Summoner PvP Guide for FFXIV

The Summoner is one of four Magical Ranged DPS which specialises is strong burst damage both to single and grouped up targets, powerful defensive's, the Summoner is also the only class to have two Limit Breaks one for raw damage whilst the second mixes damage and support.

The Summoner is one of the most beginner friendly roles which has been a solid pick in any meta since 6.1, there Phoenix mode even makes summoner anti meta amazing for countering dive.

Note: This guide is focused on PVP as a whole; Frontline, Crystalline Conflict and Rival wings all play differently to one another, however the fundamentals and understanding of a role translate across all game modes.

Strengths

• Extremely beginner friendly with a compact versatile kit
• Only role to have two Limit Breaks with Summon Bahamut and Summon Phoenix
• Strong CC due to Mountain Buster's mass stun
• Radiant Aegis is one of the strongest defensives in the game which can be applied to allies
• Power AoE damage which also deals damage over time with there Slipstream
• Very powerful Burst made stronger with Bahamut while also having amazing Supportive play with Phoenix
• Able to catch players off-guard with a 25 yalm reaching gap closer

Weaknesses

• Crimson Cyclone requires restraint, wrong use lands you amidst the enemy team with no escape
• Struggles to make a big impact with a low Battle High or a dysfunctional team
• Can be easily taken down if your Radiant Aegis defensive is on cool down
• Being KO'd with your Bahamut or Phoenix up will end the Limit Break

4.

Skill Selection

Every job has access to a few common actions, but their utility differs between jobs.

Recuperate Standard-issue Elixir Guard Purify Sprint

3.1.

Recuperate

Recuperate – This is your most important healing ability. MP in PVP is only used for this ability. With a max of 10,000 MP, recup will consume 2,500 and heals you for 15,000 HP. The amount of healing received can be increased and reduced by healing up or down status effects, such as Summon Seraph to increase or Biolysis to decrease. You gain 500 MP per 3 seconds passively, something to keep in mind!

3.2.

Standard-issue Elixir

Standard-issue Elixir – This is your second-most important healing ability. Elixir allows you to gain back all your HP and MP, resetting yourself for the next fight! The listed cast time is 4.5 seconds, which means the cast is actually snapshotted as complete after 4 seconds, after which you can move and opponents can no longer cancel your Elixir. You'll see moments where you get hit, and the position will still finish.

When not under pressure, make sure to top up your resources for the next fight. As with the animations counted in the death timer, you will be out for 20~ seconds instead vs a 4 second Elixir!

3.3.

Guard

Guard – Grants 90% damage reduction and immunity to most crowd-control debuffs for up to 4 seconds. Using another action cancels this guard early. Damage over Time effects that have been applied before Guard will always tick for the full amount and wont be negated with Guard!

Per Patch 7.1, there have been multiple abilities added that work against Guarded targets. Where Shield Smite and Chain Stratagem half the defensive bonus of Guard (90% → 45%), there are also abilities that simply ignore guard when dealing damage; Drill, Assassinate, Enchanted Riposte, Disesteem, Wreath of Fire, Serpent's Tail and Chaotic Spring.

Damage per ability is now tight to animations, compared to pre-7.1 where the damage would register when pressed. This means Guard is more reactive than it has been before, but it's also possible now to start ability animations that will hit the moment your Guard ends. Beware of your surroundings and what the enemy is doing!

3.4.

Purify

Purify – Cleanses all common crowd-control debuffs and provides a 2-second immunity to further crowd control, draw in and knockback effects. Use this to prevent yourself from getting CC-chained to death. As of patch 7.35 Purify is now a cost of 2500 MP with every use and can be recast every 4s.

With the amount of crowd-control abilities, try not to be trigger-happy when using Purify. Taking a stun with no follow up from the enemy team, doesn't bring you in danger! If you have no defensives ready against a crowd-control heavy enemy team, it's recommended to play defensively before making another engage.

3.5.

Sprint

Sprint – Toggle for increased movement speed. This is a GCD and using any other action cancels the buff, so be smart in using it. Sage is a fragile job, as it has the lowest HP out of any job. If you are using off-global abilities repeatedly while running away or chasing, you should try to late-weave them if you can afford to, to avoid cancelling too much of the Sprint duration.

