Salvage - overview, strategy and information.

[Uzor]

Introduction

Salvage is both fun and exciting. Hard and easy. It can also be a real pain in the ass, and extremely rewarding, all at the same time. However, most people don't seem to enjoy that which is Salvage. Personally, I love it, I think its the very best event in Final Fantasy XI, and I know several people that think so, aswell. Sadly, the majority don't share mine and others enthusiasm for Salvage. Most people's first impression is that of death, exp loss, time waste, with nothing at all to show for it. However, this is really not the case. Weak people see a loss as a time to quit. However, strong people get up again and strive to become better, to beat the obstavle. Get revenge, and thus stronger. What makes Salvage so fun, is that you can do new things every time. It constantly tests you, while still making it easy to achieve things. It also forces jobs in to roles they're not neccesarily used to, and allows you to develope yourself in ways you otherwise wouldn't. And it actually makes it fun. As an example, one of my DRK's ended up tanking, and almost completely solo, some of the NM's. kiting things for extended priods of time isn't something most DRK's get to do very often.

In an attempt to get people interrested in Salvage, I will now reveal some of my own experiences, as well as some strategies for Salvage. Remember, Salvage is very hard when you first start out, and far from rewarding. Striving on and learning, will turn Salvage around completely, and I expect that you, as me, will highly enjoy it.

First of, what you need to know, is that team work is key to Salvage. Unlike Dynamis, where you can leech on others the majority of the time, Salvage requires the team to speak to eachother. It requires people to know eachother well, know their play style, and adjust to eachother. Most events in FFXI, you can throw bodies at it to get it done. However, Salvage is the complete opposite. Here, having less people results in better results, most of the time. Hence why my motto is less is more, more or less. I will explain why Salvage works this way below.

In Salvage, you have a total of 20 Pathos on you. These are restrictions, such as being unable to use weapons, unable to use magic and abilities, half HP/MP, status reduction, and sub job restriction. These are unlocked by finding Cells. However, these Cells require you to kill mobs to get. This is why having less is more. Having 18 people means you have to farm more cells in order to get them unlocked. A soldier is only as strong as his weapon, and having 15 melees won't get you further then 2 melees when neither of them have access to weapons. The exception to this is if everyone have Hand-to-hand skill.

Either way, a good, the perfect group for Salvage, would be something similar to:
MNK/NIN, MNK/NIN, THF, WHM, BRD, BLM/NIN, BLM/NIN, COR, RDM/WHM and up to 3 other random people. These can be any job, really. Such as DRK, PUP, DRG etc. In Salvage, PUP is actually extremely good, and thus, you could replace one of the MNK's with a PUP. I would not reccomend to ever go without a THF. A THF is critical for Salvage in order to get unlocked. The drop rate is rather bad as is, so why go without a THF and make it even worse?

Either way, as an example what the group above can achieve, I will now go deeper in to specifics. The idea of this group is to have an overall balanced group, with enough killing power to both effectively farm things in the begining when things are weak, and later move on to farm stronger things at the later floors. It is also designed to be able succesfully kill the bosses. The base strategy originates from Bluegartr, mainly from Lordwafik and Aurik, and is adjusted according to my own experience, and the two Salvage groups I go with (WallOfAegis + KentuckyFriedChoco). This group have enough hand-to-hand skill to kill things on the first floors with decent speed, and with the three other people, which can be anything from a tank such as PLD or NIN, to melees such as DRK, DRG etc. This allows for a strong group later on which can both succesfully tank without taking too much damage, and kill things fast with the help of stronger weapons.

Preperation

Everyone needs to bring the following items. Remember, all of these can be obtained through Assault for free:

• Reraise
• Hi-Potions (preferably +5 per person).

Additionally, for the more advanced zones such as Silver Sea and Arrapago, the following is reccomended:

• Silent Oil
• Prism Powder
• Antidote
• Poison Potion

This is to reduce the uneccesary killing, and to counter some of the time-killer moves used by some of the mobs, such as Poisonga II and Sleepga II. You might also want to bring Holy Water, but this is only a special condition if you go after the Ghosts or Bhoots in Arrapago.

