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Puppetmaster: A guide for new Pups

This Article is a Community Guide
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Brief Explanation

I created this guide for those who could not find the information on Puppetmaster they had wished to find on the job, like myself. And to the best of my knowledge on the job as I can. Please remember that this is my opinion on the job and should be taken as such. Though I might hold what I place in this guide to be fact, the best way to discover if it's true or not is to test it out for yourself. This is just a guideline to get you started on the job

Disclaimer:This is a work in progress. Due to my limited time I must accomplish this guide piece-by-piece, so please bear with me. ^^

Things I will go over in my guide are as follows;

Brief Overview of the Job

Puppetmaster is one of a select few jobs that can solo, and solo well. Puppetmaster's strength lies in it's ability to Skillchain with it's Automaton, it's ability to change up it's play style weither it be a strong Damage Dealer combo through the Valoredge Frame/Sharpshot Frame or a mix of DD with mage support from the Stormwaker Frame utilizing any of the variable heads, Stormwaker Head/Spiritreaver M-400 Head/Soulsoother Head, or if you prefer the Harlequin Frame, which I will explain throughout this guide.

You will discover while playing this job that it can be quite powerful, regardless of it's poor ratings on many skills. And you will become very satisfied that you made the right choice in jobs, when you chose to level up Puppetmaster. So let's get into it. :P

What to expect before you enter the job

First and foremost, Puppetmaster is by far the most expensive job in the game to initially start. So before you get started on the job you should farm enough gil to buy your attachments, as you will need as many of them equiped as soon as you get started.

You will also need gil every 10 levels until 50 starting at level 10, for each 1 of the frames/heads that are obtainable every 10 levels.

Getting a few thousand Imperial Standing Points through Besieged, will help you offset some of the cost getting these frames will cost.

Secondly, you must remember that Puppetmaster is not a Tank. You are a fair Damage Dealer, that uses it's pet to become a good Damage Dealer.

Weapons/Gear for Puppetmaster

Below is a list that I will keep adding to, but is a starting good reference for those looking into Pup;

Gear

Puppetmaster does not get that good of gear, and most of what Pup can obtain is geared more towards Evasion. So expect to focus yourself towards that end, but if you can obtain any pieces that enhance your Accuracy/Dexterity or Strength/Attack I would say go for it. There is nothing wrong with trying to increase your Damage output, regardless of what anyone else says.

Weapons

Until level 41 it won't really matter what you equip on your Pup. But you should remember that Pup gets a C rating in Hand-to-Hand and Knife/Dagger's. But unless you sub Ninja, equiping a Knife is pretty pointless, and you should stick with the Hand-to-Hand.
  • Mythril Claws +1- The first good weapon you can get in my opinion.
  • Adargas- A nice weapon, worth it if you can get it.

Ranged

You don't get much in the way of ranged, since you must have your Animator/Turbo Animator or Animator +1 equiped in order to use manuevers. But regardless, a list....
  • Animator-You get this when you unlock the job, just don't toss it. It will cost 10,000 gil to acquire another one if you do.
  • Automaton Oil-At level 15 you can use this Regen effect item on your Automaton, if it gathers to much hate.
  • Automaton Oil +1-At 30 you can equip and use a more potent version than Automaton Oil, and comes in quite handy wiether in a party or while soloing.
  • Turbo Animator-At 40 you get the option to unlock this "enhanced" version of the Animator, and has a nice Hidden Effect of Dexterity +2 for your Pup.
  • Automaton Oil +2-At 50 you can equip the highest version of Automaton Oil, and the Regen effect is quite nice.
  • Animator +1-At 71 you can obtain this piece, but it is hard to get.

Puppetmaster Job Abilities

I will not dicuss in detail the passive abilities, as they should be well known even to new players. As you should have a fair grasp of Puppetmasters passive abilities Martial Arts I, II, & III/Evasion Bonus I, II & III/Resist Slow I, II & III, by the time you unlock the job. But I will give you somethings to look out for.
  • Activate-This is your main JA in the game, it has a 20 minute "cooldown" timer so be careful when deploying your Automaton. If your Automaton dies before the timer is up, you will have to wait until the timer is up before calling your Automaton back out.

Automaton Heads/Frames

From the get-go you will have the Harlequin Frame/Harlequin Head, which is great to start off with but as soon as you are able to unlock more frames/heads you will most likely never touch this frame/head ever again. Now, each 10 levels of your Puppetmaster(10, 20 & 30) you will be granted the option to unlock a new Head & Frame. And at 40 and 50 you will be granted the option to unlock the Whitemage and Blackmage Heads.

You will need to figure out your style of play, in order to unlock the certian head/frames when needed. I for instance liked to steamroll mobs until 40, so I unlocked the Valoredge Frame/Valoredge Head at level 10, the Sharpshot Frame/Sharpshot Head at 20 and finally I unlocked the Stormwaker Frame/Stormwaker Head at 30.

For each head/frame at 10, 20 & 30 you will be asked to obtain and trade to the NPC certian items/materials/payments, and expected to wait until the next Japanese day for your new head/frame.

