Final Fantasy XI Summoner Job guide v1.9 by Sheila Khosla rinoa@rinoa.nu http://rinoa.nu Contents: ========= 0.0 Preface 1.0 Introduction 1.1 About the Author 1.2 How to Use this Guide 1.3 Where to Get More Information 1.4 Summoner Background 1.5 Summoner Job Quest 2.0 The Job 2.1 Ability List of the Summoner 2.2 Acquiring Elemental Spirit Summons 2.3 Acquiring Avatar Summons 2.4 Optional Avatar Item List 2.5 Ability List of the Summons 2.6 Skillchain and Magic Burst 3.0 Advanced Information 3.1 Job Properties and Sub jobs 3.2 Playing by Level 3.3 Items, Equipment and Weaponskills 3.4 Rare Ex Armors 3.5 Modifications to Summoner Job 3.6 Random Observations 4.0 Closing Acknowledgments 4.1 Credits 4.2 Version History 1.0: Introduction ================= 1.1: About the Author --------------------- I spend nearly all of my time in game with friends on my linkshell. We have a web site and screens at http://rinoa.nu/ffxi My main job is Black Mage, but I also play Summoner and White Mage to advanced levels. The other jobs I enjoy when feeling the need to spank something are Monk and Dark Knight. 1.2: How to Use this Guide -------------------------- While this guide is most useful when read from beginning to end, it may otherwise be consulted as a resource in any order. Note, however, that the chapters toward the end assume the reader's familiarity with terminology used and gameplay. I will not be explaining how to make macros, what AF is, or what's a BCNM because that can be found on forums or other guides. Also, often the list of abilities and terms here may have been left over from earlier versions of the FAQ, made at the time when FFXI was a Japanese release only. If you find anything using a confusing term, please say so. What you won't find in here is copied unconfirmed lists from other sources, ascii art, or other fluff. Just about everything described in this FAQ has been confirmed because it's been done or worn by the person writing it and friends. Although I welcome emails on additions or corrections, personal questions are just that, personal. Please don't ask me what to do with your character. Whatever you decide to do ingame should be your decision. For questions directed to me about this FAQ please use email instead of messaging me in the actual game. The most up to date version of this FAQ can always be found at gamefaqs.com Please check the version there before emailing me about anything. This FAQ is not updated often, however. Although there are changes and additions to the game regarding Summoner every now and then, you don't need to email me, I most likely knew about it already so please wait for the next version. 1.3: Where to Get More Information ---------------------------------- This guide is designed for middle to advanced-level Final Fantasy XI Players. Not for people who have just started. This guide will not contain info on macros, as macros differ between game clients. Beginners should just check out what's found at: http://www.gamefaqs.com http://www.ffxionline.com http://www.playonline.com http://ffvault.ign.com http://ffxi.allakhazam.com I also reviewed the expansions as they came http://flaregamer.com A site mainly run by all the elvaan sisters on ROD linkshell. 1.4: Summoner Background ------------------------ Summoner is a job that is highly respected in all the Final Fantasy games. Being able to use the summons and the strongest ones is often considered a final destination. In Final Fantasy XI the summon job created a huge amount of chaos when it was first released. Everyone was under the pretense that it would be the most powerful job. Little did we know.. 1.5: Summoner Job Quest ----------------------- You must already have another level 30 job to open this job. Opening this job only gives you control of Carbuncle. First, get a [ Carbuncle's Ruby ] RARE EX item by killing leech type monsters. It's a rare drop and this can take hours with or without a Thief's Treasure Hunter abilities. Locations with leeches: Zeruhn Mines, Dangruf Wadi, Valkurm Dunes, Ordelle's Caves, Korroloka Tunnel, Buburimu Peninsula, Maze of Shakhrami, Jugner Forest, Pashhow Marshlands, Rolanberry Fields, Qufim Island, Oztroja Castle, Bostanieu Oubliette, Toraimarai Canal, Serpent Grotto, Sanctuary of Zi'tah Once you have the item, bring it with you to the [ House of the Hero ] at Windurst Walls, an event should take place at the door. Now you must take the item to 'experience' 7 different weather types in Vana d'iel. An event will occur by zone changing into an OPEN area, not a dungeon nor a city. Light and Dark weather is not included because you are getting the colors of the rainbow. Valid locations of getting the weather for this quest: [ Fire ] Valkurm Dunes, Rolanberry Fields, Meriphataud Mountains, East/West Altepa, Cape Terrigan, Yuhtanga Forest, Yhoator Forest [ Earth ] Valkurm Dunes, Konschtat Highlands, Battalia Downs, Tahrongi Canyon, Meriphataud Mountains, Sauromogue Champaign, East/West Altepa [ Thunder ] Konschtat Highlands, Jugner Forest, Pashhow Marshlands, Sauromogue Champaign [ Wind ] La Theine Plateau, Buburimu Peninsula, Tahrongi Canyon, Cape Terrigan [ Water ] La Theine Plateau, Jugner Forest, Pashhow Marshlands, Rolanberry Fields, Buburimu Peninsula, Yuhtanga Forest, Yhoator Forest [ Ice ] Battalia Downs, Beaucedine Glacier, Xarcabard [ Clear Weather ] Anywhere with the weather being normal You may also want to know the weather before travelling to these places. To do so you can check NPC weather forecasters at various cities. They will give you a general idea for the next few (Vana d'iel) days, for certain areas nearby. Low Jueno (F-11) Shashan-Mishan Upper Jueno (G-6) Appollonia Port Jueno (K-8) Leffquen Selbina (H-9) Wachiwi Mhaura (H-9) Pekuku Rabao (F-8) Amaja-Kumaja Kazham (G-7) Tcinono Norg (H-9) Shidzue Windurst Woods (K-12) Mushuhi-Metahi Windurst Waters (F-8) Furan-Furin Windurst Port (L-6) Eya Bhithroh Bastok Markets (H-10) Svana Bastok Mines (I-9) Mariadok Bastok Port (J-11) Fo Mocorho South San d'Oria (J-8) Maleme Once you have experienced the 6 weathers listed above, go to (G-6) at La Theine Plateau and trade the ruby to the monument there. Now you may open the job at your Mog House. 2.0: The Job ============ 2.1: Ability List of the Summoner --------------------------------- A Summoner is not like a Beastmaster. They can only tell their pet to attack [ Assault ], tell their pet to return to them [ Retreat ], use an ability once in a while [ Blood Pact ], and have their pet disappear [ Release ]. Summoned pets can die and be re-summoned, each pet has a recast time, just like any magic. Also like magic, Summoner must not be attacked and have enough MP to call it and keep going. Hate gained by an Avatar is the same as hate for any other pet or party member. It is not completely shared with the Summoner. When told to attack a monster, the summoned pet will do so until it dies or the monster dies, or it is told to stop. Then the summoned pet will go back to you, or auto attack any other monster that is attacking you. A problem with Retreat is that it has a recast time for using the command, yet your pets will most likely auto-attack again if you are attacked, sooner than you can use the command again. If you zone change while the summon pet is still out, it reappear the next time you zone change into an area where you can summon. Astral Flow ``````````` 2hour ability, which is a status that lasts 3 minutes long. Can be used from level 1 Summoner main and above. Once activated you can access your beast's true ability. Elemental Spirits do not have Astral Flows. How to use: Have summon out and already attacking monster. If not attacking monster, it will miss. Have the ability menu available (this menu is available every 30-60 seconds depending on what ability you did last), activate Astral Flow and choose the last or new option in your pet command menu list. The 2hour for each summon has a specific name. What Happens: On the first use of the beast's Astral Flow ability, your MP will go to 0. You can use the Flow ability about 2 more times if you get enough MP to use it again. All MP will again go to 0 on each use, excess MP doesn't affect damage. MP Drain: The cost of upkeep for your pet will be paid during Astral. So if you have an Element Staff you will actually gain MP by using Astral Flow and doing nothing while having the pet out. Ex: Neptune Staff & Leviathan -> 3MP/sec is gained Property: Cost is level x2 MP. If you have no more MP, the summon can/will disappear during the charge time of the ability or you cannot select it. Have way more than your lvx2 MP so you can get the summon out, get it in position, then activate the abilities. In fact, this is the whole basis of playing Summoner right now. Have your MP ready, take out Summon, get in position, use ability and then make the Summon dissapear. The only difference with your 2hour is that the summon will maybe disappear whether or not you told it to. You must use the element strong to the element you are fighting, or it can and will be resisted. In fact, you should always do this with ALL magic, so memorize the order. Strong -> Weak Use this element -> on this element Thunder -> Water -> Fire -> Ice -> Wind -> Earth -> Thunder [ Level 10 ] MPmax UP A bonus given to your MP maximum. [ Level 15 ] Clear Mind Faster MP regeneration the longer you sit. MP Healing+3 (15) [ Level 20 ] Resist Slow Little resistance to 'Slow' status. No use really but primary weapon is a 2h staff which is slow to begin with. Slow also affects summon/spell casting, it takes 1.5x longer to recast the same spell even after the countdown shows 0. [ Level 25 ] Auto Refresh MP recover at all times. 