Most of the Jobs in Final Fantasy 14 focus on one thing or another. You deal major damage, buff the party, heal, or tank. That’s not entirely the case with the Summoner. This class has always stood out for offering just a little bit of everything — while putting its own unique spin into the mix. That has led to some seriously convoluted gameplay in the past, but Square Enix wanted to smooth things over with the release of Shadowbringers. And the devs mostly succeeded! So why don’t we take a look at what they did and how they did it? It’s time for our FF14 guide to the Summoner Job in Shadowbringers.
You May Also Like:
- FF14 Warrior Job Guide: Shadowbringers Changes, Rework, & Skills
- FF14 Ninja Job Guide: Shadowbringers Changes, Rework, & Skills
- The Rising 2019 Guide – FF14 Event Start Time, Rewards & Details
FF14 Jobs are all going through some major changes in Shadowbringers. The new expansion includes major reworks across the board, as well as two entirely new classes: Dancer and Gunbreaker. Between these additions and another massive payload of story content, Shadowbringers almost makes FF14 feel like an entirely new game. And that’s exactly why you might need help picking your new main Job or Jobs this time around. We’re here to help with another FF14 Job guide — this time for the serendipitous Summoner class.
Summoner Role – FF14 Shadowbringers Guide
The Summoner is one of the slightly more complex DPS Jobs in FF14. There’s a focus on dealing damage over time and punching out foes with your summoned pets — similar to the Warlock in World of Warcraft. But there’s also healing, team support, AOE damage, and just a little bit of tanking (at least if you play solo).
Less directly, the Summoner suffers from just how common DPS players are in FF14. Summoners can’t often get “Hero in Need” XP and gil bonuses by participating in daily roulettes — except sometimes in Alliance Raids. This makes Summoner (and any other DPS for that matter) somewhat harder to level up than tank Jobs and healers in Final Fantasy. On the upside, they’re a lot simpler to play than either of the other two roles.
Summoner Rework – FF14 Shadowbringers Guide
Summoner power is closely tied to damage over time skills (DOTs). In this case, that means Miasma and Bio. Both of which are fairly straightforward skills that deal damage slowly over time. But much like the Bard’s own poisonous shot, these DOTs had their duration extended to a full 30 seconds. That removes a lot of the tedium in keeping toxins flowing throughout a battle.
It’s also more important than ever to spread the disease. Ruin — the very basic Summoner damage spell — now does increased damage if a target is suffering from Miasma or Bio. And it does even more bonus damage if the enemy is suffering from both at the same time. That means it’s even more of a detriment if you don’t keep your DOTs up at all times, however.
The other most important changes came to pets themselves. Much like with the Scholar, pets can no longer be targeted — sparing you from micromanaging them. But unlike the Scholar, Summoner pets are not functionally identical. You still have three different sets of skills split between Ifrit, Garuda, and Titan. That’s excluding your “super pets,” like Demi-Bahamut, of course. I’ll get to that!
Besides no longer having to worry about their safety, you also no longer need to futz with pet hotbars. All of their skills have simply moved to the Summoner itself. And you use them like you would any other normal skill in the game. Said skills are Egi Assault and Egi Assault II, each of which does something different depending on which pet you have summoned at one time. The gist, however, is this: Ifrit is for single-target damage, Garuda is for area-of-effect, and Titan is… for solo play. Sorta?
The third pet does less single-target damage than Ifrit and more immediate AOE damage than Garuda, but lacks Garuda’s AOE damage over time. Titan does create a shield for the player with Egi Assault, however, so it’s somewhat useful if you’re not hanging out in a group with a tank. Oh! And no matter which Egi Assault you use with any pet, the skills now have two charges apiece, thanks to the new charge system introduced in patch 5.0.
Lastly, the Summoner now has a second “super minion” that only lasts for a limited time. It’s Demi-Phoenix, the counterpart to Demi-Bahamut, and introduces a couple of interesting new wrinkles. While both Phoenix and Bahamut function similarly, but Phoenix heals the party and buffs the Summoner at the same time. The idea now is to alternate between summoning Bahamut and Phoenix every so often, reducing the sense that Summoners only exist for a brief, super damaging window.
You can look at a full list of all the Summoner changes in FF14: Shadowbringers right here!
Summoner Tips – FF14 Shadowbringers Guide
- Know your summons and their abilities! Ifrit does raw damage. Garuda does AOE and damage over time. Lastly, Titan is a somewhat awkward mix of shields, weak single-target damage, and a straightforward AOE hit. Bahamut does significant damage, and primes you to summon Phoenix shortly thereafter with Firebird Trance. Phoenix, meanwhile, is essentially a better Bahamut with heals and buffs.
- Keep your poison up. I know I’ve said this before already, but it’s really one of the most important things about the Summoner at this point. You can not only cast Miasma and Bio on single foes, either, but spread the love with Tri-Disaster. This infects nearby enemies with the DOTs you apply to a single target.
- Don’t summon Bahamut right away. Doing so cancels Dreadwyrm Trance (your primary source of Dreadwyrm Aether used to pull out the super pet) early. Demi-Bahamut is powerful, Dreadwyrm trance also reduces the recast time of all your spells by a whopping 2.5 seconds apiece. Get the most out of this buff before canceling into the flashier summon. Remember: You get your Dreadwyrm Aether whether you cancel the trance with Demi-Bahamut or if it runs out naturally after 15 seconds.
How to Unlock the Summoner Job – FF14 Shadowbringers Guide
There are two ways to unlock the Summoner in FF14. The first is to simply start the game as the Arcanist class. This is the level 1-29 equivalent of the Summoner and Scholar Jobs — and will be able to upgrade to both of the full Jobs at level 30. On the other hand, if you’ve already started FF14 and want to switch, you just have to find the class in the world. Simply head to the Arcanist Guild in Limsa Lominsa. Speak to the attendant there to begin the quest that will put you on the path of the Summoner (and Scholar) Job in FF14. You will still need to begin at level one and work your way up, however.
That’s all for now, folks! Thanks for taking the time to read our guide to the Summoner in FF14: Shadowbringers. We hope it helps you master this explosive DPS to the best of your ability. Until then, good luck learning the new reworks, abilities, and intricacies of the Summoner going forward.
