String Theory: A Puppetmaster's Guide *NEW*

Hi

What would be a good 6 party man setup with pups DDing? Can a setup like that work against VDs and/or dyna div farming?

Thanks in advance

How important is Heyoka +1 set? Is it only an enmity swap and combined master TP set (legs,feet,hands) or maybe its used for something else too?

that's basically it, was the jobs best meva set but that got blasted away recently so only other thing going for it is the crit rate on some pieces

I was also thinking about maybe it could be bis for pummel? You could go for almost 100% crit rate instead of pure stats? Pummel has kinda low modifiers anyway. Not sure tho.

body i beleive was used in pummel sets, i never really bothered to optimize it since the times i actually get to melee with pup is pretty minimal, and with no ken pummels not even that great from what i could tell

ItemSet 352950

I still use Heyoka Body +1 in my SP set. Multiattack from gear like Samnuha might win out in high-buff situations because R15 KKK is +49.5% damage on every hit, which is pretty major for a 1.0 fTP WS.

Hey Aerix, have you or any other PUPs ever tried to Overdrive burn Teles with trusts?
I do think it's possible and would be very interesting to see tbh.

It's a common mistake people are doing.
For easy calculation +49.5% boost is commonly treated and presented as additional fTP, but it's actually not additional fTP, it's a 49.5% multiplier for whole WS. It doesn't change the value of MA vs stats vs crit rate at all. The relation between them are the same before and after multiplier.

I didn't say it was an fTP boost, I said it was major for a low fTP WS. I guess it was ambiguously worded as every WS would obviously benefit from +49.5%, but Stringing Pummel needs it more than a fTP-transferring WS like CDC would, because it's inherently weaker.

Even if it's all multiplied at the end, Gere Ring beats Regal Ring due to its TA+5%, despite the VIT+10 and slightly higher Attack. Which is why I mused the same could be true for Samnuha and might let it beat out Rao legs+1 under high buffs situations where Attack isn't a factor.

No, I haven't tried it yet because frequent Invincibles would hamper Overdrive considerably. Same reason why Escha Genbu is such a pain to kill.

It might be possible with enough PUPs, but I cannot say for sure.

Its hard to explain Aerix. Its one of this thing that you get fast or its hard to 7nderstand otherwise, but I will try.

It doesnt matter if its 2hit ws with 10 ftp on first hit, of ws with transferred ftp or ws like pummel. Nothing changes with +49.5% multiplier, because it affects everything.

To break down ma vs str for example.

It boosts additional hits by 49.5% sure, but it also boosts base 6 hits by 49.5% too and boosts STR value by 49.5%

Whatever you will do to that ws before multiplier it will be multiplied. Whatever you will do to this ws to optimize its damage before multiplier it will be transferred unchanged after multiplier. If ma wins with stats before multiplier it will win after and vice versa. Not sure how I can explain it further.

You may want to reread my current post. I corrected my error long before you replied to the old version of it. In my defense, I had just barely woken up when I wrote it originally, so I wasn't thinking straight and wrote nonsense. There was no need for an explanation, but thanks anyway.

Btw I dont think Niqmaddu ring is worth it for Pummel. Regal should be better. Pummel is already 6hit. QA proc will be limited to +2 hits only and you probably have AM3 up when using Pummel and KKK anyway, so you will be at 7-8 hits very often anyway. Now attack is something that PUP needs a lot.

I like this this set Aerix. I would only change legs to Heyoka and Niqmaddu to Regal.

Good point about AM3 and Niqmaddu (and indirectly Samnuha too). QA might have helped a bit when HTH was still capped at 95% Accuracy, but at this point Regal definitely wins.

As for Heyoka legs+1, they lose massively to Rao legs+1 according to my modified MNK spreadsheet. Whether Attack-capped or with moderate Attack buffs. With the gear set above you already have a 70-100% crit rate on SP depending on dDEX and TP, so Heyoka legs+1 add very little compared to Rao +1's significant STR and Attack bonuses.

Strangely, now that I'm rechecking it, Gere seems to be losing against Regal/Niqmaddu for SP. It only wins for VSmite because that doesn't use VIT at all. I guess AM3 really devalues TA too much. Not sure how I got it into my head that Gere was supposed to be better in SP's case.

Gere > Regal

Against what target? Its possible that DEX from regal is giving you a lot crit rate, because you are in sweet spot for dDEX. Dex in this pummel set will generally be pretty low to get good dDEX on anything serious. Its enough for Apex crab, but nothing above.

The MNK spreadsheet defaults to single Apex Bats (275 AGI), so that's what I typically use as target. With capped dDEX (uncapped and capped Attack) Gere wins, but only then. The same also makes Abnoba win over Heyoka Harness +1.

