Not having trinkets and being aggressive won't help much in LD. In order to do well as a trinket-less player you should work on Recon or Guardian first till you can save up to get some trink slots and pentas.

Blitz and EV aren't mainstream LD weapons. Your Combuster should probably be your go to weapon since it can combat Skolvers, BK, and Snarby while being able to deal fire to other Chaos users.

DA is also a good sword to use (provided you have mastered your prediction skills)

Obsidian edge is overshadowed by Acheron in LD since poison only works on the relatively easy to dodge charge (same prob with Combuster)

Your Flamberge doesn't deal status reliably enough to be considered that good. Rather, invest in getting the non-status variant, flourishes are crafted daily, odds are you can find one on the market with a Low or Med ASI.

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Guns have gotten buffed lately and there are several good ones to pick.

The Winter Grave is pretty powerful if you can land the shots.

Storm/Hail driver is often used to keep the enemy from attacking.

The Blaster Variants are also good sidearms to choose.

Pulsars are common in LD but it is tempting for them to become a crutch for new players.

Antigua lines are good for shutting down bombers as each hit lowers the charge bar.

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The Best Bomb for LD is the Voltaic Tempest followed by the Shivermist Buster. If you have enough slots you can equip both of these and be armed to deal with threats that make it through. (Divine Avenger and Gran Faust are recommended due to high damage per swing)

Why Shiv? Well if they can make it through the VT they probably don't have Freeze immunity, only a few players have both and odds are you can get anyone with these bombs.

Flamberge is OK as a recon weapon, but it is more of a hit, status, and hide weapon.

Actually a fully leveled 4 star weapon has as much power as about a 5 star weapon at Level 7 so power shouldn't be an issue for your 4 stars.

Storm driver is meant to be fired sparingly if you have only one gun or aren't good at switch shooting. Spamming the charge creates a dangerzone and can hit around corners and can be used to turn small walled rooms deadly. Basically try and get a Shock and then sword them.

Pulsars work as area denial and as a Hazard maker, cutting off certain paths and making close fights in large groups more risky to run about in for the enemy.

The Blackhawk is decent but it isn't for straight damage. Use it to annoys players off points and after you (as recon you can lead them around for a bit buying time for your team).

The Catalyzer you have is a very Niche weapon, if you can tag a recon you can follow them around even when they cloak.

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As for PVE my basic recommendation is to try to get at least one of every family of weapon. PVE is basically learning how to prompt monsters to do certain attacks.

Example: Slags are very annoying when they jump, most players just try to keep a good distance from them. By keeping a distance they are actually prompting the Slags to jump or breathe. If you pass within melee range of a Zombie however they will swipe at you, this attack is much easier to avoid.

You should also learn how to play with and without AT. You can do things with both that you can't do with the other.

Example: Without AT you can get ALL the bullets from your alchemer charges to hit ONE enemy. You can also more easily herd enemies with Pulsars. You brandishes may deal less damage to one enemy but you can reach priority targets with the status (T3 Arena Menders with Obsidian Edge).

With AT on your Flourishes and Cutters are less likely to miss. You can lock down devilites with Magnus bullets, and your brandish blasts deal max damage to one enemy.

My favorite part about PVE is that trinkets, UVs, weapon slots aren't necessary to win. I've been on several teams with knights who have invested in MAXing their stats rather than gaining the SKILL to handle their shortcomings. In short I'm often the last alive.

Yes, AT means Auto-Target, which is another name for Auto-Aim.

I don't comment on PvP, but now you're asking about PvE, and you seem to be into swords. Have you ever perused my detailed sword guide? It can help you select armor and FSC loadouts, for example.

Be careful when leveling up from 4 stars to 5 stars, because 5-star weapons often do less damage than fully heated 4-star weapons, until they reach heat level 7 or 8. This is mentioned in my sword guide.

Though, I didnt get what swords does a higher DAMAGE.

Higher damage against which monsters? It varies by damage type. For example, Warmaster Rocket Hammer does great damage against undead and constructs and good damage against slimes and fiends. But it does terrible damage against gremlins and beasts, because they resist elemental. My guide gives detailed damage numbers within each damage type.

Im sorry im that type of person, but i survive by "matrix dodging everything" and doing most damage possible.

Yes, this is how many expert players play Spiral Knights: dodge and kill. The game is balanced to favor that play style. No reason to apologize for it. :)

was wondering about Electron Vortex and like my Shivymist and stuff

Vortex bombs are great, especially if you're in a party that knows how to use them. And Electron Vortex is probably the best of them.

I'm not a fan of Shivermist Buster. Freeze is attractive to new players, because obviously it lets them control the room. But freeze hinders kiting, knockback, shield-bumping, and other tricks that veteran players use to kill monsters quickly. Anyway, if you like Shivermist Buster, then you might really like Voltaic Tempest or Stagger Storm.

When mixing armors you need a purpose, whether it is status immunity, a monster family hunting set, or buff/debuff countering.

