Puppetmaster: Behavior of the Stormwaker Frame

CAUTION!
This article is only a guide. Information expressed in a guide is usually more opinion than fact and should be taken as such. Guides are written by players, based upon their experiences, successes and mistakes, and are meant to aid other players. However, there may be differing opinions than those expressed in a guide.
Strategies and information in guides may not work for everyone.

Warning: The spell casting AI is outdated as of the December 2006 patch. As a result, some sections of this guide are no longer accurate, and were marked accordingly.

Overview[edit]

Disclaimer[edit]

I may be elvaan online, but offline I am human, and therefore I make mistakes. I try my best to have a very small margin of error while performing tests, but nothing is ever 100% guaranteed. And even if I've managed to scrape up completely accurate data, there's no way to be sure if I've considered all the possible influences on a puppetmaster's puppet's behaviour. If you find an error, please point it out so that everyone benefits. Just remember to be polite with its delivery. Thank you :)

Why create this guide?[edit]

I've seen it written a few times that these puppets cannot be controlled. That they do whatever they want, whenever they want. I'd like to give those people the benefit of the doubt that they're not simply trying to start drama and are simply unaware of how to influence their puppet properly. This thread is to help people understand that they do have a great amount of control over what their puppet can do.

Also, I like the idea of a guide like this. It doesn't tell people how to play or how not to play. It just gives players the information that will help them make an informed decision when deciding on a style of gameplay.

It would be nice to have more threads covering the other available frames. I don't have quite the same experience with the other frames at this point (July 2006) to start them.

If this guide doesn't really get used it won't hurt my feelings much. If it only acts as a place for me to gather my thoughts that alone is worth it for me. Apologies to anyone tired of seeing my name ^^;

Shorthand notation used in this guide[edit]

DoT Highest spell available within this list (Bio2, Bio, Dia, Dia2)
nuke Highest elemental nuke available (Stone3, Fire2, Blizzard, etc.)
Para Paralyze
Poi Poison
Sil Silence
DM Dark Maneuver
IM Ice Maneuver
LM Light Maneuver
WM Water Maneuver
EM Earth Maneuver
AM Wind Maneuver
TM Thunder Maneuver
FM Fire Maneuver

How you can help make this guide better[edit]

If you have any tests or have noticed trends in the puppet behaviour that is not noted here, please let me know.

At the end of each section I have started a section called unanswered questions. There are some things I am unable to get exact info on where I am a PS2 user. Usually revolving around seeing the percentage of HP remaining on the mobs. Any of these questions that you would like to tackle are yours for the taking :)


Magic Skill chart[edit]

Skill cap taken from charts found at (http://www.ausystem.org/~aushacho/...kill-e.html) using B- as skill level

Most of the info for spells is taken from (http://ff11wiki.rdy.jp/-597054912.html). A thank you to Scalor for finding this and also translating it.

This list starts at level 10 because it is the lowest level that the Stormwaker frame is available. The numbers in parenthesis are the skill level at which your automaton learns each spell.

Level Magic Cap New Spells Possible
Lv.10 31 Dia (1)
Cure (12)
Stone (15)
Poison (18)
Paralyze (21)
Water (30)
Lv.11 34 Bio (33)
Lv.14 42 Slow (42)
Lv.15 45 Aero (45)
Cure II (45)
Lv.19 57 Silence (57)
Lv.20 60 Fire (60)
Lv.26 77 Blizzard (75)
Lv.28 83 Cure III (81)
Lv.31 92 Thunder (90)
Lv.33 97 Dia II (96)
Lv.37 109 Stone II (108)
Lv.38 112 Bio II (111)
Lv.42 123 Water II (123)
Lv.47 138 Aero II (138)
Lv.50 147 Cure IV (147)
Lv.52 156 Fire II (153)
Lv.57 181 Blizzard II (178)
Lv.63 203 Thunder II (203)
Lv.72 229 Stone III (227)
Lv.74 236 Water III (236)
Lv.75+
3 Merits
240+10 Aero III (246)


Attachments Which Alter Behaviour[edit]

Mana Booster
Shortens the delay between spell casting. See each head/frame combination for details on casting speed.