In any case, given that most NMs should have even more AGI Regal/Niqmaddu/Heyoka Harness+1 are likely more valuable in general simply thanks to their DEX.

Aerix:

Preface, my pup LUA will autoswap to sets.midcast.Pet.PetWSGear once pup reaches 1000TP. Not perfect, but workable.

Is there any weight to augmenting a herculean set with VIT/ATK/DA for bone crushers? I don't know how much damage it will add over the bruiser taeon set.

If you can get a large amount of VIT and DA it will likely improve average WS damage by several thousands points. So as far as pure damage goes, it's a significant improvement.

However, the main reason we usually use VE body to zerg is because of its tankiness (unless ranged damage is nerfed), so switching out Taeon to wait for WS will cost you a large amount of DT and risk your maton dying to whatever mechanic that made you use VE body in the first place. Note that when ODing with Inhibitors, VE body will hold TP up to 3k very often after the previous BC->SS->Distortion SC before it uses the next Bone Crusher. That's going to be something like 5-10s each time where your maton will be missing about an Epeolatry's worth of DT.

So VIT herc is good, but situational. It's your call whether you can afford the extra 5 inventory slots for it.

The more I brainstorm, the more I realize just staying in the bruiser anwig/taeon set is the best path.

Long time no see everyone! (I don't have a computer anymore so I don't actually play anymore :( I just lurk the pup forums from time to time)

There is a YouTube video from a JP pup who almost solos Teles. He dies at the end because he knew he was gonna run out of time

So multiple pups = possible to kill Teles.

(Although "burn" aka speed kills probably won't be happening)

I wouldn't call 40% remaining HP "almost" especially when mobs become far more dangerous under 25% HP, but that's a very interesting video. I've only fought Teles a handful of times--all of which were AFAC zergs--so I didn't realize she was that weak and couldn't even kill a non-OD maton as long as you Repair and occasionally Dawn Mulsum.

That video is also pre-PUP buffs and the guy doesn't have a Su5, so I think it might even be possible to actually solo Teles. Or at least duo it with a COR main giving rolls.

Yeah this was why I had originally asked. I tried solo Teles on RUN and although I didn't win, it was way easier than I thought. And since PUP overdrive is good, thought it might be possible for them.

Sorry I saw the video a long time ago and thought about it when I saw shiraj's question.

I could have sworn he got it alot further than 40% XD
But yeah it's still good info ????

Hello,
Quick question. What kind of gear/attachments do you use to do Cait Sith on Normal?
I tried a few variations but the best I could do was get her down to 20% before Overdrive wore.

The answer to your question was on the last page, 3 posts from the top:
https://www.ffxiah.com/forum/topic/52194/string-theory-a-puppetmasters-guide-new/31/#3452787

Yeah, but Aerix doesn't mention which gear. I was assuming it was his Taeon DA/DT- set, but when I use mine (which granted isn't perfect) I can only take her to 30ish%. It makes me wonder if maybe i'm supposed to use another gear. But it might just be my gear that is insufficient. I'm working on it.

Also do you use water maneuver for steam jacket or keep it passive? I use a water maneuver, but it makes my kills even slower. That might be another reason for my disappointing results.

There is a discussion of unlucky Mewing Lullaby usage on page 31. Both Inhibitor and Inhibitor II are beneficial so as to make up for those TP resets even though the auto constantly holds TP and does Bone Crusher > String Shredder instead of spamming Bone Crusher

Timing of Overdrive use is also important. It's arguably better to start Overdrive right away so you don't get hit by Eerie Eye (causes Amnesia) or slow, which would waste Overdrive time. You can't use Maintenance to clear Amnesia.

You will also need to equip augmented Pantin Tobe +2 or better (Pitre Tobe NQ, +1, or +2) prior to Overdrive activation to get those 30 additional seconds (total of 210 seconds of Overdrive).

One last thing to increase damage is to use Coiler II instead of Turbo Charger I and utilize Fire/Light/Wind maneuvers since Steam Jacket doesn't need to be boosted by a Water maneuver on Normal difficulty.

You generally are in good shape damage-wise if you force Benediction within 90 seconds of Overdrive. On normal difficulty Benediction usually occurs < 50% HP and prior to 40% HP remaining. Then you would have ~120 seconds to kill, which should be enough time.

3-hit Bone Crushers should be avg 20k and 3-hit String Shredders should be avg 14k @ R20 of the Su4/Su5 weapon. The DA from your equipment should allow you to see 4-hit and 5-hit WS occasionally.

Thank you for our detailed answer. Base don what you're saying, my issue seems to be the fact that I waste a maneuver on steam jacket and my gear still needs work (I lack quite a bit of DA still). I'll keep working on it.
Thanks!