Starting Out

If you have a newly started Salvage group, I would strongly reccomend you to start out in one of the easiest zones, which also drops lvl 15 gear at a decent rate without doing much of anything. This is Bhaflau Remenants. To start out, you should take the West door, and kill all Trolls and Biffrons you see while moving North. Skip all of the Wamouracampas, as they take a long time to kill without weapons and/or magic. Right before the center room filled with Trolls and Wamoura, back track a bit and clear one room of Wamouracampas for some armour, then kill the Wamouras. Once this is done, move on to the second floor. On the remaining floors, you should have a good idea what to do. You also shouldn't have much of a problem, as you should be fairly unlocked. So if this is your first run with your Salvage shell, just focus on killing stuff in order to get used to the way Salvage works, and for a chance of getting the level 15 drops.

The Drops

When you're more advanced, you can move on to killing the NM's. These are the ones that drop the level 35 armour. And in some zones, such as Zhayolm and Silver Sea, they also drop the level 15 pieces. Luckily, they drop the level 15 pieces 100% of the time. They are popped under the following conditions:

Gate Widow:
Pop Condition: Kill Mad Bomber to pop Dormant Rampart. Spawns as reinforcement
Where: Floor 1 in Bhaflau Remenants
How: Defeat Mad bomber within 75 seconds, before he uses Self-Destruct. I'd reccomend you do this by making a Skill Chain and having the BLMes MB it. This kills him very fast. Also, don't stand out of melee range, as he will move around, making you waste precious seconds keeping up with him. If you get hate, let yourself get hit. Once Dormant Rampart pops, enter it, and flash him. Kill the Reinforcements without attacking the Rampart.
What: Enlil's Legs, Macha's Hands

Skirmish Pephedro:
Pop Condition: Kill the 4 Flans in Spike Mode
Where: Floor 2 in Bhaflau Remenants
How: Do not cast any damaging magic, nor use any elemental WS's, or perform any SC's on them, as this will kick them out of Spike Mode. At around 85% health, they will enter Spike Mode. It is safe to cast magic on them, as long as the magic kills them. If the magic does not kill them, they will get out of Spike Mode. Once they are all killed in Spike Mode, Dormant Rampart will pop. Skirmish Pephedro have a chance of popping from the reinforcements.
What: Freya's Head, Hikazu Feet

Zebra Zachary:
Pop Condition: Kill the 2 Archaic Gears simultaneously.
Where: Floor 3 in Bhaflau Remenants
How: Pull both of the gears in to the middle room. Sleep one, while you bring the other one down to about 5%. After this, disengage it and sleep it, and engage the other one. At 5%, sleep it, and bring your BLMes in to elemental seal + Blizzaga III them to kill them.
What: Deimos's Hands

Peryton:
Pop Consition: Kill all Archaic Gear without them teleporting.
Where: Floor 4 in Bhaflau Remenants
How: Archaic Gear aggroes to true sight, true sound, ability usage and magic. If you aggro them, they will immediatly teleport. If they link, they will also immediatly teleport. The easiest way to pull them without teleporting, is having someone Range Attack them. From the time it is pulled, you have aproximately 60 seconds to defeat the Gear. Otherwise, it will Teleport away. Since you most likely are not going for the boss if you've come this far, I'd reccomend you use all of the drinks you've stocked up on. So pop those drinks to increase your damage and accuracy etc. and kill them. Once all of the Gear have been defeated, without a single one teleporting, the Rampart will pop. Peryton is a random pop from the Reinforcements. Note that you do NOT have to kill the Archaic Gears, nor the Archaic Chariot. You only have to defeat the single gear.
What: Freya's Body

Hammerblow Majanun:
Pop condition: Kill the 6 Fomors in the G-10 room
Where: Silver Sea Remenants, floor 1, West path
How: As all of the Fomors link and stand still, it is reccomended to suicide pull it. Carby pulling them also work. Once all of them have been killed, Hammerblow Majanun pops
What: Hikazu Head

Dekka:
Pop Condition: Defeat Deadpan Devilet
Where: Silver Sea Remenants, floor 2, NW path
How: Deadpan Devilet have a lot of HP, and you do not want to get any links while fightign him. So it is reccomended you kill everything in the room. Or atleast enough to safely pull and kill him. Keep DoT's on it to prevent it from regening HP. Once he is defeated, Dekka pops.
What: Njord's Feet, Enlil's Feet.

