String Theory: A Puppetmaster's Guide *NEW*

I second this. I have the taeon DT set and every once and awhile an unlucky mew is hurtful.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/55997-October.-10-2019-%28JST%29-Version-Update

Not a massive boost to SP since Moonbow Belt +1 remains BiS and base fTP wasn't adjusted, but at least we now can use the very nice Fotia Gorget when we aren't capping into JSE neck+2.

But it sounds like all the other WSs are significantly stronger now. Might be that R15 KKK SP is no longer our strongest option as far as the master goes.

Howling is hitting pretty hard for me now (because it can crit?)
3k tp 30-49k with trusts and /war on an Apex crab.

Stringing Pummel isnt hitting as hard with rank 15 kkk am3 (even howling often does more with KKK) kind of disappointing for KKK rank 15 users.

Howling is doing so well because it has lots of room for multi attacks. Same with tornado kick.

Plus attack bonus and pup is almost certainly in need of it.

It's hitting those numbers with path c Xiucoatl.

So there is the potential for some high damage skiichains with
Howling fist> Arcuballista with overdrive fire,light,wind (truesights,magniplugx2.)

Eiryl what would a TK set look like. Its not hitting as hard as Howling or Raging for me (wsd set.)

Xiucoatl C isn't even a good weapon for any HTH WS anymore. That WSD+15% (or any WSD) isn't doing much for relatively low fTP WSs with transfer. Which seems to be the case for all HTH WSs now save for Final Heaven.

KKK with AM3, Vere and Godhands are leagues above any other other option at this point. Possibly Karambit too. And even if we're no longer using SP I'd still put KKK at #1 because AM3 affects our pets and gives us great multiattack for our WSs as our WS gear generally sucks due to the lack of Adhemar+1. Very well-augmented Herc is going to match/beat it, but that's gonna take a lot of work to make.

Maybe my TA set is wrong but my Xiu WSD howling fist set is spiking much higher then my TA Kenkoken/Xiucoatl. Even my KKK AM3 WSD is spiking harder then my KKK AM3 TA set .
Maybe i need to be getting super buffs? Because i did this solo with trusts.

Are you able to test and provide numbers as well?

You're spiking higher because you're getting TA procs in addition to your WSD. It's not like WSD does nothing for damage.

The difference is that a STR/TA setup will yield better average WS numbers and therefore higher DPS.

This is not really the case when you are using Howling Fist at 3000TP like he does. Howling has replicating fTP sure, but at 3000TP its 5.7fTP, so WSD will still do quite a lot. Don't get me wrong tho. MA will still win over WSD for gearing and AM3 KKK should easily win (WS avg not spikes) with Xiucoatl.

When I made that post I hadn't yet seen the tests for the new fTP values and WSD does more than I initially thought as I assumed the new fTP values would be lower. Which is definitely the case for Stringing Pummel anyway.

Anyway, this is what a new HF/RF set should probably look like:

ItemSet 369022

Perfect Herc augments would be STR+10, Acc/Atk+20 or higher and TA+4. STR/DA on the Ambu cape.

Technically VIT does more than STR for HF. So if you are generally in low buff situations and only use HF, then you may want to augment VIT all around instead.

Yeah thats probably the optimal set, but I would use JSE neck +2 with Howling Fist. 50% attack bonsu should be enough to cap attack and take advantage of 10% PDL. Also TA4% and 10STR over TA3% and 15STR.

Generally HF is used in low buff situations, i.e. the 50% Attack bonus will be nowhere close to what you could get from GEO, COR and BRD. I very much doubt a PUP could cap out 4.07 PDL (3.7*1.1) on its own, even with Berserk+HF. The above set is already low on Attack on its own.

And in high buff situations with Chaos Roll (up to +65.97% Attack), Idris Fury/Frailty and Minuets you'd almost certainly be using RF anyway. But even then you'd probably need Berserk for PDL unless you're just fighting trash.

I suggest just making a PDL swap for your WS sets and switch depending on the setup.


Are you getting that from an updated spreadsheet or just assuming because the mods are low? You're probably right, but I feel like STR might give higher averages as it would also benefit any MA procs.

From sreadsheet yeah, but for monk. should be the same tho.


