Which gunner armour would be good for a new gunner?
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Howdy! I recently started playing gunner in Spiral Knights, and for armour I've read multiple guides (such as Bopp's one), involving it, but there are still some questions. I will be able to access the Mask of Seerus for my 3* Elemental Helmet, but I'm not sure of which armour to go with next. Should I go for a Padded Armour type? And if so, should I go for Sentinel or Shade? Shade would be good as it would pair with the Mask of Seerus for Shadow + Elemental protection, but not only am I getting close to starting with the Jelly King (+ farming it for money and orbs) which is Piercing, but the next two bosses are both meant to be good with Elemental gear. There's also the chance of an event such as the Kataclysm happening, giving access to the Kat stuff which is Shadow defence.
So may I ask which armour might be best to go for to begin with? Or should I just try and get as 1 for each type? And if so, which resistance type would be best? Would having multiple shields help as well? Sorry for asking so many questions, and than you if you at least read this!
(also so sorry if this is the wrong forum part to put this in sorry)
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Here's what you're doing well: You read armor guides and said so. You're thinking about the offensive capabilities of your armor first. You're using Seerus.
Here's what you're doing less well: You're focused on damage protection rather than status resistance. You're thinking of getting a Black Kat suit, which is rare or expensive, which you might not know. Or maybe you're thinking of getting other Kat armor, which is vastly overpriced. And you haven't mentioned Chaos, which might not be right for you but is worth considering.
If you want a more specific answer than what I give in my armor guide, here it is: Get Shadowsun Slicker, Falcon Shade armor, or Firefly Shade armor.
Meanwhile you should have Swiftstrike Buckler. For the sake of your 5-star certification, you should get Barbarous Thorn Shield (unless you're certain that you will never use any swords) or maybe Grey Owlite Shield or maybe Dread Skelly Shield.
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I am so so sorry for taking so long to reply sorry, but thank you both so much!!! I'll make sure to hold onto this information as I play sorry! I've gotten the Buckler to begin with, and if I find trouble, I'll do as you both said, and switch to the safety triad, starting with the Owlite Shield sorry! I'll also consider getting the Chaos / Shadowsun Slicker if I find the Falcon Shade Armour to be lacking in what I need (Due to the suggestion of that specific type, and for being best used for mixed weaponry, which sounds good for a beginner, thank you so much sorry!). Thank you both so much!
Just going to copy/pasta what I said about the armor choices gunners have, but essentially, your choice of armor will strongly depend on what kind of handguns you'll be using.
"On one side, you got the Gunslinger duos (Nameless/Shadowsun or Justifier/Shadowsun duos) that give you +4 resistances to 2 status (Freeze or Stun + Poison) as well as a Med ASI+DMG for Handguns for practically no drawbacks, which makes this a viable choice for gunners who will ONLY use Spam-centric Handguns that only have viable use in their regular attacks.
On the flip side, you got the Seerus duo (Seerus/Shadowsun duo), that while it does give you a +4 resistances to both Fire and Shock, +2 resistance to Poison and a Med CTR+DMG on Handguns, it comes at the drawback of a -2 resistance to Freeze and a Low ASI on Handguns, making it only a viable choice for gunners who will ONLY use Charge-centric Handguns that only have viable use in their charge attacks.
And then you got the Padded duos (Sacred Pathfinder/Sentinel/Shade duos), that depending on your setup can either give you +4 resistances to 2 status and -3 resistances to 2 others, or a +4 resistance to one status followed by a +1 resistance to another one and a -3 resistance to a third one, but all of them will give you a Med ASI+CTR+DMG on Handguns, which is a viable choice for gunners who will use both Spam-centric AND Charge-centric Handguns, or who will use Hybrid Handguns that have viable use in both their regular attacks and their charge attacks.
TL;DR, Gunslinger duos are only viable if you're on one end of the gunner spectrum, Seerus duo is only viable if you're on the opposite end, and Padded duos are only viable if you're in-between."
Now for some specifics:
1) For what it's worth, Piercing Defense on Armor isn't really useful as the only Piercing threat is the Giant Lichen Colony, and admittedly there are a lot more tricky and/or dangerous monsters coming from the Shadow and Elemental sides. So while it may be advisable to go for a duo that gives you both Shadow and Elemental defense, Justifier Hat/Armor may be an exception to this as it provides an unique +4 Stun Resistance.
2) Selecting your Shields will depend on whether you want some safety options or some offensive prowess:
2.1) If you want safer Shields, then you will have to get what I call the "Safety Triad" (Grey Owlite Shield + Dread Skelly Shield + Omega Shell), as all 3 cover the things that make what I also call the "Shield Defense Rule" (Status Immunity > Health Points > Type Defense).
2.2) If you want offensive Shields, then there's only the SwiftStrike Buckler as a viable option for a gunner as the SSB grants VH ASI that also works on your Handguns, giving you an easy Max ASI on them so long as your equipment can give you the Med ASI remaining. Admittedly though, it's pretty much a liability on Charge-centric gunners because of its otherwise frailty on T3, so they should go for the Safety Triad instead.