Puppetmaster: The Definitive Solo Guide by Guwhenivar

Introduction:

 * Square Enix declared PUP to be the newest SOLO class job among the aht urgan job classes of BLU, COR, and PUP. Prior to these jobs, BST was and still is considered the premier solo class of the game. As such, BST was my comparison for this job as a solo class. As an avid career solo artist in this game having soloed BST to 75 and much of BLU, I took it upon myself to put SE's proclamation to the test. If your a fan of soloing as I am, then from the start of leveling PUP you notice that your Automaton is not at all like a BST pet. It doesn't have the HP or the defense, or the healing ability to tank anything like a BST pet. With 3 evasion boost job traits it becomes apparent that SE was thinking something completely opposite of BST. The character becomes the tank instead of the pet.
 * I will be editing this guide further in the future to reflect Evasion gear set ups and different levels when time and situation permit. Until i do get that done, feel free to look around for the gear yourself in the armor sections ^^
 * THIS IS A GUIDE THAT IS OPEN TO EDITING BY ANY PUPPETMASTERS OUT THERE WITH INFORMATION TO ADD, CORRECT, OR IMPROVE UPON THIS GUIDE. FEEL FREE TO ADD CAMPS AND LEVEL RANGES, AS WELL AS TACTICS VS SPECIFIC MOBB TYPES. IN THE SOLO SKILLCHAINS SECTION ADD ANY THAT ARE NOT THERE IF YOU KNOW OF THEM AND HAVE TESTED THEM TO BE TRUE.

SOLO Tips
Seeing as the master is the tank, you will want to gear up with as much Evasion + gear as possible. At level 10, to become even remotely successful at soloing pup, you will need to quest the Stormwaker body and head. Although Harley Head can heal and enfeeb, it simply doesnt have the MP pool of stormwaker, or the offensive spells to speed along kills in the lower levels. The attachment Flash also comes in extremely handy to enhance your Evasion skills, get this as soon as possible, you'll use it all the way to end game.

ACTIVATE & DEACTIVATE
In order to keep my Automotons Melee skills capped at the C rating of stormwaker, I tried my best to fight monsters with no offensive AoE spells, in order to keep the automotons HP at 100% and permit the automoton to melee behind the mobb. If you can manage to keep stoneskin on your pup and finish fights with full HP, you can do the Deactivate then Activate trick for full MP on your pup, allowing for almost 0 downtime, and actually producing experiance chains. Some examples of these monsters would be bats, beetles, and birds. All frontal TP moves, easily avoidable by the automoton, or like bats ultrasonics move, does not effect HP. A chain 2 will be the highest you will see for some time due to the length of the fights vs. Even Match and Tough monsters. You may need to deactivate and activate your pup in the middle of the fight if there MP pool is getting low, or a status like silence is on your pet and no eraser attachment is being used. Done properly, it is possible to solo VT mobbs if the proper enfeebs like blind and paralyze are kept on the mobb. This can be tricky with the delay between spells and the mauneuvers required to force those spells, not to mention wether or not your automotons magic skills are capped. Because of the Deactivate and Activate trick i use to reduce downtime between fights, I have always subbed warrior for the added hate control of Provoke. Your Automaton MUST be at 100% HP in order to perform this move correctly, or you will endure a 20 min penalty recast time on Activate, unless you are near a mogg and can change your job real fast. There are some camps where this is possible and actually be helpfull. Near to zone lines for the towns where nomad moogles are close at hand. Later in the guide, i will detail an equipment list for pup for solo. Focusing primarily on evasion gear.


 * To better keep an eye on your Automotons HP before using the Deactivate/Activate trick use the following macro:
 * /echo
 * If it is at 100% after using this macro it is safe to use the deactivate command and reactivate your automoton without the penalty. Do not rely on your eyes looking at the health bar as theis can be misleading. It will appear full at 99% but not be. Personnally i put this macro into my PROVOKE macro along with the pets TP.