3seconds/1mp. [ Level 30 ] Clear Mind Hidden boost. MP Healing+6 (18) [ Level 30 ] MPmax UP Hidden boost. A bonus given to your MP maximum. [ Level 40 ] Resist Slow Hidden boost. Little resistance to 'Slow' status. [ Level 45 ] Clear Mind Hidden boost. MP Healing+9(21), intervals after that +1(2) more [ Level 50 ] MPmax UP Hidden boost. A bonus given to your MP maximum. [ Level 60 ] Resist Slow Hidden boost. Little resistance to 'Slow' status. [ Level 60 ] Clear Mind Hidden boost. MP Healing+12(24), intervals after that +1(2) more [ Level 70 ] MPmax UP Hidden boost. A bonus given to your MP maximum. [ Level 70 ] Clear Mind Hidden boost. MP Healing+12(27), intervals after that +2(3) more Notes on Status and Damage `````````````````````````` From tests it seems your own stats and level versus the monster affects summon strength. Boosting MP amount and lowering MP costs is most important. INT MND CHR doesn't affect summon monster's magic damage. Summoning Magic Skill seems to the magic power of your Summon's magic abilities (resist), your Summon's accuracy, and Summon's damage resist with physical attacks. It possibly affects the Summon's defense and evasion, but it is hard to measure. A less known fact is that CHR increases monster hate on Provoke, so there's no reason why you should boost CHR. The Austere/Penance equipment set has CHR reduction, however I think this is because it simply looks shabby. For that same reason the wedding dress set (Opaline) has CHR additions. Since Summoners more often than not need to play "back up healer", carrying a set of Enmity minus equipment is helpful in critical situations. All summon monsters have a huge range for damage amount (as in you can do 6 damage or 1000) based on your level and the monster you are fighting. Important note is that there is NO DAMAGE CAP in the damage equation for Summoned Avatars. Your damage potential will grow as you level up, along with the amount of HP your Avatars have. 09/14/2004 Modifications ```````````````````````` -Avatars can now participate in skillchains and magic bursts by carefully timing the use of the ability "Blood Pact." Astral Flows also can be timed to magic burst. -The damage and accuracy of several avatar attacks have been adjusted. -Avatar TP will now enhance the potency of magical Blood Pact abilities. Just as with normal player TP, after the ability the avatar's TP will be reset to zero. Avatar TP does not affect physical Blood Pact techniques, and thus TP will not be lost after an avatar uses one of these abilities. -Avatar TP is gained like player TP. Dealing and recieving damage, including magic damage. It is lost after any magic ability. -Using avatar abilities without TP results in the normal strength. MP Drain Rate ````````````` Depending on your level and the summon used, your MP will be drained whenever the summon is out. It also costs MP to actually summon. The cost of drain has been modified in July 2004. The MP is drained every 3 seconds. Calculating Drain: Carbuncle initial cost is 1, every 9 levels +1 Spirits initial cost is 2, every 4.5 levels +1 Fenrir initial cost is 1, every 7.3 levels +1 Avatars (before level 62) initial cost is 3, every 9.3 levels +1 Avatars (after level 62) initial cost is 3, every 3 levels +1 The general drain rate difference (not including auto refresh): MP drain at level 1~ for Avatars is about 3mp/3seconds MP drain for Spirits at level 1~ is 2mp/3seconds MP drain for Carbuncle at 1~ is 1mp/3seconds MP drain for Fenrir at 1~ is 1mp/3seconds MP drain at level 30~ for Avatars is about 6mp/3seconds MP drain for Spirits at level 30~ is 8mp/3seconds MP drain for Carbuncle at 30~ is 4mp/3seconds MP drain for Fenrir at 30~ is 5mp/3seconds MP drain at level 60~ for Avatars is about 9mp/3seconds MP drain for Spirits at level 60~ is 15mp/3seconds MP drain for Carbuncle at 60~ is 7mp/3seconds MP drain for Fenrir at 60~ is 9mp/3seconds Summoner Job Skills ``````````````````` Dagger (Skill Rank E, not good to use as Summoner) 1h Club (Skill Rank C+, not very good either) 2h Staff (Skill Rank B their best weapon, more proficient than WHM with it, but still weak) Evasion (Skill Rank E, just like all other back line magicians) Summoning Magic (Skill Rank A-, only SMN job can level up this skill) I suggest leveling up your weapons and evasion by some other job, as SMN will not be able to in party. To level up Summon Magic skill, simply summon and make your pet disappear repeatedly. The day of week, moon and weather supposedly helps. However, by my observation it seems completely random and you are limited to getting about 1.0 skill up within a real time hour. Status Ranks ```````````` Race, Job and Sub Job combined affect your final stats. These are the rankings of the Summon Job, possible sub and Races. SMN WHM RDM HP G E D MP A C D STR F D D DEX E F D VIT F D E AGI D E E INT B E C MND B A C CHR B C D GAL ELV HUM MIT TAR HP A C D D G MP G E D D A STR C B D E F DEX D E D A D VIT A C D E E AGI E F D B C INT E F D D A MND D B D E E CHR F D D F D 2.2: Acquiring Elemental Spirit Summons --------------------------------------- These summons have no ability menu and will cast magic of their element at random. You can use them starting at level one (as with all summons) if you 'eat' a Scroll, much like other magic. They cost more MP to summon and drain more than the Avatars & Carbuncle. However the calling time is much more faster. They also can cast ancient magic on the enemy, but it's very slow. Most people simply use these for skill up. Air Spirit - Dropped by SMN type Yagudo in Oztroja Castle, Sauromogue Champaign Ice Spirit - Dropped by SMN type Demons in Castle Zvhal Baileys Fire Spirit - Dropped in level 40 or 50 BCNM battles Water Spirit - Dropped by SMN type Tonberries in Temple of Uggalepih Light Spirit - Dropped by NM Tonberry in Temple of Uggalepih, BCNM30(God coin), BCNM50 (Comet Orb @ Palborough) Dark Spirit - Dropped by NM Demon in Castle Zvhal Baileys Earth Spirit - Bought from shop at Norg Thunder Spirit - Dropped by BC20 (Comet Orb @ Ghelsba) 2.3: Aquiring Avatar Summons ---------------------------- (Zilart Expansion Required) In order to accept the quests for each Avatar you need to have fame in the city which is offering it. This is not the same fame as finishing one-time quests. It involves fame from doing repeatable quests as well. You must do one-time quests of a location and many repeatables in order to accept the Summon Avatar quest. There are 9 Ranks of fame levels, to know if you are Rank 9, the NPC mentions "the Goddess". Rank 9 isn't required for the Avatar quests, though. Also, all party members must have accepted the quest and have the Tuning Fork in order to enter the battle. Warning: You can only clear each Avatar quest once a (realtime) day. Fame Check NPCs ``````````````` South San d'Oria (K-6) Namonutice *San d'Oria fame is grouped with Selbina & Rabao fame Bastok Port (E-6) Flaco *Bastok fame is grouped with Selbina & Rabao fame Windurst Waters (F-10) Zabirego-Hajigo *Windurst fame is grouped with Mhaura & Kazham fame Low Jueno (H-8) Mendi *Jueno fame is grouped with San d'Oria, Bastok and Windurst Kazham (I-11) Ney Hiparujah Rabao (G-9) Waylea Norg (H-8) Vaultimand *includes Tensyodo related quests in all cities Quest Name Avatar Cloister Area Offering NPC NPC Location ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Trial of Wind Garuda Cape Terrigan Agado-Pugado Rabao Trial of Earth Titan Quicksand Caves Juroro Bastok Port Trial of Thunder Ramuh Boyahda Tree Ripapa Mhaura Trial of Water Leviathan Den of Rancor Edal-Tahdal Norg Trial of Fire Ifrit Ifrit's Cauldron Ronta-Onta Kazham Trial of Ice Shiva Fei Yin Gulmama North San d'Oria Moonlit Path Fenrir Toraimarai Canal Leepe-Hoppe Windurst Waters Fenrir Notes: To accept Fenrir's quest you must have all previous summons defeated and the key Whisper item from defeating them (do not return to their offering NPC). When speaking to Leepe-Hoppe you will recieve the key item to enter Full Moon Fountain BC. *You do not