Summoner PvP Guide for FFXIV

Patch 6.1 came with a complete overhaul to PvP job tuning and a brand new game mode for players to enjoy. As part of this overhaul, Summoner has received a vastly different playstyle compared to its previous PvP kit. Equipped with decent damage, crowd control, a personal shield, and even healing utility, Summoner brings quite a bit to the table in both Crystalline Conflict and Frontlines.

This document will mainly focus on the new Crystalline Conflict mode, so while portions of it may apply to other PvP game modes, it is intended to apply to Crystalline Conflict.

Strengths

• High AoE burst
• Very good crowd control
• Flexible Limit Break allows you to choose between heavy damage, or heavy healing

Weaknesses

• Requires good team mates to get the most out of their abilities
• Low mobility
• Relatively squishy due to being a ranged DPS

The very basics of playing Summoner in Crystalline Conflict are similar to the basics of playing Summoner in PvE content, with some key differences. You are equipped with the classic Summoner abilities of Ruin III and Fester, as well as a variety of Primal themed abilities and spells. Ruin III functions as you might expect, as a casted spell that deals damage to a single target. However, Fester gains damage as a targets HP gets lower, doubling its damage output when your enemy is 50% HP or less. In addition, Summoner also has access to Radiant Aegis, which will apply a shield to you or a targeted ally.

In PvP, a Summoner does not cycle through Primal summons as they do in PvE content. Instead, you will have a cooldown based on each of Summoner's pets, each with a different usage. Using these cooldowns as much as you possibly can is important to succeeding as a Summoner.

Mountain Buster is a Titan-flavored oGCD ability with a 15-second cooldown that binds your target, deals damage to all nearby enemies, and gives a Heavy debuff with a draw in to anyone besides the main target hit by it. This is your main source of crowd control as a Summoner, and it is extremely useful for helping your team lock down a kill or prevent enemies from reaching the crystal.

Crimson Cyclone is your Ifrit-flavored spell, a two-part combo with a 15-second cooldown that functions as a damaging gapcloser and is your main source of GCD burst damage. Crimson Cyclone moves you to your target and deals damage to them and any enemies around them, and is then replaced with Crimson Strike. Crimson Strike does not move you again, but deals damage to your target and any enemies around them, in addition to knocking back any enemies hit by the splash damage by 5y. If you do not use Crimson Strike within 10 seconds, you will lose it and the hotkey will turn back into Crimson Cyclone and display the time remaining on its cooldown.

Slipstream is your Garuda-flavored spell. It deals damage to your target and places a donut AoE on the ground centered on them. Anyone standing within the green circle of the donut will take damage over time. However, anyone within the center of the donut will be safe. This unique shape gives it good use as a zoning tool, as your enemies will either have to stay within the center of the donut to avoid damage or retreat beyond the circle, potentially pushing them out of range.

Thanks to the 6.1 rework, all jobs received their own unique Limit Breaks, rather than the old cookie-cutter Limit Breaks from before. Each Limit Break meshes well with a job's identity, and Summoner is one of the lucky few that actually gains access to two different Limit Breaks, both with different uses. Each Limit Break costs the full bar to use, so you will have to choose between them based on what your team may need at a given moment.

Summoner's first Limit Break is the burst damage focused Summon Bahamut. The targeting circle has a 15y radius and when used. Bahamut will appear at the center of this circle and cast Megaflare, hitting every single enemy within this circle for heavy damage. Bahamut will stay summoned in this spot for 20 seconds, and will automatically cast Wyrmwave on the lowest HP target within his 30y attack range. The Summon Bahamut hotkey will be replaced with Enkindle Bahamut, which will instruct Bahamut to cast Akh Morn at the target, dealing damage to them and all enemies within 5y. Additionally, Ruin III will be replaced with Astral Impulse, a spell upgrade that deals a bit more damage.

Summoner's second Limit Break is the healing focused Summon Phoenix. The targeting circle for Phoenix is the same 15y as Summon Bahamut. When casted, Phoenix will appear at the center of the circle and cast Everlasting Flight, which will place a heal-over-time on all allies within the targeting circle. In addition to this, if anyone under the effect of Everlasting Flight drops below 25% of their health, they will gain a quick burst of healing to save them from their demise. Afterwards, Phoenix will being casting Scarlet Flame on the closest target, lowering the targets damage output by 50%. Your Ruin III will be replaced with Fountain of Fire, which deals the same amount of damage, but is an instant cast. Additionally, your Summon Phoenix hotkey will be replaced with Revelation, which deals damage and places a damage over time on your target and all enemies within 5y of them.

Now that we have covered all of Summoner's abilities, we can create a burst rotation to put as much damage as possible to an enemy. Due to the nature of Summoners abilities, most of this damage hits in an AoE, allowing your team to potentially pick off other enemies as their health is lowered as well.

1. Mountain Buster
2. Summon Bahamut
3. Crimson Cyclone
4. Enkindle Bahamut
5. Fester
6. Crimson Strike
7. Fester

This sequence of spells and abilities will deal somewhere around 60,000 damage (not accounting for Bahamut's Wyrmwave), depending on how much your Festers do thanks to its quirk of increased damage against lower HP targets. Additionally, 52,000 of this damage is AoE and has the ability to hit multiple enemies, allowing your team to follow up and finish off enemies who are left at low health. While this alone is not enough damage to delete someone at full HP from a team fight reliably, it will leave any survivors low and at a disadvantage, as they will likely spend all of their Recuperate to survive this if they did not use their Guard.