Spiral Knights - Making it Without Breaking it: The Guide to F2P Success in SK

Making it Without Breaking it: The Guide to F2P Success in SK

48 replies [Last post]

Mon, 06/11/2012 - 18:04

Subtleti

Last updated: 6/12/12

I've seen a lot of questions on the forums lately that revolve around real-life money -- when people need to purchase CE to be competitive, how can one get to 5* without taking months, etc. I'm here to tell you the obvious. SK is a free MMORPG, and you can access *almost* all the content without spending money [the exception, of course, being OCH, or Operation Crinsom Hammer. More on that later.] With diligence, patience, and a bit of skill, anyone can easily 5* in 1-2 months of CASUAL [keyword: casual] play, and without spending money on CE. My hope is to help guide players towards that direction with this guide, to help maximize the SK experience. The answers to the major questions: What weapon is the best? What's the best loadout for FSC/RJP/IMF/general clockworks? How do I make the most money? are all in here.

Joining me in this are Daiquiri, GM of Aurora, Fradow, fellow officer, and Spiral-Hipster, renown Lockdown player and general hipster. This guide will take you right around 30-45 minutes to read, depending on your reading speed. I've heard it before -- this is the great wall of China version of a "wall of text." Sure, you can skim it. But I'm not interested in wasting your time or my time by writing meaningless things, so keep in mind that everything in here is here for a reason. Additionally, the linked pages are really going to help you. Yes, it's more reading. Yes, it's more walls of text. But it'll REALLY help -- you'll have to take my word for it now, but you'll see.

The premise of this guide is to reach the endgame dungeon and best source of crowns, FSC, in the quickest manner possible. From there, you can easily build any item in the game, accessorize and build costumes with ease, and mass weapons and sets. Following this guide, you should get there in a month and a half -- all without spending a single cent.

Table of Contents:
1) What you'll need.
2) Understanding F2P vs. P2P
3) Starting Out
4) Finding your Focus
5) Tier 1
6) Pre-Tier 2
7) Tier 2
8) Tier 3
9) Appendix I: Maximizing Mist
10) Appendix II: Money without Energy
11) Closing Thoughts and other good links
12) FAQs
13) Revision History

It's natural to have questions as you progress through this guide. If I specifically say that I'll address it later, chances are it's a bit further down in the reading. Otherwise, feel free to ask the wiki, the new recruits forum [or the arsenal, if it's about gears], post a comment on this guide, check the FAQ, or even ask me in game! I suggest you send your question in the description of a friend request, as those are free, while standard ingame mail costs 25 crowns :). My IGN is Subtleti.

Additionally, if you have anything to contribute to this guide, please comment below! We don't claim to be the most knowledgeable knights in SK, and this is, without doubt, a community effort. The more, the merrier! :]

Mon, 06/11/2012 - 20:52

Subtleti

1) What you'll need.

There's only a few things this guide requires:

Patience. Your progress will be slow, especially if you have friends that readily P2P to obtain the gears they want, and extend their playing time.

Skill. The better you are at this game, the less you'll need to spend energy reviving instead of descending depths, leading to more money per day. Simple.

Diligence. You should set aside 1-2 hours each day to play SK and maximize the profits -- any less won't help you. You obviously don't have to play like it's required, but simply ensuring that you use your mist every day will help you get far.

Decisiveness. When you pick a focus, stick with it. Too often do people U-Turn and try another one before maxing one out, and that obviously leaves them a) not 5* in either focus and b) frustrated with their progress. You'll see what I mean.

A good, helpful guild/circle of friends. Your trip will be long, and you'll get lonely. A good guild/good friends not only gives you people to run with, but people to talk to and meet. SK, as most MMOs, is meant to be a social game, and a guild really helps maximize your social experience [and your overall SK experience]. Keep in mind that most guilds don't accept T1 players, so you may have to work on your character a bit before branching out to this part.

Teamwork.It gets lonely if you run by yourself all the time. Not only can teammates help you when you fall, without the cost of precious energy, but they make the game a whole lot funner to play. And, if you're the one ressing, you'll heat your items faster.

Maturity. Help other people, and they'll help you back. Piss off other people, and they'll be a lot less inclined to help you. It's simple, really.

In all honesty, these things are qualities reminiscent of any good SK player. It's nothing new, and it's probably nothing you don't already know. Still, common sense sometimes evades the best of us, and this is my means of preventing that.

Mon, 07/09/2012 - 00:17

Subtleti

2) Understanding F2P vs. P2P

Scan the first page of General Discussion and I guarantee you'll see a rage thread about this -- whether it's P2P raging about F2Ps being "cheap," or F2Ps raging about P2Ps being "unskilled", or both parties raging about the rage, it'll be there.

P2P, despite what it may seem, only grants a number of privileges to an SK player. By paying money, you can get:

Crystal Energy to run levels, trade for crowns, and build gear. [as opposed to Mist Energy]

An Elevator pass, which lets you go through levels without using your energy supply.

Operation Crinsom Hammer

Mist separation.

Occasional cool, nifty, cosmetic promotional items.

In this sense, F2P vs. P2P isn't really that big of a difference. F2Ps can do everything else, and are only limited by their mist, which [if you didn't already know] recharges at a rate of 100 every 22 hours [I think it's 13.2 minutes per mist?]. The only gamebreaker is the mist separation, which would give you 200 mist a day instead of 100 [split over two accounts], and the elevator pass, which will then limit your moneymaking by time, and not by mist energy. F2Ps can accrue the same CE, just with more time and more playing, and with luck, OCH will be available for trade soon.

It's worth noting that while every pack is simple currency, the Elevator pass instead grants infinite elevator access for a month, and is only limited by your playtime. If you're in summer vacation with nothing better to do, or are in any parallel situation that allows you to devote hours upon hours to this game, this is the thing to get. I'm of the opinion that it's the best use for money in this game, period: it not only preserves your mist, but lets you play more to enjoy the game as well and lets you join/leave levels haphazardly without worrying about energy loss.

This guide, nevertheless, is F2P oriented, and will assume that you do not buy any of these packs.

Mon, 06/11/2012 - 20:32

Subtleti

3) Starting Out

You'll start by designing your character. Make sure it's a name you like, and a nice set of proto and accessories. Proto makes an excellent costume, and many use it through their SK career.

Optimize your gears, and you should be able to crush the tutorial missions. Be sure to equip new gears that you get from mission rewards as you win them. For the most part, ignore the heat meter on these -- it's irrelevant, and you'll be changing gears a lot before you begin playing seriously. Instead, pay attention to all the things that Rhendron and the command prompts tell you -- after this, you should have a fairly good grasp on the game itself.

If you want to read more on game basics, check out these wiki articles:

Basics

Starting Out, SK Wiki

Leveling/gears:

Combat basics:

General umbrella questions can be directed to the New Recruits Forum.
Yes, it's a lot of reading, but you should read it all. And you'll have a lot of down time soon!

The remaining missions namely, the 2-1 and 2-2 missions, should teach you everything else you need to know about progressing in the game. Since these aren't tutorial missions anymore, you can always replay them to review.

