String Theory: A Puppetmaster's Guide *NEW*

yeah, used ruspix to confirm, very first nuke again water V with scanner equipped. I don't know if that counts as a bug or working as intended like you say, but clobbered all my hopes and dreams for the moment.

Sadly that's working as intended as far as how it's checking weaknesses, one could try to file a bug report since im not sure you can get the puppet to not nuke on the spell that has the lowest chance to resist, but i also seldom used the nuke frames. Does not using scanner make it default to its highest tier nuke?

The blm puppet supposedly has a scanner built in, from wiki notes

I was thinking of maybe just using the rdm head instead but i see that only gives T4 nukes

the only way I see it being usable is to deploy right as the sc goes off, but that's super awkward and not really worth the effort.

this does severely limit the usefulness of blm frame, but it can still pump out good numbers in other situations. I don't have access to post on OF, if anyone is so inclined to file a bug report I can help provide information though.

99% sure that is not a bug, it's just a design oversight. It probably targets the lowest resist rank that the monster has, and you can't get a lower resist rank than "Absorbs". In an ideal world they would've coded it to ignore resist ranks under a certain number but it is what it is.

agreed, and chances of job adjustments now are less likely than ever. oh well.

Stupid question - BGwiki's version of this guide has a note about how Repair potency may be capped at 50%. Is that known to be a fact? All I could find on Google was a post here from 2017 saying "maybe it's 50%" and sure Reward works the same way but this is FFXI so I hate to assume.

Repair Potency isn't a cure, it's a regen. I explained it a few pages back.

Repair cap is 50% though

There's no reliable data to show that Repair potency has any cap.

I literally did it 4 pages back when I explained it

There's gear to far exceed 50% (82%)

Call the puppet, repair in +>50%, convert to 1hp, role reversal, see the end hp is +2400 (within margin of error for extra tick based on world timing)

The amount that is cured, has no known cap because it has nothing to do with repair, only max HP

Are there any guides/good forum posts that talk about setups for soloing fights beyond just the string theory overdrive attachment set? For stuff like what low vengeance gaol fights, ambus, htmbs a pup can solo that benefit from specific attachment setups?

umm for more specific encounters, you can likely find a bunch of videos on youtube of pups soloing random stuff. Other than that, its trial and error with a good understanding of pup behaviour and the fight you are going into.

I think overdrive setups are pretty well covered, but if you have a specific fight in mind I'm sure we can figure something out. I'm still learning myself, so would be interested to see what you're soloing.

On another note, I can't pick between Lehko's and Fickblix's ring. I went with Shneddick for Adoulin because it's too good, but kinda want Lehko's for tp and smite/pummel. Not picking the pet ring as a pet job feels wrong though (don't play any other jobs atm)

separate question, do arcanoclutch attachments ever find use? I'm pretty bad at FFXI math, but I recall magic damage stat doing more for lower tier spells. I did a quick test using nothing but ice maker and loudspeaker V vs. ice maker and arcanoclutch 1 and 2. with 3 ice maneuvers, the loudspeaker combo won by about 1000 dmg on flamingos in sky with thunder V. since the blm puppet is going to cast the highest tier mp allows, I'm wondering what use if any arcanoclutch has. One thing I'm considering is attachment cost, loudspeakers take up a lot more points.

here's what I'm trying for the time being on non MB nukes:
Mana Booster
Ice Maker
Loudspeaker V
Arcanoclutch 1 and 2
Heatsink
Mana Channeler 2
Optic Fiber 1 and 2
Economizer
Mana Tank 3 and 4

any suggestions what to change for the MB loadout to fit amplifiers in?

sortie A/E bosses
I remember clear A
Style pup pet dd

2 pup/whm pet dd / 1 pup pet tank
1 cor roll beast/companion
No need Ov on A boss

And for A boss ki shard
Pet blm and roll sam fighter or tact or blizer cor do sc fusion or pup do light
And pet auto do mb kill 3 mobs

And E boss can kill melee style with
4 pup 1 tank 3 dd
IGeo Geo-Frailty
Cor+8 drachen or beast and companion

And other kitting start style dd
can change 1 pup to tank to kitting with indi gravity
And all pet dd and pup dd spam ws vs with cor spam sb or ls
And this strat can do it on all nms

And mb style
2 pet tank 2 pet blm with Animator P II +1 out range
2 pup do sc spam victory smite or with cor fusion sc
IGeo Malaise indi haste
Cor+8 roll pup sam
Pup give self haste will capped haste


And i remember kill Shedu with pet dd solo with ov
I will put box here later

gotta admit, pet job sortie sounds great fun, just gotta convince the cor and geo to give up the good stuff lol

save a slot for smn though, shock squall locks down a lot of the bosses.

