Spiral Knights - Opinions on where I'm going w/ equipment now?

Opinions on where I'm going w/ equipment now?

6 replies [Last post]

Sat, 02/07/2015 - 13:02

Amarille

Right now, I'm pretty close to achieving the Champion rank, but I'm curious as to what a change of plans would do.
I want to have a PvE viable set to use (Seerus + Chaos, already have now) and a PvP (Lockdown) viable set to use.
Here's what I have at the moment;
- Seerus Mask (I often use Sunset Stetson, which I'm heating, so I can make a Shadowsun Stetson as a shadow-defensive alternative.)
- Chaos Cloak
- Heavy Plate Shield (heating up to Volcanic Plate Shield)
- Volt Driver (heating up to Storm Driver)
- Strike Needle (heating up to Blitz Needle)
- Iron Slug
- WRH (Warmaster Rocket Hammer, may change plans here)

I'm planning on going from Gunner - Swordie Hybrid to a Gunner - Bomber hybrid, as I could carry 2 guns, 2 bombs, or 3 guns and a bomb. I'm leaning towards one of the Vaporizer bombs, like the Staggerstorm line or the Shivermist line. I really want to get the Staggerstorm line, but you can only alchemize it and get recipes w/ Krogmo coins. Both bombs are viable in PvE and PvP. I'm also thinking about having another armor piece, like the Mercurial Demo Suit (which I'm prioritizing) or a different bomb-related armor piece.

I am going to get to champion once I finish heating up + alchemizing the Heavy Plate Shield to the Volcanic Plate shield, but I still have a bunch of things to heat up. Opinions on my progress?

Sat, 02/07/2015 - 13:40

Traevelliath

The best Gun-Bomb hybrid combo I can think of is Vortex Bomb into Alchemer charge shot. Iron Slug and Blitz Needle also work, but aren't quite as effective. However, the elemental variant requires krogmo coins to get, which will compete with your Stagger. You can get the shadow variant, but that'll reduce your damage in FSC.

Shivermist is more of a PvE bomb, allowing you to set up perfect point-blank Blitz charges. It's also more useful for FSC, which will get you most of your crowns. Shiver falls short in PvP because of Skolver, which is where Stagger really shines. The best LD bomber I ever faced was a Guardian who used Stagger + Venom Veiler + Ashes of Agni, if that's the kind of thing you're aiming for.

I find effective hybrid builds, especially bomb hybrid builds, are hard to pull off without a trinket or two (unless you just go full Chaos). Ideally you want a good sprite perk as well to boost your bomb CTR.

Mercurial Demo isn't the best for bombing, especially bomber hybrids. You need good CTR for bomb-hybrid builds to work, which Mercurial Demo does NOT provide. You also can only get Mercurial Demo from Shadow Lair runs (more specifically, you need the mat from the Red Roarmulus Twins). Bomb hybrid builds tend to rely on a controlling AOE bomb, followed up by a powerful charge shot. Thus, you need some really good CTR on your bombs and guns.

Finally, you're missing a shadow gun. Going with the gun-bomb hybrid theme, I'd recommend either the Umbra Driver or the Grim Repeater. You may want to keep these guns at 4* so you can benefit from the heat lvl 10 CTR med. It's very difficult to get heat lvl 10 on 5* equipment nowadays.

Sat, 02/07/2015 - 15:11

Bopp

agree

You're definitely considering the right questions. Your plan sounds good. Your hybrid build will work well just because of Chaos Cloak. I'll add a few comments about PvE.

Get a Swiftstrike Buckler. Even if you don't like it, it's so cheap that you haven't lost much money.

Are you able to heat all of these 5-star items? Heat all of the weapons to heat level 10 (and maybe the armor to heat level 5) before acquiring any new 5-star stuff. Heat has a huge effect on weapons.

Traevelliath is right that you could use a shadow gun, particularly Umbra Driver or Grim Repeater. Winter Grave should be awesome too, but the freeze hinders the charge attack somewhat. Anyway, this is a low priority, as you have powerful guns in all three other damage types.

Stagger Storm is under-used and under-appreciated. My only complaint about it is that it feels like cheating. It makes the game too easy.

Shivermist Buster is over-used, in my opinion. Newish players like it because freeze helps them control a room. But freeze hinders knockback, shield-bumping, kiting, and other tactics that more experienced players value.

The other haze bombs are good, but not a high priority. Traevelliath is right that you should give vortex bombs a chance. Get Dark Briar Barrage if fiends give you trouble or you want to clear wolver dens quickly. Use Dark Retribution if you want to pump out huge amounts of damage in a boring way.

I wouldn't get any bomber armor any time soon. You already have great armor for gunner-bomber hybrid, and weapons are the fun part of this game. Armor is dull.

Sun, 02/08/2015 - 01:19

Keepscaite

Traeveliath is right in that

Traeveliath is right in that you should NOt get Mercurial Demo since it does nothing much for your guns aside from giving you some MSI. Bopp is right in that Stagger Storm is underused and that Shivermist is overused. But being a Shivermist spammer myself, the bomb is crazy useful in specific situations *cough*puppy danger room*cough*Vana*cough* and it really shows it's worth if you're playing solo (because there aren't any teammates to break your freeze).

