Spiral Knights - Nova Driver Vs. Hail Driver.

Nova Driver Vs. Hail Driver.

33 replies [Last post]

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 09:22

Rangerwillx

Recently I crafted a Cryo Driver, because I've been wanting a change from the regulur Gigawatt Pulsar. I have been totally loving my cryo, but now that I've heard.. did I make the wrong choice?
I heard that the Prisma Driver, does much greater damage, and it outclasses the freeze of my Cryo Driver, so, a simple question.
Is the Prisma Driver better?

Thanks for your help!

Note: Please do not post that the Pulsar series is better, I am only looking for responses to this question. Keep Pulsar out of this.

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 09:26

Goldmaker

No, Cryo driver is more

No, Cryo driver is more utility, Nova driver is a HARD DRIVER = its pure dmg.

Its a like a Utility Wep vs a Dmg wep ( Like shivermist vs Nitronome)

About dmg:
Yes nova dealts a lot more dmg.

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 09:36

Glowing-Ember

Cryo is not that great.

The Cryotech line is the only line of Alchemers that counteracts itself. It effectively has half (multiply by additional shots such as internal ricochets) the chance to cause status as all the other status-inflicting Alchemers. If you want crowd control, get a Storm Driver.

Nova Driver is very consistent, and very powerful. Its shots all have the same base damage as Polaris' expanded shots, and you can hit 4 times per clip on single mobs and up to 6 times on a group. It will never deal adverse status or just fail to work like the other elemental Alchemers.

Regarding Pulsar, it's not better. It's just shinier, so people think it's better. It demolishes group formations, leaving constant holes and stragglers, dealing less damage and actually making the room more dangerous for you in certain situations against large groups (such as in arenas). Not to say that it sucks, but it is far worse than most people give it credit, and very situational.

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 09:40

Rangerwillx

Interesting..

Hmm.. thank you Goldmaker, your experience with alchemers is very handy.
Anyone think that they could get damage tables on this? Just for Prisma I mean?
Edit: Got them.

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 09:42

Rangerwillx

Thank you.

Ah, before I posted my second post, I did not see yours Ember.
It is very annoying when I freeze the enemy then I have already clicked the button to unfreeze it.
Perhaps I should go Storm Driver.. I like the idea of a status. Then again, damage is what I am looking for overall..

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 09:41

Goldmaker

Yes i still remember the dmg

Yes i still remember the dmg tables ( i think)

Dmg+ Bonus ( Against Undead, construc, etc) + NO UV DMG

Depth 28 ( i think)
Status effect alchemer = 178 dmg
Nova Driver = 205 dmg
Umbra Driver = 205 dmg

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 09:44

Rangerwillx

Ah, it's only a mere 30 damage? I think I'll switch to the Shock version of alchemer, I have the CE saved up after all.
Thank you for your quick replies guys.

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 09:53

Goldmaker

Here Storm driver.. i dont

Here Storm driver.. i dont know the depth but its not 28 ( Becouse shock dmg does 30 in depth 28)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5QYdL0-jRM

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 10:06

Glowing-Ember

Storm Driver @ D28

http://youtu.be/DirBABwDuZE?t=1m1s

Note that his has Construct Low, so only pay attention to when he hits Undead. It deals 168 damage.

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 10:14

Goldmaker

So Status alchemer does

So Status alchemer does less.. thats wierd

Ok the dmg table its..

Depth 28: Bonus against "x"
Status alchemer : 157 or 158 ( i think.. i dont have a status alchemer *5 to test it)
Nova Driver : 205
Polaris: 190

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 10:16

#10

Glowing-Ember

Are you sure?

Are you sure that Nova Driver does more than Polaris' expanded shots? Because I recall that on the testing server I was using both without UVs, level 10, and they did the same damage.

