Thread: 6.1 SMN. Why?

Originally Posted by tearagion

Rigid is a problem for optimization. BRD also has a rigid rotation I don't know why you would bring that up, you cycle your songs 43 34 43 burst rinse repeat, with a bit of holding procs and judgement for when is best to use your out-of-burst Apex Arrow when optimizing. A non-rigid rotation is something like BLM who can mostly restructure their rotation to suit a fight or comp, and execute non-standard rotational elements to further optimize damage. SMN does not have this in any capacity, your rotation is set in stone and you only diverge from it if you are forced to by phase changes or boss untargetability or something.

A consolidated hotbar isn't a problem, you're right. What is a problem is when 90% of a rotation can be consolidated to 1 button without loss in complexity, which SMN's can. This is indicative of an overly simplistic or restrictive kit, just ask a healer how much they like pressing one button.

Both of those issues combined allow for little player input or executional requirements, so to people looking for those two factors the job is not compelling and does not feel rewarding.

I listed those three due to their nature with their procs. Yeah, I guess BRD's rotation can be rather same-y otherwise. But that's true for every job to some extent. However, SMN's core rotation having little to no variance is still not a problem. That's just how the job's design. But I don't think comparing SMN to the healers is a good example. Healers are designed around having a variety of healing options and tools. The days of old, where SCHs managed 4+ dots are long over and job design has since changed.

That said, SMN is simply a simple job with lots of mobility and the game feel it offers of summoning primals. In a game with so many options to choose from, having one or two "easy modes" is a given.

Originally Posted by EhvaTaco

I listed those three due to their nature with their procs. Yeah, I guess BRD's rotation can be rather same-y otherwise. But that's true for every job to some extent. However, SMN's core rotation having little to no variance is still not a problem. That's just how the job's design. But I don't think comparing SMN to the healers is a good example. Healers are designed around having a variety of healing options and tools. The days of old, where SCHs managed 4+ dots are long over and job design has since changed.

That said, SMN is simply a simple job with lots of mobility and the game feel it offers of summoning primals. In a game with so many options to choose from, having one or two "easy modes" is a given.

Wait...so SMN being a healer-level kit complexity, but with none of the healing tools is a good thing? Because the game needs an "easy mode"? You could have gone with anything, like "oh well you can choose summon order" or "the same button you press has a cast time 3 times a minute" or "trust me astral flow on Arcanum summons changes everything trust me", but you went with that?