necessarily need to have all previous Avatars either. Say you are a melee who only wants Fenrir items, you can defeat the previous Avatars and keep the key Whisper item without ever having recieved the ability to Summon those Avatars. Getting to the Cloister Areas ````````````````````````````` Use the maps found at Lonely Vana d'iel for how: http://www58.tok2.com/home/lonelyff/ This is the type of MGS needed to get through without battling: Kuftal Tunnels (to get to Terrigan) - Sneak Cape Terrigan - Sneak and Invisible Quicksand Caves - Sneak Boyahda Tree - Sneak Temple of Uggalepih (to get to Rancor) - Invisible *Entering Rancor requires a party member with the Paintbrush Den of Rancor - Sneak and Invisible Ifrit's Cauldron - Silent Oils and Prism Powders (magic sensitive) Fei Yin - Sneak, Sneak and Invisible at basement level (some magic sensitive) Toraimarai Canal - Sneak Recommended Battle Strategy ``````````````````````````` When you reach the Cloister, cast all prepatory spells, eat foods, etc. Once everyone is ready, members in the party then click onto the Protocrystal and enter a BCNM, a short cut scene will happen to everyone until they are able to move around inside. You then must defeat the 'Prime' Avatar. In this BCNM only 6 party members are allowed, it can be escaped by exiting through the Protocrystal. One party can be in there at a time, and if everyone is dead, they will be removed automatically from the BCNM after the time limit. The time limit is 30 minutes. For each battle I suggest this lineup: If party is level 60+ PLD/WAR or NIN/WAR (damage tank) RDM/BLM or RDM/WHM (can stay at front line and recast Ba-Spells, Refresh) WHM/BLM or WHM/SMN (main cure tank, recast Ba-Spells at rear line) BLM/WHM (main attacker and support healing) BLM/WHM (main attacker and support healing) BRD/WHM (main job is keep Carol up) If the party is level 70+, any (common sense) strategy will work. Keep in mind that anything can happen, and sometimes the Flow will still do full damage. The point is for keeping up the Ba-Spells, MP and Carol up. Only Magic strong to the Avatar will damage it, therefore the 2 BLM make defeating it quick and painless. At around 50% HP, the Avatar will use its 2hour ability. Depending on whether Ba and Carol has been up, it can either obliterate your front line of the party or you will survive. Recently the Ba-Spell equation power has been changed, making Prime Avatar battles much easier. Before, Ba-Spells will give you +20 resistance to that element. Now the Strengthen Magic Skill level could boost Ba-Spells to around +90 at level 70. All Avatars are similar, except Shiva which casts SleepGa - so have everyone eating "poison status" items in order to stay awake. Upon defeating the Avatar, another cut scene will occur and everyone will automatically leave the Protocrystal battle field. After this, you will get a "Whisper" key item. By going back to the Quest offer NPC you get either: ability to use the Avatar, RaEx equipment, RaEx items or 10,000 gil. Fenrir is an exception, it is 10 levels stronger than the others, and has an ability which removes all enhancing magic, including foods. There is no Ba spell for Dark defense either, but there is a Carol. Mini Quest Strategy ``````````````````` An optional quest allows Summoners to get the avatars other than Fenrir solo. Talk to the NPC near the respective taru and you will recieve a mini fork. The Summoner is warped to the Cloister and fights the battle solo with Carbuncle and a cap of level 20, only. Without Carbuncle Mittens (something needing high level) I doubt many actual low leveled Summoners would do this just to get the Avatar. It also turns out that in a later patch, a dezone scroll was added, so you can use it to go back to homepoint. The only strategy I can think of is use Carbuncle's Astral Flow and chuck Ethers, Hi-Ethers and Pro-Ethers while having Yagudo Drinks. [ Notes from Players who tried ] -Do all buffs and heal MP to full before entering -The beasts have sense magic, so if you summon near them, they will aggro -Summon Carbuncle from just the right distance, and have it attack -If Carbuncle dies, beast name becomes yellow and beast regens it's HP -Resummon ASAP and it will automatically attack beast to stop regen -Continue until enemy HP is less than 50%, then use Shearing Light -Use Ethers and resume attacking beast/resummoning Carbuncle -When Astral Flow is available use Shearing again -If the Avatar is not yet dead, repeat the first steps with Carbuncle 2.4: Optional Avatar Item List ------------------------------ *The plus and minus for elements mean resistance *Conserve MP is a BLM passive ability which randomly lessens the cost of magic spells during cast *Spirit Magic Skill is only for BLM, DRK and RDM *Each Avatar now has an optional quest item, explained under Evoker Ring [ Ifrit Prime ] -Ifrit Blade (1h sword) D36 Delay236 STR+3 Atk+10 Added Effect:Fire Damage Lv65~WAR THF DRK BST RNG SAM -Fire Belt (Belt) Defense6 Water-20 Ice+20 FireDay:STR+3 Lv65~ All Jobs -Fire Ring (Ring) Defense2 FireDay:HP-15% Atk+15 RngAtk+15 Lv65~ All Jobs [ Titan Prime ] -Titan Cudgel (1h club) D22 Delay278 VIT+3 Added Effect:Earth Damage Lv65~All Jobs -Earth Belt (Belt) Defense6 Wind-20 Thunder+20 EarthDay:VIT+3 Lv65~ All Jobs -Earth Ring (Ring) Defense2 EarthDay:HP-15% Defense+15 Lv65~ All Jobs [ Leviathan Prime ] -Leviathan Rod (1h club) D22 Delay288 MND+3 Added Effect:Water Damage Lv65~WHM BLM SMN -Water Belt (Belt) Defense6 Fire+20 Thunder-20 WaterDay:MND+3 Lv65~ All Jobs -Water Ring (Ring) Defense2 WaterDay:MP-15% Conserve MP+15 Lv65~ All Jobs [ Garuda Prime ] -Garuda Dagger (Dagger) D19 Delay183 AGI+3 Atk+7 Added Effect:Silence Lv65~WAR BLM RDM THF PLD DRK BST BRD RNG SAM NIN DRG SMN -Wind Belt (Belt) Defense6 Earth+20 Ice-20 WindDay:AGI+3 Lv65~ All Jobs -Wind Ring (Ring) Defense2 WindDay:HP-15% Evade+15 Lv65~ All Jobs [ Shiva Prime ] -Shiva Claw (Hand to Hand) D+11 Delay60 INT+3 Aim+8 Added Effect:Paralysis Lv65~WAR MNK RDM THF DRK BST NIN -Ice Belt (Belt) Defense6 Wind+20 Fire-20 IceDay:INT+3 Lv65~ All Jobs -Ice Ring (Ring) Defense2 IceDay:MP-15% Spirit Magic Skill+15 Lv65~ All Jobs [ Ramuh Prime ] -Ramuh Staff (2h Staff) D29 Delay366 DEX+3 Added Effect:Thunder Damage Lv65~WAR MNK WHM BLM RDM BST BRD SMN -Lightning Belt (Belt) Defense6 Water+20 Earth-20 ThunderDay:DEX+3 Lv65~ All Jobs -Lightning Ring (Ring) Defense2 ThunderDay:HP-15% Aim+15 RngAim+15 Lv65~ All Jobs [ Fenrir Prime ] -Fenrir Torque (Neck) Day:MP+30 Night:Enmity-3 Lv70~ All Jobs -Fenrir Pierce (Ear) Day:Atk+10 Night:RngAtk+10 Lv70~ All Jobs -Fenrir Cape (Back) Day:Defense+10 Night:Enmity+3 Lv70~ All Jobs -Fenrir Stone (Throw) D30 Delay999 Day:HP+30 Night:Evade+10 Lv70~ All Jobs 2.5: Ability List of the Summons -------------------------------- At level 1 all Avatars (including Carbuncle) have an Astral Flow ability. These are all wide range attacks! Keep that in mind when using them, as it will aggro monsters in a crowded area. The astral flow can be resisted if your skill is low, and it also can miss if the monster moves. Carbuncle: Shearing Light - all enemies in range get light damage Ifrit: Inferno - all enemies in range get fire damage Titan: Earth Fury - all enemies in range get earth damage Garuda: Aerial Blast - all enemies in range get wind damage Shiva: Diamond Dust - all enemies in range get ice damage Leviathan: Tidal Wave - all enemies in range get water damage Ramuh: Judgement Bolt - all enemies in range get thunder damage Fenrir: Howling Moon - all enemies in range get dark damage *MP cost in brackets *many have additional effects but rarely will register nor last long [ Lv 1 ] Carbuncle: Healing Ruby (6) - (8+Levelx2) hp recover on target Shiva: Axe Kick (10) - physical attack Garuda: Claw (7) - physical attack Titan: Rock Throw (10) - ranged attack, slow status Ramuh: Shock Strike (6) - physical attack, stun status Leviathan: Baracuda Dive (8) - physical attack Ifrit: Punch (9) - physical attack Fenrir: Moonlit Charge (17) - physical attack, dark status [ Lv 5 ] Carbuncle: Poison Nail (11) - attack, poison status [ Lv10 ] All Avatars except Fenrir at this level get 'version 2 black magic' (24) of their respective element. The magic is easily resisted ex: Thunder2. [ Lv11 ] Fenrir: Crescent Fang (19) - physical attack, paralysis status [ Lv19 ] Ramuh: Thunder Spark (38) all enemies in range get thunder damage attack, paralysis status [ Lv21 ] Titan: Rock Buster (39) ranged physical attack, bind status [ Lv23 ] Ifrit: Burning Strike (48) fire damage attack [ Lv24 ] Carbuncle: Shining Ruby (44) lasts 3mins. Party in range gets protect/shell defense +10% Fenrir: Lunar Cry (41) enemy evade and accuracy down depending on moon phase [ Lv25 ] Garuda: Aerial Armor (92) lasts 15minutes or until worn off. Members in range get Blink (Blink - 3 times will randomly evade physical