New PUP JA - "Bombard"

Hello everyone,

I've played PUP for a long time through various situations. While the job may not be optimal for some things, with enough tweaking and effort on the part of the player they can do pretty well.

The one situation where this is not true is when fighting big baddies from Abyssea and more recent content (voidwatch, neo-nyzul, etc). Particularly the ones that spam AoE attacks constantly (some doing both draw-in and AoE attacks). In this situation I am more or less worthless, and it is impossible to keep my automaton alive, or have it attack/cast from any reasonable distance.

My suggestion is this:

Add a JA for PUP called 'Bombard' that acts exactly like 'Deploy' save for one difference: The automaton will retreat to the max primary attack method range and proceed to go through it's actions while maintaining it's distance.

The Name:
The name is to keep consistent with the current attack JA.

Deploy: Military . to spread out (troops) so as to form an extended front or line.

Bombard: to attack or batter with artillery fire.

Keeps with the military terminology and implies attacking from a distance.

The Why:
Currently PUPs only have Deploy and despite the frame of the automaton, it typically results in the automaton engaging melee range fairly quickly, often after casting a single spell or making a single ranged attack.

Most automaton frames are relatively fragile despite the attachments used, and can't hope to stand up to the battering from these sort of NMs. You would think that you could have your WHM automaton stand with the rest of the casters and do it's thing, but nope it's all but impossible to keep it out of the AoE range.

Here's an example:

How it usually goes currently:
1. I have to run into AoE range in just the right spot to Deploy my casting automaton and hope it doesn't run into the fray. Typically this is still too close and the automaton gets hit.

2. I engage the NM.

3. Either the NM is moved slightly and the AoEs reach my automaton or my automaton decides to engage melee combat.

4. After being pummeled for a bit, me using repair and keeping light manuvers up so it'll cure itself, my automaton dies.

5. I run out of range and use Activate to bring automaton back then re-Deploy in that specific spot, hoping it's not within AoE range again.

6. NM uses draw-in and AoEs my automaton to death (Repair has a 1:00 cooldown).

7. I use Deus Ex Automata to bring back my automaton at minimum HP/MP since Activate has a 20 minute cooldown. NM AoEs once and automaton is down for 60 seconds.

8. Weep.

OR

1. I use Bombard, my automaton runs to a distant casting range and starts casting while maintaining it's distance.

2. I engage the NM.

3. If my automaton somehow dies I Activate then use Bombard so that my automaton automatically runs to a distance outside of AoE and resumes casting while maintaining it's distance.

--

I would ask that something like this is please added in the future. I'm guessing the new content for SoA is going to include a great deal of these sort of NMs.

Also, this should be a JA, -not- an attachment. It's a very quick tactical decision whether you want to attack close or long range, and we still don't have any quick way to swap out attachments. We should also not have to spend an attachment point to fix something that is basically a design flaw with the current content.

Thanks for taking the time to read this,
~Moppet

[EDIT: Corrected deus ex automata cooldown time.]

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/forums/109

I expected this suggestion to be off-the-wall, pointless, and/or overpowered, like most player-created, specifically defined JA/spell suggestions. However, I not only approve this message; I think it may realistically be implemented one day.

I also think the suggestion is quite realistic to implement into the game. My only question is whether it is necessary or simply a matter of play style.

I say this only because PUP has been my primary job since it came out and the OP touched on areas of combat that seem like it could hamper most PUPs in the context of battle...I personally don't have problems with my automaton dying from too many AoEs, rather I have issues with the amount of work keeping my automaton "UP" during these intense AOE battles... for example:

1) I research the type of NM (most, if not all of the NMs in the game are well documented now via the internet).
a. This is important so that I know, as a PUP, which automaton I intend to use and especially, which attachments I would need, in order to ensure our survival.
2) If it is an NM that does painful AoEs (let's use Pil as an example in Voidwatch) such as "Opening Flank"--an AOE that not only causes a ton of physical damage, but forcefully pushes the player away (concentrically) and includes debilitating status effects, then I use attachments that mitigate/decrease the amount of physical damage my automaton may sustain (so I'll only use a head/frame combination that I can stack a large number of earth attachments on it.)
3) If it is an NM that uses mainly magic attack, then conversely, I'll focus on increasing the automaton's magic defense etc.

