Hi guys, i am wondering... what should i get first with tokens from vana. I was considering getting the shield blackened crest but now Ive started playing lockdown a lot and u cant us shields, plus, it it's only 4star and i feel like it will take me a looonnnggg time to get it to 5star. I am not getting the ancient helm (Hate how it looks), but will consider the ancient armor. The other option is fang of vog but it is 10 tokens more and it takes a while to get them. Plz let me know what u think i should get.
PLZ HELP...
Tue, 11/04/2014 - 16:19
Tue, 11/04/2014 - 17:49
#2
HONK
Blackened crest is less useful than the Skelly line 4 star but the Crest of almire provides a very nice status coverage for shock and fire (which is useful) though don't look down on the poison/freeze resist of the Dread skelly shield.
Fang of Vog gets fire chance on every hit and has that devastating charge that can hit 3 times stacking up to over 1500 damage in stratum 6. (With VH ASI it gets an extra hit on the charge going over 2000). With the common heavily fire resistant armor you only take 4 seconds of fire and a little damage.
Ancient plate is a nice shield to have if you don't know what you are going o fight against.
Ancient plate set provides nice defense and a larger HP buff than anything else (+8 per rather than the standard +5 per) so it's not horrible to have. It's especially nice if you want to heat up a piece of low star armor but still want to have some good defense, or just run with a Black kat hood (not Cowl) and still want to be safe.
Wed, 11/05/2014 - 02:28
#3
Fang of Vog and Ancient Plate Helm are mostly novelty items. Neither is very useful for anything, other than derping around.
If you play LD, Ancient Plate Armor does well when combined with Black Kat helmets. You'll (as a Striker) get DI Ultra on swords while getting a health/defence bonus which will often allow you to survive an extra hit from swords. It will also make Valiance close to worthless against you. The Movement Speed Decrease is negated by the Movement Speed Increase from BKC, so it's not an issue. If you don't have any ASI UVs, the ASD might be a bit annoying but it should be manageable. That said, you should probably get at least ASI Med UVs before investing in a BKC.
Blackened Crest is definitely worthwhile to upgrade. Crest of Almire is by all means one of the best shields available in the game, so getting it should be a question of when and not a question of if.
Lastly, I'd say Ancient Plate Shield is OK, but it's not at all a must. It's seldom useful but it has its uses. Don't get it before other things you'll actually need.
Wed, 11/05/2014 - 21:58
#4
When I was newer to the game, I actually used ancient plate shield tons. It has massive normal defense, and some stun, making it equally mediocre against everything, which sounds like a bad thing until you realize that like, well...
Barb thorn shield = decent normal + piercing
Ancient plate shield = way more normal than it has to
Omega shell = extra health
VS: Mecha Knights
Barb Thorn: Worst possible. Defends against only the normal
Ancient Plate: More defensive than barb thorn. Defends against more of the normal. Still pretty bad..
Omega Shell: Best of the three. Health wins out, unless there is stun.
Considering that ancient plate shield is basically a free item (30K crowns for a 5* item? Slightly worst than a recipe...), there isn't much reason not to use it. I wouldn't go heating it though, especially considering that if you become invested in Spiral Knights there isn't any real reason not to craft all of the shields.
Thu, 11/06/2014 - 23:26
#5
@Holy
4 times, not 3 on the
@Holy
4 times, not 3 on the FoV charge :)
Illl tell you my experience with FoV.
Let me preface this by saying that you shoukd bring it wherever oilers are present and you have annoying party members.
So FoV:
-Decent regular attack
-Wicked charge in PvE (Hits twice on free enemies, 3 times on stationary, and 4 times depending on your player's orientation - used for 2 months as an actual weapon, I would know)
-Looks BA
-Sets you on STRONG fire.
Strong fire can't be immune to, but you can reduce the dmg. The chance of setting yourself on fire is around 1/3 (though in my experience, if you try to set urself on fire you wont, and if you try NOT to you will).
To the point:
3 (4?) Tiers of fire strength:
1) Minor
2) Moderate
3) ?? (High for now)
4) Strong
Minor fire - 7 pts immu e
Moderate fire - 9 pts immune
High fire - unknown (I bring this up because I believe there is a point after 9 pts where you can become immune to shadow fire, but still not to strong.
strong fire - no immunity
Fire resistance seems to flatten out at around 9 pts. So 9 pts of fire res recommended for FoV charge spam.
Even with 9 pts, it is an annoying weapon to use. You can demolish waves initially, but once you get low on health, your lose major dps. Potential counters would be Sera's heart move, but the fire does out damage you w/r/t hearts that monsters drop, depending on your luck.
TL;DR
Get a combuster.
Sat, 11/08/2014 - 13:26
#6
the reason
The reason i said i wanted to get the ancient plate mail is because i happen to own a divine veil and in lockdown an extra 3 health bars can be extremely useful.
I can't speak much to their PvP uses, but as far as PvE goes this is the Almirian Seal progression I'd suggest:
Blackened Crest -> Fang of Vog -> Ancient Plate Shield -> Ancient Plate Armor+Helm
Blackened Crest--while not very useful on its own--upgrades into Crest of Almire, an incredibly useful shield (both in FSC and general clockworks runs). It has immunity to both Fire and Shock, as well as enough shadow defense to take a few hits from zombies or devilites. Get it and start heating it, so that it'll be ready to upgrade as soon as you are.
Fang of Vog, while outclassed by brandishes as an elemental sword, has an incredibly powerful nuke of a charge attack. The spin attack hits each enemy in range up to four times, and will likely set anything it hits on fire--this includes you, so carry Remedies. It's a semi-niche weapon, but can give turrets and deadnaughts a good whoopin'. Despite being a fire sword, you'll see them in FSC once in a blue moon as their charge can potentially one-shot Trojans and Vana's Royal (Slag) Guards. It also just looks cool, so it's got that going for it.
The Ancient Plate Shield is also niche, but has its uses. It has the same normal defense and stun immunity as the Grand Tortoise, but without the move speed penalty. It's good to carry in places like non-fire Decon Zones, as well as the Unknown Passage at the end of each Shadow Lair.
The Ancient Plate Armor and Helm can make nice costumes, but other than that they'll probably just decorate your inventory. Each piece actually has two bars' worth of normal defense, so they could pair nicely with pieces like the Divine Veil or Radiant Silvermail, if you were so inclined.