Damage Gauge
Alters the conditions necessary to trigger curing.
Equipping this attachment also grants your puppet the ability to cure itself.

Without Damage Gauge

  • With 0 active Light Maneuvers: HP < 30%
  • With 1 active Light Maneuvers: HP < 35%
  • With 2 active Light Maneuvers: HP < 50%
  • With 3 active Light Maneuvers: HP < 75%

With Damage Gauge

  • With 0 active Light Maneuvers: HP < 50%
  • With 1 active Light Maneuvers: HP < 60%
  • With 2 active Light Maneuvers: HP < 70%
  • With 3 active Light Maneuvers: HP < 80%

Scanner
Alters the nuking behaviour so it will cast the most effective nuke.
Note: Very high level mobs might make it stop nuking altogether, since no nuke will be effective. In this case it will fall back to enfeebling, which is NOT affected by Scanner. This behaviour has been witnessed on Genbu.

Mana Channeler
Increases magic recast time in exchange for increased Magic Attack.
See each head/frame combination for details on casting speed.

  • With 0 active Water Maneuvers: +10% damage
  • With 1 active Water Maneuvers: +20% damage
  • With 2 active Water Maneuvers: +30% damage
  • With 3 active Water Maneuvers: +40% damage

Other Noteworthy Attachments[edit]

Mana Tank
Increases size of MP pool.
Also, your puppet gains the effect of refresh. The strength of this refresh depends on the number of active Dark Maneuvers

  • With 0 active Dark Maneuvers: 0
  • With 1 active Dark Maneuvers: 1
  • With 2 active Dark Maneuvers: 2
  • With 3 active Dark Maneuvers: 3

Mana Tank II
Increases size of MP pool.
Also, your puppet gains the effect of refresh. The strength of this refresh depends on the number of active Dark Maneuvers

  • With 0 active Dark Maneuvers: 0
  • With 1 active Dark Maneuvers: 2
  • With 2 active Dark Maneuvers: 3
  • With 3 active Dark Maneuvers: 4

Mana Converter
Converts 50% of your current HP into MP which accumulates in 1/10 chunks over 10 ticks of ffxi time.
Example: If you had 600/600 HP and then Mana Converter was triggered, you would now have 300/600 HP and you would gain 30MP/tick for 10 ticks.
Recast time for Mana Converter = 3:00

Economizer
Consumes dark maneuvers to recover MP.

  • With 1 active Dark Maneuvers: 15% of Max MP recovered
  • With 2 active Dark Maneuvers: 30% of Max MP recovered
  • With 3 active Dark Maneuvers: 45% of Max MP recovered

Loudspeaker
Enhances magic attack

  • With 0 active Ice Maneuvers: +5% damage
  • With 1 active Ice Maneuvers: +10% damage
  • With 2 active Ice Maneuvers: +15% damage
  • With 3 active Ice Maneuvers: +20% damage

Loudspeaker II
Enhances magic attack

  • With 0 active Ice Maneuvers: +10% damage
  • With 1 active Ice Maneuvers: +15% damage
  • With 2 active Ice Maneuvers: +20% damage
  • With 3 active Ice Maneuvers: +25% damage

Ice Maker
Consumes ice maneuvers to enhance magic attack.
Affects nukes and Bio/Dia non-dot damage.

  • With 1 active Ice Maneuvers: +20% damage
  • With 2 active Ice Maneuvers: +40% damage
  • With 3 active Ice Maneuvers: +60% damage

Tranquilizer
Enhances magic accuracy

Behaviour with Stormwaker Head[edit]

Position, Timers, and other traits[edit]

Default Position: By default the puppet will stand and cast its spells where ever it was when you used DEPLOY. If you're unhappy about where it is standing you can use RETRIEVE, walk your puppet over to where you want it, hit DEPLOY, and it will stay at its new location

Unusual Positioning: The puppet may run in and engage the mob at melee range if one of the following cases holds true:

  • Puppet was Deployed in a position that placed the mob outside of the puppet's magic range
  • Puppet does not have suficient MP. This amount is around mp < 8 but needs further testing to be nailed to an exact figure.
  • Puppet's magic skill is less than 15, and therefore has no access to nukes.