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 10:18

#11

Chepo

nova / storm are probably

nova / storm are probably better in teams, whilefor solo Hail Driver is A-May-zing (but it can still be used in teams), its true that the ice can break at times, but that just means you're still dealing damage to the enemy, plus freezing enemies is extremely useful, (much more than shock since it completely locks down movement) and also thaw damage is significant. overall they're both good, but hail is cooler :P (no pun intended)

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 10:18

#12

Goldmaker

Maybe you are right

Maybe you are right Glowing-Ember the wiki its very outdated http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Polaris and http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Nova_Driver

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 10:28

#13

Glowing-Ember

Interesting.

Just confirmed via the test server (D1 of UFSC, D26 of the real game), no UVs or trinkets:

Storm Driver: 162
Nova Driver: 197
Polaris (Unexpanded): 162
Polaris (Expanded): 197

Thinking about it that way, you're actually doing quite a lot less damage with a status-inducing alchemer, excluding damage from the actual status.

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 10:38

#14

Rangerwillx

Wow, thanks!

Hmm.. Thank you all for the facts, and now for opinions. Do you think I should go with the Volt Driver or Prisma Driver?
Thanks a heap for all your help and testing!

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 10:48

#15

Somenubcake

i chose the volt line because

i chose the volt line because it matches my nameless poncho's colour lol... but looking at the damage i may as well get a nova line instead...

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 10:50

#16

Goldmaker

@Somenubcake Samething.. im

@Somenubcake Samething.. im green so i chose Nova... yeh its a BIG LEL !

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 11:02

#17

Raunwynn

magma driver!

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 14:37

#18

Abathur

I can confirm that Polaris

I can confirm that Polaris expand deal less than Nova. I got a 4* version of Nova and it deals already more than Polaris expanded bullets.

Then Nova deals much much more damage than any other status alchemer. But does the fire version not more with the dot? Or the ice version if you let the mobs break?? The point is: yes, but this damage does NOT get increases by tinkers or any other damage bonus.

So:
Damage Bonus: None: Status Alchemer > Nova Driver
Damage Bonus: Very High (2x ETS): Nova > Status Alchemer

I also heared that you rarely see a mob taking all burning dots or get the freeze damage. Freeze is more annoying because of not beeing able to bumb them away with shield. So only shock seems to be good with the interuppting but its so a huge dmg lose - i love to deal 300 damage per shot than 200 and some shock, fire or something else... Most mobs die anyway immediantely - imgae puppies, polyps ...

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 15:07

#19

Rangerwillx

Sadly.

I am also regarding for Firestorm Citadel here, so sadly Magma Driver is out of the question.
Currently I am leaning toward a Storm Driver, as I often party and shock would be more helpful for my team.

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 15:11

#20

Raunwynn

yeah, firestorm citadel

yeah, firestorm citadel invalidates fire.
it's so much fun everywhere else too.
graveyards with magma driver are the best!

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 15:15

#21

No-Thanks

Zelda

shock can prevent shield bumps too and it can make mobs less predictable, but it might have a higher dmg output in situations where zombies are close together

i like the sound of shock gun, while i prefer the bullets of the nova driver, they feel more consistent to me

also take into consideration how big the dmg difference can get, if a nova driver charge hits with multiple bullets in comparison with a storm driver charge
in kiting situations shock can be both good and bad, i prefer the nova cuz nothing could ever go wrong with it

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 16:04

#22

Somenubcake

i think the status alchemers

i think the status alchemers are better at pvp... not entirely sure

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 18:45

#23

Abathur

and why should they be?

and why should they be? anyone has ele def XD so in pvp there is just a go for the shadow alchemer :P

however i prefer nova by far due just do an awesome dmg and not have to deal passive damage with fire etc. also there is something you probably forget:

lets do this example:
nova would deal 200 and fire alchemer 150 + 5x 20 fire tics, just an expamle. so the fire would deal 250 and nova "just" 200. now, what about hitting a mob 10 times? nova would deal 2000 and fire alchemer 2500? *meeep* no. the fire alchemer just inflicts fire once and would deal 1500 + 5x 20 damage ... this means while a mob is burning, its NOT GOOD to hit the same mob again with the gun. you will decrease your damage output comared to hitting every mobs once. due not beeing able to control all your jumping-around-bullets you deal allways less damage over a time and to multiple and/or a single target. So damage is not what you require if you take fire alchemer. I guess the little buff from shock and ice aren't it worth to lose about 25% damage per shot, and this gun does many, many shots aswell!