Finish off these missions, and keep going until your mist energy drops below 10. Then, the game may prompt you to pay. If you have no idea why you can't play again, read this. Otherwise, just log off and take a note of the time. You'll be ready to roll again in 22 hours*. Be sure to maximize your mist (see point 9).

In the meantime, you can check out the Auction House, chat channels, forums, and keep reading this guide. Be sure to save your crowns, though -- you'll need them later, and the coming missions will grant you sufficient gears.

IMPORTANT: When you arrive at haven, you will be gifted a mist tank from Spiral HQ via in game mail. DO NOT USE THIS. Mist Tanks are most useful for reducing the crafting cost of gear, and they'll serve you much better later when you can earn much more money on a single mist tank.

*Note: If you can't play every day, which happens often, skip down to (9) and see some tips on maximizing your mist.

Mon, 06/11/2012 - 20:35

Subtleti

4) Finding your Focus

Sometime in these first missions, you should also try each weapon type -- guns, bombs, and swords alike. The tutorial sets you up with a bombing level specifically designed to play with bombs, which is nice, and you'll have your fair share of swords and guns from the mission rewards. The choice is pure preference, but in general, these are the properties of each weapon:

Swords: Highest damage gears, but only effective at close range.
Guns: Lowest damage gears, effective at long ranges.
Bombs: Moderate damage, limited drop rates [they can only be charged], AOE effects, unable to shield without charging [this goes without saying, but bombs can ONLY charge, which means your shield will be much less applicable]. Split between pure status-inflicting bombs, and pure damage.

It's important to pick with one main weapon type, and stick with it [at least for the duration of this guide]. The reason is that most of the best armors include buffs to only one weapon type [eg, wolver only grants sword buffs, bomber only grants bomb buffs, etc], so it'll be the most advantageous to maximize this buff by equipping many weapons of that type. More on that later.

If you haven't decided [and don't worry, it's a tough decision, I know], don't worry! You have all of the tier one missions to decide. The missions are fairly generous with granting one star gears, so be sure to try them all out and see what suits you best.

And, lastly, there's no reason that you absolutely NEED to limit yourself to one weapon type. In fact, hardly any player with multiple slots will do such a thing [a single gun amongst an array of swords ensures that you have a safe method of dealing damage when at low health, a bomb amongst a swarth of guns helps you deal higher damage or inflict status to many enemies while kiting them, etc]. But, starting out, what little money you gain should definitely be spent on weapons you can buff with your armor.

Mon, 06/11/2012 - 21:35

Subtleti

5) Tier 1

You have about ten more missions to go, ranging from crafting, grinding levels, collecting materials, and a boss fight [the snarbolax]. This will take you a couple days with a full mist tank on each day, but stick with it. Whenever you can find others to play with, do so, but keep in mind that people probably won't be running T1 missions for fun. Chances are, you'll be solo, which will make you lonely and sad [unless if you're already lonely and sad! kidding.] More on this later, but for now, as said before, stick with it.

You should try and conserve all your energy for use on the mission elevators. That means, for the most part, it is best if you don't die in these missions. While you should be okay, as long as you gear appropriately*, it's best to only energy revive if absolutely needed or if it's energetically advantageous [eg, reviving for 4 when you're on the second level of a mission and have already spent 20 energy on elevators]. Use your discretion, and for the most part, practice taking minimal damage. The best Spiral Knights play defensively, and especially in solo, it's good to practice this. This will save you a lot of money in the long run, when the energy revive costs start higher and double. More on this here. Additionally, you'll also want to become well acquainted with the guild map, which will tell you how many levels the dungeon is. Make sure you have enough energy to pay for all the elevators! You don't want to go halfway and run out of energy -- you won't get credit for the mission, and you'll have to spend another 10 energy to redo the level you just completed.

If you're short on materials for the material turn-in missions, rather than repeating the missions for 10 energy, go ahead and use the Auction House. The Auction House is basically an exchange where players can sell materials, items, recipes, accessories...pretty much everything! For more, check out this. It's probably best to search by the lowest buyout and just buy the materials -- they shouldn't cost too much.

During these missions, be sure to try all the gears that are given to you. Tier one is the most experimental stage of the game, and your mission rewards includes heavy swords, lighter swords, three shot guns, two shot guns, blast bombs, and more. Finding your ideal armament is crucial in this stage, and will help you a lot later in game. Be sure to use both the charge attack and the normal attack! Some weapons will have more useful charges than regular attacks [eg. calibur], so keep an eye out for these. Practicing different combat strategies would also be able to help you out. Have a look at the following tactics:

Shield Bumping

Shield Cancelling applies to all kinds of weapons, and is a nice trick to reducing cooldown.

Shield Charging, beginning a charge straight from having the shield activated.

Heavy sword tricks; apply only to heavy swords, and help you maximize your damage potential.

In general, avoiding combos and playing very defensively with shield bumping and cancelling [no matter what weapon you use] is a good way to minimize damage taken.

You should also try and observe the monsters you fight. The monsters will remain the same in terms of attack patterns and whatnot, but will be powered up and statused in later levels, so getting a hang of each monster's strengths and weaknesses will also help later.

All in all, the goal for this part of the game is energy and crown conservation -- the more you can do with your energy per day, the better, and the more you save up, the better.

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On your final set of missions, you'll see a mission called "Lair of the Beast." Be sure to save this one for last -- the other missions before it will grant you useful 2* gear [your first 2* gear] that will help you during this lair.
You'll want to save about 40 mist energy, just in case if you need a couple revives, and travel in a party. This level is popular for rising knights, and you should have a much easier chance finding a party in this dungeon than the other missions. If you can't, don't fret! The dungeon is soloable, and comparitively not that hard. For a bit more info, check this out. If you're having trouble beating Snarbolax, have a look at this.

Your Calibur and Blaster should be able to take care of the entire dungeon. If you want an additional edge, you can look into the Auction House for a Wolver Cap, Wolver Coat, and/or Flourish. These items are all 2* and should be well within your budget -- the prices are right around 1000 crowns per piece, so search accordingly. These gears will help you soon anyways, so they're worth investing in. If you haven't seen the Damage Types page yet, now's the time to have a look -- most of the things in the dungeon are weak/neutral to piercing, so the flourish will give you a great edge, so long as you supplement it with a normal weapon for the constructs! Whatever new gears you do decide to get, keep in mind that AH is the cheapest way to get them -- vendors are horribly overpriced, and you should not craft anything below 3*!

Upon defeating the boss, you should find that you have four Frumious Fangs in your tokens section. Frumious fangs are your first boss tokens, and are exchangable for gear. For more info, see Tokens. With the culmination of that, you should be awarded another mist tank (which you should save), and access to new missions.

Sun, 07/08/2012 - 23:53

Subtleti

6) Pre-Tier 2

Tier one is essentially the warmup/experimental phase of the game, and with it's culmination, the "real game" starts. Monsters will be more deadly, and deal different types of damage. Traps will be more potent, as will status, and without proper gear, you can die within seconds. You will be powered up as well, and you will be exposed to many different lines of equipment that can be upgraded all the way to endgame gear, and on top of that, it must now be bought or crafted -- you will not be able to get weapons from mission rewards anymore. Missions will have more levels, take more time to complete, and will be overall more challenging.