Delay between spell casting:

  • (without attachments/no meneuvers) = 26.5 seconds
  • (with Mana Booster/no maneuvers) = 23.5 seconds
  • (with Mana Booster/1 Ice maneuver) = 23.5 seconds

Mana Channeler will also alter these times but the exact times have not yet been determined

What spell will it cast next?[edit]

There are 5 possible scenarios described here which will determine what spell your puppet casts. Your puppet will act according to the first TRUE scenario it encounters beginning with scenario 1.

  • Scenario 1 - Mob is about to be defeated
  • Scenario 2 - You or your puppet qualify for a cure
  • Scenario 3 - Mob is under ~50% HP
  • Scenario 4 - One of the applicable enfeebs are not on the mob
  • Scenario 5 - none of the above are true



Scenario 1: If the mob is low in HP, your puppet will try to be the hero and finish it off with the highest nuke that it has enough MP to cast, regardless of any need for curing. I am not sure what the exact trigger here is in terms of this scenario. To me it seems to be related to the damage potential of your highest nuke.

Scenario 2: If scenario 1 didn't apply and you or your puppet qualify for a cure, then the next spell to be cast will be a cure. To determine if you or your puppet qualify for a cure, refer to this chart: (taken from http://ffxi.killvoid.com/forums.php...mp;q=124202)"Broken link"

Scenario 3: If scenario 1 and scenario 2 did not apply, the mob is under 50% of its HP, then the next spell to be cast will be the highest nuke available to it for which it has enough MP to cast.

It may be possible to alter what mob HP% at which this scenario is triggered or to bypass this scenario completely though the use of maneuvers such as Ice. More testing is needed to finish mapping out this scenario.

Scenario 4: If scenario 1, scenario 2, and scenario 3 did not apply, then it's time to check for enfeeble spells. These consist of Bio2, Bio, Dia, Poison, Silence, Slow, Blind, and Paralyze. Which ones qualify to be cast will be determined by which maneuvers are active at the time of spell casting.

The Spell Priority checklist is created using your active maneuvers. The following is a list of maneuver combinations and their corresponding checklists.

(Fire, Wind, Earth, and Thunder Maneuvers have not yet been proven to have an influence on checklist)

Warning: The spell casting AI is outdated as of the December 2006 patch. The spell casting AI and maneuver control was drastically changed for both the harlequin and stormwaker heads. Do not use this section as a reference.

Maneuver(s) S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6
none Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM DoT Poi Sil Slow Blind
DM Sil Slow Blind Para
WM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT
LM DoT Poi
TM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
FM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM+DM Sil Slow DoT Poi
IM+WM DoT Sil Slow Blind Poi
IM+LM DoT Poi Sil Slow Blind
IM+TM DoT Poi Sil Slow Blind
IM+FM DoT Poi Sil Slow Blind
IM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
DM+WM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+LM
DM+TM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+FM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para
WM+LM DoT
WM+TM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT
WM+FM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT
WM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT
WM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT
LM+TM DoT Poi
LM+FM DoT Poi
LM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
LM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
TM+FM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
TM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
TM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
FM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
FM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
AM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM+DM+WM Sil Slow DoT Poi
IM+DM+LM Sil Slow DoT Poi
IM+DM+TM Sil Slow DoT Poi
IM+DM+FM Sil Slow DoT Poi
IM+DM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM+DM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM+WM+LM DoT Sil Slow Blind Poi
IM+WM+TM DoT Sil Slow Blind Poi
IM+WM+FM DoT Sil Slow Blind Poi
IM+WM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM+WM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM+LM+TM DoT Poi Sil Slow Blind
IM+LM+FM DoT Poi Sil Slow Blind
IM+LM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM+LM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM+TM+FM DoT Poi Sil Slow Blind
IM+TM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM+TM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM+FM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM+FM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
IM+AM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
DM+WM+LM
DM+WM+TM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+WM+FM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+WM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+WM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+LM+TM
DM+LM+FM
DM+LM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+LM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+TM+FM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+TM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+TM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+FM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+FM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para
DM+AM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para
WM+LM+TM DoT
WM+LM+FM DoT
WM+LM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT
WM+LM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT
WM+TM+FM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT
WM+TM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT
WM+TM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT
WM+FM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT
WM+FM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT
WM+AM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT
LM+TM+FM DoT Poi
LM+TM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
LM+TM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
LM+FM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
LM+FM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
LM+AM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
TM+FM+AM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
TM+FM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
TM+AM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
FM+AM+EM Sil Slow Blind Para DoT Poi
  • If mob has no MP, skip Silence and move to next spell in list


