Puppetmaster guide by Zathone

-Puppetmaster is a solo job that allows you to use a puppet to aid you in battle. Like Summoner, Puppetmasters can command the puppet to attack targets (deploy), Activate (Active), Deactivate (deactivate), and Follow (Retrieve). The Puppetmaster, can also melee and typically uses Hand to Hand weapons. There are also different puppets a Puppetmaster can use for different situations (I will explain them later in the guide). This makes PUP THE MOST diverse job in the game because there are soooo many different ways to play it. With the different puppets, attachments, sub jobs, manuevers and etc. This allows you to do almost limitless things in FFXI. Sadly though, like BST, PUP are often overlooked when seeking due to the false belief that we are bad for parties. Though that statement is VERY false I will explain later on in the guide why PUP can be very helpful and can raise a party’s success rate.

-Well, PUP is one of the few jobs that can solo continuously without downtime. Now, when I hear the word solo job, I think of a job that can continuously Solo with very little downtime, that is PUP. Some MP jobs, like SMN are good at Soloing but are limited to the amount of MP it has. I personally think that PUP is the second best Solo job in the game, following behind BST. Just because BST can use strong mobs and has limitless mobs at its disposal, wide scan, and…well… its BST. But I think PUP is better for party due to the ability to have a WHM puppet to cure the party and in some cases can main heal if there are no WHM. Also the BLM puppet (I will explain these later on). But back to why it is such a great solo job, it has no downtime when soloing if done correctly. I have a 60 SMN and it is great for soloing, but it is limited only to the MP. While a PUP puppet can recover loads of MP and with the Activate/Deactivate technique, your puppet has an infinite amount of MP.

When PUP solo, we typically use the Stormwaker frame and head, AKA the RDM puppet. They insure our survival by healing, and also nuke to make faster kills. So it’s a little like a duo except, it does not take any EXP. Puppets can also enfeeble which helps a lot when soloing. Example, when fighting worms my puppet will cast silence and will prevent it from using Stonega and Stone II making worms easier kills and saves HP. You are basically duoing with a RDM that has unlimited MP.

-That is up to you. PUP revolves around the puppet. And the puppet is as good as the Puppetmaster and the Attachments. Attachments makes the Puppet do different things and will enhance or decrease your perfomance greatly depending on if you use good attachments. It took me about 200k to buy my attachments, puppet frames and gear. And I am still trying to buy some more attachments that are about 70k-300k each. This is one of the most expensive jobs in the game if you buy the better attachments and all the puppet pieces. You will be a bad PUP if you are cheap, and do not buy good attachments. So I suggest getting the gil before leveling PUP.

- Pffft. Yea right, if the PUP know what he’s doing, PUP can ensure a party’s success. Especially after 40, a PUP can replace a healers position if need be (A WHM is not always more effective than a real Healer in your party due to Raise, and buffs.) But the WHM puppet does have unlimited MP, just keep out of AoE and use the Activate/Deactivate technique. So that means a Party’s downtime Is drastically reduced. Especially with both a healer and WHM puppet, the party will be getting MUCH more EXP in less time. The BLM Puppet is also great for parties because of the Nukes it casts. It is a great DD and will speed up kills for chains. What makes puppets so unique are their Low enmity attacks. All mage puppets generate low enmity magic. Example, A WHM’s Cure V will take much more hate than a Puppets Cure V. This also makes Puppets excellent for Healing and Damage Dealing.

So no, PUP are not bad for parties and can do more damage than a lot of DD’s if they know what their doing.

-This is what I like about PUP, they can sub so many things and get away with it because PUP is so versatile. Now the main Subjobs PUP uses are WAR, DNC, THF,NIN and WHM. WAR is mainly for Provoke, defense boost, berserk and etc. WAR is a common Subjob for PUP and was the main one before DNC came out. DNC is for its Waltz, and Steps which helps a lot with soloing. I prefer /DNC when Soloing because I want my puppet to Nuke for faster kills instead of use its MP for healing me. But I used /WAR up until 40 due to Animated Flourish. /WHM I never really use. Due to the casting times and since the Puppetmaster is tank for the puppet, I don’t have the time to cast. Stoneskin, Blink, and other buffs would be nice to have while soloing though. I use /WHM in parties and it is useful with the extra MP for healing. /NIN I would not suggest because it does not grab hate from the mob. If your puppet nukes and takes hate from you, both you and your puppet are screwed. But I do see this being good for parties. THF, I never used but I have heard that SATA is good damage and the EVA bonus is helpful for soloing.

-Hmmm. Not really. Its just a little challenging. You can get it with a level 25 WHM with sneak, invis and Reraise. Or with a friend with sneak and invis. I went as level 60SMN/30WHM and with a 63SMN friend and we both died. But we raised each other. The Imps have true sight so don’t go near them, they can see through invis. Just remember that Sneak and Invis is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.