It is often helpful to mix armors with matching damage resists. You also need to learn the hints provided by each gate icon.
For example:

A floor has a Compound symbol, you know there will be minis.

The background is red, there will be fire.

The icon is dark blue, there will be fiends.

More info here http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Gate

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A decent enough sized armor inventory should provide you with enough choices to mix and match for the optimal balance of survival and power.

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For must get gear I would recommend adding a Gran Faust, Barbarous Thorn Blade, and Leviathan blade to your swords.
Iron Slug, Wildfire, Omega Tortofist, and Arcana to your guns.
Dark Briar Barrage, Obsidian Crusher, Voltaic Tempest, Shocking Salt Bomb, and Nitronome to your bombs.

As for armors try to get many sets so that you can resist any mix of status and damage.

I manage pretty good in PvE using obsidian edge/DA, Strike needle, and Electron Vortex/Graviton/Shivy. So.... also wondering if there are any other "essencial" PvE/PvP weps?

Yes, those weapons are good. But you should try to sample all styles of weapon, because that's a big part of the fun of this game. Try shard bombs, catalyzers, pulsars, cutters, magnuses, etc. To answer your question, here are some really powerful weapons that you're missing:

* Alchemers: These are great guns, because they reward skillful play. In the hands of a novice, they don't do much damage. But in the hands of an expert, who knows how to use the ricochets and how to weapon switch, they do amazing damage. Focus on Nova or Storm or Umbra.

* Dark Retribution: This bomb is crazily powerful. It's also entirely party-friendly and easy to use. It's sort of like a haze-style bomb, but emitting tons of damage instead of tons of status. Apparently you already have Operation Crimson Hammer.

* Dark Briar Barrage: This bomb is also quite powerful, party-friendly, and easy to use. It's basically a piercing Nitronome with no knockback. (By the way, Nitronome is worth trying too.) DBB is the easiest way to deal with fiends, in my opinion.

The point is test out different weapons and see what you prefer

Also he said it rewards skillfully play, if you can't make alchemers do well it means you just need to practice with them
I don't think you know how to use a DR either if you think its the initial damage that counts, its the orbs being able to hit multiple times

You already have a flourish and if you are comfortable using the charge then go for the Final Flourish instead of the Thorn blade. Tortofists aren't too hard to get, you just need some patience, a good party, and a lot of sparks.

All the Blaster variants are OK but the Arcana is one of the best for PVP since Skolvers and BK both take high damage from them. If you need something to fight off the other Chaos users and the rare Vog knight then get the Phantasmos.

DBB is good because it is team friendly and doesn't knock enemies out of future blasts. Crusher has poison and pairs well with VT. Shiv is OK but there are no damage buffing armors with shock resist (except a bomber set).

SSB has a moderate shock for when you meet a knight that can Haze walk a VT.

Oh, BTW nert, are you epicskunks alt? I've been meaning to ask due to the fact you're so similar

Grim repeater is a good gun to invest in, don't be put off by the knockback it is actually useful since it keeps you safe and opens up opportunities to use other guns (freeze guns work good since you can easily setup for future charges).

Volcanic plate set is good for resisting the statuses in FSC (except that shock from Trojan buff). It is also good at dealing with Gremlin Thwackers and Scorchers. For the best experience you need ASI on some items or from your sprite to counter that drop it has.

The Fallen set is good for hunting undead while still having a dual status resist and a nice universal ASI boost. It is also pretty good anywhere but against fiends. If you must hunt fiends be sure to have VS fiend UVs on your weapons.

Chaos only excels on status free floors, if the floor has a status one misstep can be fatal. Get acquainted with remedy capsules for sure.

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Voltaic Tempest and DBB are must get bombs.
Obsidian crusher is a good bomb for when you need a shadow type vortex.
SSB is probably the last bomb you should craft since it is a very niche weapon. (note: SSB while low on damage has a great charge time and flinch rate. The pattern and the status makes this bomb pretty decent at knocking the guns off a mortafire too).

Blasters are easy to use guns and are useful in ANY situation. That being said there is always a more powerful choice just not one that is as adaptable.

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Most of the "GOOD" players in LD use trinkets, and then skill.
Rather recently Brother-Zeke (another forumer) convinced everyone in the LD game (except one prick) to remove their trinkets. I have never used trinkets but still always manage to contribute in typical matches. Here however I consistently grabbed KOs and a top score most of the following matches.

HP trinkets can get you a good bit but if you can't fight or react accordingly you will get slapped around.

Sentenza does more damage against neutral targets than the Phantamos. The problem is the low damage per bullet, this forces you to land all 6 shots to barely outdo the Phantamos's 3. The other problem is the strain it places on your shooting finger and the less than viable charge.

You delete a thread by moving it to the Graveyard forum. To do this, edit the original post and select that forum from the drop-down menu.

Your Valiance plan is fine. I wouldn't do it, because I would just obliterate the monsters with Blitz Needle, rather than knocking them back slightly and then obliterating them. Or I'd obliterate them with a Nova Driver charge or Umbra Driver charge. But if it works for you, then do it. Cheers.