I've been thinking of how to expand on the already versatile arsenal of Puppetmaster abilities in ways that keep the automaton the center of attention, but rely on the Puppetmaster as well. While the automatons have minds of their own, I feel they should cooperate with their masters a bit more often, not just relying on AI and maneuvers to nudge them in a certain direction all the time. This lead me to the idea for this ability, drawing on past FF games for inspiration as well.

Job Ability: Transmit
Level: 30 (usable when subjob)
Duration: Instant
Recast: 1min
Use the animator to transmit a command to the automaton to perform a specific action.

* Transmit would be a new "Menu" category similar to how Dancer's abilities are grouped together.
* These abilities only appear in the Transmit menu if the related attachments are equipped on the automaton.
* All abilities in this menu share the same recast. (it's a long list, but only 1 usable per minute)
* The Puppetmaster's throwing skill could be taken into consideration when determining the potency of these abilities, used to show the Pup's skill with using the animator to transmit commands. This would give a reason for Puppetmaster having such a high rating in thrown weapons, and being stuck with an un-throwable item in that slot at all times. (Please allow throwing skill increases when using transmit and maneuvers)
* The "Transmit" command would activate abilities that are tied to attachments. These abilities can be triggered regardless of the automaton AI's current cooldown time. For example, normally, the Automaton would wait several minutes between using Stoneskin on its own, but if the "Transmit - shock absorber" skill is used to trigger the Shock Absorber, this happens without interrupting the AI timer system.

Attachments and their related "Transmit" abilities:
Shock Absorber: Stoneskin
Strobe: Provoke
Flash bulb: Flash
Eraser: Esuna (still consumes maneuvers)
Replicator: Blink (still consumes maneuvers)
Reactive Shield: Blaze Spikes

It would also add new abilities based on current attachments:
(these "transmit" abilities do not replace the normal attachment effects)
Volt Gun: Ranged thunder based attack with chance to stun
Hammermill: Shield Bash with chance to inflict slow
Dynamo: One guaranteed critical hit with chance to lower enemy critical hit evasion
Auto-repair Kit: Heals Automaton 15% of maxHP
Auto-repair Kit II: Heals Automaton 25% of maxHP
Mana Tank: Restores 10% of maxMP
Mana Tank II: Restores 20% of maxMP
Smoke Screen: Blinds enemy
Scanner: Report to the party showing the element the target is weakest to.
Stealth Screen: Enmity reduction equivalent to High Jump
Scope: Increase accuracy of ranged attacks.
Pattern Reader: Increase evasion for a short time.
Target Marker: Lower enemy evasion.
Mana Jammer: Party AoE "occasionally nullifies magic damage" (Occasionally = 10%)
Mana Jammer 2: Party AoE "occasionally nullifies magic damage" (Occasionally = 20%)

NEW Rare/Exclusive Attachments that add new Transmit abilities (taken from past FF games, especially Edgar's "tool" attacks from FF6) could be implemented, such as:
Chainsaw: (Valor Edge frame only) A strong physical attack (adds defense down)
Auto-crossbow: (Sharpshot frame only) Fan-AoE Ranged attack, Multi-hit (at least 3 shots).
Debilitator: (Stormwaker frame only) Inflict monster with an elemental weakness.(Tells the party which weakness)
Noise Blaster: (Harlequin frame only) Scare enemy (terror)
Bio Blaster: AoE darkness damage + Bio
Drill: Strong physical attack (Ignores defense)


This is by no means a complete list of the potential "Transmit" abilities, as I did not think of an active ability for every single attachment. Also, new attachments can be created specifically for this command in the future.

I hope other Puppetmasters see the value of this ability and how it fits into the theme of the job. I'm sure I'd have fun with it!