Forums › English Language Forums › General › The Arsenal

Search

Hybridization and You. The Clockworks is Your Oyster.

9 replies [Last post]
Sat, 07/21/2012 - 00:55
Bella-Donna's picture
Bella-Donna

This is a brief guide to hybridization, it will give some basic help to people trying to break the bonds of a single weapon type while still being good at what they like.

Getting specialized armor first makes it easier to start supplimenting other armor types to hybridize.

The first step for hybridization is learning what you like to play as and compromizing between the two. if you want all 3 weapon types, grab a chaos set, heat your weapons to level 10 and grab a swiftstrike buckler and you'll have ASI H, CTR VH and DMG M blanketed and can use trinkets to help fight off death by status effects because you will be weak to them. or otherwise specialize a bit and can stop reading now.

Once you have picked your weapon types, it is time to start focusing on fleshing out your armor and trinkets.

Armor
Due to armor and trinket slots, you can only get 2 max bonuses (assuming CTR is one of them) for your weapons abilities of CTR, DMG or ASI without uvs, assuming your weapons are heated to level 10 (mask of seerus allows two maxs and an ASI low). Bombs are great for hybridization because they don't need ASI and that simplifies things.

Since you can have only two maxs start planning your focus, ASI, DMG, CTR and on which weapon types, Swords, Guns or Bombs. This traslates to 8 possible choices to focus on.

All weapons at level 10 have CTR medium, so heat up your weapons, and you'll have CTR med across the board without specializing armor yet. It is best to, from there to choose damage type resistances and pick armor to work towards that give bonuses to the weapons you choose. Try to get at least one piece that resists a combination of shadow, elemental or normal. from there pick your trinkets from the focus modules that give bonuses to those weapons. It is best to get blanket DMG armor because uvs can suppliment CTR or ASI more efficiently.

for example a CTR VH UV on a level 10 weapon yeilds a CTR max without armor bonuses while it takes 2 uvs to get efficient damage bonuses of VH against the two families weak to the weapon type (unless normal weapons were used) though some have built in damage bonuses, those are specifics and this is more of a general guide.

Sheilds
Sheilds there are few sheilds that help players expand their abilities and they are the Swiftstrike Buckler and the Barbarous Thorn Shield lines.
They help give bonuses that free up armor for the game of compromising between gear.

Trinkets
Trinkets are pretty self explanitory with focus modules.

Tired, going to bed, will add more another time.

Sat, 07/21/2012 - 02:41
#1
Pepperonius's picture
Pepperonius
This seems like something that might be better in New Recruits

while i see why it is posted under the arsenal, maybe a shadow copy?

A couple of points to add to your post as well:

SSB (swiftstrike) gives ASI high, not medium.

I would mention that Chaos set gives the CTR and DMG med (like you said) but comes with a host of debuffs as well.

I would also mention that if you are planning on going hybrid, prepare to make more than one equipment set. Divine Veil and Skolver coat cover all your bases, yes, but it is best to have full defenses if possible, especially if heading into fiend levels. Same with shields.

When it comes to weapons, if you are going hybrid, it is generally as a split swordsman/gunner, and at that point prepare to have 3 weapon slots opened. Two swords and one gun, or in my case, one sword and two guns. Playstyles will vary, but giving yourself the option of attacking at a distance to whittle down health, then closing with the sword to finish the weakened foe off is a fun way to do it, and safer.

Overall, it comes down to choice; I have rarely seen a bomber hybrid (aside from a bomber with a backup sword), it is usually a swordie with a sidearm. The difference between that and a hybrid is the ability to use both effectively, as opposed to one as a backup. Im rambling now, and I think the medication is kicking in, so hopefully Lycheesoup will come help make sense of this soon.

Sat, 07/21/2012 - 06:41
#2
Bella-Donna's picture
Bella-Donna
thanks

i missed the asi high on SSB.

i play a bomber/sword hybrid.

my loadout is a snarby with max fire and max shock and a heavy demo helm soon to be a mercurial demo helm, elite boom focus module and elite bomb focus module. add in my barbarous thorn shield and i have sword DMG VH, Bomb DMG H, Bomb CTR vh (lv 10 bombs) and movement speed increase low.

i use a mix of GF, RWH, DA, Nitro, Shiver and BTB

Sat, 07/21/2012 - 09:11
#3
Aureate's picture
Aureate
Processing Thoughts of You Always

Regrettably, I am allergic to shellfish. ._.
Can I have a margherita pizza instead of an oyster?

...anyway, this is a pretty decent guide. It could do with some improvement and possibly a little reformatting to make it more reader-friendly, but then I think pretty much anything could. I will await further updates before making any more comments.