Also, at 40 you will get the option to unlock your first Automaton head, that does not include a frame; Spiritreaver Head or the Soulsoother Head.

These are a little different from the earlier heads/frames, you will only need a White Magic scroll for the Soulsoother Head or a Black Magic scroll for the Spiritreaver Head along with payment(2 Imperial Mythril Piece's for the level 40 head, and 4 Imperial Mythril Piece's for the level 50 head). You must also trade the NPC an Imperial Coffee after each Japanese midnight, in order to speed up the process.

  • It should be noted that I have found that trading an Imperial Coffee +1 to the NPC, further speeds up this process. As I traded him a Regen Scroll for my Soulsoother Head, and only had to wait 1 Real Life day for the head. And it should have took at least 2 Real Life days using the standard Imperial Coffee approach. Though it would greatly help, if someone else could confirm my findings.

My advice is to get the Soulsoother Head at 40, as so far in my experience the Spiritreaver Head is pretty useless compared to the Stormwaker Head until post-60, but don't freat you will still be able to unlock the head at 50 if you take this route. And also the Soulsoother Head grants you the ability to provide White Mage support to your entire party, whereas the Stormwaker Head only grants you the ability to have your Automaton heal you and only you, even in a party setting.

Automaton Magic Skills

Just click on the link for Automaton Magic Skill, it's pretty straight forward. And lists each head/frames magic capabilities.
  • However, if you find it hard to raise your Automaton Magic Skill an easy way to cap it each level is to Solo with your Automaton using the Stormwaker Frame/Stormwaker Head. Using this setup you can cap your Automaton's Magic Skill, through fighting Even Match-Tough prey through Elemental Magic/Enfeebling Magic, or by fighting Easy-Decent Challenge prey and using your Automaton's Healing Magic. Using either technique, you will be able to keep your Automaton's Magic Skill capped each level.

Automaton Weapon Skills & Puppetmaster-Automaton Skillchains

Automaton Weapon Skills

Each frame/head combo has it's own Weapon Skill, and in turn it's own Skillchain abilities.
Clicking on each of the frames listed below will show you their Weapon Skill abilities and levels.

Puppetmaster-Automaton Skillchains

I will list the known Skillchains you can do with your Automaton.
It should be noted that this is the best frame/head combo to Skillchain with, when you equip the Inhibitor on this frame/head combo you are practically gauranteed a Skillchain, weither it be you(solo/party) or with another party member. The only downfall of this frame/head, is that, if it reaches 100% TP when you have lower than 50-60% TP it will Weapon Skill by itself.
It should be noted that your Automatons Weapon Skill does not have a set time/point in the fight where it will uses its Weapon Skills. It will not try and purposely Skillchain with your Pup, with the Stormwaker Frame-Stormwaker Head/Spiritreaver Head/Soulsoother Head, even with the Inhibitor equiped. It does however prefer to Weapon Skill towards the end of the fight, provided it does not have more than 150% TP. If it accumalates over 150% TP, it tends to Weapon Skill as soon as possible. With the Inhibitor equiped on your Automaton, it tries to keep TP in an attempt to Weapon Skill with your Pup. Which is a bad idea on this frame and these heads, as it will fill its TP bar and rarely Weapon Skill even after you have Weapon Skilled. Your best bet with this frame/heads, is to let it use its Weapon Skill first followed shortly by your Weapon Skill of choice, and avoid equiping the Inhibitor.

Solo/Party Dynamics of your Automaton

You must first realize that Puppetmaster is a very involved job, due to needing to keep you and your Automatons Skills capped, each and every level. If need be, either through good parties leveling you quickly or due to your fighting Easy-Decent Challenge Prey on the solo tip, you find your Automatons Skills (Magic/Melee) lacking, you must find a way to keep these capped. If you need to spend a little gil on meds every few levels to fight harder prey than usual (solo), then my advice is to do it. As the further you get behind on you or your Automatons skills you get, the harder it is to cap them further down the line.

Solo

This is where I have found that Puppetmaster blows past even Dragoon and Beastmaster, because Puppetmaster can do what both are strong at down the line from the get-go. As you can finetune your playstyle, through your Automaton. Weither your playstyle is to steamroll mobs, or you are looking to outlast the mob, Puppetmaster affords you both types from level 1, provided you have bought the needed attachments.

While soloing from level 1, you will appreciate the ease of play your Automaton provides. You will undoubtedly come to realize that when you can get your timing down between you and your Automaton, you will be able to go hours without downtime without any help (meds) or outside influences (i.e PL's, passerby's etc.). And do this while fighting up to Even Match prey fight after fight.

Having the Valoredge Frame/Valoredge Head from level 10 will allow you the opportunity to steamroll mobs until you hit 40, at which point it is well advised to switch over to the Stormwaker Frame utilizing the Stormwaker Head or Soulsoother Head.

Party

Automaton Attachments

There are 3 attachments that you should get first and foremost, as all your frames/heads will utilize them, they are as follows;

Source entry: Puppetmaster: A guide for new Pups. Cached on this server on 4 November 2026.

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