I guess Im biased because many time I have COR + BRD, but no Geo when I'm boxing (not using PUP for that either, but still). So that 50% bonus on Howling Fist can easily be a missing link to cap attack then.

Also I completely don't understand what's the logic behind writing PDL like you did Can you explain what you meant here? PUP has 3.7 pdif cap normally. With neck it goes up to 4.07

Has the fTP on Stringing Pummel changed? Does the update affect how we should gear for it? Seems like even with fTP transferred multihit is still not a big for SP, plus with KKK you'll have AM3 up.

RF with Attack buffs should generally outperform HF with PDL neck, though, as far as I can tell.


That was a mistake on my part due to tiredness. I wasn't thinking and just pulled the Damage Limit+ values from the table on BGwiki without taking base PDIF into account. I've corrected the numbers.


SP remains unchanged as far as fTP goes. The only real difference is that we can now use Fotia Gorget and it will improve any multiattack procs.

As far as gearing goes I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. AM3 is definitely major, but it doesn't automatically guarantee 8 hits. Though I'd wager just gearing for Crit like before--similar to CDC--would make the most sense.

I can tell you only from MNK spreadsheet that even 4.18 pdif Howling Fist is only 2.5% behind 3.8 RF. But I was thinking more about scenario when you have enough attack buffs to reach like 2.7-3.2 pdif. RF at that range has no chance at all vs 4.07 Howling Fist.

Then I guess it's time for everyone to gear toward VIT. Considering HF's insane fTP transfer I'd say Mythic AM3 would make it absolutely bonkers. Godhands' TP gain is much, much slower than KKK's and 500 TP Bonus could be easily made up for.

Or become a Galka....

So, I just did some quick testing out of curiosity: matons with AM3 but without Inhibitors do roughly 1000 DPS (VE/VE) and 1400 DPS (VE/SS) on Apex Toads with Dia 3, standard master/pet TP gear and no pet rolls. VE/SS only does about 700-750 DPS without AM3.

That's a pretty big chunk of damage + Overload suppression that Godhands, Verethragna or Xiucoatl are unlikely to be able to make up for, even in the unlikely event they beat KKK for master DPS.

Also, even with multiattack WS sets, capped PDL Attack and 2000+250 TP neither HF or RF really impressed me that much (especially compared to my MNK's numbers). Even R0 SP was still pretty competitive damage at 1k TP. In my opinion those spike damage screenshots for HF were not a good indicator as to whether HF would beat SP.

In any case, needs further testing once I've R15'd my KKK and gotten better augs on my WS herc. Sadly detritus farming is slow and I'm too cheap to buy it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How's the Karambit for Master Dmg post update?

It was decent before the patch and it's decent after the patch. Can't really abuse the STP+50 mechanic as well as MNK due to the loss of multiattack. Asuran Fists is reliable midrange damage, but impossible to push very far.

It won't beat any of our REMAs and probably falls behind Path A and B Xiucoatl. Pet bonuses aside, it's likely as strong as Xiucoatl C for master damage and quite possibly ahead due to TP gain.

If you're solo farming on PUP I'd say it's best to set up the automaton for skillchaining w/ you using Inhibitors + Speedloaders and doing double lights.

The easiest one would be Victory Smite > Armor Shatterer > Victory Smite, but if you and your auto are TPing quickly enough you can do Shijin Spiral > Armor Piercer > Victory Smite > Armor Shatterer > Victory Smite.

If you're fighting something undead, you can also do simple Shinjin > BoneCrusher = light and rinse repeat. It's pretty good if you can manage the Flame Holder.

480 + YourWeaponDelay(YWD) = Total Delay
Total Delay * 0.2 = Lowest delay possible (LDP)
LDP / (1-TotalHaste) - YWD = H2H delay needed to get LDP

Now with real numbers to make it easier.

Godhands: 138 delay
TotalHaste: 68.75% = 0.6875 (43.75% magic haste and 25% equip haste)

480 + YourWeaponDelay = Total Delay
480 + 138 = 618

Total Delay * 0.2 = Lowest delay possible (LDP)
618 * 0.2 = 123.6

LDP / (1-TotalHaste) - YWD = H2H delay needed to get LDP
123.6 / (1-0.6875) - 138 = 257.52

So you need 257.52 base h2h delay with Godhands (assuming assumed capped magic and gear haste). With just trait V you have 320.