Powderkeg Yanadahn:
Pop Condition: Defeat the 16 Ashu Talif Crew
Where: Silver Sea Remenants, floor 2, SE path
How: Since Imps link with RDMes, and RDM fomors link with imps, it is reccomended to only pull them when they are far apart. When all Fomors have been killed, Powderkeg Yanadahn pops.
What: Hoshikazu Legs, Macha's Legs

Gyroscopic Gear:
Pop Condition: Defeat the 8 Archaic Gear
Where: Silver Sea Remenants, Floor 2, N path
How: You can only reach this part if you enter this floor from the northern part of Silver Sea Remenants. So if you're aiming for this NM, exit Floor 2 from the NE part, as that is the quickest and easiest way of reaching him. Once all Archaic Gear have been defeated, Gyroscopic Gear pops. Watch out for devilet, though, as he links with Archaic Gear. To make it even harder, he teleports around. If you can kill all of the Archaic Gear and Gyroscopic Gear, kudos to you. However, try to kill him before to make your life easier. Archaic Gear can be slept, so doing so if he links and focus on Devilet is reccomended. Devilet likes to run away, however, so keep DoT's on him and wait for him to run back to you.
What: Anu's Hands, Freya's Hands

Gyroscopic Gears:
Pop Condition: Defeat all of the Archaic Gear + Gears
Where: Silver Sea Remenants,floor 2, E side
How: All of the machinery can be safely pulled without links. Additionally, you do not need to kill the ramparts. Nor do the ramparts aggro or link.
What: Enyo's Mask, Demios's Legs

Citadel Chelonian:
Pop Condition: Kill 4 Archaic Ramparts. Random reinforcement.
Where: Silver Sea Remenants, floor 4, E side
How: Once all 4 of the Archaic Ramparts in this room are defeated, a 5th Archaic Rampart is spawned. Citadel Chelonian spawns as a reinforcement from him. Additionally, you do not need to engage this Archaic Rampart, as he will still spawn if you do not interact with it.
What: Nemain's Head, Hikazu Body

Qiqirn Astrologer:
Pop Condition: Opening the door to the teleporter
Where: Arrapago Remenants, Floor 2+5+6(?)
How: Simply opening the door to the teleporter causes him to spawn. Once engaged, he will start to cast spells on you while running to the teleporter. Shortly after eaching the teleporter, he will warp away. In order to kill him, it is reccomended that you have your BLMes time nuke him with their strongest spell, and then run out of range as he will respond with nuking the mages. At this time, the melees run in to attack. Once the Astrologer starts moving, BLMes move in for another spell while the melees follow him and keep meleeing. If done right, he should be dead before he warps.
What: Macha's Body

Qiqirn Treasure Hunter:
Pop Condition: Opening the door to the teleporter
Where: Arrapago Remenants, Floor 3+4+6(?)
How: Simply opening the door to the teleporter causes him to pop. This Qiqirn does not warp away. He will, however, attempt to run away from you while dropping bombs that explodes and damages you. The reccomended strategy is to use Accuracy food, as he have high evasion. When you pull him, have the tank run up to aggro him/provoke/whatever, and then have the other melees engage. Have people cast DoT's on him to damage him as he attempts to run away. When he stops to melee, proceed to melee him and cast spells on him (as doing so while he runs will most likely result in an out of range message). He runs from his spawn place, to the teleporter you entered through. So clearing any mobs in the way is reccomended.
What: Deimos's Body

Deviant Bhoot:
Pop Condition: None
Where: Arrapago Remenants, 4th floor, N
How: This NM isn't really a NM. There's several Deviant Bhoot's. The one you want, though, is much larger then the others, so he's easy to spot. Have the stunners look out for Peridition and Ga-spells and have them stun these. Peridition causes insta-death, so this needs to be stunned ASAP. A blink tank is reccomended for this, so MNK/NIN's work great. Have a WHM cast Banish III at start to increase damage.
What: Deimos's Mask