SOLO vs PARTY

 * You will be using either Stormwaker head, or Soulsoother head the majority of the time you solo. It is by that fact that when you do happen across a PT invite or wish to make your own pt, you should focus on your melee frames like Valoredge and Sharpshot for no better reason then to keep your skills capped. Some pts will require the additional fire support of the BLM head, however, i strongly discourage this unless you never intend to use your melee frames. At endgame, Valoredge has an incredibly high and impressive HP pool. When youve unlocked merited abilities like Role reversal, you can swap out that HP for your own FULL hp. Or give your HP to your Automoton. An extremely usefull "trick" in multiple scenarios, and the HP pool of Valoredge lets you capitalize on it more so then the stormwaker frame.

(Side note by another puppetmaster) In most cases, parties will tell you to use the soulsoother to cure the party. Unless against Greater Colibri.

SOLO SKILL CHAINS
The Automaton and the Master can produce skillchains solo if they so wish. Prior to level 51 and the higher tier weapon skills for your Automaton, all you will be able to accomplish is the Detonation skill chain with your stormwaker frame. Pretty weak, but it adds more damage regardless. If you use your sharpshot frame, Arcubalista > Raging Fists will produce a Fusion SC. Wait for your automaton to execute his WS first then follow up with one of your own. The following macro will help you to keep an eye on its current TP percentage.

/echo Once again, I put these into my most commonly used macro of PROVOKE. You can put this and automoton HP into its              own individual macro or add it to any other you choose. This was just my preferance. Following is an example of              my provoke macro page. Notice that there are still 3 available lines for any other macros you may want to add. I also put the tp and hp macro into my /attack  for the occasional PT or for endgame stuff.


 * /ja "Provoke" 
 * /recast "Provoke"
 * /echo HP TP
 * Known SkillChains
 * Slapstick > Combo = Impaction
 * Knockout > Combo = Detonation
 * Arcuballista > Raging Fists = Fusion
 * Shoulder Tackle > Arcuballista = Liquefaction

AUTOMATON MP
Id like to make a note on the MP for your Auto. Currently there is NO WAY to /check your automatons MP other then fully opening up the Auto's Equipment menu. No macro has yet to be found for this. Hopefully, SE will change this someday, but currently, there isnt a macro to check it.

ADVENTURING FELLOW
One last bit of advice for this solo introduction to pup. Get an adventuring fellow, set it to fighter, and level it with your pup at every opportunity. PUPs C rating in h2h needs some additional damage support to speed along higher chains, and the recast time of your pup simply doesnt allow for fast nuking. Your personal NPC can put out some impressive damage with you tanking, and the automoton healing. Now, i wish you all good luck, watch out for links, and dont be afraid to "emergency log" if youve bit off more then you can chew.

PUP Solo guide, THE CAMPS
1-10 Any of the starting areas

11-15 Any of the starting Craig area's.

15-20 Maze of Shakhrami
Worms- Maze makers.

At level 18 your stormwaker will gain access to the silence spell. Start fights with no maneuvers active if using stormwaker. First spell cast will be silence, significantly reducing the worms offensive abilities.

20-25 Korroloka Tunnel
fight worms

Same strategy as Maze of shakrami.

25-30 Maze of Shakhrami
- Abyss worms.

again, worm strat. keep em silenced.

alternate camp

25-29 Qufim Island
Worms untill 27~28, then bats from 27~29. If you havent been using the Eraser attachment before now for the Accuracy down effect of sandspin, you WILL want it for bats now and in the future for the Evasion Down moves. The only downside to this, is your pet needs to stay out of the melee range, or else it will prioritize itself for the eraser over you, the tank. Or... use the Activate then Deactivate trick to immediately remove the Evasion down status from your Auto, then toss up a Light Manny for an erase on yourself. Use this trick often for any other mobbs/status ailments. Be sure to fight far far away from any undead at night due the blood aggroe.

28-32 Korroloka Tunnel
anything and everything you can find that won't link with any surrounding mobbs. This camp is fun. fight everything from easy prey to tough. go nuts, learn the ins and outs of the way you can solo at this camp, and attempt chain's. Be sure to /check your targets prior to engaging to give yourself an idea of how the fight will flow. This camp and these levels will be your first true step to soloing your pup.

