Spiral Knights - Lockdown Help

Lockdown Help

5 replies [Last post]

Sat, 05/10/2014 - 21:52

Crashburnboom

I'm slightly "new" to Lockdown, despite having played Lockdown for about 3 months and reading every guide I can find so I need some help/tips.

Notes: I am dirt poor vanguard. :(. I also don't have many radiants, but I have 3 elite orbs (unbound) and 7 bound Eternals.
My (Lockdown) Arsenal Includes: (from least use to most use)
-Snarby 5 (normal def low)
-Vog Cub Coat 5 (shock low)
-Divine Avenger 10 (Dmg vs Beast: High, Undead low)
-War Rocket Hammer 5 (CTR low)
-Dark Retribution 5 (CTR low)
-Gigawatt Pulsar (Gremlin low)
-Plasma C 10 (Gremlin med) [BTW have VT learned]
-Shivermist B 6 (Beast low)
-An untouched BB and Spike Bomb at 2*
- Acheron 5 (ASI low), have little experience with
-Dark Thorn Blade 10 (CTR: Med)
Currently have 1 Weapon Slot and 1 Trinket Slot (I use swiftstrike pentant 5* the most, but also have Gift of Autumn and Dual-Heart Pentant)

I'm mostly Guardian or Strikers (but I die pretty often as one). I was an incredible recon UNTIL footprints kept getting me killed (over and over and over and over and over again) and found.
I like Heavy Swords and Quick Charging Bombs (want to become a great bomber someday), but am pretty bad with guns, using it only as a sidearm. While I have the hang of basic tactics (mostly self-learned) like moving-and-holding-your-second-strike, spreading bombs
I don't use AT

1 Does "Punching" 1 UV on my 2 UV DA affect the second UV?
2 Should I attempt to craft a bombing armor and which one (Volcanic Demo/Merc Demo, Yes I know about the SL, have not gone to RRT before but have done IQ and Rabid Snarby) before attempting to craft my bombs.
3 Should I try to craft a Nitro or a DBB
4 Should I use my radiants on my Blitz 8 (Fiend: Med) to speed up my FSC runs and therefore get more $ or prioritize on saving for bombs/bomb armour
5 If I don't use my radiants on my Blitz, what should I use them on?
6 Should I try buying a Capacitor with CTR low-med from AH or just try to redo my current UV on my Plasma C (First 2 UV's and then 1 UV if not)
7 Should I attempt to craft a bombing trinket or Penta hp pentant?

I gtg to bed now but I'll have more questions later.
P.S. Does this deserve to be in "the Coliseum"?

Sun, 05/11/2014 - 00:37

Glad-Amparus

Node 100003

1 Does "Punching" 1 UV on my 2 UV DA affect the second UV? = Punching one UV? I don't know this one... I think you have an option to choose if you want to keep your second UV... I forgot.

2 Should I attempt to craft a bombing armor and which one (Volcanic Demo/Merc Demo, Yes I know about the SL, have not gone to RRT before but have done IQ and Rabid Snarby) before attempting to craft my bombs. = Craft Mercurial demo. You will get MSI medium if you have your whole set. MSI is movement speed increase. You also are protected against shock mist bombs and Polaris shock. You also get damage increased by medium. You do not get ctr though. It's fairly easy to get UVs for ctr.

3 Should I try to craft a Nitro or a DBB = I'd first get Nitro, but I would also recommend mist bombs to try out. Remember being a bomber also means to use a sword, for best results...

4 Should I use my radiants on my Blitz 8 (Fiend: Med) to speed up my FSC runs and therefore get more $ or prioritize on saving for bombs/bomb armour = No. Save up.

5 If I don't use my radiants on my Blitz, what should I use them on? = 5* armors and bombs

6 Should I try buying a Capacitor with CTR low-med from AH or just try to redo my current UV on my Plasma C (First 2 UV's and then 1 UV if not) = Buy it if it's cheap. If not then roll UVs.

7 Should I attempt to craft a bombing trinket or Penta hp pentant? = If you bomb with guardian or recon you get ctr increased. With ctr UVs you get extra ctr, then if you have level 10 bombs you get additional ctr med. Get penta HP pendants.

And please put this in the coliseum.

Sun, 05/11/2014 - 06:19

Bopp

Question #1

I don't have good advice on most of your questions, but I can answer Question #1.

1 Does "Punching" 1 UV on my 2 UV DA affect the second UV?

When you buy a set of UVs from Punch, you get to select whether to keep each of your current UVs. For example, if you buy a 3-UV ticket, then you get to do whichever of these you want:
* keep both of your current UVs and get one new UV
* keep your beast UV and roll for two new UVs
* keep or undead UV and roll for two new UVs
* keep neither UV and roll for three new UVs.
Similarly, with a 2-UV ticket you could keep either of your current UVs, or throw both of them away.

The problem with your Divine Avenger is that your UVs are weak. Neither UV applies in Lockdown, and neither is great in the Clockworks either. The beast UV would be okay on a piercing weapon, but doesn't come close to making up for the fact that beasts resist DA's elemental damage. The undead UV is not worth talking about.

My advice is to buy 1-UV tickets repeatedly, until you get a UV that you really want (basically ASI or CTR, or maybe undead+4 or construct+4). Then buy 2-UV tickets, keeping your one nice UV, until you get a second nice UV. Make sense?