As such, it's in your best interest to be sure you're completely ready for T2. You should have a full 2* set [weapon, shield, helm, armor] from completing the T1 missions, but now you may want to specialize: the normal weapons are mediocre in T2, and the cobalt armor line is nothing special.

A) For starters, I highly recommend you run the Snarbolax Mission to completion two more times. This will not only net you around 4000 crowns, but you will also end with 10 frumious fangs, just enough for one boss token item. Save these for now, because...

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B) You should decide on your primary gears now. After Tier one, you should have ample exposure to the different types of weapons available. Between bombing, gunning, light swording [3 strike swords], and heavy swording [2 strike slow swords], you should now make your choice. For the most part, choosing what seems funnest is a good way to go. You're not in the stage of the game where changing gears will horribly debilitate you, but it'll still hurt your wallet.
Once you've chosen, you should do research, and map out your final gear plan. Some good sources are:

Wiki Swords, Swordmaster guide, Wolver line gears.

Wiki Guns, Gunning guide, Gunslinger line gears

Wiki Bombs, Bombing guide, Demo line gears

The Arsenal forum and the search bar, which will probably find you topics about weapon A vs. weapon B, "best loadouts" and whatnot. Keep in mind that most weapon comparisions have probably already been asked, and use the search bar for instant answers.

Bopp's Swordmaster guide, which is an amazing resource and essential read on sword comparisons.

The Master Gunslinger Thread, which contains testimonials about most guns and their eventual utility

Fallout's Elite Bomber Thread

Shieldbearer guide

There's a whole lot to peel through there, and it'll take you a while, but doing the work up front will save you loads of time and money. Again, the best judge of preference is yourself, so if you have any doubts, feel free to spend some money browsing AH and buying the 2* variants of different weapons to test out. Keep in mind that some popular weapons are boss-token only, so you wont' be able to play with them yet.

This guide is focused on reaching the endgame and maximizing moneymaking abilities in the shortest time. Therefore, I will direct you to gear that is good in the Firestorm Citadel, Ironclaw Munitions Factory, and Royal Jelly Palace, the T3 and T2 bosses, respectively, which rain crowns. While you'll undoubtedly want 5* variants of each damage type weapon, elemental damage is the priority, with fire resist and shadow/elemental defense next.
For the purposes stated above, I suggest:

Swords: Elemental Sword, sidearm, Grey Owlite Shield/Barbarous Thorn Shield, Vog Set [wolver line]
Guns: Blitz Needle, Elemental Alchemer, Grey owlite shield, Shadowsun Set [Gunslinger line]
Bombs: Radiant Sun Shards, Shivermist Buster, Grey Owlite Shield, Volcanic Demo set [Demo line]

These gears all give very relevant bonuses and will be effective in the endgame dungeon, FSC, which grants a whopping 7,700 crowns per run. With that source of crowns secured, you'll be able to build anything.

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C) With your first endgame set figured out, you should purchase the 2* lines that precede your gear set. Ideally, you'd have a shield, an armor set, and two weapons [either both different types, or one normal one typed]. Remember those 10 frumious fangs you collected earlier? Now's the time to use them to get gear. You can choose whichever you feel suits you best, but for the most part, I suggest:

Swords: Bristling buckler [with Frumious Fangs], Wolver set, 2* Flourish, 2* Brandish, 2* Blaster
Guns: Full Cobalt [save crowns for the 3* gunslinger set], Owlite Shield, 2* Prismatech Alchemer, 2* Shadowtech Alchemer, 2* Snarble Barb [frumious fangs] OR 2* flourish
Bombs: Full Spiral Demo, Owlite Shield, Calibur*, 2* Spine Cone [Frumious Fangs]

*Bombs increase in radius as their star level rises. That means that the tiny 2* blast bombs are hardly worth using. Instead, a normal utility sword [calibur is the best, for the charge attack] will help greatly in the beginning. This will be switched out as you proceed.

You should have enough money from your Tier one escapades to complete these purchases. DO NOT USE THE SUPPLY DEPOT OR THE IN TOWN VENDORS. They will try to charge you either 100 energy or 7500 crowns. INstead, look for good deals on AH, check trade chat, or have a look at Raisinfist's New Recruit store, which offers 2* gears at great rates. Great prices are ~1k crowns.

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D) Socialize.

I suppose this isn't necessarily a pre-T2 requirement, but it's definitely important to socialize in order to move forward in the game effectively. Not just does it keep you from being bored [which, lets face it, happens], but it also gives you a number of other players to play with, saving you energy [so you don't have to revive yourself with mist when you die] and time [as you kill things more efficiently]. Remember, parties only reduce the number of materials you get -- heat, minerals, and crowns are added to everyone's inventory.

The number of people you can meet randomly just by talking in haven or playing missions is extremely limited at this time, in no part due to the fact that 90% of the endgame playerbase only runs FSC. Joining a guild, then, is a good thing to look into at this stage of the game. Guilds let you meet many people and gives you your own chat channel for talking [probably the most useful chat channel, IMO], so there's really no downside to joining a guild. Just remember to abide by the rules, and your own conduct of respect -- guilds are about having people to play with, not about hearing beggers over guild chat or being insulted. IMO, the right guild will not just get you to the endgame faster, but give you more to come back to in SK and overall enhance your SK experience. You may not be able to get into the large, elitist guilds quite yet, but there are plenty of guilds that happily recruit with no consideration of gear and offer vibrant and strong communities. The Guild Recruitment forum is perfect for this, and it's as much a judgement of potential recruits as it is a judgement for guilds and what they stand for.

With that, it's on to the meat: missions!

Sun, 07/08/2012 - 23:46

Subtleti

7) Tier 2

This is where it gets fun. Your first three sets of missions will be about typed monsters, and their weaknesses/strengths. Plan accordingly: swordsmen should use the flourish extensively. Gunners should follow suit, as the piercing guns begin at 3*. Bombers can test the 2* spike bomb, but in the end, the calibur may serve better. Bombs take levels to become effective, and a utility sword helps greatly. For the others, the normal brandish and calibur lines will do well until fiends. Gunners should carry two typed guns at all times, to maximize damage [I suggest the two alchemers, elemental and shadow]. When possible, be sure to use the relevant damage types to maximize damage -- this is especially important for gunners, who do not have high damage to start.
Otherwise, these missions are fairly straightforward, and it should not be a large issue moving through them as long as you play carefully. If you, at any point, dislike your playstyle/wish to try others, it's not too late to change. But, it will impede your progress -- you should be saving every crown you get your hands on to build your more advanced gear.

Prestige Missions, which you'll have access to, are barely worth their time for crowns and heat, so I would suggest ignoring them completely at this point in the game.

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Eventually [after 3-4 days of T2 missions], you should arrive at the Rank 5 missions. This includes a number of new missions, including the 3* Hall of Heroes and the Sovereign Slime, your second boss. Complete the other two missions, and then proceed to the Hall of Heroes.