The puppet checks the first spell in the list (S1). If this enfeeb is not on the mob this is what your puppet will cast. If it is on the mob, then we check the second spell (S2). If this enfeeb is not on the mob this is what your puppet will cast, and so on. If we come to a blank space on the chart this means all the applicable enfeebs are on the mob and we instead move to the next scenario.

Scenario 5: If scenario 1, scenario 2, scenario 3, and scenario 4 did not apply, then the only option left is nuking. Your puppet will cast the highest nuke available to it for which it has enough MP to cast.


Remaining Questions[edit]

  • What is the exact condition concerning low MP needed to be met to cause the puppet to advance on its own into melee range of the mob?
  • What is the exact condition needed to force the puppet to nuke regardless of the need for cures/enfeebs as described in scenario 1?
  • Are there attachments that will alter the listed behaviours of this puppet (Stormwaker Head + Stormwaker Frame)?
  • The scenario when the mob is under 50% HP needs more testing

Behaviour with Harlequin Head[edit]

Position, Timers, and other traits[edit]

Default Position: By default the puppet will run up and engage the mob at melee range, regardess of what position you deploy it from. If the mob moves the puppet will follow.

Unusual Positioning: none found as of yet

Delay between spell casting:

  • (without attachments/no meneuvers) = 30.0 seconds
  • (with Mana Booster/no maneuvers) = 30.0 seconds
  • (with Mana Booster/1 Ice maneuver) = #### sorry, still testing ####

What spell will it cast next?[edit]

There are 4 possible scenarios described here which will determine what spell your puppet casts. Your puppet will act according to the first TRUE scenario it encounters beginning with scenario 1.

  • Scenario 1 - You or your puppet qualify for a cure
  • Scenario 2 - Mob is under ~50% HP
  • Scenario 3 - One of the applicable enfeebs are not on the mob
  • Scenario 4 - none of the above are true



Scenario 1: If you or your puppet qualify for a cure, then the next spell to be cast will be a cure.

When the Damage Gauge is Equipped, Automaton will cure at the following HP:

0 Maneuver: 50%
1 Maneuver: 60%
2 Maneuver: 70%
3 Maneuver: 80%

When unequipped, Automaton cures at:

0 Maneuver: 30%
1 Maneuver: 35%
2 Maneuver: 50%
3 Maneuver: 75%

Number of maneuvers refers to the number of instances of Light Maneuver active at the time of spell casting. note #1: if you and your puppet both need cures, your need will take priority over the puppet's need. note #2: if you do not have Damage Gauge equipped, your puppet cannot cure itself

Scenario 2: If scenario 1 did not apply, the mob is under 50% of its HP, then no spell will be cast.

It may be possible to alter what mob HP% at which this scenario is triggered or to bypass this scenario completely though the use of maneuvers such as Ice. More testing is needed to finish mapping out this scenario. (Info courtesy of Sikekiz and Ceiyne)

Scenario 3: If scenario 1 and scenario 2 did not apply, then it's time to check for enfeeb spells. These consist of Bio2, Bio, Dia, Poison, Silence, Slow, Blind, and Paralyze. Which ones qualify to be cast will be determined by which maneuvers are active at the time of spell casting.

The Spell Priority checklist is created using your active maneuvers. The following is a list of maneuver combinations and their corresponding checklists.

