FFXIV Summoner Egis Tips and Tricks

FFXIV Summoner Egis Tips and Tricks by FawksB

With the reduction of MP Costs for Summoner with Ruin and Ruin II, Summoners are starting to find themselves with more MP then they are use to. Which actually allows the Summoner to switch Egis mid-fight without straining their MP as much as it use to. This opens the door to more Egis usefulness which is the point of this guide. I will not be addressing SMN rotations, just different ways to use the Egis, including where certain Egi shine better then others, i.e. Ifrit and Titan actually have valid uses now.

ALL EGIS

All of your Egis start with 2 moves at Lv. 1, then get new moves are 20, 40, and 50. Though the Egis learn different moves at these levels, when they are level 50 they all have similar attacks. Your Egi will have a basic attack, an area attack, an utility attack, a special move, and Enkindle.

It should be noted that Egis share cooldown timers, however the moves may not have the same cooldown time. This becomes important when trying to switch Egis. The best example is Aerial Slash (Garuda) and Earthen Ward (Titan). They share a cooldown timer, however Aerial Slash is only 30 seconds, where as Earthen Ward is 120 seconds. So, if Titan uses Earthen Ward and then you switch to Garuda, Aerial Slash will retain the remainer of that 120s cooldown.

Also, if using advanced Summoner tips, your Egi must always be on Obey. Just sticking that in there.

IFRIT-EGI

Ifrit is pretty much the set-it-and-forget-it Egi. Ifrit’s has the highest potency moves of the three, however, his main use is for single-target DPS. This is where he excels. Ifrit deals Slashing and Blunt damage, so he receives bonus damage when a WAR/NIN/MNK are in the party.

Ifrit’s Utility is Crimson Cyclone, which is a Stun. Nothing really special about it but good when you need a stunner.

Ifrit’s Special is Radiant Shield. This one takes a lot of management to make use of. Basically, while Radiant Shield is active, you want Ifrit to be taking physical damage. If the enemy has physical aoes that Ifrit can get hit by, it’s worth using Radiant Shield. But, this Special is one of the worst of the 3.

Hellfire is an alright Enkindle. It deals great damage, however, it’s radius is a pain to aim properly if you’re trying to hit multiple targets. If there is only one target though, Hellfire is the best of the Enkindle.

Summary – Ifrit’s ideal when there are other melee dps present. Against a single, low-mobility target, Ifrit is the best Egi. However, he completely lacks any real utility. Just leave him on Obey, and he’ll do just fine.

GARUDA-EGI

Everyone’s favorite egi… or arguable the only Egi. Garuda has much higher stats then the other Egis, this is to make up for the fact that she has no Auto-Attack. Wind Blade and Aerial Slash are much stronger then Ifrit’s and Titan’s moves respectively, however Ifrit’s auto-attack+basic move is stronger then Wind Blade. Aerial Slash gets a special note here because it should be used anytime there is more then 1 mob present, and only has a 30 second cooldown.

Garuda’s Utility attack is Shockwave. Weak attack with a strong Knockback. While annoying in a PvE environment, it’s very useful in PvP.

Garuda’s Special is Contagion. Every SMN worth their salt should know the ins and outs of Contagion, but since it’s a guide, I’ll briefly cover it. Contagion increases ALL DOTS that the SUMMONER has placed on the target. This includes Bio, Bio II, Miasma, Miasma II, Poison Potions, even Aero if you’re still an Arcanist for some reason. Where Contagion really shines is when it’s combined with Bane, Raging Strikes, or both. When not used with Raging Strikes on only a single target though, Contagion loses a lot of it’s awesomeness, since it basically allows the Summoner to get in a few more Ruins is all. It use to be a good MP management tool, but even that has lost some of it’s shine.

Aerial Blast is actually the weakest Enkindle out of all of the Egis, even with Garuda’s bloated stats. However, it’s also the easiest to aim. It will do aoe damage around the target of your choice. So, it at least has that going for it.

Summary – Garuda is very universal, and since she’s ranged, requires very little to no healing. Contagion and Aerial Slash are outstanding moves, and she’ll always be a good Egi to use. Her only real downside is she’s the least responsive Egi.

TITAN-EGI

The chicken nugget everyone loves to hate on. Titan-Egi is designed as a tank pet and every attack has an enmity multipler, however, he does actually provide utility to a party setting. Like all pets, Titan-Egi takes significantly lowered aoe damage, so against mobs that only use aoe attack, Titan-Egi is actually a better tank then any player. Also, Titan-Egi has roughly 200% the HP of his Summoner, so that hunk of rocks can easily have more HP then a WAR (without the enmity gains, of course).

Titan’s Basic and Area attacks have bonus enmity gain on top of the bonus enmity Titan has on all attacks. They seem to generate enmity with a x5 or x6 enmity multipler. Rock Buster and Mountain Buster are also very fast, and apply immediate enmity, good for snap aggro situations. Mountain Buster should only be used when trying to hold multiple mobs, then it should be used whenever it’s up.

Titan’s Utility Attack is Landslide. It’s a Stun. Like his other moves, it’s very fast, and because of this, Titan can be used to Stun if you’re in a situation where you need a Stunner in an all-caster party. (Stone Vigil, Snowcloak, Sastasha HM, etc.)

Titan’s Special is Earthen Ward. It’s a damage reduction to Titan. Combined with Eye for an Eye, this allows Titan to stay up for a while, but the long cooldown means to use it sparingly.

Earthen Fury is, and I’m serious here, the best and strongest Enkindle. Due to the Razed Earth effect, which works exactly like Shadow Flare, Earthen Fury tops the chart as long as the targets stay in the circle. Earthen Fury is centered on Titan, so make sure he’s where you want him to be before using Enkindle.

Earthen Fury has another amazing use, and this is the part tanks get annoyed at. Earthen Fury is a great at ripping aggro off of the MT, which is exactly why this move is great for large pulls. Either one of two scenerios happens. One, the MT maintains aggro, at which you’ve just used a strong Enkindle and no harm, no foul. Or two, you rip aggro and Titan turns into a shield for the MT until Titan dies… at which point all aggro goes back to the MT. Either way, it’s a win-win.

Summary – Titan is still the weakest DPS of the 3, however Titan also offers the most utility. And, having a pocket tank is always nice. He’s also the most responsive Egi.

SWITCHING SUMMONS TRICKS

Now, there are two very good Egi Switches I’ve come across, but I’m still playing around and finding more. It should go without saying, you should only switch Egis with Swiftcast. The most common one is starting with Garuda and using a full-buffed Contagion, then switching out to Ifrit and using a full-buffed Enkindle. This works even in FCoB. When using Ifrit, make sure he’s only on Obey, this way, Contagion will always be ready for use if and when you need to switch back to Garuda.

The other main one is using Titan and sticking him right in the middle of a large pull and using a full-buffed Enkindle with a Shadow Flare, and then as soon as Razed Earth wears off (or he dies), switch to back to Garuda for Aerial Slash and Contagion/Bane and general Garuda pew pew.

Please feel free to experiment, and have fun trying to find new uses for cycling through your Egis. And with 3.0 just around the corner and more Egis coming out, consider it a good time to practice if anything.