If you've been keeping up with the Crafting tutorials in the missions, you'll know that to reach 3*, you'll have to find 1) a recipe, 2) 200 energy, 3) various materials, and 4) 1000 crowns, cash. The Hall of Heroes missions, as you may have noticed, would provide you with almost every recipe in the game [the exception, of course, being boss token weapons]. When you arrive at the 3* Hall of Heroes, you will hopefully have enough money to upgrade at least one item. I would suggest you upgrade one of your weapons, but rather than craft, buy the weapon off the Auction House to be more cost effective [using mist on crafting can set you back ~10k crowns from boss missions, as shown in (9)]. In general, the priorities for crafting are: Weapon [more damage helps you farm faster] > Shield [your first line of defense] > Armor [you should be trying not to be hit much anyways, so armor is mostly for status resists and bonuses].

As a swordsman, I would suggest making your brandish into either a Nightblade (Shadow) or a Fireburst Brandish (Elemental). The Nightblade will help you in the coming boss fight a little more, but the Fireburst Brandish is definitely still usable and effective -- plus you will not need to make one later!
As a gunner, I would suggest building a 3* Shadowtech Alchemer MKII. Save any additional funds for your armor, which will need to be bought off AH, or for a Magnus [3* Piercing gun]. Magnus will help you little in the coming boss fights, however, so prioritize the armor.
As a bomber, I would suggest building a 3* Tempered Calibur and a 3* Firey Vaporizer MK II. Sorry, blast bombs still aren't good enough to be made primary weapons at 3*, especially in the coming fight. The Fiery Vaporizer MKII can teach you essential kiting and give you a feel of haze bombing, while also providing a consistent DPS to aid the calibur. You'll do exceptionally well with this combo, albeit having to build two 3* items instead of just one! If you can only build one, I would suggest calibur; other 3*s will come quickly after mastering these levels :].

With at least one 3* weapon and other T2 gears, it's time to tackle the Royal Jelly Palace. This dungeon is probably the best source of crowns in T2 [and equivalent to the Roarmulus twins run, which unlocks two sets of missions later]. You will become extremely well acquainted with these levels, and run them repeatedly for both heat and crowns, as opposed to progress. Fortunately, many other people will be doing this, giving you ample access to real party playing experience, even without a guild or solid group of friends. Still, the plus of having your own friends is that you know if they're skilled/unskilled. Random parties can flop either way -- on one hand, you may find yourself with a number of endgame players that blitz the level so quickly that you barely see the jellies spawn, whereas other parties may contain plenty of 2*s that do not operate well on the field. It's smart to friend skilled ones [they'll additionally be at the same point of the game as you are, to give you a buddy to run with!] and build your network from there.

The palace itself is not entirely difficult, but do be careful of the lumbers and gun puppies, which deal heavy elemental damage. JK himself can be hard, as he can deal massive damage with his attacks and heal himself with mini jellies. Your best bet is to rush him and shield cancel away, stopping to tank his attacks. I would, however, not suggest fighting JK with an unprepared/undergeared party or solo at this time -- he can probably outheal your DPS in those instances.

The trick to not being overwhelmed when fighting him in 2* gear is using vials like fire, poison, shock, and curse [especially curse] can deal additional damage/stop him from healing, so be sure to collect these! Stun can additionally slow him down. You will not find much utility for freeze, sleep, and remedies, as he does not inflict any status.

If you can't kill JK immediately, don't worry. Instead, take your time and focus on collecting crowns [see maximizing profit (9) for crown drop rates]. You're stuck on this mission set until you fully 3* your gear to pass the Hall of Heroes, and that will take around a week of grinding RJP for it's ample crown drop rate.

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Before continuing to the second half of T2, I would suggest expanding your arsenal to include one of each specialize damage type [piercing is terrible in RJP, but it will come in handy in the missions immediately after. to conserve time, make it the last thing you build]. That would be one armor set, one shield, and three weapons -- something like this:

Swords: Dusker Cap, Dusker Coat, Horned Owlite Shield OR Twisted Targe* [you have to buy this recipe from the clockworks], Elemental Brandish, Nightblade, 3* swift flourish
Guns: Gunslinger Hat + Gunslinger Sash [buy these from AH for ~15k apiece], Horned Owlite Shield, Shadowtech Alchemer MKII, 3* Elemental Alchemer, Magnus (Buy from AH) OR 3* Swift Flourish/Twisted Snarble Barb*
Bombs**: Fused Demo Helm, Fused Demo Suit, Horned Owlite Shield, Tempered Calibur, Fiery Vaporizer MKII, Sun Shards

Remember that buying off AH will not use your mist, and is thus probably the more effective way to obain them [you can then vendor your 2* equivalents, for more money]. Each of these sets will cost around 75k crowns. That sounds like a lot, but it's only a bit more than a full week of misting. Stick with it, and be patient. It'll pay off having one of each specialized weapon in the long run.

*Being a boss token weapon, the recipe of the Twisted Snarble Barb/Twisted Targe are not sold in the normal HoH. Therefore, it's advantageous to go with the flourish, which will have readily accessible recipes up to 5*. There's no substitute for the Twisted Targe, however, and that's one shield that's absolutely worth building for swordsmen/women.
**Bombers are the odd ones out here, having no shadow bomb and only a boss-token pierce bomb. The normal sword is there to offset those difficulties. The Fiery Vaporizer MKII is the most reliable party-friendly source of bomb damage at this stage.

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Congratulations! By this point, you've bought six 3* items: a shield, helm, armor, and three 3* specialized weapons. With these, it's time to move on from JK. Finish off the 6-X missions, which will run you through IMF and the Roar Twins, the second boss. With your character fully decked out in 3*, you should have no problem blitzing these missions -- just remember to play it safe, and use weapons that deal critical damage to the enemies. There's not much else to say about these missions, except that each one should give a surprisingly decent number of crowns [though still not as much as boss stratums], and that it's worth saving them for your 4* upgrades.

You'll be at IMF (mission "Built to Destroy!") before you know it and the 4* Hall of Heroes. From here, it's rinse and repeat again. You need to build 4* gears to proceed, and this time [due to unbind fees], crafting is magnitudes cheaper than purchasing. The total cost of making a 4* item is level 5 heat on the 3* precursor [not a problem for you, considering the grinding you're about to undertake], 400 energy, various materials, 2500 crowns, and a recipe that costs 10,000 crowns. That's a total of around 60,000 crowns per item [with today's 100 CE/8k crowns prices], and the most aggrivating part is that you're gain rates are almost identical to the 2*=> 3* upgrades.

Be patient. This part takes time, and can get boring. You'll grind most of your mist away for crowns to exchange for energy, and your progress will be slow in comparison to the speed you fully 3*ed. The only advice I can really give is to 1) maximize your mist, 2) focus on upgrading items one at a time [so you can heat them while you work on your other ones], and 3) take advantage of the mist tanks in your crafting -- after emptying your mist on runs, you can pop a tank and craft a 4* item, giving you that item and saving 100 CE. If it's any consolation, this is the point in the game when you'll become good. You will master these two dungeons, and spell death for the bosses that reside inside.

