Spiral Knights - Would mixing Wolver and the new gunner armor work? (Sword/Gun hybrid)

Would mixing Wolver and the new gunner armor work? (Sword/Gun hybrid)

6 replies [Last post]

Tue, 12/16/2014 - 23:15

Staralix

Hello everyone! The gunner update lured me out of hiding. I'm what you'd probably consider a casual player; I play on/off every once in a while and I doubt I'll ever actually get to the shadow lairs, so this isn't about perfect optimization as it is about general viability.

Here's my dilema; I like guns, but I'm just not comfortable without a sword to use for knockback. However, I still rely on the gun a lot, so I like having mobility of power in it. I was wondering, what're your thoughts on mixing Wolver and the new Gunner armor together? It seems alright in theory; It turns you into a jack of all trades, even if your bonuses end up smaller.

I was thinking on going with this:
-Vog Pup Cap
-Sacred Falcon Shade Armor (In theory, this gives a good range of defense for shadow and elemental)
-Acheron (this is mostly because I'm bad with shooting Fiends)
-Winter Grave

I don't know which shield I'd go for, but since I tend to use hit and run more than anything else, I might got for the swiftstrike.

Thoughts? I'm not sure on the weapons, either. I never really considered weapon synergy until recently.

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 00:17

Bananaphonehaha

If you're bad with shooting

If you're bad with shooting fiends, an Acheron isn't that great of a choice. Although it does have insanely high damage, you'll be doing less effective damage to them because Acheron is a shadow weapon. You could probably pull it off, however.

Suda has always been a pretty nice choice of a sword sidearm for gunners because of its knockback, and normal damage (which means it works equally well on all families).

You might also want to look into getting one of the armor sets which has bonuses that apply to all weapons (Chaos, BKC).

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 00:32

Staralix

You're right on the fiends

You're right on the fiends thing; I still get some resistances mixed up. I do remember another reason was generally cause the families it's stronger against are easier to approach in melee, like slimes.

As for the Suda, I've never been a fan of the heavier swords. My current computer is on its last leg and it making timing anything a bit difficult, which is a shame, because I could probably like them if it didn't enjoy freezing or stuttering at least once or twice every fight or so.

I still wonder if the new armor sets for Gunners are worth mix and matching with different sets, though? It would help lessen the Chaos status weaknesses a bit, wouldn't it?

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 02:23

Fehzor

Well the armor is going to do what it says on the tin regardless of what you pair it with. Mixing your sword and gun stats isn't going to change that. Your swords will be about 8% faster and your guns will be about 4% faster, 4% more damaging, will charge about 4% faster as well. If that's what you want then go for it.

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 06:57

Bopp

no reason not to

There are four considerations in choosing armors. For someone like you, who is interested in "general viability", I would rate them in this order:

Resistance to shock, fire, and freeze. These statuses can wreck you. Ideally you would have enough resistance to gain immunity to minor sources of status. In this way, mixing status resistances is not super-useful. Eventually you may want a fire set, a shock set, and a freeze set (although by that point you might be wearing glass cannon armor anyway).
Offensive bonuses (ASI, CTR, damage, MSI). Which ones you prioritize depends on which weapons you're using. Charge-oriented weapons (including all bombs) benefit from CTR. Regular-attack-oriented weapons benefit from ASI. Status-spreading and vortex weapons don't benefit from damage bonus much; all other weapons do. And so on. There is no reason not to mix sword offense with gun offense, if you are truly hybrid.
Damage defense. This is so low on my list because the practical difference between large and small damage defense is not as big as you might think. Even with really defensive armor you have to dodge to survive. And among the damage types, piercing defense is the least important.
Resistance to poison, stun, and curse. These statuses are survivable enough, or rare enough, that they should not strongly considered when planning your first armor set.

So you have to get your weapons sorted out first. That is also more entertaining than choosing armor. Then try to get some nice fire, shock, and freeze resistance, while also getting some offensive bonuses that you like. If you can, carry some shadow protection to help against those fiends.

Oh, and I have a detailed sword guide which teaches the general theory of damage types, as well as sword-gun pairings. It hasn't been updated for the new guns, though.

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 16:17

Staralix

Thank you!

Thank you for your input! I'll keep them in mind when I make my choice; for now, I think I'll just aquire the low-star version of any weapon that interests me, and see if I like them, then plan armor and shield in consequence.

Wed, 12/17/2014 - 16:41

Bopp

just get

Just get one piece of Wolver, and upgrade it to 4 stars. And get one piece of Gunslinger, and upgrade it to 4 stars. You don't have to make any choices on these lines until 5 stars. By the time you get there, you'll have a better idea of what you want in armor. Cheers.

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Would mixing Wolver and the new gunner armor work? (Sword/Gun hybrid)