or magical attacks) Carbuncle: Auto Regen (no MP) this is not listed anywhere but it seems if you watch Carbuncle's HP bar closely, he regens a little HP every 3 seconds. [ Lv26 ] Leviathan: Tail Whip (49) physical attack, heavy status [ Lv28 ] Shiva: Frost Armor (63) lasts 1min30s. Party members in range get Ice Spike status (Ice Spike - ice damage + paralysis effect counter to monster's attack) [ Lv30 ] Ifrit: Double Punch (56) two attacks [ Lv31 ] Ramuh: Rolling Thunder (52) lasts 1min. Party members in range get EnThunder status (En Thunder - every physical attack does extra thunder damage) [ Lv32 ] Fenrir: Lunar Roar (27) enemies in range loose two enhancing effects [ Lv33 ] Leviathan: Slowga (48) All enemies in range get Slow status [ Lv35 ] Titan: Megalith Throw (62) Physical attack where Titan throws huge rock, slow status [ Lv36 ] Garuda: Whispering Wind (119) Party members in range are cured about 100+HP. [ Lv38 ] Ifrit: Crimson Roar (84) Lasts a short time, party members in range get a status like War Cry (War Cry - attack power +15% for very short time) [ Lv40 ] Shiva: SleepGa (54) Sleep on all enemies in range. [ Lv42 ] Ramuh: Lightning Armor (91) for 2mins party members in range get Shockspike (Shockspike - lightning damage + stun status counter to monster's attack) [ Lv43 ] Fenrir: Ecliptic Growl (46) for 3mins party members is range get a stat bonus to STR,DEX,VIT and AGI,INT,MND,CHR depending on the moon phase [ Lv44 ] Carbuncle: Glittering Ruby (62) party members in range get a random status +10 for short time, and it slowly goes back down to normal, ex: +9 +8 +7. Similar to Ab-spells of DRK job. [ Lv46 ] Titan: Earthen Ward (92) lasts about 15mins, party members in range get Stoneskin status (Stoneskin - character will absorb about (50+Levelx2) damage until it wears off) *10/21/03 Update: cannot overlap recast this spell anymore, to get the new stoneskin spell on, party members must click it off [ Lv48 ] Garuda: HasteGa (129) party members in range get Haste status, lasts shorter than actual Haste spell. [ Lv47 ] Leviathan: Spring Water (changed to 99) party members in range get (47+Levelx3) HP & statuses cured (Esuna type). Status recovery: Blind, Silence, Petrified, Paralysed, Sickness, Poison, Sleep Does not cure Erase-needing and Curse ex: DexDown, Heavy, Choke, Bio, Terror, Bind, specific kinds of Slow [ Lv50 ] Shiva: Double Slap (96) 2 physical attacks [ Lv55 ] Carbuncle: Meteorite (108) small light damage attack Fenrir: Ecliptic Howl (57) for 3mins party members in range get a bonus on accuracy up and evade up depending on the moon phase [ Lv60 ] All summons get 'version 4 magic' (118). Damage is often resisted. [ Lv65 ] Carbuncle: Ruby Light 2 (166) Party members in range (28+Levelx4) HP recover Fenrir: Eclipse Bite (109) 3 attacks [ Lv70 ] Garuda: Predator Claw (164) 3 physical attacks Shiva: Rush (164) 5 physical attacks Titan: Mountain Crash (164) physical attack, Bind status Ramuh: Chaos Strike (164) 3 physical attacks, Stun status Leviathan: Spinning Dive (164) physical attack Ifrit: Flame Crash (164) physical attack Notes on Spirit Avatars ``````````````````````` Each of them get spells at the same level that a WHM or BLM main would. So if your SMN job is 50, the Light Spirit gains Holy, if your SMN job is 50, the Ice Spirit gains Freeze. The spell used is random. At level 75 they cast a spell for every 200 MP drained, with AF2 pants it's every 100 MP. To have them cast spells sooner, wear the wrong staff for faster MP drain, such as Dark Staff for Light Spirit. 2.6 Skillchain and Magic Burst ------------------------------ Added on the 09/14/2004 update were new properties to summon abilities. The more TP a pet has, the more potent magic abilities become. For more information on skillchain possibilities, try the calculator found at http://ffxi.xenoveritas.org/tools/skillchains or the chart found at http://www.geocities.jp/ffxi_smn/chain.html Avatar Skill Elements ````````````````````` Dark: Moonlit Charge, Double Punch Light: Poison Nail, Crescent Fang Water: Baracuda Dive, Rock Buster Ice: Axe Kick, Megalith Throw Thunder: Shock Strike, Burning Strike Fire: Punch Earth: Rock Throw, Double Slap Wind: Claw, Tail Whip Burst Possibilities ``````````````````` To magic burst, time a magic ability to land after the end of a chain the same way a Black Mage would. Burstable abilities are: -Version II and IV spells -Magic from Spirits (unlikely) -Astral Flows -Petit Meteo -Thunder Spark 3.0: Advanced Information ========================= 3.1: Job Properties and Subjobs ------------------------------- This is all my opinion after playing more than 70 levels of the job. However, I lead just about all my parties, allowing myself the freedom to avoid becoming a brainless curetank. I was able to cast and use abilities at my own discretion. That included experimenting. Currently the SMN job is highly flawed. There are also many bugs involving all summons. People would still see a summon onscreen although you recalled them. If someone unequips an item or moves while you do a party strengthen ability, you loose the MP, the summon will freeze, the summon wont even do the ability. The timer will reset and say "you can't do anything for another minute". This also happens if you and/or your pet fell asleep or became stunned as you commanded it, the timer resets and nothing happens. Really frustrating and can mean life or death for your party. The same thing happens if the monster died just after you activated the command while your pet had been targeting the monster previously. Your pet will freeze, the timer resets, MP is gone but nothing has happened. Also, attempting to use an ability just before the MP you have for that ability is gone, will result in a frozen pet along with no command window. Another bug involving lag has the summon pet out, you have no commands at all in the pet menu nor can you use macros. The only way out of it is to reconnect, or to let your MP drop to 0 so the pet disappears. As well, if a monster moves as your summon does any ability (astral flow, magic, ranged attacks included) it too will get the "out of range, this ability could not go" message. Your MP is lost, nothing happens and your ability menu is gone, too. Auto attack also is a problem. If the Summoner is attacked, the summoned pet will automatically engage and attack the enemy. This is problematic as you can tell your pet to 'dissapear' or 'come back' only once every few seconds. In a BCNM or multiple enemy battle where monsters are continually put to sleep, the summoned pet often wakes up an enemy by attacking it before you have the time to make it stop. Another reason why the pet should not be left 'out'. A SMN is simply a messy cure tank and defense boost all the way. The only known uses for this job are at level 70. Used mainly as defense in HNM and BCNM battles. Even then, other jobs are preferred. Their offensive attacks are nowhere near as strong and reliable as BLM magic or RNG damage, this is offset by the fact that the damage dealt is 'safe'. There is also little skill or active thinking involved in playing as Summoner. One can do an ability then go AFK to get coffee while their MP regens. Little timing is required outside of attempting to magicburst, which often isn't as useful as the other ability commands available. Which brought me to the question, what is my role as a Summoner? Maybe this is what makes Summoner versatile. Although you have the pact ability once every minute, you have to make sure you make the most out of it. That includes recasting party effects only when necessary, or making sure that your pet is safe from attacks such as Sleep or Paralyse if you are moving into battle position. Depending on each monster or situation you are put into, try to keep in mind the status of your party members, their locations, monster AI and TP (determine what it may do next) and what is the most productive pact ability to use at that exact moment. Party Forming ````````````` The ideal rear guard (the 3 mages in a party) for a Summoner past level 40 involves having a RDM and a BRD. Certain monsters will require a WHM for status recovery spells and such, however. Why no WHM? Well, you and the WHM will be curing, overlapping and confused. There's nobody Magic Bursting or adding to the kind of damage only magic can do. This simply makes battles take too long. Why RDM? RDM can help cure, help MB and at later levels refresh everyone, then convert and keep going at the same pace as SMN's MP which can also keep going for a long time. Dispel is extremely important at high levels and Gravity is a useful weaken spell which also lowers monster evade. Why no BLM? Two people taking really long to get MP back is just the worst possible situation. Both have spells/abilities costing lots of MP. Unless the BLM is "an attacker" of the party (that is, doing no cure at all and pure magic offense) chances are you don't need one. I have had SMN BLM BLM NIN BRD RDM parties, and although they were awesome it's rare to find all the jobs necessary and if they were found, chances are the party needs a bilingual leader. Why BRD? Why not? By this time in the game you will have noticed how powerful a Bard can make your party. Bards can also adapt to the monsters weaknesses, sleep linked monsters (Sleepel does not work on undead but Lullaby does) and do other things than simply sing Ballad for you. Even with Ballad1, Ballad2, Refresh, Autorefresh, Staff & Mittens piled up, having your summon out during battle is still completely wasteful. After all that complicated party forming, I still did not feel like an actual Summoner who could leave their pet out for the duration of the battle. Support Job ``````````` For the current level cap, the best subjob is WHM and no other. Also, the only job useful with SMN as a subjob for practical purposes is WHM Lv50~. People wonder if they can have two pets by subbing DRG or BST, but it will not work as you will get the "you already have a pet" error. Why WHM subjob: 1. Cure bad statuses, RDM sub cannot cure statuses 2. 