32-37 Lufaise Meadows
Camp at the zone line to Tavnazian safehold for the first few levels. If you link any bee's, the zone line is right there at the camp and you can simply zone to save your butt and your exp. Bee's are difficult targets to tank. Period. Pollen can restore alot of there HP... ALOT. And there other TP move Final Sting WILL kill you if they use it at or around 50% or more of there health. Needless to say, this camp can really be a pain in the butt. But setting your Home Point in the safehold and changing jobs to restore HP rather then heal forever will get you those levels soon enough, probably faster then looking for a party will. Kill sheep as soon as they start checking even match, or try them as tough. When they use sheep song, use the Deactivate, Activate trick to wake up your automoton, toss up a light manny before setting your auto to fight the sheep, and his first spell many times will be a Cure.

ALTERNATE CAMP

32-44 Eastern Altepa Desert
For those without access to CoP areas like the above, this is your next best bet. Fight worms and spiders until you reach lvl 35, set HP in Rabao. Sickle Slash is alot like Final Sting in that it can completey waste your characters HP instantly. As your level increases, Take on beetles, then dhalmels. Know where all the zone lines are at in case you have to run/zone. Start out camping near the zone line directly East of the tele crystal. This is where you will be noticing how slow the fights go. Some fights will last up to 6 or 8 min, and the only way you'll survive is with carefully timed Deactivate, Activate tactics. At level 40 I recommend switching from the RDM head pup to the Soulsoother/WHM head pup. There Regen casting and focus on HP will increase your survivability and decrease downtime. Piece of advice is if you notice a Beastmaster soloing in the area, close to your level, team up together and chain to your hearts delight. When fighting the Beetles, be carefull of there evasion down move as your evasion is probably your most precious commodity as the tank. When fighting dhalmels, dont hit your head on the keyboard or throw your controller when they use healing breeze (side note, this move links other dhalmel) fight them away from other dhalmel, wait and pray they use Berserk, and use that moment to use your TP as berserk gives them a pretty potent defense down side effect.

39-43 Riverne - Site A01
For those with the access to it, this is a great camp for soloing as theres little competion if any at all. People, including BST's, tend to ignore the level capped zones for soloing. They're scared. Dont be. Keep your Automaton Behind the birds when fighting and let it melee. When fighting the Hawkertraps, keep it out of range of there Paralyze TP move. And if its the soulsoother head your using, paralyna will follow shortly after. Every level after 40, zone out to Misreaux Coast and Deactivate, Activate your pup for the level difference change up. They will still gain skill ups after 40 in the new zone, but you wont. Also, make sure to Deactivate your auto again prior to zoneing into or out of any level capped zone, as there is a glitch that will cause your pet not to zone with you, and incure the 20 min penalty for a reactivate.

- BY THE TIME YOU'VE REACHED LEVEL 44 YOU SHOULD HAVE THE HANG OF THE SOLOING GIG ON PUP. I USED THE Beastmaster Viable Hunting Grounds HERE TO LOOK FOR CAMPS AND MORE OR LESS PICK AND CHOOSE MY TARGET MOBBS. I KEPT MY FOCUS ON NON-AOE TP USING MOBBS WHEN USING THE GUIDE AND IT TOOK ME ALL THE WAY TO 60. AT 60 I USED CAMPAIGN BATTLES, AND KILLED COLIBRI WITH SHARPSHOOTER FRAME TO GAIN MY NEXT LEVELS. FROM 60 TO 70 YOU'LL BE KILLING ALOT OF BIRDS SOLO, AS THERE ALL PRETTY MUCH WEAK TO PIERCING. FROM 70 TO 72, MORE CAMPAIGN BATTLES BEFORE I MOVED TO SKY, AND TARGETED FLAMINGOS. THE FLAMINGOS IN SKY TOOK ME TO 75. GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, AND LAMENT THE DAY YOU REACH 75, BECAUSE YOU WILL MISS SOLOING PUP AT ALL THE DIFFERENT CAMPS, AND BECOME LIMITED TO ONLY A SELECT FEW CAMPS TO SKILL/MERIT YOUR FRAMES. EXPLORE... FIND NEW CAMPS ALL THE TIME... LEARN WHAT IT IS TO BE A SOLO CLASS JOB IN THIS GAME. THERES A REASON WHY THEY'RE ALL SO COCKY.-