Hey guys!
I'm relatively new to the game, despite going through the SK wiki many a time I still don't fully understand how Alchemy Paths work. :|
According to the diagrams it seems to be some kind of evolutionary process for equips, but does a 2* weapon turn into 3* if heated to Level 10? Is that how it works? Or is the 3* item a completely separate recipe with the 2* item being a prerequisite to craft it?
Sorry if this is one of those things that get asked time and time again - thanks for your time!
Heating makes the weapon stronger, but it doesn't "evolve" it. You have to craft it, with the previous item being a prerequisite.
To craft a 4* item, the item used needs to be heat level 5 or more, and to craft a 5* item, the item used needs to be heat level 10.
Let's just use a Brandish as an example...
The 2* Brandish just requires a recipe, a few materials, and 3 Simple Orbs of Alchemy (2*)
Let's say you want a 3* Iceburst Brandish. If you look at the recipe, one of the requirements is a 2* Brandish. Thus, to craft a 3* Iceburst Brandish, you need said 2* Brandish. Any Unique Variants (UVs) on the original 2* Brandish carry over to your new 3* Iceburst Brandish.
Now let's upgrade again to the 4* Blizzbrand. Similar to before, one of the crafting requirements is a 3* Iceburst Brandish, however this time it needs to be Heat lvl 5 or higher. If you have a 3* Iceburst Brandish of Heat lvl 4, you cannot craft it into a 4* Blizzbrand.
One final upgrade, the 5* Glacius. This time, you need a 4* Blizzbrand of Heat lvl 10 (fully heated).
It makes more sense once you've crafted your first few 3* items.
I'm gonna give a long explanation on Alchemy so prepare your butt.
Whenever you need to get through the Hall of Heroes you gotta alchemize.
Alchemy is upgrading a piece of equipment through use of materials and orbs of alchemy.
Sprite food and certain heat crystals can also be crafted through special means.
When Crafting a new item (Without using a prequesite weapon/armor), you have a small chance to get a unique variant! It could be something like VS Gremlins: High or Charge Time Reduction: Low!
When alchemizing you need to use Orbs of Alchemy. There are 5 kinds, Tier based. You can find the orbs in Treasure boxes bases on your stratum. (Stratum 2=1-star orb)(Stratum 3=2-star orb)
Orbs of alchemy can be obtained once through certain Rank missions or through the supply depot in packs of three.
The prices of the orbs through the supply depot are as follows:
Flawed 1*: 10 Energy (Never buy this.)
Simple 2*: 50 Energy
Advanced 3*: 200 Energy
Elite 4*: 400 Energy
Eternal 5*: 800 Energy
When going to 3* to 4* you need your equipment to be at least level 5 heat. Level 10 for 4* to 5*.
Make sure you get a weapon based on your preferred playstyle. For example the brandish line splits into 3 readily available lines.
The Shadow Nightblade, and the Elemental swords of Fire and Ice. Shock is only available from PvP and the cautery sword is a useless weapon outperformed by the Nightblade against slimes.
Firebrand: The most offensive type. It creates explosions that knock enemies back, dealing massive damage to the main target.
Blizzbrand: Not very good for pure damage. It freezes enemies, stopping the wave of explosions from fully damaging them.
Nightblade: A reliable Shadow weapon used for dealing with Slimes and Gremlinss.
http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Brandish
When preparing to buy a recipe search it up on the wiki to see its Abilities and to make sure it doesn't end at 4*.
Several status variants of weapons are available only from Sullivan from the Arcade. They require Krogmo Coins from PvP.
Pure damage weapons deal more damage than Status weapons, up to an entire 20%. Sometimes statuses are useless.
Okay, for the final tip. In clockworks Terminals you will encounter Basil, the travelling Merchant. If you have completed the last floor In its entirety (Ex. Entering D11 Elevator, then Entering D12 Elevator), then you can access his recepies. His recepies are special, he is the only source of recepies advanced from special weapons bought from Brinks the token trader.
Not all of Basil's recipes are unique - He can have any recipe in the game. Some recipes he has are unique, though - The recipes for upgrading boss token reward items, the gunner armor/helmets, and the 3* Breaker equips (the Breakers can be bought from Greave too, but Basil is the only place to get the recipe, Greave sells the actual items), and the Scarlet Shield recipe can only be found from him. Maybe other items too.
(This isn't for Blaze, he probably knows that. Just adding this onto his post.)
"Maybe other items too."
Graviton Vortex line is only obtainable by Basil (although oddly you can also get it from Basil in two different mission lobbies), as well as the Tundrus line
you read the alchemy missions, they explain everything, you dont need to make a forum thread for this
Thanks everyone for all your replies! I think I'm getting the hang of it now :')
@Vohtarak-Forum I don't think I would've made a thread had I understood immediately from reading the Alchemy missions, maybe I missed something but thanks anyway!
ok, just saying the missions are there, I see a lot of people who dont read anything and get confused so referencing the missions is a bit of a habit
