Spiral Knights - Blaster (or other gun) Recommendation?

Blaster (or other gun) Recommendation?

14 replies [Last post]

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 00:39

Froggit

Just a short little question. I was wondering what gun I should get, and a Blaster line sounds pretty nifty at the moment. I just wanna know which one I should get. Currently, I have Iron Slug, Blitz Needle, Obsidian Carbine, and Wildfire.

Pierce may be a bit unwieldy, as most pierce-vulnerable enemies have agro unless you're close. Kinda defeats the purpose of Blaster's knockback. Shadow could be great with Slimes, but with Gremlins, I face the same problem that Pierce has. Elemental has no aggroing enemies, but the Wildfire sorta does the same thing with shield bumping. Normal is just... normal.

Any inputs or counters? Any alternative gun recommendations would be great too. Gear gives ASI VH, GDMG H, CTR U, if this changes anything.

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 07:22

Bopp

obligatory

The Blaster-line guns are kind of interesting because of their knockback. But it gets boring after a short while, and they're not especially powerful. And the charge attacks are nothing special, so you won't be exploiting that CTR+5 of yours.

I recommend that you try an alchemer (Nova, Storm, Umbra, etc.). They have a steep learning curve, which makes them fun. And they are powerful in the hands of an expert. Both in regular attacks and charge attacks.

You should try all weapon styles eventually, but alchemers are higher-priority than blasters, catalyzers, and tortofists. Whatever you choose, enjoy. :)

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 09:23

Wolf-The-Gangstar

Input

So here is my list of guns you should definitely get next in no particular order:

Riftlocker: Despite that most pierce vulnerable enemies can dodge, you can still indefinitely hit them with Riftlocker's fast and big bullets, which will catch and damage them much more than Gilded Griffin. It's also a very safe gun to kite with as you can keep moving as you single switch spam it at fiends. I don't recommend this too much against wolvers however, since they do tend to dodge Riftlocker more than fiends can.

Callahan: This is my answer to wolvers. Single switching its standard attack is reliable for flinchlocking normal wolves and deals a good amount of damage. In addition, it can also be used in the same effect for Callahan. Callahan is a bit harder to use and less mobile, but also a good option. The charge is good too against fiends in narrow hallways and such. Your Iron Slug can also fulfill the same niche as Callahan, but it won't be as reliable or can flinchlock in deeper depths.

Winter Grave: Another Magnus line that I definitely love to use against Gremlins. Similar to Callahan to wolvers, I like to single switch Winter Grave to flinchlock gremlins, so they basically can't do anything and keep falling on their behinds. The charge attack is also pretty good, especially against slimes and lumbers. The charge will freeze them, giving you ample time to charge up another shot, so it's a very good gun that freeze synergizes very well.

Grim Repeater: Essentially shadow version of Blitz, but it also has a bit of knockback. Very useful for slimes and gremlins, it can definitely sweep and clear them away from you, while probably killing them.

You didn't mention you needed elemental guns, and I would suggest some. Lemme know if you want input on elemental guns!

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 15:05

Bopp

good, but 3/4 redundant

Those are good ideas, but Callahan, Winter Grave, and Grim Repeater represent gun styles that the original poster already has. He should get them eventually, but first he should try a new style (in my opinion). Therefore Riftlocker is my favorite of your four recommendations. (But I still vote for an alchemer instead.) Cheers.

Wed, 11/29/2017 - 23:59

Froggit

Hmm, guess I'll try out an Alchemer. Which one should I try to get? Not sure if there's a noticeable change between the status and standard damage, what do you guys think? I already got fire down, so Cyro, Volt, Shadow, or Prismatech?

How noticeable is the sacrificed damage of the status Drivers?

Thu, 11/30/2017 - 06:00

Bopp

noticeable, but

The damage difference is noticeable. You can inspect the wiki for precise numbers. But, in my anecdotal experience, one-shot-killing big monsters happens more frequently with Nova Driver than with Storm/Magma/Hail.

However, status shouldn't be underestimated. It can have great utility. And it leads to fun new game play tactics, in a way that slightly higher damage numbers do not.

Hail Driver is my least-favorite. In general, I am not a fan of freeze, because it hinders kiting, knockback, shield-bumping, etc. Further, Hail Driver's regular shots do not freeze often, and the subsequent shots and ricochets often break the freeze anyway. (Fire and shock don't have this problem.) Definitely you can't spam the regular shots and hope to leave the monsters frozen. But the charge shot freezes reliably, and some people swear by Hail Driver, so you can consider it.

I guess I would recommend Storm Driver to you first. Maybe someday Umbra Driver, to see what the pure damage is like, and to get the other damage type.

Thu, 11/30/2017 - 12:21

Wolf-The-Gangstar

Agree with Bopp

I neglected to mention Alchemers. And I agree with the Bopp's sentiment. There's a lot of guns in this game and I'd argue they're probably the best weapon type too. Though I will mention Alchemers can be a bit hard to master and get used to, and their full potential won't be unlocked until it's 5*.
Here are some general tips with using Alchemers
- Turn off AT
- When using standard attacks in general, aim at the enemy offcenter slightly to the right for internal ricochets resulting in more damage.
- Also when using standard attacks, in a horde, aim for the far right enemy. Bullets ricochets to your left most often. Try it out on a wall and you'll see the ricochets bounce to your left.
- Aim the charge shot inbetween enemies or again off center at an enemy or between an enemy and a wall.
- Practice single switching one alch, and if you're feeling you're loving alchs, dual switch two alchs.

