Considering pup, opinions on $$ and duoing?

[ioshua]

The woman and I are back in and (this is our second run through FFXI, old IDs permanently lost) and just hit 30 so we're gobbling up adv jobs. The whole world is ahead of us and there's a lot of discussion as to what we'll be doing. I was considering SAM but, judging by forums and high end /sea checks, it looks to be pretty FOTM. I've always been a fan of playing underutilized classes and, by far sight, pup is the bottom of the heap on use. Combine that with how damn fun the job looks and it's on my list of options, if it doesn't require a ton of gil farming and it would partner well with a smn/whm.

So my questions

A) My duo partner is smn/whm up the pole. Would a pup/war be a decent partner? Could the pup take care of the tanking pre-37?

B) How's the price to level and gear compare to other classes? At the outset, the job looks about average or maybe a little cheaper but I'm concerned about attachment prices. Also, what kind of wallet hit do repair oils cause?

Thanks.

[Necropolis]

Re: Considering pup, opinions on $$ and duoing?

A) My duo partner is smn/whm up the pole. Would a pup/war be a decent partner? Could the pup take care of the tanking pre-37?

As you're both using pets, I'd think this would work quit well. I can't say for this particular set up; but while leveling bst I'd occasionally duo/trio with pups and smns and worked rather well.

If you mean the automaton himself tanking, it would depend on the frames and attachements that you use, and what all is available to you. Many pups I know though tank themselves and use the automaton as a personal healer.

There's a number of very nice changes in the last update, making the class and the automaton in particular much more viable in party/solo play. I don't think the full effects of the job have really been explored, but the pup in my LS is very excited about the changes.

B) How's the price to level and gear compare to other classes? At the outset, the job looks about average or maybe a little cheaper but I'm concerned about attachment prices. Also, what kind of wallet hit do repair oils cause?

The automaton oil is available in whitegate from a NPC for 200 gil each, so that's a very insignificant amount. Sure it adds up, but every job has it's cost.

To max out you automaton with the best attachments, you'll be spending quite a bit. Not all of it is necessary, but you'll find the better pieces will make some things easier. I'm certainly no expert on PUP, so I'll leave the specifics for others to answer, or perhaps you could a bit more of what you'd need by browsing these forums as well as others. Before any major investments I'd suggest actually playing the class and determine if the piece you're interested in would be worth the investment.

Also, many things are available from NPC for much, much less than the AH. www.ffxiah.com will typically have the NPC price near the bottom middle, while showing the AH price on the right or top middle. Though they seem to be missing some data. Also check www.ffxiclopedia.com to see if there is another way obtain what you're looking for.

All jobs will have levels where they need key items that will hurt their pocket book, but from the research I've done, pup will have a few more. Not by such a great amount that it turns people away from the class, but still a bit more by the builds I was looking at. SMN as well will have a number of cost to it as well.

If you are cosidering leveling to 75 as primarily a duo, you'll most likely want to take the time farm the gil to get the better equipment. Those little bits add up a lot more in low man parties and show more significantly in those circumstances. The advantage is that by duoing, you'll collect all the Beastman and Kindred Seals, meaning more money for you as you'll be able to do BCNM and KSNMs more often.

Best of luck to you.

[DakAttack]

Re: Considering pup, opinions on $$ and duoing?

I think you can purchase most of the attachments from a vendor, and the rest can either be obtained through the AH, crafting, or the level 60 solo ENM in Movalopolos. The attachments from the ENM are some of the best, but if you're duoing you might not actually need any of them.

Duoing with a summoner might be difficult. They can summon and resummon while you're stuck with a 20 minute timer for your next automaton. You have to be careful about taking hate and mitigating damage. When you guys take bombs you might become emergency back-up, because you're basically pushing them to explode for easy EXP.

[Celeal]

Re: Considering pup, opinions on $$ and duoing?

At least at my current level, PUP as main job has most of the tools for solo or duo.

However, bouncing hate between master and the automation is NOT easy. Once the automation got the hate in solo or duo situation, it is tough to shred it (after the auto's skill cap update, the gap between the master's hate and the auto's hate is even larger). Once the mob is beating on the automation, it goes down very fast.

If you are going for PUP/WAR, then you are going to config the automation in a certain way. If you are try other subjob, let say PUP/WHM, then you are going to config the automation in another way. I would assume that if you are going to tank as PUP/WAR, then your healing be share between your puppet and your SMN partner. Your puppet and SMN will also dealing damage, the percentage will vary depends on how your party divide up the tasks.

Unless you have the healer head for your puppet, it will not main heal effectively (frequency of casting Cure is too slow, and not smart enough).

However, the healer head is awesome. In my last level 70~72 party as PLD, the PUP's automation (w/ new healer head) in my party was using Cure V, Regen II, etc. I was very impressed.

As for gear, the master has a very limited choice... mostly Robes or Doublets which WHM are using. One the other hand, the choice of attachments are amazing. The price of attachment varies, depends on what you are getting.

[Celeal]

Re: Considering pup, opinions on $$ and duoing?

Well, I would take back my statement on "frequency of casting Cure is too slow" ... at least for this moment before the on coming Sept. 10 patch. WIth Valoredge Head + Stormwaker Frame (or Harlequin Frame), it spams Cures as soon as the condition of triggering Cure is met, until the puppet is running out of MP. This is clearly a bug in the August patch.