To generate more revenue, sell boss weapons to the vendor. The cheapest weapons from JK are 15 tokens [approximately 5 runs], and sell for 3500 crowns. IMF tokens, on the other hand, should be used to buy pulsar, a sidearm of debatable ethics but unrefuted power. This gun will benefit swordsmen, gunners, and bombers alike, but CAN reduce overall party DPS and will probably piss off teammates, so use with caution. I'm not going to get into the details, but have a look at this to see the drama it causes.

Once you surpass the bare minimum for HoH advancement, feel free to move on. However, you should plan on 4*ing all your weapons before getting too deep into T3. Based on the order of missions in early T3, you'll want a piercing weapon first, a shadow weapon second, and an elemental weapon third. Your ultimate goal, then, should be to end up with a setup that looks something like this:

Swords: Ash Tail set, Wise Owlite Shield OR Dark Thorn Shield, Grand Flourish, Avenger/Blazebrand/Blizzbrand, Silent Nightblade
Guns: Sunset Set, Wise Owlite Shield, Mega Magnus OR Grand Flourish, Elemental Alchemer/Pulsar/Silversix, Shadow Driver/Blackhawk
Bombs: Heavy Demo Set, Wise Owlite Shield, Fiery Atomizer, Ascended Calibur*, Radiant Sun Shards

*A sword will still help greatly until you can reach the 5* HoH, where you can finally make the transition to full bomber. If you don't want to, though, you may leave it at 3* and rely on fiery atomizer for solid DPS. Be warned though, that this could be hard, and remember that you can always upgrade it if you need the help.

On that note, it's T3 time! You'll receive your final mist tank, which I would suggest saving for crafting, but it's up to you.

Mon, 06/11/2012 - 18:29

Subtleti

8) Tier 3

Reserved!

Mon, 06/11/2012 - 21:16

Subtleti

9) Appendix I: Maximizing Mist

This appendix offers a couple guidelines on maximizing your daily mist, whether you play or not.

A) Playing
Playing will, without a doubt, will earn you the most crowns per day out of 100 mist. Here are a combinations of runs, sorted by clearance, that will net you the most profit:

Assumptions: FSC = 7.7k crowns/run, 8.4k with boss; JK = IMF = 2.2k w/o boss, 2.6k w/boss

Tier 3 Clearance

100 mist = FSC (50) + FSC (50) = 15400 + 6,000 [assuming you sell 30 vana tokens for 30k] = ~21,400 crowns

100 mist = FSC w/o vana (40) + FSC w/o vana (40) + RJP w/o JK OR IMF w/o Twins (20) = ~17.5k crowns

100 mist = FSC w/o vana (40) + FSC w/o vana (40) + Prestige (usually 20) = 15,400 crowns

Tier 2 Clearance

100 mist = 5x RJP w/o JK OR 5x IMF w/o Twins [or any combination] = 11k crowns

100 mist = 3x RJP or 3x IMF + one energy revive + 5 mist = 7.8k crowns + either 2100 [assuming you sell 15 JK tokens for 3500]
or 3/5 Pulsar*

100 mist = 4x RJP w/o JK + Prestige = ~10k crowns

Tier 1 Clearance

100 mist = 3x GW + 2 energy revives = about 5.1k crowns

100 mist = 5x GW (without snarbolax) = about 8.5k crowns

*Pulsars sell VERY well on AH, usually fetching around 25k. Remember it DOES take 200 energy to unbind [whether that's 100 mist 100 CE, or 200 CE, it's your call. the profit margin is still decent].

Note 1: Notice that most of these dont' account for energy revives -- if you need them, plan accordingly or bring a friend/friends to offset that cost.
Note 2: These are just numbers. I advise you be the one to choose for yourself which one is the best for you [whether you're bad at killing bosses, don't have a lot of time, are having difficulty in vana, etc]
Note 3: This assumes you kill every enemy you see that drops money. In general that's a good practice: since you pay to play the level, you may as well get the most out of it.

---

But, there are those days when you don't have two hours to devote to SK, or just simply feel lazy and don't want to kill things [it happens]. That's okay, but that's no excuse to let your mist go to waste. Without playing, there are really only two ways to make money [and do not underestimate them: you can cover your CE cost for a 5* item in just over two weeks without doing a single mission!]:

1) selling trinket/weapon slots, or
2) ragecrafting 2*/3* items

Ragecrafting will generally make less than selling slots, but it will give you chances at finding UVs [approximately 1/10]. Some extremely desired UVs [namely, ASI and CTR increases of med, high, or VH, or armor highs/maxes of shock, fire, normal piercing, shadow, and elemental] will be worth tons of money and could potentially give you your 5* funding overnight. Still, those are one in a million (or one .125% chances, actually**) of striking it big. Normal weapons/meh UVs can be AHed for fair prices; two 2* weapons will usually make you about 30-50 CE on uncommon weapons, and only around 20 CE on commonly ragecrafted items. See a list below**, and remember that you can always price check on the Bazaar section of the forums to see what your loot is worth!

Otherwise, buying slots with 100 mist will use mist as well as CE to purchase the slot -- that is, a weapon slot becomes 150 CE and trinket slots become 50 CE. You can do this for your own use, or you can alternatively sell for profit -- generally, weapon slots can be sold on AH for ~200-220 CE, and trinket slots are around 100 CE [yes, weapon slots give a little more], giving you at least 50 CE profit. This is a more consistent way of making money, though you don't have your chances of jackpot as in ragecrafting.

**List of items:

Commonly ragecrafted [will net you less profit on normal/meh UVs***, but you can really cash out on good ones]:

Wolver Cap [Shock, Fire, and Piercing are the most valuable]

Wolver Coat [Shock, Fire, and Piercing are the most valuable]

Flourish [ASI only]

Brandish [CTR > ASI]

Autogun [CTR only]

Calibur [CTR > ASI]

Uncommon but still sellable:

Alchemers [CTR > ASI]

Spiral demo helm [Fire and Shock are the best]

Spiral demo suit [Fire and Shock are the best]

2* Shards [CTR only]

Plate Shield [UVs don't really matter for shields, and none will sell exceptionally well]

Pretty much every 2* armor set but cobalt [gunslinger is 3*]

Gunslinger Hat/Sash [3*, and worth fairly good money considering the 100 CE additional investment]

Magnus [ditto above]

Do not craft for the UVs****:

Spur [just...no]

Cutter

Blaster [unsellable because it's given for free, though good ASI UVs will still be worth a nice amount]

Owlite Shield [Shield UVs are useless, and that's a well-known fact]

Blast/Status Bombs [The only one that matters is CTR, and that's raaare. bombs additionally do not sell spectacularly, except Shards]

Troikas [they need a buff]

Cobalt armors [given for free]

***Sometimes you might end up selling them for less than 750 crowns, so it's additionally possible to vendor the non-UVed ones to save the AH cost.
****The normal versions of these weapons can still be turned over for a decent number of crowns, but the spectacular UVs will not be worth too much. It's possible to beat slot income with the right weapons, though.

Mon, 06/11/2012 - 20:50

#10

Subtleti

10) Appendix II: Money without Energy

Reserved!