Psycheflayer:
Pop Condition: None
Where: Arrapago Remenants, 4th floor, S
How: This NM isn't really a NM. There's several Psycheflayers. The one you want, though, is much larger then the others, so he's easy to spot. What most people don't know about Soulflayers, is that they mainly use their annoying AoE blind + damage + Bio III move when they're at low health. So when he hit 25% HP, go all out in order to go undamaged from it as long as possible. This guy also have a somewhat unique move. Its an AoE dispelga move that removes pretty much every buff on you, so have the BLMes stun and WHMes flash at this point to give the tanks a chance to throw shadows up again.
What: Macha's Mask

Archaic Chariot:
Pop Condition: Opening the door to the teleporter
Where: Arrapago Remenants, 5th floor
How: You do not need to kill the Ramparts, as they neither aggro nor link. However, it is reccomended that you kill all of the other mobs in this giant room, as they will both link and aggro. Once that is done, open the door to the teleporter. Unlike the boss chariots, the AoE moves can be completely avoided by standing behind him. So only have the people tanking in front of him. Keep shadows up, as well as enfeebles, and he'll go down easily. Remember to paralyna paralyzed people.
What: Enlil's Hands, Hikazu Legs, Freya's Feet

Poroggo Madame (3):
Pop Condition: Clearing all of the Mamool Ja's + Archaic Rampart
Where: Zhayolm Remenants, 3rd floor
How: While there are two of them, the one you want is on the north side. I would reccomend killing all Mamool Ja except for 3, then go kill the rampart + reinforcement, and then move on to killing the last remaining Mamool Ja's. This is to prevent aggro, and give you a chance to build TP. Once she pops, go all out, and keep DoT's on her. Occasionally, she will use Toadga, so anyone not charmed have to be ready to kite all of the charmed people. Once again, I would reccomend a high-damage strategy, so 300% SC + MB at start, and then SC + MB soon as everyone go uncharmed after that.
What: Enyo's Hands, Nemain's Hands

Poroggo Madame (4):
Pop Condition: Enter floor 4 with 60-55 min remaining
Where: Zhayolm Remenants, 4th floor
How: There are two of them, one on north side, one on south. They each have different lot tables. They pop in a room full of Poroggo Gents, and while you're charmed, she will move back inside that room. Therefore, it is reccomended that you clear the room before you engage her.
What:
North: Njord's Head, Hishikazu Feet, Anu's Legs.
South: Unknown, one of the following: Macha's Feet, Marduk Head, Marduk Body, Hikazu Hands, Freya's Legs, Deimos's Feet

Poroggo Madame (5):
Pop Condition: Enter floor 5 with 50-45 min remaining
Where: Zhayolm Remenants, 5th floor
How: Like 4th floor Madame, but with Gears.
What: Unknown, one of the following: Macha's Feet, Marduk Head, Marduk Body, Hikazu Hands, Freya's Legs, Deimos's Feet

Poroggo Madame (6):
Pop Condition: Unknown, believed to be: enter floor 6 with 40-35 min remaining
Where: Zhayolm Remenants, 6th floor
How: Like the 5th and 6th floor Madame. Although it is unknown if they even exists, as they have not been found. They exists in the .dat's, but might be something SE did not decide to add in the end.

The following 4 NM's are somewhat unique:

Jakko:
Pop Condition: Trade a Silver Sea Card to the Slot in Zhayolm Remenants
Where: Zhayolm Remenants, Second Floor, NW
How: The Silver Sea Card is dropped from Archaic Gear(s) and Ramparts in Silver Sea Remenants. The NM itself is a pushover.
What: Njord's Body

Princess Pudding:
Pop Condition: Trade a Bhaflau Remenants Card to the Slot in Arrapago Remenants
Where: Arrapago Remenants, Second floor, SW
How: The Bhaflau Remenants Card is dropped by Gear(s) and Ramparts in Bhaflau Remenants. The NM itself can be somewhat tricky if handled wrong. The easiest way I have found, is to clear the room before you pop the NM, then nuke + kite him around the pillars. While he cast spells, the melees hit him. Remember to keep DoT's on him. This is actually where my DRK pretty much soloed him. He cast Drain + Drain II + Aspir on him, then kited him with Stun. Then occasionaly threw another Drain + Drain II in, and continued to kite him. With Dread Spikes up for whenever it hit him, it worked like a charm.
What: Hoshikazu Gi