2h staff skills which are available only to WHM/PLD/MNK when main or sub 3. Party spells you can use without significant loss in power or effectiveness 4. Can teleport at very high level. What SMN/RDM gets: 1. If skill maxed beforehand, useless dagger skills 2. Slight increase in cure cast speed since its the only thing you can use. Summons cannot have their "speed up" by RDM sub, nor would they need to be. 3. Less MP more HP (ick) 4. Offensive spells you will never use since the power, spells and skill is half of your level. 5. People believe a SMN can convert and refresh in the future cap levels. Turns out level 75 is the last cap rise (Refresh and Convert impossible). Summoners don't use their weapons in battle normally due to lack of skill, STR and DEX. They belong in the traditional "back row". So RDM's Enchant is useless when you miss and won't do damage, it's equally useless on Ramuh's party enthunder ability. Summoner also has the weakest defense out of all jobs (even less than BLM) and HP, so they should never be near a monster. Why cure tanking is so bad `````````````````````````` SMN job does not include "Recovery Magic Skill". The skill is only as good as your subjob's and then it is halved. Your cures do not do much, so in turn you cure even more than a WHM or RDM do, generating hate and dangerous problems. To boost your cure power you would need a special staff of some kind. Even AF does not have hate minus for summoner, it has hate minus for the summoned pet! Avatar hate is the same for any party member hate. It is separate. When you call back your Avatar, the hate generated to it is gone as though that Avatar member 'died'. Same for if the Avatar actually died. It does not affect your hate or other party members hate. It makes no sense because we want our summons to take hits. Summons can be hit by statuses and cannot be fixed aside from being recalled/died and called out again. Sleep however is another story. If you fall asleep from certain spells or boss/monster weaponskills your summon can fall asleep too. When you wake up, your summon should wake up at the same moment. 3.2: Playing by Level --------------------- This is more of my old forum posts from back when I was playing. Chances are your leader would request otherwise. 1-10: Use your summons as purely attackers 10-24: Attacker and occasionally ver2 magic/abilities 24: Play with the barely useful Carbuncle pro/shell 25+: Garuda party Blink, most used ability for a long while 28: Shiva Icespike, para is barely effective and it's just for show 31: Ramuh's Enthunder, lasts even shorter than Ice Spike but fun 36: Garuda's cure, not even useful since you will already have CureGa, which is faster and less mp. 38: Ifrit Warcry before renkei but for the MP it costs why bother? 40: Shiva SleepGa, I'm expecting this to be for BCNM40 Sleepga does not work well on totetote++ when linked while leveling 42: Ramuh Shockspike, feels the same as IceSpike, for show 44: Carbuncle's "random status up by 10" fun but the stats go back down too soon anyway 46: Titan (after 40 levels of not using him) has party Stoneskin There is a cut on the max amount of damage you can take, it is weaker than 'real' Stoneskin. 47: Leviathan (after 20 levels of ignoring) has party Cure/Esuna 48: Garuda (after all that Blink) has HasteGa, cut down in the amount of time it lasts. By this time only 1 or 2 party members ever need haste anyway. After this summoner gets nothing new that's really of use until 70. People will rotate between Blink, Stoneskin, Hastega and rarely using Leviathan's cure/esuna (which is a very slow ability). 50: Shiva's Double Slap, in case you already haven't noticed that Shiva is so weak physically, this can do lots of damage if she hits BOTH times. 55: Carbuncle's petit meteo, slightly weaker than the version 4 magics 60: Version4 spells, instead of using party strengthening only, using version4 to finish off monster becomes your main goal. BRD's threnody is required for it to not be resisted on strong enemies. Your damage can vary to above the cap, depending on level. 70: The summon's new physical attacks are the best damage you can do. Great on tote or weaker leveled monsters. Will easily miss on totetote++, HNM, boss type, and monsters which have defense against physical attacks. Summoners with Fenrir should take care when using the Dispel type ability, as it is an area effect. The accuracy and evade modifying abilities are the main use for Fenrir. Make sure to note the moon phase before using it. Fenrir's Eclipse Bite seems nearly as strong as the level 70 attacks but not quite so. The thing to look for when choosing which 70 attack to use is the type versus that monster. For example, Garuda's predator claw seems to be strong on skeletons, but Leviathan is strong on monsters with high evade. 70 ability damage from Highest to Lowest: Garuda, Leviathan, Titan, Ifrit, Ramuh, Shiva Ability Range and Positioning ````````````````````````````` Take time to figure out how to make your Summoned pets appear in the spot you want when you call them. Also know the range of your pets abilities, both offensive and defensive, as they are very small. Learning to eyeball it comes with plenty of practice and use. Eventually you will be in situations where your character cannot be near the melee, but needs to use the Summoned pet defense abilities on them. By positioning yourself (with pet out) then finding the perfect spot where you are safe and the melee are in range of the ability, you can resummon a pet and it will appear where you last had it. This saves time from repositioning or waiting for the pet to get in range. Time saving is extremely important as you can only use your pact once a minute. Blink, Stoneskin and Healing ```````````````````````````` Blink is so important because not only do monsters miss attacks, their magic can miss too, until it wears off. This means way less healing. As for the party healing abilities, since it takes time to get the summon out and in position, the inability to use this job for reacting to instant situations makes it all the more flawed and MP costly. Only give your party Stoneskin if many targets are getting it, and their Skin has completely worn off. Also be sure to give people using Ninja job (as main or sub) the Stoneskin instead of Blink. Lunar Cry, Ecliptic Growl and Ecliptic Howl ``````````````````````````````````````````` The pattern and amount of stat boosts is rather unclear naturally, depending on the moon phase decide whether to boost your frontline or your rearline. Until anyone can figure out the english equivalents of the Moon Phases, I will have to leave this chart as is. The phases are different in the Japanese client, while the English client has percentage values. STR stat boosts go to STR, DEX, VIT INT stat boosts go to AGI, INT, MND, CHR Moon Phase Lunar Cry Ecliptic Growl Ecliptic Howl `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` New Moon Acc-1 Eva-31 STR+1 INT+7 Acc+1 Eva+25 Waxing Crescent Acc-6 Eva-26 STR+2 INT+6 Acc+5 Eva+21 Waxing Crescent Acc-11 Eva-21 STR+3 INT+5 Acc+9 Eva+17 First Quarter Moon Acc-16 Eva-16 STR+4 INT+4 Acc+13 Eva+13 Waxing Gibbous Acc-21 Eva-11 STR+5 INT+3 Acc+17 Eva+9 Waxing Gibbous Acc-26 Eva-6 STR+6 INT+2 Acc+21 Eva+5 Full Moon Acc-31 Eva-1 STR+7 INT+1 Acc+25 Eva+1 Waning Gibbous Acc-26 Eva-6 STR+6 INT+2 Acc+21 Eva+5 Waning Gibbous Acc-21 Eva-11 STR+5 INT+3 Acc+17 Eva+9 Last Quarter Moon Acc-16 Eva-16 STR+4 INT+4 Acc+13 Eva+13 Waning Crescent Acc-11 Eva-21 STR+3 INT+5 Acc+9 Eva+17 Waning Crescent Acc-6 Eva-26 STR+2 INT+6 Acc+5 Eva+21 How to Fish Monsters with your Pet `````````````````````````````````` Something extremely useful for SMN or people with SMN subjob. When leveling in an area where monsters link, or it's too dangerous for a fighter to go fish, you can use pet to get a monster. If you make your pet disappear too soon, the monster may give up. This is why you either need to let the pet take/give a few beatings and build more hate towards your party. Example A (No Link Monster): Monster is in an area filled with Ghosts. Summon Carbuncle, cast Sneak on yourself, go to the monster, make Carbuncle attack it, then run back to camp spot. Your Sneak will not be cancelled. Either call back Carbuncle or let it die to the monster. The monster will automatically come to your party. Places needing Invisible will not work. Telling your pet to do things cancels Invisible status. Example B (Link Monster): There are 4 Spiders you want to fight near each other and will link. Make your pet attack one until it dies. Do not panic when the other 3 spiders attack it. When your pet dies, the other 3 spiders will stop while the originally attacked monster will come to your party. If a spider pops on the way back, it will link. So be sure that all the monsters which may link are grouped together when you let the pet die. Warning: Using offensive SMN abilities will cause you to loose your Sneak. 