Mon, 07/09/2012 - 00:11

#11

Subtleti

11) Closing Thoughts and other good links

Good links! ^^

Ever been unsure about a weapon or a line of armor's functionality in the field? That ends today, provided you ask a box.
Get your SK lingo right with this guide!
Get a whiff of some high-class knights struttin' their stuff here!

Mon, 07/09/2012 - 00:08

#12

Subtleti

12) FAQs

Are guns REALLY the lowest DPS weapons?

The answer is here.
Consensus: Situational. Bomb and Swords will excel on crowds, but guns can match 1v1 damage in some instances. It's worth noting that Blitz has amazing DPS on the charge, and blows all other piercing weapons clean out of the water.

So, who are you guys?

Daiquiri is the ex-GM of Aurora, and a dedicated CTR gunner and swordie. Adorable, tiny, and Asian, she's since moved on from this game.
Spiral-Hipster is both a bomber and a hipster, dedicated to using those off-geared weapons. He's gone a little more mainstream since he's begun playing Lockdown, and has posted some gameplays here. It's now the main focus of his gameplay, and he's also accumulating dust on the Aequitas bench.
Fradow is a snarbolax, and hangs around the arsenal and new recruits forums. He's always happy to help, and enjoys making wolverburgers.
Subtleti is the only truly active member of this guide team now, and is sad because of it. She's a dedicated gunner and totally cool enough to have not written this herself. Also, her guild is named Call Me Maybe.

If I were to buy CE, how would this guide change?

Buying CE doesn't invalidate most of the information in this guide -- in fact, everything except the parts about grinding are still extremely relevant to you. I would highly suggest, though, waiting until you're positive that you'd like to play this game for a while before investing some money. Realistically, the cost it takes to get from nothing to a functional 5* FSC set is around 7500 CE, which the starter pack sets you up perfectly for. Or, if you have lots of spare time, an elevator pass would eventually end up earning you more money [depending on how much you play], while costing you only $6 instead of $20.

There's no real reason to pay after you've reached FSC, except to renew elevator passes, buy the expansion missions, or pursue UV's or costumes. But that's the bulk of the engame, so from then on it's up to you to decide on your own spending.

Something's wrong in this guide!

Please note the "LAST UPDATED" sign at the very top of the first post, as we do not always have time to keep pace with this ever-changing game. If something's wrong, or if you have comments on how something might be better done, please leave them in the comments section below! This isn't as much a guide written by four people as it is a guide written by the community, for the new players, and I hope it can thrive that way :].

What does [LETTERS] stand for?

The answer is probably here.

Sun, 07/08/2012 - 23:50

#13

Subtleti

13) Revision History

6/11/12: Guide created! 1-7 written, and 9!
6/12/12: 3, 5, and 9 updated! 7 completed!
7/9/12: Aaaand we're back! Modified the T2 part a little bit for bombers, per Warlord's suggestion.

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 12:56

#14

Traevelliath

I sorta skimmed through this,

I sorta skimmed through this, but these are my thoughts:

1) P2P vs F2P: The benefit P2P has is near unlimited funds. That's about it. It seems cheating, but most of the time buying your way through the game leaves you unskilled. The game's difficulty curve is based around a F2P experience. Buying one or two items worth of CE isn't that bad, but when you buy several sets worth of CE, you will be in over your head real quickly. This skill gaps gets really obvious when you buy your way across tiers. If you do buy a bit of CE (like for example, the starter pack), you want to save your CE for crafting only (No CE revs, elevators are a maybe). Also, buying an elevator pass early on will really help you enjoy the early parts of the game.

2) I suggest buying a Weapon Slot when you get full 3* gear and start expanding to new weapons. 3 weapons is a significant boost over 2 weapons, although 4 weapons is a bit unnecessary.

3) If you are in tier 2, trying to get more weapons/armor, it's best to get a lot of the commonly rage-crafted items at their 3* version.

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 13:38

#15

Cryoworld

Wait, since when are guns the

Wait, since when are guns the lowest damaging weapon? Have you ever tried to solo Snarby with a Dark Briar barrage? That takes FOREVER.

I mean, its not like Nova Driver, Umbra Driver, and Blitz Needle are incapable of one/two shotting most monsters in the game. If anything, its one of the safer methods of playing.

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 14:01

#16

Little-Juances

"Wait, since when are guns the lowest damaging weapon?"
They are the weakest weapon if you compare raw single numbers.

"Have you ever tried to solo Snarby with a Dark Briar barrage? That takes FOREVER. "
BOMB HARDER

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 14:09

#17

Subtleti

@Trae 3 is a good point, I

@Trae 3 is a good point, I didn't think about that. Ill add it in! I was going to suggest 3 weapons after the JK/IMF runs. You really don't need three weapons for T2 and that 150 CE can buy you more than 60% of a 3* weapon.

@Cryoworld Guns on general are the lowest damage weapons because of lack of AOE. Yes, snarby with DBB would take forever, but bombs aren't designed for single targets (the exception is RSS). That's like saying swords are less effective than guns because combuster charges kill vana slower than callahan. Guns on a whole attack one enemy at a time, where swords can attack several and bombs can debilitate crowds.

It's worth noting that blitz is probably the highest DPS weapon right now with the charge, but otherwise they cannot beat swords. In the time it takes for guns to charge, a sword will have already killed the enemy.

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 15:32

#18

Cryoworld

@subleti I still find that

@subleti

I still find that hard to believe. Very hard, in fact. Then again, I usually have VH damage, VH CTR and low asi on all of my guns. I kinda tend to wipe out a fair chunk of monsters, sometimes moreso than swordies.

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 16:32

#19

Subtleti

@cryoworld If you'd like

@cryoworld If you'd like further proof, try running with a skilled swordsman. Daiquiri, co writer of this guide, would be a good one to contact.

Brandishes also tend to demolish packs, and the mechanism of the charge allows it to target a larger group. Gun charges are more suited to small clusters. Ive played CTR gunner, so I know that one well placed charge can KO 3 slags if they're positioned correctly. But the brandish charge can eat the entire first mob of FSC D26 spawn in 3-4 charges. Gun charges are too concentrated, and can't do that.

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 17:59

#20

Kraanx

WOW. so the great wall of

WOW. so the great wall of text exists after all.
nice guide btw.

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 19:03

#21

Milkywai

1) For Tier2 there's a

1) For Tier2 there's a (probably rare case) which can probably happen when you have some people in your friendslist who are running jelly all day without necessarily having a full party and probably even have a lift pass themselves.
If you happen to have one or even more of these friends you can join rjp in the second depth which actually yields the most crowns (haven't taken exact numbers but should be about 1.4k) for only 10 mist energy.

2) For Tier3 chances are probably high that some guys from your guild or friendlist will do fsc runs with 1-3 people and will let you join from depth 25 regularily. From Depth 25 you still get 3 tokens from Vana himself so you skip the first depth which has a payout of ~800 crowns and save 10 mist energy.
Doing the math:
100 mist = FSC from D25 (40) + FSCfrom D25 (40) + RJP w/o JK OR IMF w/o Twins (20) = 13.800 + 6000 + 2100 = ~ 21.9k
(or combining it with 1) even 22.6k)
OR 2* FSC from D25 + Prestige Mission.