Ruin III is your basic go to spell of choice with a 1.44s cast time and a 25 yalm reach that serves as poke damage to begin chipping away at a enemy targets HP for 6,000 damage per hit as you ready to follow up with stronger actions.

Ruin III becomes Ruin IV upon use of the instant cast action known as Necrotize which will come up often during your main rotations.

Ruin III also becomes Astral Impulse and Fountain of Fire under your limit break depending on weather you summon Bahamut or the Phoenix.

Slipstream is your big damage over time AoE ability with a 25 yalm range dealing 9,000 to you target and all within a 10 yalm radius, for the next 6s Slipstream with deal 4,500 damage for every tick whilst increasing movement speed for both yourself and alleys by 25% for the next 6s.

Slipstream can rack up some punishing damage in grouped up fights continuing to eat away at enemy players HP, it doubles as a very safe way to strike players in Frontline to ensure you also obtain Battle High credit as a Summoner on a BH5 is a true menace.

Slipstream also pairs nicely with Summon Phoenix as this allows to stack two separate sets of DOT damage onto multiple players whilst you weave in your burst rotations.

Necrotize is one of your instant cast abilities which deals 5,000 damage to a single target within 25 yalms, you can hold up to 2 charges of your Necrotize which grants the effect of further ruin upon use.

Necrotize is how you gain access to Ruin IV which works both as a finisher or as a mini burst combo utilising Ruin III, Necrotize into your Ruin IV.

Crimson Cyclone is both your gap closer and hard hitting AoE dealing 6,000 damage to all struck with a dash range of 25 yalms allowing you to get the jump on players from a far. Crimson Cyclone also combos off into Crimson Strike.

Crimson Cyclone is a really nice combo with your mass stun Mountain Buster but should not be used just for the sake of extra damage, without a plan Crimson Cyclone can throw you into the enemy team earning a fast re spawn if you were not prepared.

Crimson Strike is the follow up to Crimson Cyclone this also has the same 25 yalm reach dealing damage in a 5 yalm radius, dealing 12,000 damage to your first target and 8,000 for all others.

Unlike Crimson Cyclone, the Crimson Strike does not dash you in and instead creates a 5 yalm knockback around your first target. Sometimes it is handy to use your Crimson Cyclone on a single target safely to have your Crimson Strike at the ready for a burst combo without diving in.

Mountain Buster is the Summoner's mass Stun ability with a 8 yalm reach dealing damage in a cone pattern. Mountain Buster also deals 12,000 damage to every target struck.

The 8 yalm range is a high danger zone for you as a Summoner your best and safest ways to use Mountain Buster is to engage with your Defensive Radiant Aegis for added protection, or even better to catch your targets by surprise by first jumping in using Crimson Cyclone from a 25 yalm range.

Radiant Aegis is one of you most important abilities as this not only can be used on yourself but also cast on allies. This defensive can be reach up to 30 yalms granting a 25% damage reduction on top of a 12,000 barrier.

How to use Radiant Aegis depends on your situation and the play your going for, throwing this on your tank makes them extremely hard to KO. Other times you want to safe for self use when diving in with Crimson Cyclone and is even extremely effective to stack with Guard making yourself almost unkillable.

Summon Bahamut is your first Limit Break of choice which focuses on raw power, summoning the demi-Bahamut at your selected location for 20s. Bahamut upon summon will instantly cast Megaflare before automatically casting Wyrmwave prioritising the targets with the lowest HP.

Bahamut casts Megaflare upon summon for a very nice 20,000 damage to all players within range highly effective in aggressive pushes and great for cleaning up weakened targets.

While Bahamut is up he will auto cast Wyrmwave within his 30 yalm radius dealing 8,000 per hit whilst Ruin III is upgraded to the Astral Impulse also dealing 8,000 per hit.

After summoning Bahamut the Limit Break upgrades to Deathflare a instant cast ability with a 25 yalm reach and 5 yalm radius dealing a fast 10,000 damage onto your target and all nearby, you have the full 20s of the Limit Break time to cast giving you plenty of time to choice the best opportune moment.

