So Many Responses, So Few For PUP
Ok, so there have already been a few people posting about their dissatisfaction with PUP's proposed new SP ability. So far it looks like almost every single ability has been adjusted and strengthened except PUP's.
SE has been fairly prompt in responding to questions and comments on all the other abilities yet for some reason has remained completely silent about the underwhealming "Meh"-Fest that is Heady Artiface.
So, I have registered on this forum so I could add my voice and maybe somewhere a developer will realize that they can't just ignore the issue until PUP players just lose interest and go away.
Now, SE, Heady Artiface sounds, in theory, like an awesome ability. It really ties into PUP's theme of mimicking other jobs' abilities utilizing the automaton, and the customization aspects. However, the way it's currently implemented severely limits it's usefulness:
-Infinite MP (Manafont) on a pet that already has multiple ways of regenerating MP is not an impressive special ability. It does not justify a 1-hour cooldown when we already have several attatchments (Mana Converter, Economizer, Mana Tanks), spells (Aspir and Aspir II) and JAs (simply Deactivate and then re-Activate) that let us replenish that MP every couple minutes.
-Invincible on a pet that we can re-summon every 1 minute does not seem worth such a prestigious ability slot.
-Adding a single strong attack (Eagle Eye Shot) every hour to a head that already has the ability to launch attacks just as strong (Armor Shatterer and Barrage Turbine) every minute is not worth such a long cooldown timer.
-Chainspell is a very useful ability to have. The only problem is that it is only usable with the Stormwaker Head. This head has the largest variety of spells it can potentially cast, thus it has the most difficult casting AI to control with maneuvers so it is frustrating to get the automaton to cast effectively when using Chainspell. Also, the universal casting timer between spells utterly cripples the usefulness. It's no longer casting a chain of spells when it has to pause for several seconds between each cast.
-Mighty Strikes is also a very useful ability. The issue many PUPs have is that the Harlequin head/frame is so weak compared to the others that it is rarely used.
Since the abilities are tied only to the Heads, it's possible to swap heads around to different frames to use the abilities differently, but the main issue is that unmatching heads severly handicap the unmatching frames. If a PUP were to try to utilize Mighty Strikes with the Sharpshot frame, they would nearly double the already painfully long delay between ranged attacks. When using different heads on mage frames, the universal casting timer becomes unmanageably long. Reducing these delay handicaps when mixing heads and frames would go a long way to improving the customization aspects of Heady Artiface. Couldn't just the skill cap adjustments be enough of a bonus/penalty for mixing heads and frames?
Some other quick ideas that could improve Heady Artiface while trying to stay with the Mimicking theme:
-Give Mighty Strikes to the Valoredge Head
-Give Chainspell to the Spiritreaver Head- even if the universal casting timer still applies, the long cast times on Spirit Reaver nukes will be more helped by instant casting than Stormwaker's
-Just remove the universal casting timer for Chainspell. You were able to do it before with the Harlequin bug a few years ago. And you were able to lower the timer for spells in a previous update. Why can't you do it here too?
-Give Harlequin Hundred Fists. Heck, allow Harlequin to behave like a MNK and have martial arts where it attacks with both fists per round. It would more closely mimic the master, which seems fitting for the most basic automaton. This could also increase usefulness for this under-utilized Frame.
-Make Eagle Eye Shot damage more impressive considering its extremely long recast- for both Rangers AND Sharpshot, or add an additional effect like HP absorb or shedding enmity/planting enmity somewhere else.
Some ideas for a different direction for a PUP SP ability: focus on PUP's theme of coordinating and working together WITH the puppet as a synergistic team, rather than focusing on one individual at a time.
-Apply Attatchment/Maneuver stat boosts to master as well as automaton for the duration, allowing the master to self-buff themselves with attack, accuracy, and various JTs for a brief amount of time.
-Allow buffs affecting the master to also apply to the automaton. This will strengthen the appeal of PUP in endgame content that relies upon super-buffed melees.
-Allow all attatchment/maneuver effects, and party buffs to affect both master and automaton.
Please SE, throw your PUP community a bone and let us know why our new special ability is being ignored while so many of the others are getting further bonuses, or are being completely revamped.