Now, I'm sure most PUPs do this already and if your like me, you'll have also a corresponding weapon created via the handy Magian Trials that will compliment and/or compound the defensive and/or offensive effects (Hand-2-Hand weapon that will mitigate -11% Physical Damage Taken, Hand-2-Hand weapon that will increase magic attack etc.)

This proposed job ability "Bombard" definitely has its uses, especially as described by the OP and I can see it being used quite often if the master is engaged and is relying on support from the automaton or if the Head/Frame ranger (SharpShot) automaton is being used, then "Bombard" again, has its uses... as well as the 2 (red and black) frame heads using the stormwaker frame.

I feel compelled to mention that there will be conditions that will cause the automaton, regardless of head/frame combination, to run into melee range. I'm not going to assume everyone knows what those conditions are, but right off the top of my head, is if the master is using the WHM automaton, and it runs out of mp, I know it will consistently "close the distance" and physically engage the target. I also, know that equipping the Harlequin and Valor Edge head onto "a" frame (regardless of which), will force the automaton into melee combat as well... but again, this is probably common knowledge.

Sorry for the wall of text... lastly, "7. I use Deus Ex Automata to bring back my automaton at minimum HP/MP since Activate has a 20 minute cooldown. NM AoEs once and automaton is down for 5 minutes."... in this quoted scenario, Deus Ex Automata has a recast time of 1 minute, so if the situation did occur as described, (Automaton dies immediately after being brought back via use of Deus Ex Automata, then your down time is less than 60 seconds, not 300 seconds--but I understand your point.)

As a side note, PUPs have a great deal of attachments used to mitigate physical damage, but I believe we need to balance this more between Physical Damage taken and Magic Damage Taken... even after using "Water Maneuvers" to boost the Mana Jammer I/II attachments to their max (3 active maneuvers) in addition to using a weapon that adds an additional +11 to Mag. Def. Bonus to the automaton, as well as Selemnus Belt for an additional -3% Magic Damage Taken... the Automaton crumbles like paper from magic attacks.

So SE, please assist the Puppetmaster job and/or add/reconfigure the elemental capacities associated with the head/frame combinations as well as one or two additional attachments specifically designed to mitigate or reduce "SEVERE" magic attacks... I believe this will greatly BALANCE the automatons affinity between PHYSICAL and MAGICAL damage mitigation.

Thx

i had an idea for something like this, but the JA i had in mind was one to have your automaton just stand completely still from whatever point it was used at, but be able to cast spells. of course it would only work for enhancing magic and healing magic, but you could cure yourself without having to attack a mob, and you could have soulsoother stand at a distance more easily (but at the risk of losing enfeebles). if i could only have one, however, "bombard" would be much more useful.

in regards to automatons being able to handle a certain amount of damage, i dont want my mage automatons to get hit at all, because if she's been damaged at all, i can't deactivate for more MP if i start to run out. also there's the issue of your automaton getting hit by some form of AoE silence, petrify, paralyze, etc. for example, i was soloing carabosse, and i kept getting knocked back, causing my automaton to get too close, and she got petrified and silenced a lot. this caused me to die eventually because my automaton was silenced, therefore unable to silena me, and i couldn't cast utsusemi to block the 3,500-damage aero5 coming my way.

Thanks all for the replies and feedback,

@xiozen, Thanks for the comments and corrections, deus ex automata is indeed a 1:00 cooldown, that was an error on my part, I'll correct the original post. Yeah, there are certain conditions that will prompt the automaton to run into melee regardless. My main intent with this suggestion was to present a realistic improvement the dev team could implement with relative ease, it still wouldn't be perfect for sure, but in my opinion would be a considerable improvement.

One point I was trying to make is that if my main automaton is a ranged attacker, there's no reason I should have to outfit it to absorb absurd amounts of damage, as it should be able to attack from a great enough range to avoid AoE most of the time.

dont let SE tell you that this isnt possible. people developed third party tools that do this to PC's back in 2006