Sun, 05/11/2014 - 15:48

Deleted-Knight

My advice

If you suck at T3, try T2. The equipment is cheaper and it takes more hits to kill people which means good connection and luck don't matter as much.
In T3, it's all about bonuses. Health bonus, damage bonus, speed bonus, charge bonus, status resistance,etc. Any weapon you are comfortable with would do well if you have the right bonuses.

Obviously there is a skill component as well. There is no unbeatable strategy. A skilled lockdown player is one who can adapt to circumstances. Make it your motto to never die the same way twice in a game. Figure out what went wrong in each death and try to avoid making the same mistake again.
BE UNPREDICTABLE. What usually happens is a player finds an effective strategy and naturally plays the same way in every situation. Do not let your mind go on autopilot when caught in combat. Adjust your play style too keep your opponent guessing.

If you are tired of losing, use my aiming services. It's there to help you if you want it to. There's no reason to be frustrated with a game because it's too hard if you are not doing everything you can to make it less hard.

Sun, 05/11/2014 - 17:17

Leekcoco

- Anything less than Med for UVs don't matter in the wider scope, so save your money. If you play regularly, saving up for a Med UV should only take 1-2 weeks if you're not wasteful with your money.

- It's cheaper to buy UVs than to use Punch.

- If you bomb, go guard. If you guard, get some ASI. Otherwise you will have a hard time countering Strikers picking at your shield while you try to cap and defend. Haze bombs are popular for a reason, and more helpful to your team. Make sure you have a sword to counter people who are immune.

- Watch more games and watch what the best players do. Where they go, why they use this weapon instead of that, when to attack and when to retreat. Your goal should be to be helpful to your team, try figure out how in every situation.

- Guns are your friends, other bombers are a plain if you don't have one.

Wed, 05/14/2014 - 13:27

Momofuku

You should probably get a 2nd Trinket Slot and wear two Penta Heart Pendants.

Even triple max UVs on armors won't make up for the loss of 12 pips of HP. It can be hard to practice if you're getting 1-2hit KO'd by other heavy swords.

At minimum, having just Snarbolax Cap + Vog Coat w/ regular DA and 2 Penta Heart Pendants works just fine. If you want the most out of your crown, get those trinkets. It's also great for PVE too and makes Tier 3 much, much easier. Which helps when you're doing runs outside of LD for crown/heat/crystals.

As for your questions:
1) Rolling 1 UV will overwrite BOTH UVs you have and replace it with just 1 UV, at random.
2) Your long term plan should be to get CTR High on bombs and status immunity bomb armors. The latter means getting Shock/Stun immunity first, Shock/Stun/Fire immunity preferred, and a Freeze/Shock/Stun immunity set if you really have the money to spare.

- Reason for CTR High bombs is that Guardians come with CTR low bonus for bombs and Level 10 bombs get CTR Med. High + Low + Med = +6, which is CTR Max. It is unnecessary to get CTR Very High on bombs as guardian.
- Brief rundown on immunity: as a bomber, your worst enemy is statuses, and minor status is what you will face against other bombers. Immunity to minor status requires +7 status resist, equal to a Max + High, where Low = 1, Med = 2, High = 3, Max = 4 (there is no "very high" status resist on armors). All 5* armors that include native status resist you can consider worth a max resist (ie. Mercurial Demo comes with Shock Max resist naturally, which is +4). The exception is Snarbolax armor, which has +3 Freeze +3 Poison (instead of +4).
- Guardian class comes with +2 status resist to all statuses. Meaning you only actually need Max + Low on guardian armor get immunity to minor status.

Budget Guardian Fire/Shock/Stun Examples:

Ice Queen + Grey Feather w/ Shock Low, Stun Low, Fire Low (and Freeze Low can give you all 4)
Mercurial Demo + Volcanic Plate w/ Shock Low, Stun Low, Fire Low
Grey Feather + Volcanic Plate w/ Shock Low, Stun Low

Budget Guardian Freeze/Shock/Stun Examples:

Ice Queen + Grey Feather w/ Shock Low, Stun Low, Freeze Low (and Fire Low can give you all 4)
Ice Queen + Mercurial w/ Shock Low, Freeze Low, Stun Low

3) DBB is probably better. And will do more damage in LD usually, because most players have higher normal defense than pierce. But really can't go wrong either way.
4) Save your Radiants on your Bombs--they are the most critical to get to Level 10 to. Damage difference between Level 8 Blitz and Level 10 Blitz is not worth it (it'll also cost you around 200 radiants; it costs about 200 radiants to get from level 1 to level 8, and another 200 to get the last two levels)
5) Bombs. The ones you want are Voltaic Tempest, Stagger Storm, DBB, Shivermist / Ash of Agni. Venom Veiler is nice too. The first 2 are most appreciated by your teammates.
6) It is always cheaper to buy UVs, and I wouldn't buy bombs that aren't CTR High. The exception is if you're willing to sacrifice 1 Penta Heart Pendant for Bomb Focus Module (CTR Med Bombs) trinket. I don't recommend it though. You can explore Volcanic Demo armors and get the missing Shock Max+Low UV you need if that comes out cheaper than getting CTR High bombs. But it's less versatile; you become forced to always wear Volcanic Demo and won't be able to get CTR Max total when you want freeze immunity, for example.
7) Penta first, always. Craft two. It'll help when doing PVE runs too whereas bombs, not so much.

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Lockdown Help