I agree to a degree that the maton is a little, um... "flimsy". But the issue I have, as someone pointed out earlier: It's a "Jack of all Trades, Master of None".

I admit I skimmed most of this thread, but I did read most of it until it turned into walls of text. That being said, my only addition, and it doesn't' really pertain to anything mentioned is the following (and it's based on what I usually hear in regards to Pup):

- Should the maton be a better paladin, than a paladin?
- Should the maton be a better ranger, than a ranger?
- Should the maton be a better healer than a white mage?
- Should the maton be a better melee than a [insert melee job here]?

- Should the master be a melee better than, or equal to a monk?

I hope you're seeing a pattern. Pup is a job that's just too much of everything, and in lies its own downfall.

The second the maton or master becomes 'good' at anything, it becomes the best at that thing because it has the other half as well. It's a nasty balancing act. Say if the Pup was as proficient as monk (for argument's sake), then you're have a heavy DD + a minor DD/Healer/Nuker/Ranged attacker. Flip that for the maton, if it was 100% a ranger, then it's a ranger + minor DD/extra DPS.

If the combo was 50% one job and 50% another to make a complete job, it's rendered 100% useless, as two half people aren't' the best way to play this game.

At the moment it seems like the balance is about 80% on both. Which for hard stuff makes it a waste of a slot/liability, as there are the things a Pup could be, but in their respective forms; I.E. Mnk, Whm, Rng, etc, etc, etc... On older content makes it easily 160%+ of a character, which makes soloing/independent content amazing. You don't hear 'top tier DD' complaining about the inability to solo stuff. Everyone has a role, find yours.

In closing, I got to say, "Old Dragoon" suffered from the same problem Puppetmasters do. It's the players... If you go in game and onto forums and complain so frequently as to why your job 'sucks', people will believe you. It's akin to going on a date or job interview and the first words out of your mouth is why you're such a loser, you think you're going to get very far?

Find the job's strengths and go with it. I love the job for what it does for me, but I'm not going to waste my time and everyone elses trying to shove a square peg in a round hole.