Puppetmaster Automaton changes and why this wont change a thing.

[Donquichot]

Some fast tests after the update was released:

Valoredge:

-String shredder didnt get changed like the update said
-String Clipper got a boost. It is up to par with string shredder now doing 2k-2.5k damage.
-Canibal Blade got a VERY small update from 800 to 850 dmg at 300 tp.
-Bone Crusher got a boost. It is the best ws sofar doing 2.3k-2.8k.

Im very dissappointed with these changes. For puppetmasters that are content with never using this job in ilvl 122+. In difficult and very difficult BCNNM and Delve 2 this wont change a thing. Our pet will still fail to hit the mob consitent even with the currently available pet food. Our best ws Canibal blade for high evasive mobs didnt really get a good enough update to matter.

Sharpshot

-Armor Shatterer didnt get changed.
-Daze and Armor piercer got the same update and are doing between 4300 and 5700
-Acruballista got the same change and doing between 4300 and 5700 aswell. Using flame holder and 3x fire maneuver boosts this up to 4600 and 6300.

Sharpshot is a very powerful automaton but STILL lacks in 2 distinct areas for it to matter. Its ranged accurracy is very bad at ilvl 122+ events. its hitrate drops below 40% at those. Its defence and damage taken is so bad it gets 1-2 shotted by 122+ Notorious monster moves. Fixing these 2 problems would make this puppet a contender for a RNG spot in 122+ events.

Harlequin Frame and Stormwaker Frame

-Magic Mortar didnt get a real change. Only the max damage is easier attained when the puppet is lower in hp.
-Slapstick got a small boost to 950 at 100 tp and 1600 at 300 tp.
-Knockout got a boost to 2000 at 100p to 2400 at 300 tp. Has very bad accuracy though. Was this done for a reason?

This boost is actually not bad. Knockout is a good ws for your healer companion. to bad it has a 50% hitrate at most.


In summary
The updates to Valoredge are mediocre. The updates to Sharpshot are lazy. They just put all ws to the same level. The changes to the mage frames are ok but have some detrimental issues.

I can understand the changes by SE. They still seem to think all puppetmasters fight alongside the automaton in all fights. This is wrong. Difficult fights where we get one shotted we rely on valoredge to be in the fight solo. We gear for that and it works to a small point with canibal blade as weaponskill. It is sad that SE has overlooked this weaponskill.

In situations we can fight alongside our automatons we are doing ok. Its the difficult events like Difficult Ark angels, difficult Hard Mode Fights and Delve 2 that we are not welcome. Mainly because our damage is too low, our automatons have too low accuracy and ranged accuracy to be able to compete.

This update was a good one for events that we were already welcome in. For stuff we are excluded at this hasnt changed a thing. SE please help us and fix our pet accurracy,ranged accuracy and give the automatons a damage taken buff. Damage increases to our automaton wil do nothing for us.

[Balloon]

Hahahahaha. I knew this would happen.

Let's buff player ws so drastically that auto ws don't count for crap, and yeah, buffing Cannibal Blade, the only thing I really wanted to see, would be waaaay op? Not like Sanguine can do that.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

[Balloon]

Valoredge - 119 - Mandy
-String shredder - Ditto, 1.9k fairly consistantly.
-Chimera Ripper -2.1-2.9k
-Canibal Blade - Ditto, 690 at 100% - Incredibly dissapointed with this, could have been a saving grace of this update..
-Bone Crusher 2.6k, probably the best weaponskill.

Incredibly poor form, what the hell does this automaton even do? Flail ineffectually on a mob, have more hp and do crap weaponskills. Fantastic. Moving on.

Sharpshot - 119 - Blanched Mandy
-Armor Shatterer - yep, around 4.5k, luckily still probably our best with the Def Down effect.
-Daze and Armor piercer - Was getting only 4000 and under for piercer, 4.1k for Daze.
-Acruballista - 1 Fire Maneuver and Flameholder boosted this to 5030 for me, with Tension Springs too, yet only 5.5 with all 3.|

This demonstrates another issue I have with the update, non-default weaponskills doing more damage. Great. Don't address JA delay which, by the way, cripples up beyond reason, but make inferior weaponskills do up to 500-1.5k more damage. This is especially true for Valoredge. To get the most out of either I have to spam 3 fire maneuvers that will instantly drop after a minute. I will probably lower my dps by a good amount doing this, and the weaponskill will not make up for that.

Stormwaker - 119 - Mandy
-Magic Mortar, same old nonsense. Why is this acceptable? 383 damage? wow! Unbelievable..
-Knockout - 2557, fine.
- Slapstick - 1.7k - I'd never go out of the way to use this.

This is fine, I force Knockout to skillchain with my pummels anyway, so it's a nice enough buff for when I'm lazy.


Doesn't fix, or even actually address pups main problems. It makes them worse, actually, because it seems to imply that we should be using maneuvers, which are a detriment to us. This update would be nicer if we could pre-select a weaponskill we wanted to use.

Other Problems

Defense and Damage Taken is still incredibly unfeasible for anything - ANYTHING - worth doing.


Accuracy is still pitiful.
AI is still attrocious, my ranger ai was holding tp til 1200-1500+
This is eyeballing, and it's highly possible that it's just me being overzealous, but acc seemed to be lower.. I don't know, when I play pup I usually can't see over the tears.

We're still placed on mage gear.
We're still a laughing stock.
I can't go anywhere on pup.
Please learn to play your own game.

[Balloon]

No new food too. Good. You did mention the need for that, but.. whatever.

[Balloon]

"Wyvern's defense post patch is 1099. An increase of 366. Coupled with empathy Protect V and it's native 50% PDT, it really should only ever die when the master dies(which is pretty much the only time it ever died anyway, but I digress)."

lol.

[Mitruya]

*cries* I don't even know if I want to play this job anymore. Not even sure why the hell I resubbed for another month.
I don't think the wyvern changes will help my 2nd favorite job either.
It's the same cookie-cutter set-up crap and I'm not even sure if my COR is even useful anymore in all this low-man baloney (plus I'm pissed at being forced to play it just to be able to enter content).

[Balloon]

I usually pay with crysta. I did card once and it carried over. I wouldn't have resubbed. The skirmish items looks garbishy too.