Just Like Bahamut Summon Phoenix can be summoned to fight focusing on both damage and support, once summoned the Phoenix will cast Everlasting Flight which for the next 18s grant Regen to you and all allies with a 4,000 cure per tick. To top this off once a player under the effect of EverLasting Flight HP drops below 25% that player instantly receives a 16,000 cure.

Whilst summoned Phoenix will prioritise the closest targets and will execute the Scarlet Flame dealing 4,000 per hit that also adds damage over time for a further 6s also dealing 4,000 per tick. With Phoenix summoned your Ruin III upgrades to Fountain of Fire dealing 6,000 a hit whilst also being a instant cast allowing you to freely move.

With Phoenix Summoned the Limit Break upgrades to Brand of Purgatory which is extremely powerful for both engage with also counters dive and rush comps. Brand deals 7,500 to all targets struck with a 25 yalm reach and 5 yalm radius all struck have there damage reduced by a huge 50% for the next 6s landing this into a group of enemies can be the solo difference in winning the fight.

Brand of Purgatory can be alternated or stacked with the role action Rust which adds another 33% damage reduction to all struck making Phoenix Summoner amazing for those who master the role and are capable of supporting the team.

Your three role actions to choose from are Comet, Phantom Dart and Rust all of which are valuable picks when playing Summoner in many different ways.

Comet Is a good choice alongside Summon Bahamut as you can go for that pure raw damage build and play style with comet dealing 20,000 to anyone struck. Comet can be very strong in chokes and to zone out enemies from pushing take note as this comes with a 2.4s cast time which cannot be negated yourself making you a easy target vulnerable during that time frame.

Phantom Dart is your second option dealing 4,000 damage to a single target that increases there damage taken by 25% for 5s, combined with your biggest burst combo's Phantom Dart can burn down any targets health including those hard to kill tanks.

Your final choice is the Rust which reduces all targets struck damage dealt and healing potency by 33% for 10s amazing by itself but when combined with Summon Phoenix you also have access to Brand of Purgatory allowing for another 50% damage reduction. These can make you and your alliance extremely hard to kill even without throwing Radiant Aegis into the mix.

Summon Phoenix with Rust right now is a very strong anti meta and counter dive but will take time to learn and master as you knowledge of situations will play a crucial role in maximising your effectiveness with this setup.

This first rotation is very basic but is important for every summoner to know as it is easily overlooked which can earn you a few bonus KO's.

1. Ruin III
2. Necrotize
3. Ruin IV

This rotation is how I typically engage for a aggressive dive stunning targets together for fast team clean up.

1. Radiant Aegis
2. Rust
3. Slipstream - Optional
4. Crimson Cyclone
5. Mountain Buster - Fall back right after
6. Necrotize
7. Crimson Strike

You can also ready your Burst by readying your Crimson Strike on a singled out target before hand.

1. Rust
2. Crimson Cyclone - Fall back
3. Slipstream - Optional
4. Ruin III
5. Necrotize
6. Ruin IV
7. Crimson Strike - Weave in for damage or to knockback

This next rotation is how I like to engage with your Phoenix to push aggressively as a team.

1. Slipstream
2. Radiant Aegis
3. Summon Phoenix
4. Rust
5. Brand of Purgatory
6. Crimson Cyclone
7. Mountain Buster
8. Fountain of Fire
9. Crimson Strike
10. Fountain of Fire - Repeatable instant cast while moving

This last rotations is a one of the best ways to use the same kind of rotation only this time while summoning Bahamut.

1. Slipstream
2. Summon Bahamut
3. Rust
4. Radiant Aegis
5. Crimson Cyclone
6. Mountain Buster
7. Deathflare
8. Crimson Strike
9. Necrotize
10. Ruin IV

These first two macro's are a fast and easy way to Summon either Bahamut or your Phoenix right at your feet.

/merror off
/micon "Summon Phoenix" pvpaction
/pvpaction "Summon Phoenix" <0>

/merror off
/micon "Summon Bahamut" pvpaction
/pvpaction "Summon Bahamut" <0>

This final macro will allow you to cast Radiant Aegis upon a alley you set as your focus target.

/merror off
/micon "Radiant Aegis" pvpaction
/pvpaction "Radiant Aegis" <f>