I'm consufed about SMN.

[Saikou]

Greetings,

First of all, I'm a big fan of summoners in the FF series and I would like to become a SMN in this game.

However, I do not have any high level job to get the last avatars, and I wonder if it would be worth leveling SMN without Fenrir and Diabolos ? I'll be in a static party with my wife, so the invite rate doesn't count here.

Next, my wife will be playing a Red Mage and I'll static with her all the time. I would like to know if I'll slow down the exp rate if we invite a WHM to do the healing job ? What I mean is, I do not wish to always main heal (I'll do it when it'll be necessary) and she'll be too busy with the refresh cycle, haste, enfeebling and dispel to handle main healing. So, the white mage would heal, while I summon and back up heal, however I wonder if this mage setup would work for an exp pt.

I wonder if it'll work because I'm afraid that this setup will slow down the exp rate. What I mean is, if my avatar doesn't do enough damage, we would be better to have me as a main healer and a black mage to do the dmg (instead of inviting the whm). While I like healing and supporting the party, I do not wish to be a main healer all the way to endgame.

In order to conclude, I hesitate between SMN and DRG, this is why I came seeking for advice on the SMN job. It'll help me a lot on getting a better idea of the job.

Saikou

P.S. English isn't my primary language, so please bear with me.

[eticket109]

Re: I'm consufed about SMN.

While beneficial, you do not need Fenrir or Diabolos to level Summoner by any means. They are really useful at 70+, but by then you should be able to get a group together to take on both.

It is very possible to tag along to a Fenrir fight at low levels if you have 5 high level summoners though, or most other balanced parties for that matter. Just don't expect to live through it.

[Jei]

Re: I'm consufed about SMN.

Fenrir is actually pretty useful. Way before you get stoneskin from Titan, you really don't have much to provide to your party except garuda's blink. Which is not that useful in exp party still...

I don't even think hastega is that useful either... given their high MP cost and their super short duration.

Fenrir stat/accuracy boost is much, much more useful. And I really prefer smn in my party to have it.

It's not required, you can level up fine without it yes. But I tell you, I will not like you.

[Shadowneko]

Re: I'm consufed about SMN.

I was lvl 30+ before I got Fenir(my other job is 75 THF) and I stll don't have Diablos(not enough CoP). Fenir only really gets usefull when he learns stuff likie eclipse bite and those buffs of his. Diablos is for show as fell for quite awhile...

[Omniblast]

Re: I'm consufed about SMN.

I was lvl 30+ before I got Fenir(my other job is 75 THF) and I stll don't have Diablos(not enough CoP). Fenir only really gets usefull when he learns stuff likie eclipse bite and those buffs of his. Diablos is for show as fell for quite awhile...

Same with Shadowneko, I didn't get Fenrir until I was level 37. I stopped playing when I hit 37, just so I can use it as a sub for whm. Then when I was finally high enough, 75, I went to go get Fenrir with a group of SMN's. (4 smn)

Now, I didn't get Diabolos until I was about level oh... 75 smn. I only truly found Diabolos useful for Kirin, otherwise, it's kinda not useful for anything. Oh maybe, sometimes during Ballista. Diabolos is harder to sleep.

[Saikou]

Re: I'm consufed about SMN.

I'm really happy with this forum and the community, high fives everyone.

As for the replies, it was full of useful informationsand I made up my mind. I appreciate your honesty in regard to Fenril Jei, and I think I'll level a job high enough to get Fenrir before going on my summoner journey. After all, going in a pt without it, it's like missing some spells, plus an accuracy / stats boost is just too awesome to pass by.

Thank you for your time everyone.

[eticket109]

Re: I'm consufed about SMN.

Same with Shadowneko, I didn't get Fenrir until I was level 37. I stopped playing when I hit 37, just so I can use it as a sub for whm. Then when I was finally high enough, 75, I went to go get Fenrir with a group of SMN's. (4 smn)
Now, I didn't get Diabolos until I was about level oh... 75 smn. I only truely found Diabolos useful for Kirin, otherwise, it's kinda not useful for anything. Oh maybe, sometimes during Ballista. Diabolos is harder to sleep.