(Fire, Wind, Earth, and Thunder Maneuvers have not yet been proven to have an influence on checklist) (Ice also has not yet been proven to have any influence on checklist)

Warning: The spell casting AI is outdated as of the December 2006 patch. The spell casting AI and maneuver control was drastically changed for both the harlequin and stormwaker heads. Do not use this section as a reference.

Maneuver(s) S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6
none DoT Poi Sil Slow Blind
DM Sil Slow DoT Poi Blind ????
IM DoT Poi Sil ????
LM DoT Poi Sil ????
WM DoT Sil Slow Poi ????
DM + IM Sil Slow DoT Poi ????
DM + LM Sil Slow DoT Poi ????
DM + WM Sil Slow DoT Poi ????
IM + LM DoT Poi ????
IM + WM DoT Sil Slow Blind Poi ????
LM + WM DoT Sil Slow Poi ????
DM + IM + LM Sil Slow DoT Poi ????
DM + IM + WM Sil Slow DoT Poi ????
DM + LM + WM Sil Slow DoT Poi ????
IM + LM + WM DoT Sil Slow Poi ????
  • If mob has no MP, skip Silence and move to next spell in list
  • (????) = Due to spells like Poison and Silence wearing off quickly, it is difficult to know that we are definately at the end of the list. Hence "????" will denote an unconfirmed end to the priority list.


The puppet checks the first spell in the list (S1). If this enfeeb is not on the mob this is what your puppet will cast. If it is on the mob, then we check the second spell (S2). If this enfeeb is not on the mob this is what your puppet will cast, and so on. If we come to a blank space on the chart this means all the applicable enfeebs are on the mob and we instead move to the next scenario.


Scenario 4:

If scenario 1, scenario 2, and scenario 3 did not apply, then there are no spells available to be cast. The puppet will cast no spell at this time.

Remaining Questions[edit]

  • Are there attachments that will alter the listed behaviours of this puppet (Harlequin Head + Stormwaker Frame)?
  • The scenario when the mob is under 50% HP needs more testing

Behaviour with Sharpshot Head[edit]

Position, Timers, and other traits[edit]

Default Position: By default the puppet will stand and cast its spells where ever it was when you used DEPLOY. If you're unhappy about where it is standing you can use RETRIEVE, walk your puppet over to where you want it, hit DEPLOY, and it will stay at its new location

Unusual Positioning: The puppet may run in and engage the mob at melee range if one of the following cases holds true:

  • Puppet was Deployed in a position that placed the mob outside of the puppet's magic range
  • Puppet does not have suficient MP. This amount is around mp < 8 but needs further testing to be nailed to an exact figure.

Delay between spell casting: (without attachments/meneuvers) = ~45 seconds

What spell will it cast next?[edit]

There are 4 possible scenarios described here which will determine what spell your puppet casts. Your puppet will act according to the first TRUE scenario it encounters beginning with scenario 1.

  • Scenario 1 - You or your puppet qualify for a cure
  • Scenario 2 - Mob is under ~50% HP
  • Scenario 3 - One of the applicable enfeebs are not on the mob
  • Scenario 4 - none of the above are true




Scenario 1: If you or your puppet qualify for a cure, then the next spell to be cast will be a cure.

Scenario 2: If scenario 1 did not apply and the mob is under 50% of its HP, then no spell will be cast by your puppet at this time.

Scenario 3: If scenario 1 and scenario 2 did not apply, then it's time to check for enfeeble spells. These consist of Bio2, Bio, Dia, Poison, Silence, Slow, Blind, and Paralyze. Which ones qualify to be cast will be determined by which maneuvers are active at the time of spell casting.

The Spell Priority checklist is created using your active maneuvers. The following is a list of maneuver combinations and their corresponding checklists.

