What works better with Seraphynx as a support player, Swordmaster or Gunslinger?

I'm not sure how to best synergize with Seraphynx, but I can comment on the idea of support loadouts. Swords, guns, and bombs all work in a support role, although bombs are the obvious choice.

Your sworder support loadout is okay but not great. I can understand DA and GF, due to knockback. But maybe you want a sword that spreads status, such as Triglav? Instead of Argent, which has no merits other than ease of use, consider a gun with knockback (Polaris, Supernova, Valiance) or status (Storm Driver, Obsidian Carbine, etc.). Or don't use a gun at all. Playing pure swords is fun. Also, I don't understand your trinkets and perk. Why not health or status trinkets? Why not movement speed, health, or status perk? Those would suit your defensive play style better, wouldn't they?

Similar remarks apply to your gunner loadout. Why not use guns that spread status or deliver knockback? Why use offensive trinkets and perks, when there are defensive ones?

You said that you don't want to play bomber unless you can get away with one universal loadout of bombs. Here it is:
* a vortex bomb
* Voltaic Tempest or Stagger Storm or Shivermist Buster or Venom Veiler
That's two bombs, and all that a support bomber really needs. If you want to use three bombs, then pick another one from that list. Or consider Nitronome. Because of its knockback, it can also be viewed as a support bomb in certain situations (Unknown Passage, compounds, etc.). It will also let you deal damage occasionally.

...What is that first gun listed...? o-o You should probably censor it, since its spoilurz.

Antigua line is not really for gunslinger, but more for swordmaster sidearms.

The Disintegration ray can provide you with a near guaranteed kill by cutting the enemy defense of a singular target or by holding back monsters in a narrow hallway.
For the single enemy it is best to use the ray on high priority slow/immobile targets (Lumbers and turret style monsters) after you fire the ray it is best to capitalize on the defense drop with a powerful sword combo.
For the hallway it is best to fire in with an unassisted (Auto target off) 5 star alchemer shots (deep in to get the most with bounces), Antigua spam, or just let your teammates tear up anything with a debuff mark.

The Violent heart attack is only good with weapons that provide such spread damage that monster deaths chain together, most of these weapons however are bombs and even then most bombers would rather have a Defense buff from the Iron Heart attack.
As a swordsman you can drop the Iron heart attack anytime you want because you should be able to kill at least a few monsters before it fades (as the heals you get should allow you to play a bit more aggressive), as a gunner however you should try to bring the all the monster's HP down together rather than focusing on a single target (unless we are talking high danger monsters like rocket puppies) that way you can drop the Heart attack once all the monsters are at a low enough HP so you can kill more.

The Valkyrian Aura is considered the best ultimate shield as it Maxes CTR and provides cover to you and teammates.
Unfortunately most teammates ignore the aura and would rather trust their own shields (which is why no one chooses the other ultimate).
This Aura allows the swordsman to go on a short rampage without fear of damage and allows a gunner to get out of tight situations. This aura has little use to bombers as most rely on getting Max CTR anyway with their armor, but this aura does allow someone (swordsman or gunner) with an extra slot to set up a few Vaporizer bombs while under the shield.

Bopp, how are my Sword/Gun loadouts for general use and FSC, if I decided to play normally and not focus on support?

Well, Gran Faust and Sentenza are pretty useless in FSC. Other than those, your loadouts are good for FSC, but they completely abandon your support idea.

If you want to return to the support idea, but still be effective in FSC, then definitely consider DA, Triglav, Plague Needle, Storm Driver, vortex bombs, Voltaic Tempest. Maybe consider Hail Driver, Shivermist Buster, Stagger Storm, Venom Veiler (I've never used it in FSC).

How is Valkyrian Aura better than Seraphic Aura for me if I...

A. Have max CTR already without it.
Or
B. Never use Charge Attacks with swords or guns.

?

Dazzling vs Disintregation Ray
Defense Down > Extra damage against Fiends and Undeads in term of additional damage

Violent vs Iron Heart Attack
Violent damage is bugged. The explosion does negligible damage.

Valkyrian vs Seraphic
Can't bypass max CTR, however in theory, you could buff your friends CTR. But they most likely avoid your aura and the aura won't last long enough when sharing. Seraphic alone is kinda meh. Sure shield regen sounds great but it wouldn't get you that far. Shield need to start regen (which is few moments after you stop getting hit) to notice the buff, and also not factoring if you share the aura with other players. I just hate how guardian ld shield has much better function than angelic aura. >__>

as Holy-Nightmare said, CTR buff is "for" your friends.
DA is one of the good charge attack weapon, btw. Well, there's bunch of weapons that charge outweighs the damage significantly than regular combo.

My reasoning for wanting to take Seraphic Aura is that Valkyrian can be rendered innane with CTR UV's. Shield Regen cannot be obtained anywhere else.

Well, I have nothing more to say.

If you don't use Chaos cloak, Masks of Seerus or a CTR demo suit (no one uses bombastic or mercurial except in PVP) then Valkyrian aura would be a good choice. If you do then Seraphic would be the better choice.

For Striker line armors Valkyrian would work well.
For Bombers seraphic would be good.
Gunner sets are getting some new armors with new natural perks so in the future it would depend more on your armor and its boosts.
Chaos Cloak set would do great with Seraphic.