Diabolos is also way too frickin' big.

[SharMarali]

Re: I'm consufed about SMN.

IMHO, you don't really need Fenrir until you get SMN to about level 50. Diabolos is mostly e-peen until you're high enough to do endgame stuff, and even there, his usefulness is limited.

So you basically have two options. The first is to spend weeks or months raising another job high enough to battle fenrir in a standard fight. This means taking WHM, RDM, or BRD to at least the 60's. You will not stand a chance using any other job in a Fenrir fight without going into the 70's. To be brutally honest, you'd be a liability.

The other option is to just save up some gil and find 5 SMNs to pay to take down Fenrir for you. As I said, you don't really need him until you're in the 50's, and by then, you'll surely have come up with some reliable gil-making methods.

Now, using the first option, you may discover in your time spending weeks or months raising another job that you enjoy that other job more and the whole thing winds up being a mission of discovery. Or you may be stuck with a level 60ish job you poured a ton of time and gil into and you don't even like it, but friends ask you to use it because they know you have it.

Using the second option, you will waste at least 500k, if you're lucky enough to find 5 SMNs willing to do it for 100k each, to kill a monster you could've killed for free if you were level-appropriate. I dunno how prices are you your server, but on Ramuh, you could buy an Austere robe and 2-3 elemental staves for that kind of money. Which is stuff you'll ALSO be dealing with buying in the 50's.

It's a no-win situation. I'm not going to lie to you and say it's not. But sometimes you have to battle the no-win situation to do what you really want to do.

Lastly, since nobody addressed your other question about the static with yourself and your wife playing RDM. I've found that SMN & RDM can make a very effective healing team without either one necessarily playing "main healer." At low levels, it won't matter much if you grab a WHM and saddle them with the healing task. As you get into the 40's and 50's though, a more efficient use of PT slots would be to invite a BLM or BRD, or even another DD and work as a healing team with your wife. Yeah, SMN WHM RDM can work at any level. It can work well, if all the players in the PT are on top of their game and know what they're doing. It's not the best lineup in most situations though.

[Saikou]

Re: I'm consufed about SMN.

SharMarali, I thank you for this long and well detailed post. It did answer all my questions pretty well and your informations seem accurate.

I might level another job with my wife, and if I still feel that passion for SMN when I'll be able to take on Fenrir, then I'll switch back to SMN. However, it'll be quite long journey.

I could level SMN to 50 and pay summoners to do the fight like you said, but I'm afraid that option might be bad for my reputation (will it be?). I might still consider this option, because leveling another job that high is really time consuming.

I'm still confused, but at least I know the options given to me.

Anyway, thanks a lot everyone.

[Shadowneko]

Re: I'm consufed about SMN.

personnaliy I statred playing summoner to 20 to do the solo fights. By the time I got around to doing them my THF was ready to do lvl 60 battles(I have farming and stuff to do XD). I ended up soloing three out of the six celestal avatars and collecting Whispers from other mulitple runs.(and leveling the requsite WHM sub) I had a Moon Bauble for quite awhile before tripping over some fun JPs with a mind to teach Fenir a lesson...

[Theyaden]

Re: I'm consufed about SMN.

I could level SMN to 50 and pay summoners to do the fight like you said, but I'm afraid that option might be bad for my reputation (will it be?). I might still consider this option, because leveling another job that high is really time consuming.

I'm still confused, but at least I know the options given to me.

Anyway, thanks a lot everyone.

I doubt it'll hurt your rep since there are a number that do this, but you don't get the sense of achievement from having someone else do the work for you. I had a ls mate offer to bring me through the 60+ avatar fights and I turned it down for that reason. I soloed the mini battles and defeating them gave me a rush that just isn't there for something handed to you. Besides people tend to enjoy what they had to work for more. Good luck on your hunt.

Once I have whm high enough I'll go after the whispers and fenrir, but thats just my personal preference. I wouldn't feel right being just an observer on something this fun.