(Fire, Wind, Earth, and Thunder Maneuvers have not yet been proven to have an influence on checklist) (Ice and Light also seem to have no influence on checklist)


Maneuver(s) S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6
none DoT Poi Sil Slow Blind Para
DM Sil Slow DoT Poi ????
IM DoT Poi ????
LM DoT Poi ????
WM DoT Sil Slow ????
DM + IM Sil Slow DoT Poi ????
DM + LM Sil Slow DoT Poi ????
DM + WM Sil Slow DoT ????
IM + LM DoT Poi ????
IM + WM DoT Sil Slow ????
LM + WM DoT Sil Slow ????
DM + IM + LM Sil Slow DoT Poi ????
DM + IM + WM Sil Slow DoT ????
DM + LM + WM Sil Slow DoT ????
IM + LM + WM DoT Sil Slow ????
  • If mob has no MP, skip Silence and move to next spell in list
  • (????) = Due to spells like Poison and Silence wearing off quickly, it is difficult to know that we are definately at the end of the list. Hence "????" will denote an unconfirmed end to the priority list.


The puppet checks the first spell in the list (S1). If this enfeeb is not on the mob this is what your puppet will cast. If it is on the mob, then we check the second spell (S2). If this enfeeb is not on the mob this is what your puppet will cast, and so on. If we come to a blank space on the chart this means all the applicable enfeebs are on the mob and we instead move to the next scenario.

Scenario 4: If scenario 1, scenario 2, and scenario 3 did not apply, then there are no spells available to be cast. The puppet will cast no spell at this time.

Remaining Questions[edit]

  • What is the exact condition concerning low MP needed to be met to cause the puppet to advance on its own into melee range of the mob?
  • Are there attachments that will alter the listed behaviours of this puppet (Sharpshot Head + Stormwaker Frame)?
  • Sometimes after this puppet stops casting enfeebs it will not bother reapplying them once they start wearing off. Why?

Behaviour with Valoredge Head[edit]

Position, Timers, and other traits[edit]

Default Position: By default the puppet will run up and engage the mob at melee range, regardess of what position you deploy it from. If the mob moves the puppet will follow.

Unusual Positioning: none found as of yet

Delay between spell casting: (without attachments/meneuvers) = ~45 seconds

What spell will it cast next?[edit]

There are 2 possible scenarios described here which will determine what spell your puppet casts. Your puppet will act according to the first TRUE scenario it encounters beginning with scenario 1.

  • Scenario 1 - You or your puppet qualifies for a cure
  • Scenario 2 - You and your puppet do not qualify for a cure



Scenario 1: If you or your puppet qualify for a cure, then the next spell to be cast will be a cure.

Scenario 2: If scenario 1 did not apply, then there are no spells available to be cast. This is because the only spells available to this puppet are cures. Therefore the puppet casts nothing.

Remaining Questions[edit]

  • Are there attachments that will alter the listed behaviours of this puppet (Valoredge Head + Stormwaker Frame)?

A note about A.D.D.[edit]

  • NOTE: Deactivate initially had no recast timer. As of the 08/22/2006 update Deactivate now has a recast timer of one minute, which renders this technique useless for anything other than refilling your automaton's MP without resting.

A.D.D. is also sometimes refered to as D.A.D. These acromyms stand for Activate Deploy Deactivate and Deactivate Activate Deploy.

The technique these refer to is the technique of keeping your puppet's HP at 100% and taking advantage of not needed to wait 20 minutes for your next activation if you deactivate with your puppet at 100% HP. So this technique has the rapid activating and deactivating of the puppet with a pause just long enough to use deploy to get 1 spell to cast.

There are 2 things to note about using this technique:

1) If your puppet takes any damage at all, whether from getting hate or from a stray AoE from a mob, then a deactivation will leave you screwed and without a puppet for 20 minutes.

2) Deactivating your puppet means you no longer have the active effect of any previously used maneuvers, even if the status icon is still on the screen. Only maneuvers used after reactivating will contribute to controlling the puppet. However, using maneuvers immediately after activating is a recipe for instant overload. Because of this, the A.D.D. technique most often means you have no active meneuvers and therefore you have no control. Whatever the no-maneuvers AI is for your puppet, that's the AI you'll be stuck with. Determining if the no-maneuver AI is any good for your needs is likely to decide whether this technique has any value to you.


Guide originally by YuriOtani. Copied and reformatted from the post on the Allakhazam Puppetmaster forum. [[1]]

This article uses material from the "Puppetmaster:_Behavior_of_the_Stormwaker_Frame" article on FFXIclopedia and is licensed under the CC-BY-SA License.