Demented Jalaawa:
Pop condition: Trade a Arrapago Card to the Slot in Bhaflau Remenants
Where: Bhaflau Remenants, Third floor
How: This NM can be somewhat of a pain. However, you should be fairly unlocked as its in Bhaflau Remenants, so he shouldn't be too much of a problem. Once again, kiting is an option, but straight up works too.
What: Anu's Body

Don Poroggo:
Pop Condition: Trade a Zhayolm Remenants Card to the Slot in Silver Sea Remenants
Where: Silver Sea Remenants, Third Floor, N
How: The Slot is spawned once Devilet is defeated. You will most likely have to kill all of the Archaic Gear and Gyroscopic Gear aswell to prevent aggro. This is without a doubt the hardest NM, as he can charmga you, as well as casting very potent -ga spells, along with Death, and Breakga. Reccomended strategy is going all out at the begining, and kite him after that if he didn't die yet.
What: Enyo's Body, Nemain's Body.

As you can see, there are some drops unrepresented for. These drop from the Archaic Gear(s) in Arrapago Remenants, and they are: Enyo's Legs, Njord's Hands, Hoshikazu Head, Anu's Feet and Nemain's Legs.

The Bosses

This is the part that requires the most strategy. I will explain the basic strategy for them below, with the set up I posted.

All chariots share the following three moves:

Diffusion Ray: Cone damage
Inertia Stream: AoE (15 range) damage + bind
Discharge: AoE (15 range) damage + paralyze.

The above three moves are somewhat special, as both Inertia Stream and Discharge are conal on Archaic Chariots. However, on the bosses, they are AoE. In addition to these three moves, every boss have a special move unique to them.

Homing Missiles: long-range AoE move that does aproximately 90% of the remaining HP to anyone it hits. It also completely resets hate. The range of it is 20. However, due to the trigger of it, it is possible to avoid it completely. He will only use it his current target is right in front of him. So by tanking him to the side Fafnir-style, you can stop him from using it completely. This move is used by the Bhaflau boss, Long-Bowed Chariot.

Mortal Revolution: This is a AoE move, which is absorbable by shadows. Additionally, it is Physical based, so it is possible to evade it, and it is also possible for it to Double Attack. It do around 600 dmage and causes knockback + stun. Luckily, as it is Physical based, you can Blind the Chariot and stack on Evasion boosts in order to evade the move. This move is used by the Arrapago Remenants boss, Armored Chariot.

Discoid: This is a short frontal AoE move, which is believed to do a total of 4400 damage. However, the damage is absorbed by having several people get hit, and the damage is also reduced by using Magic Reduction gear, and Shell. Thus, having 4 people in range of it reduces the damage to around 825 per person with Shell V up. Other things reduce the damage aswell, as some people report taking as little as 600 damage with only 4 people in range. This ability is used by Battleclad Chariot in Zhayolm Remenants.

Brainjack: Single target Charm move + rather strong DoT for 90 seconds. However, when he uses it, he will use it on more then 1 target. Often uses it on 4 targets. The people with the most hate are the ones to get hit. Since it causes DoT, the target can not be slept unless he/she have Stoneskin up. Thus, it is reccomended to Bind + kite the victims. This move is used by Long-Armed Chariot, the boss in Silver Sea Remenants

Long-Bowed Chariot

The idea here is to have the two MNK/NIN's kite him to the side. This is where the COR and BRD shine. The BRD will keep up dual haste song on the MNK's, while the COR keeps up Monk's Roll and Ninja's Roll. This is to give the MNK's an easier time kiting, and to minimize the ammount of TP he gains. Try to have few melees as possible meleeing him. If possible, have the other melees sub SAM and meditate for TP and only go in to SC. If you have a DRK, have him use Absorb TP to reduce the TP gain further. With a WAR or DRG, have them stick Defense Down on him. It is important that no one but the MNK's take hate, so the BLMes must be carefull with their nukes. Additionally, keep DoT's on him at all time to make the killing quicker. I'd also reccomend the MNK's to wear Counter gear, stacked with Counterstance. Every time you counter, the attack directed towards you will be cancelled, thus making the MNK take 0 damage, while dealing damage himself. This makes it easier for the MNK to keep shadows up. Unfortunately, this pretty much makes the MNK's defense 0. This won't matter that much, though, as the boss hits for roughly 600 damage anyway. The goal here is to not get hit here at all, and due to the boss's very high base damage, getting hit for a bit extra won't make that much of a difference when you'll have a chance to completely avoid the attack.