3) I think it's worth mentioning that players who are starting out can have a pretty hard time finding a fsc group willing to take them along.
Due to the recent gun buff a Strike needle charge can take out a trojan in a 4 player game at depth 27(not confirmed, definately works in a 3 player game, I'll try to pay attention next time I do vana with one of my guildies who recently started fsc). I know I'm kind of advertising the OP-Needle with that but as you get the strike needle recipe by completing missions, I think it is a good choice for starters and unless you're really dedicating to bombs or swords, sooner or later you'll get one of these anyway.

4)I personally think that silversix/AP is a great option for an elemental gun (don't have it myself yet though) the Antigua can be achieved by playing RJP and costs you only 20/15 * 3500 = 4667 crowns, if the other option would be to vend a brute jelly part. 4 star recipes are usually pretty cheap (like 12-13k on AH). the pulsar line is also not a bad choice. the slow bullets may take an hour or two to get used to but the crowd control makes the game quite a bit easier for people who don't have the practice of dancing through a horde of zombies. The Kilowatt Pulsar Recipe is pretty expensive for a 3* recipe when you buy it at the Auction house, see 5)

5) If you happen to have any friends or guild mates who do clockwork runs for recipes: Ask them to look for a certain recipe you need, chances are high that they give you a big discount or only charge you what they payed themselves then buying the recipe from basil. If they cannot afford to give you any discounts as they need the money from selling these recipes at the auction house you might be able to join them at the beginning of depth 11 (for tier2) or depth 21 (for tier 3) that way you get all the heat/crowns from the 2 depths and only pay 20 Mist energy to get a look on basils recipes. (Note: If joining in depth 12 // 22 you will NOT be able to buy recipes) If you don't happen to have any friends who do that alot but you have buddies you play with who are also looking for recipes: rotate doing the first 2 depths and the rest joins in depth 11 or 21.

6) There are indeed guilds who recruit newcomers, in case you read this and you're German, feel free to drop me a message ingame, I'll gladly invite you to Big Family, which is a strictly German guild of Players of all Tiers who like to introduce new players to the game. The more advanced players do of course run alot of FSC but we're open to help some of the new guys with some mission they just cant manage to complete yet, giving hints and answering questions via guild chat and helping you getting that kilowatt pulsar or twisted targe recipe without spending 16k on the AH.
Sorry for the nongermans but I'm sure there are quite a few Multilingual/English guilds who have a similar attitude towards newcomers. Making a List of these guilds (say: their wiki pages) in post #11 might probably be a good idea. I'd gladly take pretty much anyone who asked me for a spot, after reading this wall of text, which (in my eyes) shows a certain level of maturity and motivation to getting a good and successful player.

I guess that's it for the moment. In case I have more ideas, I'll let you know.

@OP & friends: Great job you did there :)

@Mods/Admins: Sticky this!

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 19:53

#22

Cryoworld

Eh, don't care enough to

Eh, don't care enough to debate that, nor am I willing to spend the time to prove it. Still, for a person looking to solo, guns> bombs. Also, most bombs are simply not that good at earlier stages, in comparison to guns and swords at similar early stages. I've found that bombs are more of a late(ish) stage to move successful into. Newbies might find using bombs difficult at such an early point in the game.

Still, Magnus for upcoming bosses in T2? Really? Both RJ and Roarmy resist piercing, so that seems like a waste to me. Admittedly, I've only found it useful for wolver's and devilites. Getting an elemental Alchemer would seem to be wiser, then working on an autogun for FSC. I mean, you DO get strike needle recipe for free after all. Also, despite many people's dislike of it, Polaris (pulsar) is a grand elemental weapon to have, as it works well with knockback, and simply destroys clumped enemies.

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 20:28

#23

Subtleti

@Kraanx I figured a warning

@Kraanx I figured a warning would help :). Thank you!
@Milkywai Those are good discrepancies! I'm a little hesitant to put (3) in, because I'm afraid it'll cause people to become dependent on FSC/attempt to utilize it as a main money source, but it's definitely a legitimate tactic. Otherwise, a section for prioritizing an anti-Vana weapon [eg, shiver or blitz] is coming!

I'll work on compiling a list of good guilds, guides, and other random tactics. I'm not sure how to integrate it yet, but we definitely have plans to, and those will be there :]. Thanks for your support and please post more if you have more to contribute!

@Cryoworld Yeah, I'd rather this not be a debate thread -- it's a guidance thread, and debates of this sort are more aligned in The Arsenal. I think it'll definitely be constructive to see what others have to say [putting the wrong information here could potentially be disastrous, and ruin this guide], so I've posted a topic there to open the discussion to the rest of the forum. At the same time, I feel obligated to make a note on this thread that guns are not necessarily better than bombs solo; that is extremely situational. More on that in the thread linked above.

I understand bombers do not do well in lower tiers, which is why I've advised them to build a calibur. Copy pasted from (6),
"*Bombs increase in radius as their star level rises. That means that the tiny 2* blast bombs are hardly worth using. Instead, a normal utility sword [calibur is the best, for the charge attack] will help greatly in the beginning. This will be switched out as you proceed."

And finally, I'm making the assumption that these players are intending to work through the missions on their own, as opposed to be carried through. I specified that it would be best to start with a 3* Shadowtech, which will help greatly in JK, and then using that as a foundation to build other gears, including the Magnus. The Magnus will make it's greatest appearance in T3, though admittedly I have not specified that well. I'll clarify this soon in the guide.

Thanks for the input!

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 23:13

#24

Derpules

Good stuff!

Kind of off on the AH/ragecrafting bit, though.

1) 3*s are terrible for crafting. That additional 100 CE is 8kcr. I see Gunslinger stuff go for 10-14kcr all the time. Not a great return when two 2*s can get you 3-5k.

2) Your ASI vs. CTR comparisons are fair enough for players shooting for the stars, but one should recall that even 1-2k CE is a lot for most players. For instance, an ASI VH Autogun still goes for 4k CE+. That's not negligible. Even an ASI low fetches 5kcr+, a significant boost for a total noob.

3) No 2* should ever sell for 750cr. Starting bid should always be at least 1kcr. They'll almost always get bids; FYI, most of my 2*s get bought out at 1.7kcr for super-commons. It's all about timing and placement.

Fri, 06/15/2012 - 20:28

#25

Subtleti

Thanks for the positive

Thanks for the positive feedback and corrections! I'll put these in in a bit, we've unfortunately become a little backlogged since the release of this guide. T3 is almost done though! :].

Sat, 06/16/2012 - 04:27

#26

Warlordx

This is very good and should

This is very good and should be stickyed, or at least put in the useful links sticky.

One minor issue, while I agree that low star level bombs are pretty underwhelming, once you get to the point where you're grinding RJP the 3* fire bomb (and later the shock bomb) is very viable for those levels due to the high density of monsters. It's also a great place to learn how to dodge while bombing because there's a lot of stuff going on but slimes and lumbers are pretty easy to dodge. It's also at the point in the game where new players are starting to figure out how to actually work together as a team which is where bombing is at its most useful.

Sat, 06/16/2012 - 05:45

#27

Lunaice

10/10 :D

This is a very well made guide, thank you for helping the new knights out there.

