lol pure bombing

BTB/FF shield canceling first slash, constantly backpedaling. It'll funnel them all in front of you, and you slashing at them will interrupt them. You must always be on the offensive. Trying to shield or outrun them will result in your death. It pains me when I see people trying to run away from greavers.

It also helps to use the keyboard to move instead of the mouse, if you are doing that. I've seen an alarming amount of people using mouse to move in T3 these days

They're not the hardest mob in the game, in my opinion.

I simply use a FF/BTB while back pedaling and shielding, doing the first attack only then quickly shield cancel.

They're not that hard, but I guess for bombers and gunners they might.

^ mob of gremln bombers: not too bad, but still a bit of an annoyance.
Also, unless you have shock resistance, you pretty much have to use a sword. The shock makes it impossible to charge bombs, so a sword or gun would be your best option. The only other way I can see is using a shivermist, and then alternating between that and DBB.

Dude "medium speed swords" are not "one weapon". Plus BTB is super common. And you get the Snarble Barb as a boss reward so it's virtually free.

If you HAVE to use a bomb, use RSS. But you really shouldn't be stuck with nothing but bombs, they take time to charge no matter what your setup is.

There's really no explanation needed. A greaver charges you? Slash it in the face! What else is there?

As a gunner, this is my game plan for Greavers:

1) Charge Blitz Needle while backing away from the Greavers. Pray that they don't attack me before I finish charging.
2) Shoot charged Blitz Needle into Greavers. Pray that I kill all of them (I never do, usually only killing one).
3) Shield the Greaver hit and then bump the Greavers away from me. Pray that they don't attack again immediately.
4) Repeat (Usually involves taking damage and then running far away in an attempt to find a safe place to charge the Blitz again).
5) Give up and slugfest them with my BTB which I keep as a utility sword.

* Optional step (this may be done at any point during the process): Die.

@Batabii
The first slash where you got the massive arc is what I mean. The second & third attacks have you dashing forward into the greaver pack when the point is to keep them all in front of you where the first slash's arc will hit them all and keep them disabled. You'll still die with this strat if you're surrounded after all.

Not sure what your point is about the arrow keys comment. My point with using the mouse to move is that you have to spend that much more time turning around and attacking when you use the mouse instead of just backpedaling using the arrow keys/WASD and the mouse to face backwards.

@Darkbrady
Oh. I didn't really think about bombs. You didn't really specify for a bomber set up, and since I'm a sword user it didn't cross my mind.

Yeah, I can see greavers being a massive pain w/o a sword. All you got is RSS/DBB and those take time to detonate. If they jump you you're kinda screwed, as you have pointed out. Better off hanging back and letting sword users handle them (if you're in a party). :|

Though you say you carry a sword anyway to back you up. You're just better off learning to use the thing, even if you hate it. Better to use a tactic you don't much care for than to die.

...And simply "Guy" will do. :p

@Sylvanius
I prefer skeet shooter and spork jabbed into the hardware. Maybe a steering wheel, but I'm not so sure...
@Thread
Shield when you see you're swarmed and dash out a sword here and there? Or a VERY FAST bomb (since they don't attack immediately after they had just attacked). I actually wish these guys were harder, but they're plenty fun for me.

@sylvanus wasd of course.
the worst is GUNNERS that use arrow keys, because it means constant spinning around to attack pursuing enemies instead of backpedaling and strafing. It's also kinda lazy.

@guy I didn't think of that. but I don't generally get surrounded by greavers, only blocked on one side.

@kalaina lol no strategy should involve so much prayer.

@darkbrady you really only need to slash, which sword isn't generally critical, and if you're already shocked no strategy would really make much difference. And greavers rarely spawn all at once in open spaces, they tend to appear behind walls and blocks. And again, maybe you should rethink your loadout if you don't have anything useful that isn't a bomb. I actually recommend getting a gun because it will help you beat most things that are hard to get close enough to to bomb, like gun puppies and lumbers, plus letting you hit distant switches without resorting to pots.

What guy said is right though, RSS is great with a bomber set up, all you have to do is set it, take one step back, and shield, and all 8 shots are virtually guaranteed to hit as the greavers rush right over it.

If you're hard pressed to use bombs, here's my solution. (Note: Swords are 'the' answer to Greavers, anything else is like trying to push a square block through a round hole.)

If you even slightly suspect that Greavers may spawn in the room you're approaching, have one of you (note this does rely on two people being there but you seem to be playing with your gf usually) enter the room. If Greavers do spawn, try to fight but keep the other player held back WAY back. Then if the Greavers die, good job and do a little dance.