3.3: Items, Equipment and Weaponskills -------------------------------------- What to eat as a Summoner ````````````````````````` There's only two cheap things you really need. Chocolate and Juice. Bubble Chocos are easy to make or buy in dozens, and they increase your "while sitting MP recovering rate". High quality of the Bubble Choco is the Heart Choco. The other thing you need is lots and lots of juice if there is no RDM in the party. It's easy to make Pine Juices using 2x Kazham Pines + Water crystal. Since juice cannot be stacked, carry the pines in dozens and crystals in dozens with you to the party. Many Summoners love to "raise" their MP by eating pies, which I find wasteful because the power of a Summoner only is seen once a minute. The rest of the time is spent sitting and healing MP. The more MP you get sitting, the better. Stats of useful foods for SMN: Bubble Choco - sitting MP recover+1 (30m) Heart Choco - sitting MP recover+4 (60m) Mushroom Kabob - MP+10 STR-1 MND+3 sitting MP recover+2 (30m) Witch Kabob - MP+15 MND+4 sitting MP recover+3 (60m) Pamama Tart - MP+10 HP+10 DEX-1 sitting MP recover+2 (60m) Sweet Rice Cake - MP+17 VIT+2 INT+3 MND+1 sitting MP&HP recover+2 (30m) Wizard Cookie - sitting MP recover+7 (5m) Ginger Cookie - sitting MP recover+5 (3m) Coin Cookie - sitting MP recover+6 (5m) Cinna-Cookie - sitting MP recover+4 (3m) Choco Drink - sitting MP recover+3 (3hr) Apple Juice - 1MP/3sec (120s) Orange Juice - 1MP/3sec (90s) Grape Juice - 2MP/3sec (90s) Tomato Juice - 1MP/3sec (180s) Pine Juice - 1MP/3sec (240s) Melon Juice - 2MP/3sec (135s) What to wear as a Summoner `````````````````````````` Most people stick to all MP boosting equip possible. Aside from that, RSE equipment (if MP boosting) will do great until the level for AF equipment, but will be very low defense. Your main weapon should be a staff with an MP boosting quality to it or a MP cost down quality to it. When fighting something solo, use a Pole type of weapon. They have stronger attack, no MP boosting and look like they are wrapped with white at the middle. SMN job can wear shields, but like BLM they have no skill whatsoever. Their subjob's shield skill is applied. Another thing, cloaks with "Refresh" added to them will work with your "Auto Refresh". So yes, you will get the refresh from your equipment item, combined with your job's refresh. Instead of 1MP/3sec, it will become 2MP/3sec. There are also throw items, which boost MP such as Morion Tathlum and Phantom Tathlum. Recently there was an MP Egg from Easter, don't throw them! Special SMN Equip ````````````````` *MP cost means the MP cost to keep the summon out. *Attribute Magic means the power of that element magic. *HealingMP means the MP you recover while sitting down. Conjurer Ring (Rare) from Comet Orb 50BCNM Lv50~ Potential (HP Yellow and TP 100+%): SMN MPcost-1 Summoning Torque (Rare) Moon Orb BCNM (used at Leviathan's Protocrystal) Lv65~ Lightning+5 Summon Magic Skill+7 Conjurer Pierce (Rare) from Clotho or Lachesis BCNM Lv70~ Potential (HP Yellow and TP 100+%): Damage-20% Astral Signa dropped by Tzee Xicu the Manifest (Yagudo Avatar, Rare HNM pop) Lv70~ D32 Delay366 HP+18 MP+18 SMN MPcost-2 Avatar Belt (Rare) from Sky Orb 30BCNM Lv30~ Potential (Support Job SMN, not main): SMN MPcost-2 [ Carbuncle Mittens ] Rare+Ex Defense5 MP+14 Lv20~ Hidden Power: Carbuncle MPcost-4 (-3 depending on level) A "???" randomly appears every two hours in Temple of Uggalepih. Touching it will give you a 'Tonberry's Offering'. Trade it to a "???" in a room at the top of the temple which needs a 'High Priest Key' to open. Crimson-Toothed Pawberry will pop. The drop is 100% and takes 9+ Lv65~ members or 6 Lv75~ members to defeat. The "???" for the NM appears every 15 minutes. [ Evoker Ring ] Rare+Ex Lv71~ MP+25 Summoning Magic Skill+10 Summon MPcost-1 Just like preparing for the Fenrir quest, defeat all the other Avatars including Fenrir. However, after winning choose to recieve the quest items. Trade them to Mamaurabin in Norg, you can trade each item one at a time so they don't fill your inventory. Each of the item names are related to previous FF games. After waiting JPN 0:00 next day, talk to him to receive your ring. [ Level 50 RareEx JSE ] Duende Cotehardie: Def26 ConserveMP+4 Dark Spirit MPcost-1 Lv50~ BLM/SMN Nimbus Doublet: Def26 Regen Light Spirit MPcost-1 Lv50~ WHM/SMN You get these by doing Brygid's quest in Bastok Markets. An Aries Subligar is needed for the Duende Cotehardie, a Capricorn Subligar is needed for the Nimbus Doublet. Subligars are RareEx level 50, dropped by Fomors in Sacrarium or Phomiuna Aqueducts. Summon Cost Reduction 2h Staff List ``````````````````````````````````` Keep in mind that if you are Summoning something which is the element weak to the staff you are wearing, a hidden MP cost is added. Also if casting spells weak to the element of the staff you are wearing, their strength is lowered. Magic strength is only that of the caster, and not of your pets at all. Don't expect your pets to do more damage physically or magically, the "attribute magic" boosts only affect yourself. Examples: Wear Fire Staff and cast Blizzard, your damage is lowered Wear Light Staff and summon Fenrir, MP cost becomes +2 Wear Aquilo Staff and summon Garuda, MP cost becomes +3 Light Staff Lv51~ D30 Delay366 STR+1 DEX+1 VIT+1 AGI+1 INT+1 MND+1 CHR+1 Dark+15 Cure Magic+10% Added Effect: Light Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+15% Carbuncle/Light MPcost-2 Apollo Staff Lv51~ D35 Delay356 STR+2 DEX+2 VIT+2 AGI+2 INT+2 MND+2 CHR+2 Dark+20 Cure Magic+10% Added Effect: Light Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+20% Carbuncle/Light MPcost-3 Dark Staff Lv51~ D30 Delay366 STR+1 DEX+1 VIT+1 AGI+1 INT+1 MND+1 CHR+1 Light+15 HealingMP+10 Added Effect: Dark Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+15% Fenrir/Dark MPcost-2 Pluto Staff Lv51~ D35 Delay356 STR+2 DEX+2 VIT+2 AGI+2 INT+2 MND+2 CHR+2 Light+20 HealingMP+10 Added Effect: Dark Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+20% Fenrir/Dark MPcost-3 Fire Staff Lv51~ D30 Delay366 STR+4 Ice+15 Atk+10 RngAtk+10 Added Effect: Fire Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+15% Ifrit/Fire MPcost-2 Vulcan Staff Lv51~ D35 Delay356 STR+5 Ice+20 Atk+10 RngAtk+10 Added Effect: Fire Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+20% Ifrit/Fire MPcost-3 Ice Staff Lv51~ D30 Delay366 INT+4 Wind+15 Spirit Magic Skill+10 Added Effect: Ice Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+15% Shiva/Ice MPcost-2 Aquilo Staff Lv51~ D35 Delay356 INT+5 Wind+20 Spirit Magic Skill+10 Added Effect: Ice Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+20% Shiva/Ice MPcost-3 Wind Staff Lv51~ D30 Delay366 AGI+4 Earth+15 Evade+10 Added Effect: Wind Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+15% Garuda/Wind MPcost-2 Auster Staff Lv51~ D35 Delay356 AGI+5 Earth+20 Evade+10 Added Effect: Wind Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+20% Garuda/Wind MPcost-3 Earth Staff Lv51~ D30 Delay366 VIT+4 Thunder+15 Physical Damage-20% Added Effect: Earth Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+15% Titan/Earth MPcost-2 Terra Staff Lv51~ D35 Delay356 VIT+5 Thunder+20 Physical Damage-20% Added Effect: Earth Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+20% Titan/Earth MPcost-3 Thunder Staff Lv51~ D30 Delay366 DEX+4 Water+15 Critical Hit+15 Added Effect: Thunder Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+15% Ramuh/Thunder MPcost-2 Jupiter Staff Lv51~ D35 Delay356 DEX+5 