Reached Haven not too long ago, and though I have the Brandish and Wolver Cloak and Cap in mind, I don't exactly know what I should get for a shield/sidearm. On that note, would a handgun or bomb be better for most cases?
Good Shield and Sidearm for Beginners?
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 11:46
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 22:47
#2
Haze line
Go with a Haze bomb as your sidearm depending on your brandish. If you are going for the Combuster then go with the Shivermist, It will be much more effective and useful than a Cryotech. If you are going for the Glacius go with Ash of Agni. If you go for the Acheron (the Brandish I recommend), you are free to any of the lines. (This is coming from a 3 guns + 1 bomb/1 sword user). If you really want a gun and you are using a Combuster/Glacius then get either a normal damaging gun/magnus/shadowtech. You don't want two of the same type of weapons.
Grey Owlite Shield/Dragon Scale Shield > Volcanic Plate Shield > Heater Shield > Omega Shell. (this is all opinion). Grey Owlites are so popular because it has High elemental defense and Fire and Shock resists. In T3 the killer status effects are fire and shock, and the most damage type will be Elemental. Dragon Scale Shield is a great line, but it only really shows it's color in T3 since there is very little normal damaging enemies. The Volc plate is great because of it being extremely useful in T1-2 and it has fire resist if you go into T3 with it. Omega shells aren't the best, but since they have a high amount of Health it is an "all around" shield, good for running into anything with. I left out the Blackened Crest line since it's from T3 tokens.
Fri, 06/17/2011 - 00:43
#3
As for Guns, highly recommend
As for Guns, highly recommend either Cryotech or Voltech. Good gun puppy control, and it pays being able to stay out of range of zombies and retrodes, two of arguably the most difficult to fight sword-to-sword with (opinion). Magikats are also annoying, and I personally get a kick out of every time I freeze a silkwing in place (Then again, that's just because I have a fierce hatred for the blasted creatures. To death with all of them!).
Contrary to Tairy, by the way, If I went sword-bomb, I wouldn't go opposites as he described. Freeze and Fire cancel each other out, it's impossible to have them both active on an enemy at the same time. Also, Acheron is arguably the best Brandish - at least for Jelly King. Firestorm Citadel is not so kind to it though, so unless you want to get a different sword down the line and you plan on taking down Vanny I regretfully suggest Glacius [note: this comes from a person who has never tried any of the brandishes, so take what i say about them with a grain of Rock Salt Bombs.] Also, just be aware that if FSC is your goal, you probably wanna just get Shivermist, FSC is full of things that are fiery and painful and resist Fire.
As for shields, it really depends on what you want out of them. If you want all-out offense, plan on supplementing some Skolver gear, or want a good shield for JK see if you can't get Thorn Shield. Defenders are generally outshined by Thorn Shields, but I think Defenders are a little sturdier. Dragon Scale is, as mentioned not exactly viable till t3, and definitely not for JK palace. I'm a fan of Omega Shells, but ever since Piercing damage became more prevalent it doesn't see as much action. Your call.
Fri, 06/17/2011 - 01:56
#4
Get 2* and thus Tier2
Get 2* and thus Tier2 clearance as soon as possible (almost any gear will do, look in the AH for good prices). Then, try everything out, guns, bombs, slow and fast swords. See how other players use them. Learn what type of enemy you defeat easily, and what type gives you a hard time. Adjust your weapons and armor accordingly. In the end you'll need several sets to be able to go to Tier 3 with the best equipment in each stratum...
Fri, 06/17/2011 - 09:52
#5
Sidearm:
Cryo/Firo/Voltech
Sidearm:
Cryo/Firo/Voltech Alchemer. (Do not fall into the traps that are the Prisma and Shadowtech Alchemers, the status effects are too useful to give up.)
The stuff it's ineffective on is the stuff that tends to dodge gunfire in Tier 2 anyway. The bullets travel rather slow until you upgrade it though... adjust aim accordingly.
Shield:
...Maybe the one you get from Snarbolax tokens.
I used a Firebreak Shield and found it very useful (Stands up to Rocket Puppies and Red Rovers very well), but it doesn't go up to 5*. So if use an Elementbreak shield, you'll need to replace it before long.
Owlite is pretty good stuff, though it looks kind of ugly until its 5* version... Still, Twilight has taught us that a pretty-looking corpse is to be loathed and reviled. Better to be ugly and alive.
I enjoy a bomb more (specifically the blast bomb line), but if you're only going to have two weapon slots and you consider yourself a swordsman first (as wolver gear indicates), a gun is probably more useful. My favorite gun is the cryotech alchemer. It's great against constructs, particularly gun puppies and retrodes.
I'd recommend running with 3 or 4 weapon slots, though, and allowing yourself more flexibility. You can also own more than 2 weapons and just equip different things depending on the stratum. For example, I have 3 different swords that I use, but on any given run, I only carry one sword. I bring the fierce flamberge for beasts or fiends, the vile striker for most other levels, and the winmillion when I just want something different. So try out lots of different things and see what you enjoy.
For a shield, in tier 2, anything will do, but I recommend one that blocks 2 damage types. I use the owlite line, which is pretty popular, but other lines are also viable options. The defender line will be better against wolvers and jellies, the skelly line better against fiends and the undead. The dragon scale line is trickier. It lacks normal defense so it's very weak against certain enemies and attacks, but in the right stratum it can be quite useful.