If they don't die, and the one in the room dies, then the other can walk into the room with a charged bomb already and just bait them to it and kill them that way. Try not to pull too many if you can. This should give you the upper hand but regardless revive your partner BUT HAVE THEM STAY DEAD. Then just try to fight them, making sure to fight around your partner's corpse. If you die, have the partner rez, rez you (you stay dead), and fights the Greavers. Rinse and repeat making sure to abuse the invinicibility period of revival to charge up a bomb until either all Greavers are dead or you're both dead.

Note this method of reviving your partner but them staying dead til you're dead and fighting around each other's bodies could be used in any situation really. It's kind of the slow (VERY slow) and steady method of doings things.

With the long invinicibility time after revival doing this should work I imagine.

So that is my solution if you wish to keep using bombs and get surprised.

Too lazy to read every individual response so here's the gist of how you bomb against Greavers;

First and foremost we're going to assume you have Radiant Sun Shards. If you're a pure bomber then there are no ifs or buts, if you suspect Greavers are going to appear in the upcoming statum you bring RSS (Well if you're in a group you can instead use status bombs to restrict their mobility for your team mates, but I'll get to that in a minute). If you can see the Greavers up front, simply charge RSS place it as they get just into charging range, then step just behind the bomb so that when they come up to atttack you it is directly underneath them. Soloing and in smaller parties this will one-shot them flat-out, if it doesn't then simply repeatedly place RSS and repeat the strategy, the fast charge and fuse times on the RSS means you can get it off quick enough to kill even moderately large groups of Greavers; in fact RSS will often kill large groups with ease. Now if you end up in an area where the Greavers spawn around you and you aren't immediately prepared (Arena's tend to be a good example of this) the simplest thing to do is drop RSS as quickly as you can, shield their attacks, and then start RSS chaining. This shouldn't happen often though as for the most part you'll be spreading status in arenas ensuring that if they do spawn they can't effectively attack you anyway.

Going off of that last point, failing RSS status bombs ruin Greavers. Shivermist obviously locks them in place and enables you to walk right up and drop RSS on them if you aren't confident using it around moving Greavers, or you can use DBB/Nitro if you don't have RSS on you and being a crowd control bomb by nature Shiver also ensures that you won't be blindsided by anything else. Voltaic Tempest works similar wonders against Greavers; quite like Kats their mobility is restricted by it and although not as effective as Shiver you can use it to slow them down and then drop whatever DPS bomb you have on you (Or allow team mates to finish them). Although you likely won't be bringing it into the Clockworks, Stagger Storm is also extremely effective against Greavers as it not only slows down their attack animation but their movement and you end with a bunch of Greavers flying around in slow motion, which is honestly worth doing just for the entertainment value.

Now if for some bewildering reason you haven't got RSS, Shiver, Tempest or Stagger; maybe you ended up in a Fiend danger room in a stratum Greavers would never spawn in! You're going to need to rely on either Nitronome or DBB. Nitro is more effective since the knockback and faster use time means you can chain it with relative efficency and if you have chance to start chaining in advance the Greavers won't touch you. This of course would be dangerous in that particular example though as the Devilites would probably have a field day, thus you'll need to kite within Nitro and ideally eliminate the Greavers as quickly as possible. DBB works if you can kite them and can prepare it in advance, but unlike Nitro it lacks knockback and goes off slower which means it requires much more skill to effectively use it and this is why I wouldn't recommend it to someone whom is having difficulty with greavers in the first place.

TL;DR
*Radiant Sun Shards is your best friend
*If you don't have RSS, spam bombs that restrict their mobility!
*If you cannot do that either, Nitronome! Or DBB if you're a) Confident b) Don't have Nitro
*If you have none of the above, and also don't have a sword... well good luck (Also take better loadouts into the Clockworks)

I've had mixed results with my cryo.

Shoot a bullet, backpedal, hope it freezes, if they charge, raise shield and hope you shield bump them back. However, this strategy isn't great if there are more than a couple. I have had to backpedal pretty far in the past

Use your Striker non-stop, don't even shield!

I use a FF and shield cancel.

IMO, whats more important than the weapon is the shield. Against fiends, they are generally unpredictable and hit hard. Devilites in particular give you little warning and can hurt like hell. If you bring a Bristling Buckler against them, you can last for a few seconds, and then your shield breaks and you are screwed. A skelly shield, crest or any shield that has shadow resist IMO is a must.

Greavers? :D Moar plax.

So easy to kill with right weapon. You dont have right weapon? Make it. You dont want to make it? Die or deal with it and do other runs.
This game is about crafting and being ready for random dangers. Thats why we have arsenal stations on lvls so we can get ready for diffrent stuff.

All arguments here that claim that Greavers are too hard to kill are just silly. Doh, saying its bad that something lurks in corners and attack you in group suddenly? SK is fast peaced action game. You are in deadly world. Get ready for everything if no, just die. They are too fast? DOH, they can fly, they can go faster than running knights. They are meant to be faster.