Sat, 07/21/2012 - 19:44
#4
Dark-Flare's picture
Dark-Flare
HYBRIDS FTW

I run a hybrid loadout also, so here's my shpeal on it...
Armor:
(Without trinkets and UV's)
- CTR and ASI are certainly big boosts, but damage bonuses are also very beneficial.
Using a monster class specific armor is not necessarily bad, based on what kind of stuff you play/ grind a lot. For example, for FSC, I'm planning a Shadowsun Stetson/ Deadshot Mantle/ Barbarous Thorn Shield combo, giving VH damage on both guns and swords. The defense type will usually match up with the monster bonuses (shadow def + zombies -> zombies = shadow damage). The blanket gun and sword bonuses will also help account for the various other monsters strewn throughout the levels.
-Basically, my advice from the above (simplified): [1 Monster blanket bonus] + [1 Weapon A type bonus] + [1 Weapon B type bonus]. Do consider that this really only works if you are hybridizing with a sword, and be aware the the Swiftstrike has no effect on bombs (at least not that I know of)

Play-style:
-Keep in mind, hybridizing without trinkets and UV's force you to compromise a little, so usually your defense will be a little flawed (such as: the above, no fire resistance, swiftstrike is not a good defensive shield, etc)
-This can be counteracted with player skill

Offensive hybrid
-Focusing on getting high damage, takes advantage of blanket monster bonuses while mixing in blanket weapon bonuses; see above. If swords included -> BTS. Guns -> Swift
-Techniques:
~Sword + Gun combo: Swing once or twice, and back off while monster is attacking/ in attack animation, then shoot several times with gun (shoot so that you don't have to reload, according to clip size)
~Brandish + Gun: Best with combuster, since monsters won't be immobilized. Release a charge to push back monsters, shield cancel the charge, and then charge in while unloading your entire clip, then back up and repeat.
~Sword + Vortex: CTR makes this much easier (on both bomb and sword, if available): Plant a vortex, charge up your sword, and release into the mob. (can be done with a gun also, though may be less effective)

Defensive hybrid
-I only use a gun-sword offensive hybrid (as of now), so this is just my opinions on what may work.
For defense, you would generally use guns and bombs to keep your distance, and lower the chance of getting hit. The above are also relatively safe, but can be a little risky at times.
-Armor wise, you can still mix in damage bonuses, but if that isn't your main goal, then CTR and ASI boosts will help you to execute attacks faster, enabling better mobility, hence better survivability. The only downside is that CTR/ ASI armors do tend to have lower defenses (chaos/swifstrike)
, which accounts for more risk if you get hit.
-Techniques:
~Gun + Vortex: As mentioned above: Plant a vortex, and kite the clump of monsters, or release a charge attack with antigua/ autogun / magnus* lines (Alchemers generally won't hit all the monsters, depending on how well you aim and how packed they are). Using an electron vortex may work better as the shock will prevent the monsters from flying all over after the explosion, unlike graviton.
~Gun + Vapor bomb: Plant a crowd controlling vapor bomb, and gun 'em while they're immobile. (can be done with a sword as well)
~Gun + Explosion bomb: Using a nitronome, blast the monsters away from you, and staying in the same spot, pick them off. Using a DBB, plant it, back off baiting the monster into the explosion, and shoot them while they are caught in the blast.
(I don't use RSS much, so not much advice on that -_- )

-When it comes to armors, you can mix 'n match armors and their boosts to address you personal playstyle and defensive needs. :P
Also: Some techniques may have to be adjusted according to monster type.

/salute

Sat, 07/21/2012 - 20:56
#5
Bella-Donna's picture
Bella-Donna
Best part of Hybridization

The best part about hybridization is the fact that there are so many combinations and play styles! I am think we should make it a wiki page with both general and specific hybrid combinations. Anyone second it?

Sat, 07/21/2012 - 21:43
#6
Dark-Flare's picture
Dark-Flare
/agree

Yes! Dark-Flare agrees.

(might have to propose the idea/ this thread in the wiki editors section)

Sat, 07/21/2012 - 22:07
#7
Bella-Donna's picture
Bella-Donna
Wewt

Okay, I'll post the idea. While I am at it, I motion there be General Hybridization should refer to mixings of just weapon types and Specific Hybridization which should refer to Hybridization using certain weapons/armors with Damages versus families or gear built with only one mission/boss/shadow lair in mind.

Sat, 07/21/2012 - 22:37
#8
Bella-Donna's picture
Bella-Donna
Suggestion made

I made a post in the wiki editors forum http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/60408

Sun, 07/22/2012 - 03:12
#9
Batabii's picture
Batabii
didn't read the whole thread,

didn't read the whole thread, but imo if you're going hybrid, a bomber set is most important. CTR of utmost importance, even if you only use one bomb. As for swords, BTS does a great boost all its own, and no other shield specifically boosts one specific weapon type, so you can use your armor slots for pure bomber or gun/bomb hybrid. I personally like volcanic demo suit with divine veil. The veil gives a nice all-around bonus as well as some nice defense coverage, while the demo suit gives you a useful bomb ctr without any major downsides.

Another set that is good for all weapons is Chaos, if you can tolerate the stat weaknesses. However, it RAISES CTR and damage for all weapons, so it's slightly biased towards bombs that aren't affected by ASD. A real all-around glass cannon set which can be even better if you can afford UVs/trinkets, or just avoid getting hit enough.

Powered by Drupal, an open source content management system