Seerus + Chaos is fine. you don't need new armors.

But if you're getting Stagger Storm, I should warn you that the stun it gives is only minor, so it'll fizzle out pretty quickly once the haze expires. as well as having some slime enemies be immune to it (oilers, quiksilvers and ice cubes). However, Stagger and your Volt Driver would have amazing synergy. Because unlike Shock +Freeze, Shock + Stun do not interfere with each other in any way.

As for Vortex Bombs, those are mostly used for utility, so the damage isn't all that important. However, the shock that Electron Vortex gives out can nullify the bomb's own knockback, keeping your enemies bunched up together for a fair bit longer after the bomb has blown.

But if you're too cheap to get Electron Vortex, getting Voltaic Tempest + Graviton Vortex can sort of achieve a similar effect.

Swiftstrike Buckler would help, but not by that much. So I don't think it's much of a priority.

Sun, 02/08/2015 - 03:57

Awoogawooga

Well, Blitz Needle is

Well, Blitz Needle is definitely a good thing, since a lot of your crowns and radiants farming will come from Vana.

Silvermist is probably a good support bomb as well. Some people seem to "look down" on Shivermist, and there are players who are so experienced/well geared that they don't require Shivermist even for Vana. But I'm gonna assume that since you're "only" a Champion who is still heating up your gear, that you haven't reached that level yet, in which case, Shivermist is a nigh essential tool.

A couple things to consider with Shivermist though. It's a potentially great bomb but it doesn't work well with other bombs. So if you have another bomber on your team and he's laying down an Electron Vortex, it's better you not lay down Shivermist. Especially if you're not even using the 5* version yet. It all depends on the situation. Shivermist is great for stuff like freezing Quicksilvers, but there's a time and place to spam any bomb. Vana is where this bomb shines, and I always take one with me on FSC runs in case my party doesn't have a Shiverer. There's no shame in killing a defenseless Vana.

I wouldn't recommend many other bombs if you're primarily a gunner. Maybe Dark Retribution if your connection is fast and stable, as that bomb can cause lag on slower connections. Dark Briar Barrage is also great for Wolvers and Devilites. Especially Wolvers. All you need to do is stay still and repeatedly drop the bomb. If an Alpha is about to bite, just move to the side a little. It's a less annoying way of fighting them than shooting them.

WRH is just plain fun.

Sun, 02/08/2015 - 14:34

Fehzor

Definitely consider dark retribution as a damage bomb, as it has some pretty intense DPS against everything that isn't undead/fiend.

For your status bomb, stagger storm is incredibly good in party play against arena type levels that aren't resistant to it.. the levels in particular that do resist it are basically just slimes which would die to dark retribution anyway. Shivermist buster on the other hand makes for a poor starting weapon unless you have specific friends using weapons like autoguns, triglav, dread venom striker, hail driver and glacius to help you out. Without people using weapons like this that ramp up in power due to ice (and communication, which so very rarely occurs in the early game or most of the game for that matter) you're just as likely to hurt your team as help it. Later on, when you're all set up you should almost definitely craft shivermist, as when it is used effectively it's used REALLY effectively; stuck in ice + charge to death is a viable strategy almost everywhere that isn't ice related.

Overall, my suggestion to you in the near future would be to-

1. Heat dark retribution to level 10 asap. Start earning stagger storm recipes whenever you can. Play blast network if you have to.
2. Keep stagger at level 10 4* until you get the crystals to heat it to 10. It needs the free +2 CTR. Go for a nice ctr UV.
3. While heating stagger, craft more guns/bombs and keep them at 4*, as you get orbs and radiant fire crystals.
4. "Quit" the game after becoming frustrated with how you can't seem to get enough radiant fire crystals.
5. Occasionally come back to see if the radiant fire crystal problem is there, and then leave again after noting the promos.

Everyone else gave pretty decent advise as well, especially Bopp who suggested getting a swiftstrike buckler. Swifstrike is 3*, which means that it will only cost you about 15K crowns. Compared to say, ~450K to heat a 5* weapon using the supply depot. Your armor is also perfect for where you are in your bomb-gunning career. When you get set up even more you can consider volcanic demo/mercurial demo. Those will help you out a considerable amount for when you're pure bombing with hazes/get CTR against shock/fire areas.

Sun, 02/08/2015 - 19:09

Awoogawooga

Oh, also, considering the

Oh, also, considering the difficulty in farming Radiants, you might consider keeping your haze bombs at 4*. They're pretty effective even at that level.

Except for the Shivermist, as you'll need the radius from the 5* for Vana (to reach him in the final phase).

Really, the main reason for getting Shivermist is FSC and Vana in particular. As primarily a Gunner, you probably won't even be doing Shiver much, but in the rare cases where no one else in your party has Shiver, you might have to pick up that role. If you don't ever want to shiver Vana yourself, then yeah, you might consider putting it as a mid-priority bomb.

Shivermist is great, but you should see if you have any CC players (particularly bombers) in your party before employing it. As it messes up all other CC.

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Opinions on where I'm going w/ equipment now?