Where this game is going to? Nefred zomgies, DONE. Nerfed wolvers? DONE Enemies dont move after spawning? DONE. Now its going to nerf greavers just becouse someones ego got slapped by them and they died and instead of taking lesson from it he just wanted to complain. What will be next? All Fiends?

This game will end up as one big Scuttlebot fest.

Also its intresting that those topics that some enemies are too strong are appearing just now. Guess why? Didnt we had recently big promo when ppl could get rich with real $$ very easly? Yeah, X-mass promo. It seems that in that time, many new players just bought their way into T2 and T3 by buying high star equipment without even learning how to play. They got owned there since they dont have skill or just bought stuff without thinking. And now? OMGOMG IMA ALL 5STAR AND I DIED. DAS THING IS TOO OP. OOO PLEASE NERF IT.

Asuka I realize the pain of watching Three Rings paralyze your pet Retrode right in front of you was very traumatic, but it's time to put the pitchfork down before you end up murdering someone over an imaginary complaint.

My preferred weapons against greavers are, by type...

Sword: Yes, the Snarble Barb line. You knew I was gonna say this. That said, I only recently started using it and its representatives...
Bomb: Freezing Vaporizer line. As others have stated in this thread, a greaver that can't move is a worthless Greaver.
Gun: ... Magnus through Callahan. Yes. Seriously. It hits with a wide enough impact to potentially halt multiple greavers in my path, and from a considerable distance. Granted, I have considerable luck getting greavers to back off and stay away most times, that I admittedly don't always have!

Asukalan, could you at least try to be helpful or constructive? Darkbrady wasn't calling for a nerf, he was asking for tactical advice, which is a pretty good use of these forums.

Stop being a jerk.

'Twas a dead thread, but it's worth necroing.

Unfortunately, the RSS was changed. Any reviews on its effectiveness against Greavers and Devilites would be appreciated; however, I'm quite sure it can't wipe out a large group of the suckers in one blast like it used to. Such a pity...

Much of what's been said here I'll summarize in one quick quip: The best defense against greavers is a quick offense."

With that being said, however, if you're familiar with the the general clockwork layouts and the where the spawn triggers are (The invisible line that cause enemies to pop up), priming a bomb before hitting the spawn trigger can be handy. Honestly, after having gone through a lot of clockwork tunnels, it's generally very easy to know when and where the enemies will pop, which can allow you prep and place a bomb before hand.

I recall one lovely moment in when I was running a Infernal passage when I came across an area that I was positive I knew where the trigger (And more, paranoid that Greavers would spawn). I ended up placing nitro just right when I hit the trigger, and when all the greavers swarmed me, the nitro went off at that exact moment. Now, I could have primed another nitro, but I actually transitioned to my Levi blade, and because of the high bomb damage (While lacking a boost in CTR), it was a satisfying clean-up with no scratch at all.

To be honest, I've enjoyed plopping one or two bombs (Usually solo) and then switch to my sword to hack and slash certain monster like silkwings, knowing that my bomb will provide some cover while against the mob surrounding me. I was very fond of doing this in wolver dens.

But I digress. Pure bombing is rather tricky VS the buggers, Michaeld's technique seems doable (Never tried it, but I assume it's been done). Regarding shard bombs, while I'll admit some tweaking needs to be done with them, but they do have their uses. Particular in against groups and longer fights (And occaisonally Shadowmane Stalkers). Part of the trick is chaining bomb explosions, which can usually be done my placing a sharb bomb close or around the circle of shards of the previous. If you got it set up right, greavers can often get hit quite a few successive times, though it's not easy to pull off.

That said, one neat trick is actually use the shard bomb and another one at the same time. Or rather have them explode around the same time, as the nice thing about the two stage shard explosion is that it gives you time to place the different bomb over it. For example, with enough CTR, you can place a DBB right when the first stage explodes; or, with proper timing, having them explode one after the other. Granted, you could just spam DBB, but that would be a constant explosion after each +2 seconds, where else this is can be a quick, rabid spurt.

Now I have no idea how effective this would be directly against greavers, since I haven't fought them purely with such a technique (Usually I do the double whammy during or right before a spawn wave). However, theoretically, you could use the blast-style bomb (DBB or nitro) to interrupt greavers in general, and then follow up with a shard chain, timing it in such a way that the first stage can help to interrupt the next attack. Or you could do it vice versa, using the blast bomb as a finisher.

Well that's all I have to share when it comes to greavers for the moment.

i just combo them with a triglav. the range and wide arc of the sword can hit the whole swarm and if done solo even the first strike can interrupt their attacks. IF they mamage to attack after the second hit, they would have been hit to a safe distance. if they go around you in a circle, you can use both your 180º slashes to hit the ones in the back. so i'm guessing a DA would be even better, right?