Summoner Rework – The ‘Third New Job’
I’m a Summoner main, so after spending a little bit of time with Sage and Reaper, it wasn’t long before I switched over to my favorite job. I needed to see what it was like to be an actual Summoner in Final Fantasy XIV and not a DoT job that calls out a Smol Ifrit, a man in a thong, and a chicken every now and again.
I joke around, but I never hated the DoT part of Summoner. It felt good to play… it just didn’t feel very Summoner-like. I hope that they repackage what Summoner once was and use it for a Onmyoji /Oracle type of class that has been tossed around by the dev team in the past. Magical DPS jobs are due for a new addition, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the route they go.
I digress, new Summoner felt great to play, but it’s definitely a bit simpler now than it was before. Before, Summoners had to not only work their way through a rotation that included Dreadwyrm Trance, Bahamut Phase, and Pheonix Phase, but also keep an eye on their DoTs, Ruin 4 procs, and more.
While the rotation is now even longer with this reworked Summoner, it feels more straightforward. You’re going to be cycling through all three of the original summons now: Ifrit, Titan, and Garuda. At level 90, they will spawn in, will be able to use a powerful “ultimate” move, and then you can carry on for a few more actions in an elemental “phase” depending on your summon that will open up a few more actions such as single-target and AoE attacks that will build up a charge that can be used to trigger special Astral Flow actions such as Ifrit’s charge which was shown in the job action live letter.
Before level 90, the Summoner will progress through Emerald/Topaz/Ruby Carbuncle instead, which will eventually become the Egis, and then those Egis at level 90 will spawn in initially as their true forms as stated above.
After you’ve cycled through all three summons you’ll be able to summon Bahamut and then Pheonix, who behave similarly to as they did before with a few new tricks for Bahamut in particular as it will change Ruin and Tri-Disaster into new, more powerful Bahamut-themed attacks. and also Phoenix which can now provide some healing utility via its Astral Flow.
Yoshida told Twinifnte that one of the key decisions Summoners will need to make now will be which order to summon each avatar in, as they each bring a few unique actions to the table, such as Garuda’s powerful AoE Slipstream, Ifrit’s slower casting but powerful attacks, and Titan’s useful AoE attacks.
Overall, I do think Summoners should be happy with the changes. I certainly am, as long as they didn’t feel married or overly attached to DoT management. It’s definitely different, and some may not like that, but it feels like a small price to pay to actually be a Summoner. The job now has an identity in line with the job’s history in previous Final Fantasy games, and its foundation can be built on in future expansions to become more complex.
At this point, Final Fantasy XIV has a proven track record of putting out polished and beautiful expansions with top-tier story content. After going hands-on I have no doubt that Endwalker will follow suit.
It’s too early to tell how, if at all, the endgame loop will change, and how the new endgame content will feel to play. However, the meat and potatoes of Final Fantasy XIV, the leveling up and story experience, appear to be at the same high quality that players have grown used to.
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker will release on Nov. 23 for PlayStation and PC. We’ll have even more Final Fantasy XIV content from our media preview hands-on time later this week, so be sure to check back.