Additionally, it is important that everyone stand inside the range of Homing Missiles, as it will reset everyone's hate that way. It is also important that no one but the MNK's stand inside Inertia Stream and Discharge range. It is also important that Slow II, Elegy and Paralyze II is on him at all times. This is another oppertunity for the COR to shine, as Earth Shot will further increase the strenght of these effects.

Armored Chariot:

The strategy for him is pretty much the same as that for Long-Bowed chariot. Here, it is important that you stick Blind II in order to increase your chances of avoiding Mortal Revolution.

Long-Armed Chariot:

This boss is slightly trickier. At around He will use the first Brainjack at around 80% HP, so if your MNK's have hate, they will become charmed. This will put you in a rather tricky situation, as you'll have your main tanks hunting you down. As if this wasn't enough, you'll also have a very anrgy Long-Armed Chariot hunting you. This is why having a few extra melees are good. Preferably, you want a NIN or PLD/NIN to provoke/flash the NM and tank him while your MNK's are charmed, while you have your other melees and RDM kite the other charmed people. If a BLM got charmed, you don't hve anything to worry about, as they won't cast spells while charmed. If done right, your two MNK's and 2 BLMes should get charmed, so gravity 1 MNK while you Bind the other to put them out of play, and let the BLMes run around. Luckily, Mortal Revolution doesn't cause hate to reset, so your MNK's won't have a hard time gettign hate back.

Battleclad Chariot

Here, your melees will play a far more important role. The MNK/NIN's will still tank, but your melees have to stand behind them to reduce the damage taken from Discoid. With around 6 melees which this strategy is based around, you shouldn't take more then 550 damage per person AT THE MOST, which is very handlable with a Storm Fife BRD, COR and RDM. This will give your WHM a total of 10 MP/tick refresh from the BRD, RDM, sanction and body piece, with another 1-4 from the COR, depending on his luck and skill.

Now, I have to head to bed, so ask me any questions you want about this strategy and Salvage, and I'll answer them to the best of my ability in the morning. And don't be discouraged if Salvage seems bad at first. It is possibly one of the most fun and entertaining events in the game once you get used to it.

Weakening the bosses

The bosses can be weakened by fulfilling the correct condition. For Long-Bowed Chariot, this is by defeating the 4th floor Rampart. By doing this, it will remove the Hate-reset of Homing Missiles. It will also reduce its damage to roughly 150-250, and it will also weaken the additional effect of Discharge and Inertia Stream.

The other bosses are somewhat unknown how to weaken, but it is supposed to be the same conditions, since all last floors have one or more Rampart that pops once the correct conditions have been reached.

[Makelith]

Very well written. This makes Salvage seem really interesting.

[Mai Ikari]

First time I've seen a list of mobs for people who just care about the important parts, very nice.


Though just one suggestion... Having only one MNK/NIN, because you replaced the other one with a PUP, makes for less than pleasant tanking, might wanna change your wording there. >_>

[Uzor]

Naw, you can replace a MNK/NIN with a PUP. Its rather easy to solo tank as a MNK on most things, as they're all rather weak. Later on when you're more unlocked, I sure hope your mages are enfeebling it and keeping you hasted. I wouldn't reccomend it for a boss run, but if you're just going after the NM's, it is very possible for a MNK to solo tank

[Mai Ikari]

Well boss runs is specifically what I was referring to, so... lol

[Uzor]

Well, yeah, could be hard with only 1 MNK on that PUP is mainly only good because you can send your puppet on him, and he'll keep himself alive rather well with his absorb weapon skill. So the WHMes won't have to keep him alive, while you still deal damage. I can imagine him being especially good against the Zhayolm boss. Equip him with magic defense attachment and the blink attachment, and he won't die while still reducing the damage people take.

