Spiral Knights - Dealing with the difficulty of heating?

Dealing with the difficulty of heating?

14 replies [Last post]

Tue, 12/17/2013 - 19:54

Bossbane

Hey there, Neo here.

So, I am beginning to understand just HOW hard it is to heat weapons nowadays. I am even just working on 4 star stuff, let alone 5 star!!

My plan has shifted slightly. I am going to get my level 1 Chaos gear, and then just leave them as such, which is all fine and good as far as their bonus' is concerned. The same goes for shields -- they are more or less as good as they are going to be at level 1, I believe. Weapon are a different story, however.

Getting a single 5* weapon all the way up to level 10 is going to be brutal if finding the necessary crystals for 4* stuff on elite at RT is already hard!! What does this mean though? Get a 4* weapon up to level 10 and then keep it as such? I was flipping around the forums and saw that, for some bombs, that is a sensible strategy, especially my beloved Irontech Bomb. Or, do you get weapons up to level 1 5* and then train your pet like crazy for medium CTR?

Thoughts? Best weapons to keep at 4*?

Many thanks, and fingers crossed for cool new content in January (I have my hopes pinned on the Shrine of Slumber <3 )

-Neo

Tue, 12/17/2013 - 19:57

Fehzor

For most weapons, 4* at level 10 is better than 5* until around level 8 or so.

So no, do not upgrade your weapons until you are read to farm UFSC- in 6-7 short shadow lair firestorm citadel runs, you too can have a single 5* weapon.

Wed, 12/18/2013 - 07:48

Bopp

agree

I agree. You can leave your 5-star armor at heat level 1 for a while, because the offensive bonuses don't depend on heat. But for most weapons you really want to get them to heat level 10 quickly.

Wed, 12/18/2013 - 08:04

Halandin

Mist bombs do ok at 5*, you

Mist bombs do ok at 5*, you can use your sprite bomb focus perk plus armor/trinkets to still get a total of +6 CTR, and I hear that the wider radius and longer-lasting mist are better. You don't have to really worry about them doing less damage than 4* level 10 since their damage is based on a status rather than the explosion.

Wed, 12/18/2013 - 09:45

Shadowstarkirby

Like everyone has said...

Majority of weapons are still pretty great at 4* Lv 10. Keep your armor set at Lv 1.

Since you're mostly talking about bombs, I can't give much opinion on them as I don't really use them. Mist bombs are definitely better at 5* though.

Wed, 12/18/2013 - 11:08

Halandin

For bombs, just discussed a

For bombs, just discussed a few days ago:
http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/94450
http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/94281

Wed, 12/18/2013 - 13:29

Bossbane

But wait, that's not all!

Yes, I have talked a lot about bombs, but with chaos I can be all over the map.

So, say, with swords and guns, are they worth the upgrade?

-Neo

Wed, 12/18/2013 - 14:06

Halandin

Most of them, no. Brandishes,

Most of them, no. Brandishes, even if you could still get CTR max from other sources, would still be dealing less damage at 5* unheated/level 5 or less than 4* level 10, and only gets one more "burst" on the charge attack.
DA--you do get 3 projectiles on the charge attack, but less damage...
Silversix--only real changes at 5* are the charge attack (not useful charge from what I hear), less range from a bug, and a med undead bonus easily gotten elsewhere.

It might help if you gave a list of the weapons you are working on or planning on getting rather than just *all* of the guns and swords.

Thu, 12/19/2013 - 05:44

Shadowstarkirby

Swords and guns...

Actually now that I think really hard about it, I don't think there's any Lv 1 5* that would be better than a Lv 10 4* other than mist bombs (which strive on their significant range increase instead of damage); you're giving up too much damage for utility of a better charge attack, range, and/or status.

Some 4*s have some traits better than their 5*s in fact, like the Faust and Dark Thorn Blade's charge attacks.

Edit: Oh, that so Halandin...I loved that charge, so much damage, haha.

Actually I just remembered that Vortex lines do benefit from being 5*; they strive on their suction power.

Wed, 12/18/2013 - 14:54

Offense-Armor

How many Radiants do you get on average from an Ice Queen run? UFSC is pretty hard for most 4* players, but IQ is a lot easier. It might be a good alternative.

Wed, 12/18/2013 - 16:54

#10

Halandin

@Shadowstar: I heard that the

@Shadowstar: I heard that the charge attack thing with Dark Thorn Blade and BTB was fixed, I think by nerfing the DTB charge attack. Although there would still be the whole damage difference still from 4* level 10 being better than 5* unheated.

IMHO, it's a rather poor system to make upgrading a weapon worse, and for most of its heating life.

Wed, 12/18/2013 - 17:02

#11

Bossbane

Madness.

Is it really cheaper to do uber boss runs instead of just buying the crystals? O_o; Three rings, what have you done?!

And I currently only have a few sparce items -- I started out with a nice chunk of change and tried to be super focused in what I purchase, but still managed to use it all up in a hurry! I have full miracle, a swiftstrike buckler, a kamarin, and then an industrial pulsar. I know it's a weird, very limited load out, but I did some (incorrect) math at the start and figured I could get a 5* weapon, shield, armor and helmet with the funding I had. Oh math.

But, I will soon have the most versatile armor set and can begin working on getting any and every weapon that has a nice charge attack! Specifically though, I will be interested in weapons that can keep me at a healthy distance from all things shadow, pierce and status-y, so Electron Bomb, Irontech Bomb, Swords with needed knockback, etc, etc. Only, heating apparently will be a problem, bringing us back to where we are.

-Neo

Wed, 12/18/2013 - 18:16

#12

Halandin

And if you think about it,

And if you think about it, whether you buy radiants or or do SLs, OO still gets a chunk of money, it costs energy to buy shadow keys as well as radiants, and said energy has to be paid for with real money from somewhere. 5* weapon heating is now a gigantic energy sink for OOO. Nice way to make money instead of, say, coming out with good content.

Wed, 12/18/2013 - 18:43

#13

Sandwich-Potato

Yep. But, I must disagree with you, Halandin, on one point.

How fast do you think < 30 people can make good content? And most of those aren't related to developing (regulating forums, music, etc.). Oh, and don't forget SEGA needing to get money and probably pushing OOO like most companies would to get optimal money in the shortest amount of time.

Wed, 12/18/2013 - 22:38

#14

Halandin

@Sandwich

I'm not sure if that is completely disagreement. Yes, they may have difficulties in having enough manpower to work on content and be responsible for earning money for SEGA, but that doesn't mean that how they are trying to make the money is a good business plan. Lack of coders may be why they don't have more content, but that still doesn't mean that not coming out with more/good content is ok. They need to work on ways of making money that don't just make people angry and want to quit, often it seems like they are relying on having just a few people that pay large amounts of money for not much in-game ($15 or so for enough radiants to heat a 5* weapon anyone?), rather than encouraging more people to pay. And adding P2W walls for 5* gear is not the way to go to keep people playing. A lot of these recent updates since the removal of mist energy don't seem to be well, hm, coherent together/harmonious or something like that. So much stuff that doesn't work together well anymore or doesn't make sense with the changes. Weapon balance, old references based on the energy system so the "story" behind SK isn't the same, the arcade/minerals/gates, etc.

I may not be making the most sense, it's past midnight and I just spent 3 hours on an online college class final. LOL.

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Dealing with the difficulty of heating?