From fresh 99 to Omen?

[K0NIG]

Hey guys. I came back after a long hiatus (played from 2003 - 2010, stopped during college around the 90 cap), on the Asura server. I brought my bf with me, and we've spent countless hours reading up on all the new stuff: Alluvion Skirmish, Delve, Wildskeeper Reives, High-Tier Mission Battlefields, Ambuscade, Escha, Sinister Reign, Unity, Voidwatch, and Omen.

Currently I have THF, BST, and PUP up at 99 and we were fortunate enough to have someone help us a bit at the start by taking us into Escha Zitah to fight some T1 and use the elixirs to upgrade a little bit - he also took us into Ambuscade and helped me grab a weapon from Oboro using Beitetsu and all that junk.

We took a break and now he's doing his thing, which is cool, but our problem is we just don't really know where to go from here. We know Omen is the very end game for us, but we don't know the steps in order to get there.

I'm currently looking to main PUP, using:

Weapon: Ninzas +2
Head: Espial cap
Body: Naga samue
Hands: Espial bracers
Pants: Otronif brais +1
Feet: Naga kyahan
Neck: Tiercel necklace
Belt: Moepapa stone
Back: Karagoz Mantle +1
Earring 1 & 2: Dodge Earring
Ring 1: Airy Ring
Ring 2: Warp ring....
Ranged: Eminent Animator (115 puppet)

Bf is playing BLM. We're at 0 Job Points, and I know one of my goals as PUP is to make it to 1200 for the elemental capacity bonus to my automaton, but we've been told before we even get into a CP party we need to have some decent gear.

I'm following this guide for my end game gear goal: https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Puppetmaster!_A_Community_Collaborative_Guide#0_JP_Sets

The only problem with that is it doesn't really give you a concise route on how to get there since obviously those gear sets are BiS. I'm almost 100% complete on my automaton parts so that's a small victory.

Someone in bf's linkshell told him our very first step should be completing every single story line and nation rank to 10 in order to gain an insane amount of +% capacity earning, so we're onto this right now because it's the only option attainable for us currently.

** We don't mind the slow progression in order to catch up to everyone, I just wish I had a more outlined roadmap order in how to progress. The BG wiki is super helpful, but it omits a lot of key information on how to progress through all the content, even with it's "Fresh 99/RoE Intermediate Quest/119 Gear Guide".

TLDR: Where do baby fresh scrubs go from 99 in order to work up to Omen content? Could someone summarize it in a nutshell?

[Selindrile]

Doing the missions for CP increases is a good idea, V2 Ambuscade, Escha-Ru'Aun/Reisenjimma T1-T2s, Sinister Reign, getting a capacity cape from Incursion are pretty good next steps, and the guides over on BGWiki are about the best source of information for general guidance, for more than that you're going to have to start asking more specific questions. For you specifically an easy to obtain upgrade would be https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Ohtas I'd highly recommend going for that asap.

[Shiyo]

Get an epona's ring from abyssea altepa. Get a rajas ring from COP misisons. Get some real earrings:
https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Steelflash_Earring
https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Bladeborn_Earring
Farm the mobs it says drops the shard aka Alizarin Yggrete Shard II for bladeborn earring which drops from Volcanic Wivre and Tundra Eft in morimar then trade it to the ??? at (H-11). morimar. Repeat for steelflash, pretty easy to duo mobs.

Get a real necklace, same deal as the earrings. https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Asperity_Necklace

You might want a peacock amulet for accuracy requirements. NM is always up and never camped
https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Argus


Get a new animator, same deal as above:
https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Magneto

You should now be able to easily do your intermediate ROE objective for full 119 gear. Do that, trusts scale with ilvl and you want 119 trusts ALWAYS.

Ambu volume2(can duo low difficulties) for some NQ gear - > duo escha zitah t1's for some better gear/accs once full 119 NQ ambu gear

Get a real weapon.
https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Oboro Can probably work your way towards normal volume2 to get access to make it from oboro.

[Vashkoda]

You say your long term goal is to get good enough for Omen, and that you don't care how long it takes. But Omen can mean different things - are you just after cards for af gear upgrades (some jobs can solo this with trusts), or are you planning to farm bosses (something you need a party of well geared players for)? Or is Omen your long term goal because it's currently the newest content and so you assume it's the hardest thing out there? In actual fact, some of the Geas Fete bosses are the hardest challenge in the game, barring Master Trials and the Unity version of Pandemonium Warden. Also, are you planning on just playing with your bf and a party of trusts, or are you trying to get geared enough to join PUG shouts or a ls? Since you're on Asura, I assume there are plenty of shouts and ls's, but by the same token I've heard they can be picky because there are lots of players to choose from. In this case, you should choose your jobs carefully if you want to be invited. The advice most people give is to choose a job where there's high demand (because other players tend to prefer being on a dd rather than support job) and where you can still function (although not optimally) with mediocre gear. This includes GEO, COR and WHM, although on Asura you might have enough competition from other players who are actually *good* at those jobs that it still won't be enough to get an invite. Regardless, getting a new job from 1 to 99 isn't that hard, especially if you can leech exp off someone. BST is a good job for pulling masses of mobs in Escah-Zitah and aoe killing them with cricket for rapid exp, so you could always use it to level your bf on a new job. It's not uncommon in this game to have to play a job you don't enjoy in order to get clears/money/gear for a job you *do* enjoy.

It's ironic that you chose PUP as your main, since its two best roles - tank and healer - are those you can rely on trusts to do for you in low-medium difficulty content. PUP as a dd is very difficult to manage, keeping in mind that most strategies nowadays rely on making SCs and MBs, and automotons are horrible at coordinating both. In a CP party you will be most useful as a healer, but autos like to alternate buffing/erase and curing, and they always prefer to cure/erase the master or themselves first rather than the tank, so you yourself will have to sub /WHM or /SCH to take over curing when your auto decides to act stupid.

Trust dd damage is also relatively weak compared to player damage. Few will actually coordinate with you to make SCs (as stated earlier, this is a big source of damage), and if your bf is playing BLM, he'll really need SCs in order to MB and make the most of his nukes. PUP damage is "okay" if you're geared for it, but your WSs are not optimal for SCs, and you are unlikely to gain TP as fast as other jobs. If you anticipate spending a lot of time playing with just your bf and trusts, consider leveling a stronger dd job. Since you have THF at 99, it does have a few good things going for it - it gains TP fast enough that you can WS back to back and self-SC (though you may need to gear it first), it can dump hate on tank (which could save your bf during a strong MB), and its evasion can help it survive having to emergency-tank low-medium level mobs who don't have ultra-high levels of accuracy. Otherwise, BLU and BST are generally considered good jobs for decent damage and high survivability. Your BST will need good gear and reflexes however, since the adjustment to their command range now puts them at risk.

I know these pointers don't directly address your questions, but they are things you should consider before you start worrying about which paths to take next.

[Shiyo]

Personally, I hate PUP. If the puppet messes up once and interrupts a skillchain, there goes 100k-200k damage down the drain. This is ESPECIALLY horrible for a thief, as you just lost your 1m timer burst CD. 100-200k damage is 10-20% of a bosses hp, all because you invited a pup. That's basically "you wipe now" in a lot of situations.

I think pup is the worst job in the game just because of this(tied with bst), However, if you only care about solo/duo I'm sure it's great if used effectively as a tank and your other player simply plays a mage or another pet job.