Can't wait for the other content of this guide!

The "Maximizing your mist" part is the UBER most helpful of the guide, for a money-hungry people like me(like most of us, correct me if I'm wrong).

Mon, 06/18/2012 - 00:15

#28

Incineron

Awesome guide. Being a 4*

Awesome guide. Being a 4* player, i am too lazy for 3 different swords, so i just stick with my Ascended Calibur. I... SPAM ALL THE CHARGES.

I usually knock enemies towards the wall or near a exploding jelly. Or The Jelly king off the level. When using it, do not swing it to your party member unless you sure he doesnt lag much,ready to hit it,Or have a charge ready to hit it, or you know it will die from that charge.
RT is actually easier to me than JK- i can solo all the RT levels but not the first JK level without dying.

If you can get lotsa FSC parties, you can use CE for it, the profit is still high.

Now, i realised why the Wolver caps on AH with UVs can go for about a million Cr. Like, Fire max, shock max, curse max, piercing/elemental/shadow max blah blah blah.

Rage craft time =D

Tue, 06/26/2012 - 04:58

#29

Shurine

Tier 3?

Ummm how come no Tier three guide? Reserved what do you mean by that? :/

Tue, 06/26/2012 - 09:12

#30

Luguiru

Hurp

It means it is in progress, even though you should be able to survive on your own at that point.

Tue, 06/26/2012 - 12:16

#31

Shurine

Ahh I see

Ok gotcha I know what you mean, all 4* gear you should be good ok. One mistake though that might get players confused! In the part about T1 it says "get familiar with the 'guild' map". Which I hope means gate map? Might want to change before getting people confused...unless i dont know what a gate map is.

Thu, 06/28/2012 - 09:46

#32

Shurine

Bump

Well since no one else is i might as well :P.
BUMP

Wed, 07/04/2012 - 13:26

#33

Eduran

Thank you!

I started playing a few days ago this guide has been a MASSIVE help. It's a great boost for any newcomer who is willing to read through it. Thank you for your time and effort, it is very much appreciated.

Wed, 07/04/2012 - 20:11

#34

Artistbma

Regardless of what the others

Regardless of what the others said, I think this is amazing. That someone would take the time to make this for newbies. I believe it is pretty accurate. GREAT job, dude.

Sun, 07/08/2012 - 23:49

#35

Subtleti

Wow, sorry I've disappeared

Wow, sorry I've disappeared in the last couple weeks! I've been busy doing a combination of my own outside-of-SK work, ascending through T3 myself, and trying to work on this guide. Unfortunately, the majority of the co-authors have gone their separate ways from the game, but as a vanguard at last, I feel like I can tie up the T3 part and finish up this guide [which, naturally, has died with the leaving of the co-authors]! I'm so glad to see it's helping people, and that for the most part, the information is accurate!

Please do continue to leave suggestions, they're very helpful in improving this guide ^^.

Tue, 07/10/2012 - 23:29

#36

Blitzhawk

Amazing

Just like what Artistbma said, great job. Its good to see that someone actually is putting the time and effort into making a f2p guide.

Sun, 07/22/2012 - 18:03

#37

Shurine

Bump!

Tue, 07/31/2012 - 05:30

#38

Shurine

Bump

So Subtleti are you still managing this. Because I`d like to see the tier 3 part of this.

Thu, 08/02/2012 - 10:13

#39

Ekoyim

Thanks!

Started playing a few days ago and your guide has been quite helpful!

On a side note, I feel like people who play daily with all 100 mist energy shouldn't buy t2 stuff as it doesn't seem too efficient right now when they save more crowns buying things off the AH at t3 instead of upgrading from t2 to t3. Maybe that's just become CE is higher than whenever you wrote the guide right now. Or AH prices were higher. But then again I just started so I could be totally wrong :X

Thanks again for the guide!

Sat, 08/25/2012 - 16:10

#40

Doctorspacebar

Problem.

I know this thread is old and I know Asukalan will probably get angry at me.

But your thread recommends the Radiant Sun Shards, which recently were changed dramatically. They're no longer useful; they stun enemies, which causes double attacks, and Dark Briar Barrage is really a much better Fiend killer.

Other than that, it's great. Good work, Subtleti!

Sat, 09/01/2012 - 18:15

#41

Starkythefox

I'd like to clarify something

Tier 1 Clearance

100 mist = 3x GW + 2 energy revives = about 5.1k crowns
100 mist = 5x GW (without snarbolax) = about 8.5k crowns

I'm asumming that you are using a way to do only Glowing Wood, by that you mean doing the Snarbolax Rank mission?

Mon, 09/03/2012 - 11:50

#42

Devilite

Yes, repeating the rank

Yes, repeating the rank missions for bosses is by far more profitable than doing them through the arcade.

Fri, 09/07/2012 - 09:52

#43

Litestrider

I just started playing again,

I just started playing again, and this guide seems like it's going to help me out a ton! I do have a couple of questions related to it, though. First, I'm at the point where it recommends deciding on a weapon focus. I'm pretty sure I want to go with bombs, and the guide suggests using a more reliable weapon to fall back on while you work up to higher tiers. This is fine, but it only suggests swords. Is there any viable choice of gun I could use alongside a bomb in place of the calibur, or is there just nothing as universally applicable?

Also, it's been a little while since the guide was updated, is anything out of date apart from the cost of CE? I see Doctorspacebar's mention of Radiant Sun Shards above.

Fri, 09/07/2012 - 10:25

#44

Derpules

Re: guns

There's nothing wrong with the Blaster. It's not great, but y'know, neither is the Calibur.

Wed, 12/26/2012 - 03:40

#45

Kethus

How much of this guide is

How much of this guide is still up to date?

Wed, 12/26/2012 - 05:08

#46

Hawxindanite

I would like to add

How come you kept out the Voltedge line from the reccomended swords list?
I'm a F2P player and I fare better with a voltedge line. Still up to IMF btw.

Wed, 12/26/2012 - 10:43

#47

Fradow

@Kethus I skimmed through it,

@Kethus
I skimmed through it, everything is still up to date since there was no major changes in the last year, apart from shards bombs, which should probably not be recommended anymore to starting players (though they are usable, see this thread for more infos http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/69015 ). The main change is when Subtleti mention the 100CE per 8K Crowns, which is currently more 6,5K Crowns, which is better for F2P players. I talked to her, she should update it soon.

@Hawxindanite
First, except the one part where she talks about her opinion (Fireburst), she advises an elemental brandish. Voltedge IS an elemental brandish. But the problem with Voltedge, for that matter, is that it requires to farm a lot the coliseum, which may not be what players are on SK for. Apart from that, Combuster will outdamage Voltedge, even when fire doesn't work (FSC), because shock ticks prevents enemies from riding the whole charge all the time. The shock doesn't compensate that loss of damage, as far as I know.

Thu, 12/27/2012 - 02:54

#48

Hawxindanite

Shock

Is used for making enemies pissed off XD. Once pisssed of someone with a shockburst charge. Also I know it requires farming colliseum but If you are good at it you will be earning a lot anyways.

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Making it Without Breaking it: The Guide to F2P Success in SK