Must-have automaton equipment for ranger frame at level 20?

[Amaku]

I currently have 130,000 gil on the Bahamut server and am willing to spend it all on my puppet. Can you guys tell me the exact ones to buy for my puppet? I'm pretty new to PUP and if I had to decide on my own I'd probably screw up and waste tons of gil.

[Celeal]

Re: Must-have automaton equipment for ranger frame at level 20?

May I ask which automation set you have currently (at level 20 I assume)? The mage puppet? Ranger puppet? Melee puppet?

The attachments you are going to get should depend on which puppet set you have.

For example, a Mana Converter would only work for the mage frame in normal situations, unless you can some how change your puppet's Max. HP : MP ratio.

Another example, if you are going to equip Replicator (Blink), also put on the Damage Gauge (better HP trigger). Replicator works well with the Ranger puppet because of the usage of Wind Maneuver (which impacts Range attack and Evasion, such as Scope for increasing range attack accuracy)

If you are going to depend on your puppet to cast Cure, put on Damage Gauge (better HP trigger) and Mana Booster (for faster magic recast).

IMHO, it is easier for the discussion if you list certain attachments that you have questions or interests =)

[Reverent Knight]

Re: Must-have automaton equipment for ranger frame at level 20?

May I ask which automation set you have currently (at level 20 I assume

The op says ranger frame

[Celeal]

Re: Must-have automaton equipment for ranger frame at level 20?

Each player plays differently, this is the way I see it so far, as I am still leveling PUP:

For ranger puppet:

Compare to other puppets, the ranger puppet can equip more attachment with Wind Element (for evasion and range weapon).
It can also equip more Thunder Element (for melee accuracy), but has low skill cap on melee attack.
The trade off is less Earth Element and Light Element (for both the puppet to take damage and stay alive).

Keep in mind that you only have 12 attachment slots, so you are not going to fit "everything" in the puppet

Let starts with the Wind Element:

Scope - for range attack accuracy.

Replicator - for Blink:
It consumes Wind Maneuvers and turns them to Blink, normally trigger at around 50% HP, around 75% HP if Damage Gauge is equipped. It has a 1 minute timer for each trigger. One Wind Maneuver yields 2 Blinks. (it is white magic's Blink, not NIN's shadows)
The ranger puppet is going to spike hate, and a PUP is useless if the pet dies. The main usage of shadows/Blink is to give you a brief amount of time to "do something" to shred hate or turn the mob. You are not going to make your puppet to blink tank like a NIN

The rest of available Wind Element slot are optional - attachments that give Evasion boost: depends on situation and the attachment for other elements. Remember you only have 12 attachment slots.

Light Element:
If you use Replicator - I suggest Damage Gauge (see above).

Other Light Element attachment options:

Auto Repair Kit I/II for situational use:
If you don't have time to rest, or /heal decreases TP, Auto Repair Kit is one tool, although it is sub-optimal. If you have Signet on, Attachment like Auto Repair Kit I/II, or automation oil may not be at a lower priority.

Note: keep in mind that the mage puppet or the starter puppet can cure, and the ranger puppet is not the only way to deal damage.

Flashbulb: a light bulb for Flash with 45 seconds timer, which blinds the mob for a brief time. It also compliment with evasion attachment (if equipped)

Once again, the maximum Light Element is limited on ranger puppet. There are other nice Light Attachment, such as Eraser for instance, but the puppet can only fit X amount of attachment at once.

Thunder Element (for melee accuracy in general):
Does the Ranger Puppet melee the mob? Yes or No.

The ranger puppet has low skill cap on melee attack, high skill cap on range attack.
The puppet's delay of range attack is long: the puppet can slap the mob more than once before it the next shot.
The range attack hits harder then the melee attack (deal to skill cap difference).

IMHO, the ranger puppet should melee despite of the low melee skill cap: TP gain with melee attacks, range attack at close up, and perform special attack (WS), just like what those Orc/Goblin ranger does. In the worst case, the melee attack is weaker and accuracy is lower. Unfortunately this is the case in exp. parties from mid ~ high level.

For solo, quest or low-man parties, ranger puppet's melee skill should be fine.