For the Swordsmen Loadout, the Damage bonus stacks up to +8, which is already past max. Swift Steps II or Quick Strike II would be a better choice for the Sprite Perk. The Charges on the Antigua line weapons are considerably bad. It would be better to prioritize in ASI, or switching to a more Charge-Orientated weapon.

Most of the Seraphynx's abilities are rather close range. I think going with swords would be better. With all the buffs going towards swords in your loadout, it would probably be better to switch out the Argent Peacemaker with another sword.

Antigua charges are only really good as a sniping attack, allowing you to hang back from the party and deal damage or pick off enemies at an extremely long range. (paired with a Shock status bomb they become more useful as the charge becomes safer to use)

The obsidian carbine is the best of all the Antiguas as its charge and regular attack deal poison.

In general though it is better to get Damage on Antiguas rather than speed since your fingers will tire as you try to capitalize on the ASI.

I don't think any of those points are wrong, on their own. I'm trying to consider the "Support" aspect, though.

I said ASI instead of Damage because his Gunning Loadout already had maximum damage increase. An issue with the charge is that it knocks enemies to the side, spliting the crowd in half. Messes with others who could get multiple hits off of the close enemies. And it's rather slow to complete, leaving you open. Support characters shouldn't be the first to die, I think. A charge every now and then could work, but constant use would probably be detrimental to the team.

The Seraphynx's supportive abilities only really help at a closer range. Hanging back and sniping separates the team when the Aura is used, and it delays use of the Beam. If you only back up to use to charge, I guess it works? I don't know. The Aura and Heart Attack are very tank-y abilities, so I don't see much reason to back up and snipe.

Considering how his current set already has near max on all relevant points the only real suggestions would be to trade the Sentenza for Obsidian Carbine, and to get a Storm Driver or Grand Tortofist to limit the movement of enemies.

Changing out the Mask of Seerus to finish that Shadowsun set, and trading one of the damage trinkets for a CTR one would allow him to get a more solid shadow defense.

Getting a Flourish or Vile Striker would help in dealing with Greavers, Wolvers, and Devilites.

If you are soloing then the Magnus line is a good choice as it can flinchlock almost anything that doesn't resist it.

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For the Sword set trade weapons around till you have all three damage types,

Pierce: New Antigua, Flourish
Shadow: Obsidian Carbine, Obsidian edge, GF
Elemental: Argent Peacemaker, Combuster, DA

Brandishes are the Goto weapon for damage now and as for the Acheron/Obsidian edge argument I would have to say the poison is extremely useful.

You also have too much sword damage, or more correctly your boosts stack up higher than what is possible. Your Trinkets, Pet Perk, and shield could stand to have one changed out and you would still have Max damage.

The Ironmight plate shield would be a good replacement for your current shield.
A sword CTR or gun damage boost would be a good pet perk/trinket replacement.

At this point, have we completely abandoned the original post's concept of a support player using a seraphynx? Recent advice seems to be turning the original poster into another Brandish-Chaos offensive powerhouse.

No Chaos yet, I don't think.

Chaos is mentioned in post #11, if you were having trouble finding it.

Had I not included Chaos in the post when mentioning CTR boosting armors someone would have called me out on that, saying "How could you forget Chaos Cloak?". I don't like abusing a system (I use a variety of armors and have only one brandish) and chaos cloak is unfair, what is the point of a game when it becomes a click and kill adventure?

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Back to post....

Seraphyx gives the best rewards to players who can get into the action and still play it safe. Learn how to play defensively in close quarters and keep spamming the Heart Attack. If it gets too tough (3)shield and get out while getting in some quick shots.

I find that Hybrid loadouts work best for Seraphynx.
Striker gets too risky in the wrong situations, gunner has to very strategic with the Heart attack, bomber has little time for pet skills, guardian is ok but getting kills for the heart attack drops is hard.

Sword/gun Hybrid makes for a good set and Chaos fills those slots fairly well (if you don't get hit with a status), I would mix the Seerus with Vog cub (vana set anyone?) as it provides resist to what I consider two of the worst statuses (fire and shock).

Okay, Holy-Nightmare. I wasn't trying to attack you. The thread just seemed to be veering away from its special purpose, toward where all other Arsenal threads go...

By the way, it's not clear that the original poster is reading the thread anymore.

I noticed earlier someone mentioned that seraphic aura won't help if you already have mx CTR - I don't think this is the case. If buffs from maskeraith's cloak are anything to go by, sprite skill buffs ignore the limits on abilities.

And to be honest - where is shield regen going to help? it's a serpahynx aura. You're already protected if you're standing inside it.
The only way this would help was if your shield was already broken, perhaps it would act as a cover while your shield regenerates, but to be honest I'd rather use that 45 second cooldown on another heart attack to restore some of the health I lost when my shield broke.

I'd only really get valkerian for the looks. and I'm someone who likes their shields.

While that's true for damage buffs (and possibly speed buffs), the CTR buff will just instantly take you to max CTR, regardless of your previous CTR.

You wouldn't see me play much without my Seraphynx otherwise.

Trust me, a Mad Bomber with Bomb focus can't use a BAB like a nitronome under the Valkyrian aura, I have tried and the CTR is the same. Maskeraith shield buffs have more in common with pickupable boosts than the CTR boost of the Valk aura.