Water+20 Critical Hit+15 Added Effect: Thunder Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+20% Ramuh/Thunder MPcost-3 Water Staff Lv51~ D30 Delay366 MND+4 Fire+15 Holy Magic Skill+10 Added Effect: Water Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+15% Leviathan/Water MPcost-2 Neptune Staff Lv51~ D35 Delay356 MND+5 Fire+20 Holy Magic Skill+10 Added Effect: Water Damage Hidden: Attribute Magic+20% Leviathan/Water MPcost-3 Austere/Penance Equipment Set ````````````````````````````` To use this equipment properly, only switch to it just before you activate a blood pact ability, then change back to your regular equipment after activating. The reduced timer will be in effect. Austere Robe Lv50~ Def29 CHR-2 Avatar perpetuation cost -1 / Blood Pact ability delay -3 Penance Robe Lv50~ Def30 CHR-3 Avatar perpetuation cost -2 / Blood Pact ability delay -4 Austere Hat Lv50~ Def13 MP+8 CHR-1 Summoning Magic Skill +2 / Blood Pact ability delay -2 Penance Hat Lv50~ Def14 MP+8 CHR-2 Summoning Magic Skill +3 / Blood Pact ability delay -3 Austere Sabots Lv50~ Def7 MP+10 VIT-1 CHR-1 Summoning Magic Skill +3 / Enmity -3 Penance Sabots Lv50~ Def8 MP+15 VIT-2 CHR-2 Summoning Magic Skill +4 / Enmity -4 Austere Slops Lv50~ Def19 VIT-1 INT+2 MND+2 CHR-1 Summoning Magic Skill +3 Penance Slops Lv50~ Def20 VIT-2 INT+4 MND+4 CHR-2 Summoning Magic Skill +4 Austere Cuffs Lv50~ Def8 MP+15 CHR-1 Summoning Magic Skill +2 / Blood Pact ability delay -1 Penance Cuffs Lv50~ Def9 MP+17 CHR-2 Summoning Magic Skill +3 / Blood Pact ability delay -2 Weapon Skills ````````````` You probably won't be using these in battle, but when soloing you might. Summoner gets these weaponskills, at these job and weapon levels, if you have it leveled up. This list is SMN useable weaponskills only. Dagger WS JobLv WSLv Ex Notes ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Wasp Sting 4 10 Poison Gust Slash 16 40 Wind Damage Shadowstitch 28 70 Bind Viper Bite 40 100 Y Poison, 2 Attacks Cyclone 50 125 Y Wind Damage, Area Attack Energy Steal 56 150 Drain MP from certain monsters Energy Drain 63 175 Y Drain MP from certain monsters Evisceration ? 230 5 Attacks (requires quest) *need to sub THF/RDM/BRD/RNG/NIN for the Exclusive Dagger skills. 1h Club WS JobLv WSLv Ex Notes ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Shine Strike 4 10 Light Damage Seraph Strike 16 40 Y Light Damage Brainshaker 28 70 Stun Starlight 40 100 10%of MP:1MP/TP (little MP recover) Moonlight 50 125 Y PT members in area: little MP recover Skull Breaker 56 150 INT Down True Strike 63 175 Critical Hit, TP: aim Black Halo 75 230 2 Attacks (requires quest) *need to sub WAR/WHM/PLD/DRK/SAM for the Exclusive 1h Club skills. 2h staff WS JobLv WSLv Ex Notes ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Heavy Swing 3 10 Very weak Rock Crusher 14 40 Earth Damage Earth Crusher 24 70 Y Earth Damage, Area Attack Starburst 34 100 Light or Dark Damage Sunburst 51 150 Y Light or Dark Damage Shell Crusher 56 175 Defense Down Full Swing 62 200 TP: Damage Spirit Taker 68 215 Damage: MP recover Retribution 71 230 TP: Damage (requires quest) *need to sub WAR/MNK/WHM/PLD for the Exclusive 2h Staff skills. [ Gate of Tartarus ] WS "Gate of Tartarus" can only be used by a level 75 SMN or BLM. When the WS is used, it has an additional effect of attack down, while the effect is active the SMN or BLM recieves a Refresh status. The WS is gotten by upgrading the Relic 2h Staff multiple times. At full upgrade the staff becomes: Claustrum lv75~ D72 Delay390 Acc+20 Additional effect: Dispel 3.4: Rare Ex Armors ------------------- I did Artifact Armor quests in a mad rush when it was first released, so I barely remember details. AF1 requires you to be lv40~ summoner, AF2 requires you to be lv50~. All the BCNM battles have NO limit in party members, you can have an alliance inside! The key item can be reused as many times until you are successful, the key item can either be kept in mog or discarded anytime (like any other BCNM orb). One key item can unlock the BCNM for multiple people on the quest and in the same party/alliance (one battle is enough for all). You can throw away the key item (RaEx pendulum) after winning each battle. AF1 Quest: Windurst Walls -Go to the "House of the Hero" in Windurst Walls -Speak to Juroro in Bastok Port (get a key item) -Go to Quicksands -> Earth Cloister -> trade the key item to Protocrystal -BCNM battle with Gazer type monster (hint: use magic attacks) -Speak to Juroro in Bastok Port -Speak to the "House of the Hero" in Windurst Walls -Speak to the Principal (Kuro-Muro) -Kukulcan's Staff (weapon) get AF2 Quest: Windurst Walls -Go to the "House of the Hero" in Windurst Walls -Speak to Kuro-Muro, trade 4 Astragalos (throw ammo, made by Bone Guild) -Speak to Shantoto, Freppe (Aurastery) and Furakku-Norakku (Optistery) -Speak to Gulmama in North San d'Oria (get a key item) -Go to Fei Yin -> Ice Cloister -> trade key item to Protocrystal -BCNM battle with 6 Sapling type monsters (hint: BRD or BLM is useful) -Speak to Kuro-Muro, Evoker's Spats (pants) get AF3 Quest: Windurst Walls -Speak to the "House of the Hero" in Windurst Walls -Speak to Kuro-Muro -Speak to Ripapa in Mhaura (get a key item) -Go to Boyahda Tree -> Thunder Cloister -> trade key item to Protocrystal -BCNM battle with 2 Weapon type monsters -Speak to Kuro-Muro -Speak to Agado-Pugado in Rabao (get a key item) -Go to Cape Terrigan -> Wind Cloister -> trade key item to Protocrystal -BCNM battle with 1 Manticore type monster (hint: buy Cure Silence items) -Speak to Kuro-Muro, Evoker's Horn (helmet) get Gloves Quest (same as other AF Gloves): Sea Serpent Grotto Coffer for the key item, can open as any job Boots: Toraimarai Canal Coffer (easier if you have the key to the door from Windurst Walls, from a quest) Body: Temple of Uggalepih Coffer (easier if you are lv68~ as most monsters will not aggro) Artifact 1 Stats ```````````````` This is the equipment which is explained above. Kukulcan's Staff (2h staff) lv41 D22 delay366 MP+20 Evoker's Horn (head) lv60 defense15 MP+20 INT+3 Summoning Magic Skill+5 Avatar: Enmity-3 Evoker Doublet (body) lv58 defense35 MP+15 MND+3 Avatar: Enmity-2 Avatar Elemental Resistance+20 Evoker's Bracer (gloves) lv54 defense11 MP+15 VIT+4 Avatar: Enmity-2 Occasionally converts damage taken to Avatar Element to MP Evoker's Spats (pants) lv52 defense25 MP+15 Evade+10 Avatar: Enmity-2 Enhances Avatar Accuracy Evoker's Pigaches (boots) lv56 defense10 MP+15 AGI+5 Avatar: Enmity-2 Enhances Avatar Evasion Artifact 2 Stats ```````````````` Artifact 2 and Relics are random drop in specific Dynamis areas. Summoner's Horn (head) lv75 defense18 MP+25 INT+3 Weather: SummonCost-3 Time until next Blood Pact-3 Summoner Doublet (body) lv74 defense38 MP+20 Week: SummonCost-3 Time until next Blood Pact-3 Avatar: Critical Hit+3% Summoner's Bracer (gloves) lv72 defense15 MP+25 Summoning Magic Skill+10 Time until next Blood Pact-2 Enhances Avatar Accuracy Summoner's Spats (pants) lv71 defense26 MP+20 MND+3 Spirit Summon: less spell interruption Time until next Blood Pact-2 Summoner's Pigaches (boots) lv73 defense14 MP+20 VIT+3 Time until next Blood Pact-2 Enhances Avatar Attack Zenith Equipment Stats `````````````````````` This is gotten by using scrolls from HNM monsters to uncurse equipment. All of it can be worn at level 73~ by WHM BLM RDM BRD or SMN. Zenith Crown (head) INT+3 MND+3 Converts 50 HP to MP Resist Silence up Dalmatica (body) Magic Defense Up+5 Refresh Converts 50 HP to MP Resist Paralyze up Zenith Mittens (hands) Magic Attack Up+5 Converts 50 HP to MP Zenith Pants (legs) MND+4 CHR+4 Evasion-3 Converts 50 HP to MP Zenith Pumps (feet) INT+2 CHR+2 Converts 50 HP to MP 3.5: Modifications to Summoner Job ---------------------------------- Square-Enix changed quite a few things to Summoner Job but it still is never enough. So far they have increased the Astral Flow damage and lowered the cost of only two abilities. The one major change occured when they lowered the cost of summoning Avatars (Shiva, Ifrit, etc) from 30MP to 7MP, yet raised the cost of summoning Elemental Spirits. Fenrir however is 15MP. They've also added renkei (skillchain) and MB (magic burst) for certain Avatar abilities. Future Beast Ability List ````````````````````````` These are used by the "Prime" summons and are not usable by players yet. They're magic damage, hopefully Shiva and Ramuh's are strong, to even out their weak physical specials. Ifrit: Meteo Strike Titan: Geo Crash (additional affect: Stun) Garuda: Wind Blade Ramuh: Thunder Storm Shiva: Heaven Strike Leviathan: Grand Fall What Summoners want (from 2ch BBS, Summoner's Dream) ```````````````````````````````````````````````````` -Skill up to become easier, right now it is wasteful to try to do -MP costs change (if a less people get a party ability, then less mp cost) -2h staff