I am thinking of rolling an elemental summoner as my class to come back as.
Major questions as it stands basically are:
~>Different unicorns do what?
~>What abilities do they have
~>Is it all just pet related in end game. (Sick pet and sleep)
Boxer is a melee fighter who can recharge your MP
Mirage is basically the same but takes more XP and has a nuke
Merrow has the best attack stats and casts and AOE nuke
Seraphim has a low attack and high hp and buffs the party.
End game play style depends on you
i wear light armor and use a figher weapon and fight along side my pet. ES can work in a very similar way.
As an ES, you have a lot of options to play with. Here is a little breakdown of your Unicorns to expand upon what Physics said:
Boxer takes away 30% exp per kill (so if a mobs gives you 10k xp you'll get 6.6k) It is your basic grinding summon. It only costs D crystals, and restores mana.
Mirage is a 90% exp summon. It is mostly used in PvP and adena farming. It only costs 1 D crystal to use. It has a nuke similar to windstrike.
Merrow is sort of a mixed bag summon. It's best used in parties. It costs C crystals. It has an AoE nuke, and higher run speed/HP. I believe it has lower P Def than Boxer, however.
I don't know much about Seraphim, although I do know that it costs C crystals and it has 1 minute party buffs.
Now, about the playstyle of an ES... You have extremely low STR, therefore you won't be seeing ungodly amounts of P atk. In solo I believe you are best used as an assistant nuker/healer for your Boxer. It restores your MP, so downtime shouldn't be an issue. Try to get overhits with Solar Spark, trust me, it'll make your life easier =P
In parties you are just another DD. Just nuke away and try to get an overhit. At higher levels (61+) melee may be an option, especially if you go with OE'd duals/two handers.
I hope this this information helps! And I hope you enjoy being an summoner =D
Duals are almost entirely pve based. The Summoner breakdown (or at least the way i see it is, is as follows)
Elemental Summoner = Nuker
Phantom Summoner = Melee
Warlock = Ranged Hybrid. Archer/Daggar/Nuker type. They can do both.
You can play all summoner classes by using duals and bashing on the mob like that. But for an ES range is your friend. Your an intense Regen/Healer/Side Nuker to your pet. So wheather you want to use a mage weapon or a melee weapon for c grade is up to you. After that youll want BW light and Duals. or a health weapon and a sheild. Depends on your playstyle. Ask yourself the following question - itll help you equip your ES.
Of the following classes I would most want to be a:
a) Tank
b) Damage Dealer
c) Healer
d) Nuker
if you chose:
a) Tank: go health weapon, sheild, and + con tats your gonna need it as a mage.
b) Damage Dealer: Bow, Daggar, Duals. If you go Bow youll want Guidance and only to use it occasionally. If you go daggar try Focus (duh) or haste. Duals haste, focus duh.
c) Healer: Basically the same as a Tank set up sept and acumen weapon.
d)Nuker: Get the weapon with the most matak you can get your hands on. I dont really suggest it past b grade.
No abilities are pretty dissimilar. PS has two cubics. Phantom which does many physical debuffs and spark which stuns. Both are usefull and both make my hunting much mroe efficient
A worthy mention is the Unicorn Merrow's AOE nuke hasn't been nerfed like other AOE magic abilities, making Merrow one of the better AOE-ers in the game.
b) Damage Dealer: Bow, Daggar, Duals. If you go Bow youll want Guidance and only to use it occasionally. If you go daggar try Focus (duh) or haste. Duals haste, focus duh.
They are going to nerf bow usage by mages on C5, I believe it won't be possible to use a bow if you're a summoner because the accuracy will be too low.
I highly recommend anyone considering a summoner take a look at the c5 patch notes. Summoners are getting significant nerfs in c5, especially regarding PVP. Its been enough to drive serveral 6x and 7x summoners I personally know (including myself) to all but abandon their class.
I find a lot of mages use duals at first from 20-40 & then some change to shield & others keep on using those duals. It really depends on your playing style. Dagger hits fast & shield protects. Duals do constant damage. My Prophet is currently using duals.