fire light wind
<dhartok>
<frame>sharpshot frame</frame>
<head>valoredge head</head>
<slot01>magniplug</slot01>
<slot02>magniplug ii</slot02>
<slot03>armor plate iv</slot03>
<slot04>turbo charger</slot04>
<slot05>auto-repair kit iv</slot05>
<slot06>inhibitor ii</slot06>
<slot07>inhibitor</slot07>
<slot08>turbo charger ii</slot08>
<slot09>flame holder</slot09>
<slot10>mana jammer iv</slot10>
<slot11>optic fiber</slot11>
<slot12>optic fiber ii</slot12>
</dhartok>

sets.idle.Pet.Engaged = {
main={ name="Xiucoatl", augments={'Path: C',}},
range="Animator P +1",
ammo="Automat. Oil +3",
head="Kara. Cappello +2",
body={ name="Pitre Tobe +3", augments={'Enhances "Overdrive" effect',}},
hands="Mpaca's Gloves",
legs="Kara. Pantaloni +2",
feet="Mpaca's Boots",
neck="Shulmanu Collar",
waist="Klouskap Sash +1",
left_ear="Rimeice Earring",
right_ear="Kara. Earring +1",
left_ring="Thurandaut Ring",
right_ring="C. Palug Ring",
back={ name="Visucius's Mantle", augments={'Pet: Acc.+20 Pet: R.Acc.+20 Pet: Atk.+20 Pet: R.Atk.+20','Accuracy+20 Attack+20','Pet: Attack+10 Pet: Rng.Atk.+10','Pet: Haste+10',}},

What's the cooldown on heat capacitors

I want to say it was 2 minutes on activation/zoning, been awhile since i used it

JP wiki lists it as 90 second recast

if i get over 1000 tp and my tank auto has inhibitor on, will it still try ws with sch skillchains? did a magic sortie run as pup tank and used tactical switch when I saw pet near 1000 but it still got a few ws off.

yes it will. the first rule is that it holds tp if you are close to 1000 or over, but the 2nd rule is not dependent upon the first. It is, "if you can close the skillchain, do it"

So any skillchain that opens that automaton can close, it will.

anyone have experience with blm pet in sortie basement or odyssey? I think I'm running into resists or some other problem bc the bursts struggle to break 10k. I don't have Sakpata's fists yet but I have everything else in the front page set. Considering swapping to empy head/hands over herc for more macc, but don't know if it would be more beneficial to swap a loudspeaker iv for a tranquilizer iv instead. maight have to do both. could also be a dINT problem which would be harder to solve?

Not a PUP but dINT (at least for Dhartok) is very important.

tested new set on Kyou, didn't perform any better, though wasn't sure to expect on him with Shell V up. rolanberry daifuku +1 with the set below, only thing I can think of missing is puppet roll.

when I have more time I'll try to post pet INT, MAB and MACC totals and maybe compare with a sch or blm. Gotta figure in the attachments and all.

ItemSet 396010

ML 40 pet INT 134 + 152 with triple ice = 286
347 gear MACC + 80 food = 427
188 gear MAB + (160x2) from ice maker + loudspeaker IV = 508

attachments (resister and mana jammer can be changed):
ice maker
amplifier 1 and 2
loudspeaker 4
arcanoclutch 1
resister 2
mana jammer 4
optic fiber 1 and 2
economizer
mana tank 3 and 4

not currently using either mana channeler and wiki doesn't have data for them.

if any mage could compare those stats I'd be grateful

From my limited blm puppet experience on upper level nms, you're going to go very heavy on macc in attachements, and even with that you'll still generally need a macc boost or a threnody to be consistent

Also im fairly sure a nuker is well into the upper 300's in INT at least these days. The +stat on maneuvers was decent at catching the blm puppet up to omen level BLMs but had a few creeps since then

I haven't played PUP before so take this with a grain of salt, but I've had a few PUP friends attempt to do damage with the BLM automaton and without fail every one of them was disappointed in the results. You will not be getting anywhere near BLM or SCH damage on an automaton. It's not really designed to be competitive with those jobs, just like the ranged puppet doesn't compare favorably with RNG.

IDK what your expectations were going into this, but I would temper them, that's all I'm suggesting

SCH nuking set with no etudes (ML33) INT 140+316, MAB 407, Macc 448, Macc skill 255

just trying to make the most out of what we're given, not expecting to compete with real mages but at the same time I do see capped damage bursts on lower level mobs so trying to identify what the puppet lacks most on higher level NMs. malaise is probably a must have, did have one in sortie but not omen earlier.

oh jeez, 140 int gap is huge.

amp 1/2 on their own with 3x ice is 120% MBB so that does a lot of the work, its really just getting enough macc to not get resists on higher content

emp boots and sakpata's h2h like you mentioned would likely be worthwhile trades, assume you have af+3 gloves too to get your additional stats on maneuvers

according to wiki v0 ongo has 345 INT so can safely guess that is the problem. thanks for the help guys!