Spiral Knights - [Guide] FSC Swords Only Vanaduke Solo/Group Strategy

[Guide] FSC Swords Only Vanaduke Solo/Group Strategy

16 replies [Last post]

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 09:12

Exileddread

So the first thing you may think after reading the title is why use swords if guns are safer and faster (for solo play). That's certainly true but how fun is gunning the Duke after your 100th FSC run? Same ol' thing, right? With swords, it takes much more concentration, better timing, and most important of all, it's more fun (in my opinion). Hopefully more people that have dedicated themselves to swords will start actually using swords more often on Vanaduke instead of switching to guns.

Gear:

Feel free to switch anything out if you're heating, but be careful switching out Vog as you'll be on fire a lot if things go wrong with Vana like constantly charging, misclicks, etc.

Set: Vog
Shield: Barbarous Thorn Shield
Swords: DA/5* Brandish, Dread Venom (MUST), FoV (For trojans, slag mobs, you know the drill), AP (Wheelers/Turret Room easier. Can switch out.)
Trinkets: Elite Slash Modules

My friends and I have done testing with how much DPS swords do to Vanaduke. BTB/FF does the most followed by a Dread Venom close behind. The reason to bring a Dread Venom for solo is because you can circle around Vana and attack while moving in sync with the fireballs. This is very hard to do with a BTB/FF. DVS also helps the mask phases go by much quicker.

Vials:

This is easy. 3 health Capsules, 3 Remedy Capsules, 3 Stun Vials, 3 Mecha-knight/Shock vials/Poison Vials. (Mecha-knights are more important so switch out shock/poison for them)

Mecha-knights are a huge help because if you have atleast two and place them carefully at the start, they'll branch off and attack the two slag spawns to the left and right of Vana. This will allow you to dance with Vana as much as you please. The knights should survive after the phase 3 slags spawn then die after.

Strategy:

Most damage to Vanaduke's body will be done with a Dread Venom Striker. This guide is mainly focused on speed. Feel free to kill zombies before killing Vanaduke if you so desire.

Phase 1:

If you have any mechaknights, use them now. Charge your FoV for a nuke right at the start. After I charge, I usually throw a stun vial in-between where the slags spawn to knock both of them back. This gives me a lot of time to dps because the slags on the other side will have to reach around Vana to get to me. If any slags get close, shield bump them. If a slag is breathing fire on you, do not try to block it. You'll just get swarmed faster. Run up, shield bump the slag, then continue DPSing.

Phase 2:

As soon as you stop damaging Vana, grab some water and hit the mask with it right as it comes out. Once the timer reaches 1, run to the NW (this is where the mask will wander so it's faster) water spawn and hit it again with that. It should be over after the second water throw.

Phase 3:

Hands down my favorite phase. At the start of this phase I get an FoV charge ready to knock out 2 slags right off the bat. One usually lives but finish him off after. Finish off the rest of the slags before doing anything else. This is where the fight starts getting a bit tricky. It takes practice. What I do is douse 1 ball, then spin around Vana in sync with the other balls so that they can't catch up. You'll really have to keep an eye out for shadow fire. If any shadow fire spawns next to Vana, back out right away and douse it. Douse another ball after and get back to DPSing. If Vana charges at any point, you'll have to lure him back to the middle (You can get REALLY unlucky with charges sometimes). Just remember, douse 1 ball, get rid of fire next to Vana, and stay away from walls.

Here is a video that shows Phase 1-start of Phase 5. This is what happens if you get unlucky with charges. The run was still successful, it just took longer due to bad luck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAPcgLCDTMI

If Vana does nothing but charge you, just start putting out more fireballs and DPS him against the wall. Back out if a ball is coming up on you and dive back in when it passes. I didn't have my auto target set to a key at the time of this video. As others have already stated in the comments, make sure you use auto target with shift.

Phase 4:

Same as Phase 2.

Phase 5:

This is actually easier than Phase 3 if you think about it. Watch the video and see where I stand to spawn kill the first slag guard. Charge again and get the second one as it comes by. Douse one of the inner flames and ignore the outer flames. Be careful moving in to start spinning because those outer fire balls will sneak up on you if you get greedy. The rest is pretty much just spin2win.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzVMmMowhTI&feature=youtu.be

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 11:02

Golfdinger

Would ice vials or Glacious

Would ice vials or Glacious charge help setup for getting him in a loop?