Thu, 11/30/2017 - 20:20

Midnight-Dj

I am a pulsar fan boy, deal with it

Pulsar's knock back beat the blasters any day of the week, so long as you keep the mobs within range, you can blast them with impunity thanks to its AoE knockback, even the ones who are resistant to certain damage can't reach you while you keep firing.

The guys in the toxic LD community may tell you that pulsars are nerfed while snorting in their 3 MAX UV MLG skolver coat, but that is a lie (much like how some people thinks LD is the core component of SK). Pulsar are more powerful than ever, the faster bullet speed means once you get a feel of when the bullets detonate, you are all set.

Alch switch require skills and more importantly, two of them (which is a lot of $$$), but you only need one pulsar (go for the normal dmg one if you don't fancy elemental). The elemental one is my personal favorite, as it is the bane of turret and lumbers (neither one can fight back while being staggered), and good for clearing out slags in FSC.

With some learning, you can predict the spawn pattern of your enemies, ie, shoot at the spawn before walking into an obvious arena. And stagger them before they even know what happened. You can even turn off AT and create area of denial that will even catch devilites off guard, this is a tactic I used pre blitz needle.

Pulsar is the god send to anyone who likes to go in solo. As it can create precious seconds of distance between you and your enemies to get a charge ofs from one of your more powerful weapons.

The only thing sucks about pulsar is its charge attack, which is about as effective as that of a blaster.

Thu, 11/30/2017 - 22:14

Zero-Chill

*TRIGGERED*

NO PULSAR. ME KICK.

Thu, 11/30/2017 - 22:32

Froggit

I use controller, so when I aim and move at the same time, AT is automatically turned off. Also got a toggle button mapped to de-target, so I can get the best of both worlds.(tm)

Thanks everyone for the in-depth responses, everyone! I'll be trying for Nova then. Would couple with my Pulsar fairly nicely, although the same could be said for Volt. But for now, just having Fire is ok, I guess. I can kill the other types with my Blitz and Slug either way, so no real need for Shadow. If I get into double-switching, Volt will be my next choice.

@Midnight-DJ
I already have a pulsar, silly. It's mentioned twice that I have a Wildfire. I love it, but I could use something different, hence the thread.
Also, I don't do LD, so I care not for competitive uses (which I guess is good news for anti-pulsar LD people?). Too much lag spikes for me.

Fri, 12/01/2017 - 01:50

#10

Midnight-Dj

@Froggit

You only have wild fire?

THEN GET ANOTHER PULSAR! PERMAFROSTER AND POLARIS ARE BOTH VIABLE OPTIONS!

As for a more reasonable answer, get tundrus, it has been buffed quite a bit and the charge attack is easy to use and it is basically a 'line-nuke' if you use it on a clustered enemy from a distance.

Fri, 12/01/2017 - 06:34

#11

Froggit

Lil' update, I guess:
Got the Prismatech II and Shadow Blaster. They've been fairly fun. At the moment, the Prismatech is falling behind the Blaster (which does pretty good damage), but the gun still isn't at the multi-ricochet stage yet, so eh. I've been having trouble lining up my shots right, even all the way at the side, splitshots always seem to spawn either right in front of them, or what appears to be delayed to even make contact.

@Midnight-Dj Git yur pulsar-swingin' mitts away from me guns, yer ciddy folk n' yer high teckworks.
But yeah, I really liked Tundrus on my alt. Great damage, nice stunlocker. The freeze just didn't do it for me, always messed up my shots, and even when it didn't, it always broke the freeze. Seemed a bit redundant for it's purpose, in retrospect. No other gun does it like that though, I suppose.

Wed, 12/20/2017 - 06:49

#12

Sgt-Brownie

"Erecting a Handgun Dispenser."

Incidentally, though I still believe Riftlocker/Winter Grave/Polaris is the best Gun Trio for a PvE/PvP-Hybrid player, has anyone tried using the Gilded Griffin charge shot on Trojans yet?

Wed, 12/20/2017 - 07:48

#13

Snowex

Blasters are my favorite gun

Blasters are my favorite gun type. I enjoy using Riftlocker against devilites. Arcana is decent against undeads and constructs anyway. Phantamos is alright against jelly cubes or a few gremlins. You can easily do most of the stuff with two blasters.

Wouldn't recommend them for lichen colonies, gremlin hordes and wolvers though.

I have many other guns but I always end up using blasters most of the time as I like staying mobile.

Wed, 12/20/2017 - 09:41

#14

Manlet

To add to the conversation, if you intend to play Lockdown, Blasters are potentially the best gun-series in the game. It has very high damage output, is fairly low risk if you cancel, is quite fast, and is very easy to use. It also counters problematic guns like Polaris and Alchemers, if used properly. As others have stated, in PvE, there are better options, but it's not terrible. Personally, I love using Blasters in PvE.

Search

Blaster (or other gun) Recommendation?