Augmented relic+2Follow

This is what I have for them:
Pantin Taj +2
Pantin Tobe +2
Pantin Dastanas +2
Pantin Churidars +2
Pantin Babouches +2

Most of the information came from a translation of a JP magazine where the developers apparently dished on what all the AF2+2 augments actually did.

The real question is how does the Opti./Fine work?

Can we unequip the pieces once we Activate or does it have to be worn full time?

All of the Pantin +2 pieces do still have some use too, particularly for Spiritreaver. None of the pieces are OMGamazing though, and it's considerably less appealing if you rarely use Spiritreaver. I'm personally now 4/5 on the set, because I just can't yet justify the price for the body with today's Forgotten Hope prices. For the useful augments, it's pretty nice that PUP is a very good Dynamis soloist so the trials are quite easy complete on your own. Don't forget to pop an exp band, it counts on the trials.

My summary of the set:

Pantin Taj +2:
* NQ is useful as a nice idle piece, 2/tic master regen and puppet regen/refresh.
* Augment (Enhance Optimization, gives 1% pet critical hit damage and 2% magical crit damage per merit to a merit that a fully merited PUP should have at 5/5 no questions asked) is very worthwhile for Spiritreaver nuking - nothing else in the slot can compete. Less appealing for physical puppets given other options (Spurrer Beret, Anwig Salade for pure puppet pieces, Cirque+2 for situations where both master and puppet are meleeing), but it's better than nothing for puppet tanking if you don't have Spurrer or a pet-focused Anwig. It's even a decent Victory Smite or Stringing Pummel piece with STR+6 (though Athos and probably an Ocelomeh/Toci set are better)
* Priority: Mid-high, probably highest in the set (though I can't really justify calling any Pantin+2 piece a "high" priority like some of the best pieces for other jobs' relic+2 sets). Has an undisputed home in both nuking and idle sets. Get the augment ASAP if you use Spiritreaver with any regularity. Interesting that this may be the best piece in the +2 set for lv99 PUPs, but at 75 the Taj was easily the worst piece in the set.

Pantin Tobe +2:
* NQ is a nice piece if you're ever doing Valoredge-only stuff (tanking, pet-only DD/kiting), but that's a pretty niche use.
* Augment (Enhance Overdrive) is pretty underwhelming, just adds 20 seconds to a fairly weak 2hr.
* Priority: Low - probably the weakest piece in the set, it's only really useful for situations where you're using Valoredge to tank/DD and the master is not DDing. Not a very appealing upgrade especially given that Forgotten Hopes are pretty expensive (even if you farm them yourself, you have to ask yourself if you'd rather just bazaar the Hopes for a substantial chunk of gil that you could put to better use than this armor). Augment is lame, but at least it lets you store the piece with Porter Moogles.

Pantin Dastanas +2:
* NQ is a solid alternative to Cirque+2 hands for TP. Same haste, though Cirque+2 is clearly better from a master perspective (STR+6 AGI+6 DEX+1 Store TP+6, plus helps the set bonus). Pantin+2 does have a nice pet haste+4% that Cirque lacks though, and the augment is a useful one for melee (see below) which effectively just adjusts the damage split a little more in favor of the puppet if you're both meleeing. Clearly king in those less common pet-only DD situations.
* Augment (Enhance Fine-Tuning) adds crit rate+1% and magic crit+1% per merit, to a merit that a fully merited PUP should have at at least 3/5. Like the hat, no other gear in the slot will help pet nukes so it fills a unique niche.
* Priority: Mid. Probably the second best piece in the set behind the hat. Get the augment ASAP especially if you use Spiritreaver with any regularity.

Pantin Churidars +2:
* NQ is a piece for both a pet nuking set, and for healing with Soulsoother (fast cast, and M.Acc is nice to help stick enfeebles). Better for nuking than Cirque+2, M.Acc+9 is more useful than Skill+5. (thanks for catching my mistake Jinte!). Slightly inferior sidegrade to Cirque+2 for nuking, see my below post for more detail. Also a pretty solid Stringing Pummel piece with STR/VIT+4 both being WS mods, though arguably still not as good as the Acc/Atk+10 on Cirque+2.
* Augment (Enhance Ventriloquy) is fairly meh, giving bonus enmity to whoever (master or puppet) is gaining enmity from Vent, and giving bonus enmity- to whoever is shedding enmity. Since having more than 1 Vent merit is pretty pointless, it's fairly weak at any rate though.
* Priority: Mid-low. Augment, like body, is of practical use just to store the piece.

Pantin Babouches +2:
* NQ is a nice pet nuking piece, M.Acc+5/MAB+7 is probably best in slot. However, loses a little appeal since Cirque+2 is already an solid alternative for that situation (Automaton INT+13) that's also good for other reasons (WS, TP)
* Augment (Enhance Role Reversal) is better than nothing, giving bonus HP+50 per merit. Like Vent though, it's a bad idea for a PUP to have more than 1 merit in RR anyway so this addition is pretty minor.
* Priority: Mid-low. Like body and legs, at least the weak augment lets you store the piece.



Yep, you definitely do need to have the piece on. Doesn't work by just equipping when you activate the puppet.

Edited, Jun 26th 2012 1:33am by Anza

Thanks for catching my foolish mistake, Jinte. Cirque+2 legs are Skill+10 not Skill+5. Cirque+1 legs are skill +5. Go me...

But since I wrote it all out anyway before I realized I failed, might as well include the below summary of how skill and M.Acc compare in case it's helpful to anyone (or to correct me if I'm mistaken on anything):

(1) Magic Skill and Magic Accuracy both serve to reduce resist rates. For players (and I think it's safe to assume automaton magic skill works the same way), one point of magic skill is equivalent to one point of magic accuracy (wiki).

(2) Magic damage is not directly affected by magic skill, except that skill's effects on resist rates may improve damage solely due to a spell not being resisted. (From wiki "Elemental Magic" page: "Elemental Magic Skill lowers the resistance rate and spell interruption rate for Elemental Magic spells. It does not affect the damage of direct damage spells")

(3) Since puppets learn spells based on their automaton magic skill level, For 75PUP additional merits in Automaton Magic Skill were quite important because those extra skill points gave access to additional spells that we would otherwise not have had access to. At 99PUP, that isn't the case - our highest spell, Thunder V, is learned at 389 skill (obtainable at 98PUP even with no automaton magic skill merits or skill+ gear). Every point of skill after than only serves to increase M.Acc.

Therefore, at 99PUP, a point of magic accuracy serves the same purpose as a point of automaton magic skill. That means Cirque +2 (10 Skill) barely beats out Pantin +2 (9 M.Acc). More or less a sidegrade for PUP nuking purposes. Pantin+2 do have fast cast, which can be nice particularly if you're ever focusing on healing with Soulsoother.

Yep, very good to mention.

Probably not gonna beat Cirque+2 in any situation where the master is also meleeing (DA+3%, H2H Skill+5, and master Haste+1% > Automaton haste +5%). But definitely the new king for pet-only melee situations.