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 11:48

Exileddread

Ice vials aren't normally

Ice vials aren't normally worth it because you can only freeze him three times, and it'll break after the first hit. Glacius usually unfreezes him after freezing because of Vana getting hit by multiple explosions, it's very random.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 12:02

Tengu

Are you at max damage? and

Are you at max damage?

and yea, looks like Vanaduke was doing some jogging in phase 3. heh

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 13:05

Tennis

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Nice guide, Ex. ^^

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 13:18

Exileddread

Yeah, I'm at max

Yeah, I'm at max damage/ASI.

Thanks Tennis. ^_^

Uploading the solo now.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 13:50

Exileddread

I'll be back in a few hours.

I'll be back in a few hours. The video should be up soon. Any constructive feedback both positive and negative would be greatly appreciated. I'll change the guide when I get back if there is any.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 14:24

Kattamoon

very good

I like your video, when hit vana or mask whit the dread evil striker use the auto aim, whit that whill evite taking damage whit the firebals. I will trate kill vana whit the same metod

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 17:32

Rangerwillx

Fantastic. Tyvm.

This is fantastic.
I've recently been attempting Vana with only swords in a team, and though we had our bad moments (getting trapped by slags, etc) I've found out it's not as hard as it seems, it's really fun and great if you're looking to try something other then the shiver/blitz strategy.
I'm definitely going to add a DVS to my FSC loadout, and just might craft Vog and purchase another FoV (with tokens) as well.

Thanks a ton for this guide, my next solo attempt I won't be using a gun!

Edit: As the previous poster said, you might want to try holding shift down for auto-aim during the mask phases, really helps.

Edit 2: Only watched your first video, >.< Didn't see you using AT there.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 15:06

Jaroche

This is probably the only

This is probably the only legitimate reason I can find to wear full vog cub for fsc lol. Very nice dude.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 17:23

#10

Exileddread

Thanks Jar you should give me

Thanks Jar you should give me free toupees.

No problem Ranger. It really isn't as hard as it seems. Like when you first think about it, the thought kind of scares you trying Vanaduke with swords for your first time since people are so used to being far away with guns and nowhere near him. When I uploaded the first video awhile ago, I didn't have my auto target set. It made the mask phase slightly slower lol. Thanks for reading/watching.

Good luck on your run Kattamoon.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 17:57

#11

Tengu

I dunno if I'm going to get

I dunno if I'm going to get max ASI and damage going down there, but I do have the equipment I need to make this work. As I'm always a bit laggy, I may try to get him to put his flameblocks up in the top of the room before moving on to the kill. I think the crucial function is to take out those knights. Whenever I've tried to do Vanaduke when not shivering, it's phase 5 and the knights that ruin the whole thing.

Sun, 02/26/2012 - 06:29

#12

Yfkeyoyo

awesome

Wow, really cool stuff. This gives me a reason to finally upgrade my Vile Striker too. :D

Sun, 02/26/2012 - 12:55

#13

Exileddread

Updated trinkets. I'm going

Updated trinkets.

I'm going to add in other methods, like BTB charge weaving. You can literally do it without getting hit, but it takes quite a bit longer.

You should definitely try it out Tengu. It's mad fun in groups.

You can't go wrong with making a DVS Yfke. It's a great weapon.

Sun, 02/26/2012 - 16:31

#14

Rangerwillx

Yeah, had my first successful (no revs, I mean) and fast sword-only group today, it's so much more fun!
We clocked in around 3-4 minutes, hoping to get faster. Also crafted a Vile Striker, and a BTS to replace my swiftstrike.

My planned set is Vog set, BTS, Voltedge, DVS, FoV, Electron Vortex, E Sword Focus module, and E sword damage module.

Been crafting a lot lately, need to upgrade a few items in there.

Think I should replace anything?

Mon, 02/27/2012 - 16:03

#15

Exileddread

Nice Ranger. It's a lot of

Nice Ranger. It's a lot of fun haha. You'll find it hard to go back to guns when you get very good at it.

That setup looks good but you don't really need the CTR for FoV. I would just go ahead and get another damage module for max. The rest of the setup is good as the core build is an elemental sword, DVS, FoV, and anything you want in the fourth slot.

Mon, 02/27/2012 - 16:37

#16

Rangerwillx

KK.

OK, that's what I'll try and get then, thanks.

It's a ton of fun, and I've noted that for some reason it's a ton easier with four people then three.

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[Guide] FSC Swords Only Vanaduke Solo/Group Strategy