Note: you can control where the puppet position with Retrieve + Deploy (Job Abilities). Retrieve would stop what your puppet is doing and move it near where you (the master) stands. It is handy when the mob is moving around.

The ranger puppet has rooms to fit Thunder Attachment for melee accuracy, but here is the choice: are you going to mix Thunder/Wind Maneuver, or focus on Wind Maneuver (like less usage or zero usage on Thunder Maneuver)?

Wind Maneuver - for range attack accuracy
Thunder Maneuver - for melee accuracy
Spamming Maneuver will overload!

Stabilizer I/II - your puppet get a "flat" acc+. For example, Stabilizer II alone gets ACC+10 even without any active Thunder Maneuver. The amount of ACC+ goes up as the number of active Thunder Maneuver goes up. If you want your ranger puppet melee without using Thunder Maneuver, Stabilizer is a nice choice.

Target Marker - not all info of how it works has been figure out yet. It has been tested by fellow PUPs that it works with mob /check as Tough or above. I am using it for exp. parties (which is not often) but I cannot vouch of its effectiveness.

Shockgun (spelling?) - The Enthunder attachment, for solo, farm, mobs that are below DC and low magic resistance, is great!

Earth Attachment:

At low level Shock Absorber - a weak Stoneskin with 3 minutes timer - is enough at low ~ mid level, especially for solo.

Equalizer - with limited Earth Attachment slot for ranger puppet, i would go for Equalizer instead of Armor Plate I/II.

The rest of Earth attachments: for me, no room to fit in most situation. For insurance, I sometimes equip the attachment that prevents puppet's death by consuming one Earth Maneuver (I forgot the name).

Fire Element (physical attack)
The choice shouldn't be too difficult. With a few key:

If you are going to PUP/DNC, especially to be a backup healer in a party, don't waste a slot for the Store-TP + Skillchain attachment unless you can keep your TP over 90% in most time. IMHO, at low~mid level the ranger puppet lacks WS option for skillchain for anyway.

Don't use Strobe (attachment for provoke) to kill your puppet

Attachments that boost physical attack, or flame holder that boost WS, etc, those choices are fine.

[Solymir]

Re: Must-have automaton equipment for ranger frame at level 20?

I am going to list the prices I see for the attachments on Bahamut's AH. They may not be 100% correct, and you also may be able to find some of these sold from a vendor. If I remember correctly there is at least one vendor in Nashmau that sells some of them. Anyways, on to recommendations. Keep in mind you may not be able to attach these at the same time so you will have to make a judgement call on which to choose.

Scope: 4K - Ranged accuracy
Drum Magazine: 9K - Sacrifices ranged Acc for speed
Replicator: 6K - When HP is low converts all wind Maneuvers into Shadows.
Tension Spring: 4.5K - Enhances att
Tension Spring II: 8K - Enhances att (even though it is a ranger automaton, it can still use melee attacks)
Armor Plate: 7K - Enhances def
Armor Plate II: 12.5K - Enhances def
Shock Absorber: 6K - Occasionally uses Stoneskin
Stealth Screen: 2K - Decreases enmity (not necessary, but at 2K it's not expensive either)
Auto Repair Kit: 3K - Increases max hp, adds regen with light manuever
Auto Repair Kit II: 10K - Increases max hp, adds regen with light manuever

As you can see none of these are super expensive.

Going forward you should really read more about all of the attachments and how they work. First step should be doing a search on ffxiclopedia.org for automaton attachments. I have also found good guides on other forums for attachments. If you really like this job then take the time and do some research, odds are you will learn some interesting things you won't find anywhere else.

[Esoa]

Re: Must-have automaton equipment for ranger frame at level 20?

This is what I run on my ranger puppet atm. It's all cheap.

Tension Spring II
Inhibitor (or Flame Holder)
Attuner
Accelerator II
Scope
Replicator
Shock Absorber
Stabilizer II
Heat Seeker (or Stabilizer, depends how fast mobs die)
Target Marker
Stealth Screen
Steam Jacket

Flashbulb is decent and at low levels I would use it over Steam Jacket. The regen attachments are alright to replace Replicator with if your puppet is just taking mild AE damage and not actual agro.

When you get tons of gil, buy Turbo Charger and Optic Fiber...that's about all there is for the ranger puppet.