Puppet Frame and Attachment for basic leveling.Follow

At the bolded bit first:
What frame you use for what situation is totally up to you. That said, many have observed instances where one frame has a distinct advantage over the others. Please keep in mind though that i am lvl 75 PUP and have been a while, what works for me and the views i have may/prolly wont be the same for you otw up. Just take my ramblings as an opinion and not fact for the way you have to do things.

* Valoredge(VE) is the solid melee workhorse frame. I use mine when melee dmg is what i'm after and the possibilty of AOE dmg is probable. This is the more durable of the frames imo, but there is a catch-though he will take dmg better than another frame, there is no fast way to quickly heal it outside of Repair and the merit-lvl ability Role Reversal. Later on this frame gains access to Cannibal Blade, kinda like combination of Spirits Within and Nether Blast; which can restore HP to VE in 300+ hp chunks.

* Sharpshot(SS) is the high spike dmg, low defense frame. I use this frame when high physical dmg is needed and hate will be centered on one or more actual tanks OR in situations where hate will be bouncing about and won't get a chance to park itself on anyone in particular(gotta be careful here, if SS gets and keeps hate in this instance, even using all the tricks you'll learn in time, poor fellow is prolly done for). For me i look at SS as a throwback to the RNGs of yesteryear. Melee up front for TP and then quickly unleash WSs, as many times as possible.

* Stormwaker(SW) is the mage frame. Depending on which head is equiped, you have access to a auto that behaves as any of the initial 3 main mage paradigm(RDM, WHM, or BLM). Just like the jobs they emulate, the three different heads can be used to adapt to many situations.

* Harlequin(HQ or harle) is the starter frame. You've had this frame since you were PUP1. Honestly, since the update i haven't had a chance to see how its been buffed, but prior to that after the initial lvls most PUP i've talked to never bothered with it much-myself included. Until i do play with it more, best to stop here in my view on it.

Taking the brief rundowns above, you have to apply them to w/e situation you find yourself in. There are no inviolate rules here and way too many factors to give definite answers. Some of the factors: what lvl are you?, what mobs are you fighting? AOE moves? Status inflicting move?, damge type weaknesses?, and any number of others. Goes back to what i said; you ultimately have to make the choice about frame use for yourself.


At the underlined bit:

If you are sure PUP is a job you want to play and play well, get as many as you can. I'm not gonna sit here and give you grief or call you names if you don't have every single attachment, but you really do need to get as many as you reasonably can. The ones available from NPC vendors should be first priority. Then target the cratfted ones or ones dropped by regular mobs, like say the Flashbulb. Lastly as you can afford them(in either gil or time to participate in the fights) the high end attachments-your turbo chargers, economizers, and condensers for example.

PUP has the highest non-refundable cost of any primarily melee job. Once an attachment is installed on the auto, its yours for good. So be very sure before you buy.

H.ope that helped some

Thats the impression I got when it came to pts. But I am slightly confused on last statement. I would imagine in solo/duo situation SS would cause alot of downtime without ability to heal.