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 21:46

#24

Somenubcake

no no i don't mean the damage

no no i don't mean the damage bit for pvp. i mean the status effects will be useful and therefore better for pvp

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 22:53

#25

Glowing-Ember

@Abathur

Either
a) Your Polaris is not fully leveled
b) Your Prisma Driver has a damage UV
c) You're testing in T2 where 5* weapons are nerfed

Sun, 10/16/2011 - 02:59

#26

Abathur

a) my Polaris is fully levels

a) my Polaris is fully levels since many months
b) my Prisma Driver has a low UV against mecha - true - forgot that, gonna test it against mewcats ^^ but i guess this "low" is like it would be 5*
c) every nerved weapon is still better than a not nerfed aslong it has been nerved due "not enough deep for this weapon". This means, a Needle Shot (3*) is in T2 still never as strong as a Blitz Needle (5*) in the same level. So you still can pseudocalculate the 5* var. And 4* is also "nerfed" at T2 :P

Sun, 10/16/2011 - 04:27

#27

Novium

165 Storm Driver + 30 shock=

165 Storm Driver + 30 shock= 195 dmg + moar cuz shock has an aoe effect
200 Prisma Driver.

Storm is a support weapon, it also really screws up mecha knights.
I personally use Storm, Shock is also rly useful vs cats since they clump together.
I say go for storm.
I also noticed that when an enemy is affected by shock you can get the shot to hit x3 on a single target as if opposed to 1 and rarely 2 on a single target.

Sun, 10/16/2011 - 04:49

#28

Ufana

Haven't used my storm driver

Haven't used my storm driver (which I loved) for a long time. Since the twins came out to be precise: polaris came into the game and prisma got a nice dmg boost. I either use prisma (as gunslinger) or polaris (as swordie/bomber). Those are just much more convenient in the long run, if you add everything up.

Sun, 10/16/2011 - 04:57

#29

Memento

Hail driver..

I'm a proud CTR:high Hail Diver user and I can honestly say it saved my ass a lot of time, since I usually go solo.
Playing in a party doesn't make it less useful. You just have to shoot at enemies not already targeted by other players.

Mind that ice is not meant to only damage. A prisma won't ever give you the satisfaction of blocking 3 enemies at once with one chaged shot.

And damn, Prisma driver looks ugly, while Hail driver.. snows.

Sun, 10/16/2011 - 06:30

#30

Raunwynn

magma driver! FIIIIIRRRRE

magma driver!
FIIIIIRRRRE

Sun, 10/16/2011 - 06:42

#31

Michaelb

In pvp someone creamed me

In pvp someone creamed me with a cryo driver, they did the charge over and over and I couldn't do anything.

Sun, 10/16/2011 - 07:32

#32

Goldmaker

I love my prisma becouse i

I love my prisma becouse i love OH-KO mechas, lumbers, turrets and other things =P
plus shock effect has 3 sec delay and fire 1 sec.

so only a magma driver does more dmg than a prisma if the prisma dont "recochet" ^^

Sun, 10/16/2011 - 07:53

#33

Bigfootm

Glowing Ember has it right.

Cyro driver has the ability to freeze enemies, but if the ricochet were to hit a frozen enemy, it would unfreeze it.

IMO of the ele alch guns:

Storm Driver>Magma Driver>nova Driver>Cyro Driver

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Nova Driver Vs. Hail Driver.