[revrandlord]

shhhhhhh you might make pup an accepted job >.>

[Uzor]

shhhhhhh you might make pup an accepted job >.>

But it is a good job. A good PUP will actually outdamage most melees in Salvage <.<

[Mai Ikari]

But it is a good job. A good PUP will actually outdamage most melees in Salvage <.<

Which is, of course, because the PUP is up to 90% of his job functionality with a single JA cell. >.>

[Uzor]

Which is, of course, because the PUP is up to 90% of his job functionality with a single JA cell. >.>

Well, not really. The pouppet is under the same restrictions the master is under. If the master don't have magic unlocked, the puppet will be unable to to cast magic spells. Besides, without a ranged weapon, the puppet will be unable ot use ranged attack, and you also won't be able to use maneuvers.

Once a PUP have abilities unlocked, they'll basically act as 2 naked people with abilities unlocked. When he get STR unlocked, he'll act as 2 naked people with abilities and STR unlocked, etc. Which basically means a PUP will be roughly twice as effective as a naked person. That, offcourse, is only simplifying things, as the PUP alone won't deal as much damage as a naked MNK, but with his puppet unlocked, he'll deal more damage then a naked MNK.

This doesn't count 100% of the time though, as a completely unlocked MNK and a completely unlocked PUP will deal about the same damage in Salvage. However, the PUP have a slight edge, as the PUP can send his automaton to melee things with dangerous AoE moves, thus not becoming an MP sponge. So yes, PUP is quit usefull.

[Mai Ikari]

Well, not really. The pouppet is under the same restrictions the master is under. If the master don't have magic unlocked, the puppet will be unable to to cast magic spells. Besides, without a ranged weapon, the puppet will be unable ot use ranged attack, and you also won't be able to use maneuvers.

Once a PUP have abilities unlocked, they'll basically act as 2 naked people with abilities unlocked. When he get STR unlocked, he'll act as 2 naked people with abilities and STR unlocked, etc. Which basically means a PUP will be roughly twice as effective as a naked person. That, offcourse, is only simplifying things, as the PUP alone won't deal as much damage as a naked MNK, but with his puppet unlocked, he'll deal more damage then a naked MNK.

This doesn't count 100% of the time though, as a completely unlocked MNK and a completely unlocked PUP will deal about the same damage in Salvage. However, the PUP have a slight edge, as the PUP can send his automaton to melee things with dangerous AoE moves, thus not becoming an MP sponge. So yes, PUP is quit usefull.

Well, I stand corrected (never actually had a PUP in salvage before). Does the puppet's "gear" remain locked like the master's, or does he summon with full gear?

And I did know about needing a ranged cell, but... the things drop like candy and only RNGs require them, chances of a PUP being without a ranged weapon is almost nill.

Which means that with a ranged cell and JA cell, a PUP's abilities are 90% unlocked. You could probably make the thing tank if the <job> doesn't wanna spam hi-pots anymore. The other 10% (magic) should find itself unlocked by the time it matters.

[pchan]

1) PUP dont need anything to be good in salvage. They have the second best H2H skill in game.

2) Give them ability, he can pop his puppet. He can order it to attack/disengage. The melee puppet can autocure himself with cannibal blade. The puppet is not subjet to any restriction but max HP (and i bet MP), which seams calculated with respect to master's base HP.

If your rng/thf/sam have range u can give PUP a range cell but thats far from being necessary. It will enable maneuvers and repair. Also if u have the "all jobs"
boomrangs (cost 3,000 is) your pup can pull.

[Skaw]

1) PUP dont need anything to be good in salvage. They have the second best H2H skill in game.

Thats not saying much though, because they barely beat out Warrior for hand to hand skill. Which Warrior can easily make up and surpass PUP in effectiveness with equipment. A simple Hauberk/Haubergeon, staple WAR equipment, and you're literally on PUPs back in terms of offense with hand to hand. The only thing keeping the gap is Martial Arts. If it wasn't for the automaton being functional with simply unlocking Job Abilities, essentially turning one person in to two, PUP would be so far in the back of the bus in terms of effectiveness in Salvage.

[Rappa]

And I did know about needing a ranged cell, but... the things drop like candy and only RNGs require them, chances of a PUP being without a ranged weapon is almost nill.

And BRDs

[Mai Ikari]

Oh yea... BRDs... though technically they can just sing. (regardless, has the concept of ranged cells being less-than-difficult to distribute come across yet?)