skill rank A -Faster summoning and ability menu use -Summon's attacks having enchant already -Keeping summons out having less mp slip (or none at all) -The damage summons do is valid for the MP cost, so it does not feel wasteful -Auto Refresh 2 at level 50 (2mp/3sec) -Teleport or Escape ability -More traditional FF Summons (Odin, Siren, Bahamut, etc) What I want ``````````` -Toggle on/off for pet's auto attack -Modify /wait settings for macros so that we can use other macros too -Pet abilities have better descriptions and the boost values visible -Some sort of party saving ability involving crowd control -Increase range of party abilities to the same as protect and shell -Fix bugs with player movement and equip change, it cancels abilities -See where your pet is on the map -Know what statuses (positive and negative) are on your pet -Know when your pet's weakening on monsters has worn off, such as Tail Whip 3.6: Random Observations ------------------------ These are various notes that came after 75 levels of playing in parties, HNM battles, Missions or farming/hunting as SMN. You can see what my equip is like somewhat: http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/profile.xml?17975 Maximizing your Power ````````````````````` Merit points should be put into MP and Summon Magic Skill so you can be more powerful all around. The merit status boosts also will work in level capped areas such as those for Missions. Take time to learn about monster weaknesses the way a Black Mage would, it will help you in selecting correct Blood Pacts and Astral Flows to use on monsters. I saw a 50 damage Tidal Wave Astral Flow coming from a 75 Summoner who had full AF2, maxed skills and Astral Signa. The player didn't pay attention to the fact that a HNM had magic defense. Magic based Blood Pacts are still magic and can be resisted. For people who hate waiting for parties ``````````````````````````````````````` Use the time to go just outside of town and level up your Summon Magic skill. I've done this only once or twice while waiting for people. You can make a macro so that you can study while leveling it up or do other things. This skill is impossible to level up normally in party. It is naturally low. Summoners are able to also solo various monsters decently at level 71+. If you're feeling risky you can even solo for exp almost like a BST in Tu'lia, but expect some long downtimes and close calls. Indispensible Summoner Stuff ```````````````````````````` -Dark/Pluto Staff Ever since the Elemental Ore staves were introduced, Dark Staff is the most important piece of equipment you can get. The amount of time a SMN spends sitting must be shortened as much as possible. On that same note, anyone above level 72 should invest in the Errant Houppelande shirt for an extra 5MP when Healing and macro the standing/sitting equipment. -Light/Apollo Staff With Light Staff you get the needed power to your Cure Magic and the needed MP cost reduction to keep Carbuncle out at levels 51+. -Spirit Taker WS Russta reminded me about this WS, the damage you do is returned in a 1:1 ratio for MP. You can do a blood pact then get all the MP back by doing this WS on a monster which doesn't have high defense or evade. -Carbuncle Mittens At low levels you can even solo with these. They're valuable help in low level BCNMs, and an MP cost saver when using your pet to fish monsters. With these you can have Carbuncle following to keep you safe in dungeons. -Evoker Ring With these you get a large equip boost in Summon Magic Skill and an MP boost without loosing HP (something SMN needs). The MP cost reduction makes it possible for Carbuncle drain no MP at level 71+ when combined with Carbuncle Mittens and Light Staff. -SMN AF1 Pants These pants give your pet the needed aim to land their physical hits and physical attacks with far greater accuracy than normal. Highly important at levels 70+. -SMN AF1 Boots If using your pet to tank a monster or monsters, these give your pet a visible boost in evasion so they can stay up longer. -Anything that Boosts Summon Magic Skill If you are playing by using your pets offensively, the most important thing to boost aside from the obvious is anything which boosts your skill. If you played the job like most normal players, your skill is most likely behind by many levels. AF, Evoker Ring, Summoner Torque are the easiest boosts. Hate and Pet Behaviours ``````````````````````` Doing anything builds hate towards your character, but how much and under what conditions? I did some experimenting: -When pets automatically Assault monsters If a monster faces you, before it even attempts to hit you, your pet will automatically engage with the monster. The pet AI will recognize the monster AI targetting you. -Telling Pet to Assault before engaged with monster Always do this at a neglible distance from any monster, being too close may have the monster turn to you for a second. Allow your pet to take/do a few hits so that hate is built towards the pet. Telling Pet to Assault does create a small amount of hate from the monster towards yourself. -Telling Pet to Retreat when engaged with monster This builds a little more hate towards you, and will drag the monster and whatever links with it towards you (and not your pet). Monsters which were hit by your pet (built hate) will only target your pet. Other monsters which were linked on the way will target you until hate is built towards them by someone or something else. -Using Blood Pact before engaged with monster Using an offensive Blood Pact is considered an act of agression towards a monster. Therefore a little hate will go towards you, even before your pet has done the attack. If your pet has landed the attack, hate will go to your pet. If your pet did not land it, hate will still be towards you. -Pets may give up If you tell a pet to attack something and the monster moves further away, you may have to repeat the command as the pet will go back to you instead. -Ability/Macro lag The time between your button press and the action being sent and appearing on your screen is delayed by about one second. So you can hit your macro about one second before you are able to do an ability and it will execute on time. 4.0: Closing Acknowledgments ============================ 4.1: Credits ------------ This guide would not have been possible without the following: - FFXIOnline.com, GameFAQs.com The largest discussion forums for Final Fantasy XI. Thanks goes to Ping for making our ideals of bringing importers together happen. Posters have helped in correcting and suggesting additions. - RageOfDark Linkshell Without them I wouldn't be able to have any experiences ingame to write this. Farplaner always helps in correcting and finding the latest info. They also were kind enough to tell me what all of my abilities look like in the english game screen as I tapped it out from the tab menu. - Juventus Linkshell Without them I wouldn't have any uber gear or the chance to test out my Summoner job on various HNMs, nuff said. - 2ch BBS FFXI Summoner Forum Nearly all information right and wrong that has ever been discovered about Summoner is from here, first. The posters here are all anonymous. - FFXI Mystery Tour http://mysterytour.web.infoseek.co.jp For extracting and putting up the relic and AF info. - F Memo http://www.zephyr.dti.ne.jp/~miara/ff/ For storing the "Final Answer" chart from 2ch on Fenrir's abilities - Ragnarok Players FFXI Players have contacted me through /tell to correct various typos. - Lydya on server Cerberus For pointing out the elemental staves and added MP cost. 4.2: Version History -------------------- v0.1 August 18, 2003. started typing stuff using old FAQ as a template. v0.2 October 14, 2003. got up and wrote more. v0.3 October 20, 2003. corrections and anticipating additions. v0.4 October 21, 2003. revisions due to the version up. v0.5 October 30, 2003. some clarification and additions. v0.6 November 5, 2003. official translations added due to NA release. v0.7 November 9, 2003. new weapons added from Farplaner, some corrections. v0.8 November 28, 2003. some changes due to updates and weaponskills added. v0.9 December 7, 2003. additions and new high level rare SMN items. v1.0 January 4, 2004. many many changes due to the game's update. v1.1 February 26, 2004. Fenrir, Relics, AF2 and Evoker Ring quest. v1.2 May 1, 2004. New equipment and quest information added. v1.3 May 30, 2004. Quest information clarified and more details added. v1.4 June 10, 2004. Various details added and typos fixed. v1.5 June 28, 2004. New observation section, clarifications and details. v1.6 July 6, 2004. More details added and corrections. v1.7 August 30, 2004. Some calculation additions and more info verified. v1.8 November 10, 2004. More additions and clarifications. v1.9 December 15, 2004. New equipment added. End of Guide v1.9