Making 1-star weapons powerful?
Sun, 05/21/2017 - 17:41
Let me just get this out of the way, I'm not a noob asking what 1-star weapons are the best, I'm a long-time veteran with eyes set on a few really weak weapons that I want to make as powerful as possible!
1 star weapons tend to lose their usefulness pretty quickly in Tier 1. Now I haven't extensively tested, but I already felt my Twack Hammer being too weak on Depth 3 on Elite difficulty.
So... what can be done? I'm thinking using a bunch of items with Sword Damage Bonuses, but I'm trying to look at 4-star at max here. How many different ways are there to increase Sword Damage? (Also, you can't stack those damage bonuses past "Low x 6", right? Aka "Maximum", effectively)
Also, would it be worth trying to get UV tickets for them, or is that a bit overkill?
Any other tips would be appreciated.
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 05:00
#2
obligatory
(Also, you can't stack those damage bonuses past "Low x 6", right? Aka "Maximum", effectively)
Right. If you need a refresher on how bonuses "stack", you might read the wiki page "Abilities".
I'm trying to look at 4-star at max here. How many different ways are there to increase Sword Damage?
You can increase sword damage by armor, Barbarous Thorn Shield (or its 2-star version), sprite perks, trinkets, and UVs on the weapons themselves. You should pretty easily be able to get damage+3 or damage+4 using 2-star stuff without UVs.
Also, would it be worth trying to get UV tickets for them, or is that a bit overkill?
Well, this is an exercise in artificially imposing huge constraints on yourself, because 2-star weapons are so much better and so easy to get. And if you're going to impose huge constraints on yourself, then you get to choose the constraints. So do whatever you want. But I can say that UVs are going to be hard to buy on 1-star items, because so few people mass-craft them. And I do think that Punching a bunch of 1-star stuff would be a huge waste of crowns.
Oh, and how much extra damage do you get from leveling a weapon from 1 to 10? To me it seems to be around a 50% total increase.
I don't know off the top of my head. You might search Google for something like "weapon heat site:forums.spiralknights.com" (without the quotation marks). But why wouldn't you just heat your swords?
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 05:34
#3
Response
Alright, I see, so it's a maximum of 42% Damage Bonus (since each "Low" bonus gives 7%, and 6 Lows equals Maximum)
Do enemy-specific bonuses include in this stacking though? Like, if I already have Max Sword DMG, will a UV with DMG against Constructs not be affecting the damage at all?
I've looked through the gear, and I think I might try and get the Black Kat Cloak (or pay someone to craft it for me), together with a 5-star Wolver cap. I can afford to make one 5-star item since you get some Eternal orbs from mission rewards.
I'll probably try getting a decent UV two or three times. The Red Saber is quite a bit more valuable than your average 1-star item. The Twack Hammer I got (to match muh Darkfang Shield) already has ASI Low, so I'm fine with that.
I could do some testing today, rank up a 1-star sword all the way and note the differences.
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 07:03
#4
okay, but
Alright, I see, so it's a maximum of 42% Damage Bonus (since each "Low" bonus gives 7%, and 6 Lows equals Maximum)
You're using the most optimistic numbers on the Abilities page. You'll see more like 30% after accounting for monster defense (or 24% before accounting for defense).
Do enemy-specific bonuses include in this stacking though? Like, if I already have Max Sword DMG, will a UV with DMG against Constructs not be affecting the damage at all?
Yes, they are included in the +6 cap. For more detail, see the first example in the Examples section of the Abilities page.
I've looked through the gear, and I think I might try and get the Black Kat Cloak (or pay someone to craft it for me)
Are you aware that that item requires Wicked Whiskers, hence fighting Margrel? I estimate its cost to be at least 400,000 crowns plus unbinding fee. If you can even find a seller. The 3-star Black Kat helmet is just as good and much less expensive (only 70 Ancient Pages, when the next Kataclysm comes around).
together with a 5-star Wolver cap
I thought that you were trying to play this game using only 4-star items or lower.
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 16:22
#5
↑↑↓↓←→←→ba
"Oh, and how much extra damage do you get from leveling a weapon from 1 to 10? To me it seems to be around a 50% total increase."
I'm not sure what it is for 1* weapons, but here is 0* and here is 5*.
I'd venture to guess its somewhere between 50% (0*) and 25% (5*). Keep in mind, this is base damage (before enemy armor is applied).
Tue, 05/23/2017 - 08:34
#6
I've got some things figured
I've got some things figured out now.
First off, Black Kat Hood will be much cheaper to get (didn't know how much that Wicked Whiskers material was worth)
Second, 1-star items get a total of 66% damage increase from level 1 to 10
Third, a level 1 2-star sword has 33% more damage than a level 10 1-star sword
Knowing this, I can get my Red Saber (which has yet to appear in the Auction House >:/ ) to be almost exactly like a level 1 Cutter (2% more damage, unless it's slightly lower because of that fire-chance).
I've yet to test how viable that is through Tier 2, but it's more than enough for fooling around anywhere in Tier 1 on Elite.
Tue, 05/23/2017 - 09:10
#7
response
Just to be clear, you can't even buy a Wicked Whisker. It's perma-bound. The closest you could come would be to buy your way into a Margrel fight, or buy the armor after someone else has crafted and unbound it.
And by the way I like your plan in general. It's always great to see people trying different things. Cheers.
Wed, 05/24/2017 - 12:04
#8
Ooooooh boiiii
I'm getting really excited about this now! Yesterday I finally got my hands on a Red Saber (for 35k) and leveled it up to 10, and it really wasn't too bad even at the start of Tier 2, and that was only with Sword Bonus Damage: Medium.
I'm working towards getting Skolver Armor and Dark Thorn Shield, and with a Wolver Cap that will net me a Very High damage boost in total, which will have to do until the Kataclysmic Event returns.
Also, just now I managed to roll the best UV I could have asked for on it: ASI Medium. Since Bonus Damage will be at Maximum later, any Monster dmg bonuses would be wasted, and the charge isn't that good imo. The good thing about the Red Saber is its Slight Fire chance, because all 10 hits in the combo has that chance, and when you proc it, it gives you some nice extra damage right there. Boosting attack speed will only make that even more effective!
Oh yeah, in case you're wondering why I'm putting so much into this, I'm actually trying to replicate my Killing Floor 2 character; A red katana-wielding superfast slashing melee-based Berserker. I recently made a new knight in this game since I haven't played it in years, so I could re-experience it all from the start. I named that knight after this joke with my Killing Floor 2 character, where I'd constantly spam the voice line "Anyone feeling generous dosh-wise?"
So, after playing my new "Dosh-Wise" knight for a while, I got this idea of making the Red Saber really good and replicating that character completely. I'm also gonna get the Padded Cap and one of the higher-end Gunner Armors as a costume. My character pretty much looks like a Black Op with kevlar helmet and red glowing goggles, so that's gonna be pretty close c:
Fri, 05/25/2018 - 09:19
#9
stop the hammerin'
hammer for days. probably the best dps too if you're doing damage with the dash but enemies can still attack while getting shoved in pve so it will be hard to master.
Oh, and how much extra damage do you get from leveling a weapon from 1 to 10? To me it seems to be around a 50% total increase.