[VorpalSpork]

I guess I don't get this need for 567 buttons on my job for it to be fun. Fewer, more impactful, buttons is more fun to me than a whole bunch of buttons that are less important. Not sure if it is epeen flexing "I have more keybinds, therefore I am better." I think my only real issue with the current summoner, apart from the need for a damage buff, is that it feels a bit disjointed. The legacy ruin IV and aetherflow almost feel tacked on, rather than a fluid part of the whole. Also, phoenix needs some sort of change - you shouldn't be adding an ability that is literally a dps loss as you level up.

[Grimoire-M]

I guess I don't get this need for 567 buttons on my job for it to be fun. Fewer, more impactful, buttons is more fun to me than a whole bunch of buttons that are less important.

ARR SMN did more with less buttons than this rework has. The impact of setting up a perfect Bane spread alone was inherently more satisfying than any of the new avatars. It just wasn't visually interesting, and I'm not faulting anyone for that opinion. Just don't fault us for seeing the total design and calling it a failure even within the metrics you consider important. Because we -want- meaningful buttons. The way SE has done it has stripped out not only Summoner's prior iterations, not only failed its identity as pet job, not only rehashed multiple micro-phases from other jobs instead of injecting anything new, but all of those, while also failing to even respect the basic identity of all mages in any MMO ever: Casting spells.