So, as a decently new player, I just want some startimg out tips (if you can call the part of the game after clearing RJP a new player)
General new knight tips
Wed, 10/24/2018 - 10:05
Wed, 10/24/2018 - 14:53
#2
meow
Depending on the route you prefer (swordie/gunner/bomber) tips vary but it's always advisable to be a hybrid that has 2/3 weapon types. A good all-rounder setup for a new player would be Graviton (Electron if you already have 4* gear and can participate in lockdown or you can just farm bomb network) Vortex. Acheron is considered the best sword in the game due to its speed for the damage it does, if you like a hack 'n slash playstyle with swords and guns this would be the best for you, if you like charging your sword often though, I'd recommend one of the elemental brandishes (they're all good so stay with whatever status you prefer not what others tell you to use), save up to buy the DLC (Operation Crimson Hammer) as its rewards are worth waaay more than its cost. For guns, blasters are awesome especially when paired with brandishes. Alchemers are the best if you can single-switch, try to stay away from spamming charges cause single-switching just does way more damage the faster you can do it. Magnuses are good but aside from Vortex + Iron Slug combo its not rewarding especially cause they root you in place while firing and although they have pin-point accuracy it's usually countered by lag anyway, so unless you have good latency and like to pick off targets one by one stay away from the rest of the magnuses. Pulsars are the most annoying guns to use in a party, most people (me included) whenever they see a pulsar they either go solo or kick if they're the leader. Catalyzers are fun but sadly impractical outside of battling tortodrones. For bombs I recommend Dark Briar Barrage and Dark Retribution, only get Nitronome if you're willing to master it by studying enemy behavior and it's knockback and how to chain bombs into each other by knockback, otherwise, just go solo with it. It's the best bomb in the game IMO, you can even unequip your shield and use it and you won't even notice a difference (you haven't really lived a full life till you try max CTR nitronome without a shield on a D28 puppy danger room in the arcade, it's the single most fun activity I've ever tried in this game so far). Vortexes of course as I mentioned earlier. Stay away from hazes, with a couple of exceptions. Ash of Agni is the only bomb you need to farm Dreams and Nightmares (endgame stuff), Torpor Tantrum is one of the 2 best crowd-control weapons in the game (with the other being Electron Vortex). Shards are usually overwhelmed by the two bombs I mentioned earlier (dark retribution and dark briar barrage) but the elemental one is so fun to use especially against zombies and constructs in general so I recommend you at least try the 4* one. The status shards are good if you don't have damage bonuses on your gear too. Always aim towards getting either chaos or black kat set, you can however mix and match certain gear if you don't like being a glass cannon, one of my favorite sets is the fallen set because of the poison/fire resistance and the attack speed bonus. Some other not-very-expensive balanced gear pieces would be the kat (hiss, claw, eye) cowls. When the kat event comes around you can farm for 70 tokens to get the less defensive black kat hood which offers the best offensive bonuses in the game, try it and see if it's worth to spend the time to farm for a 5* one or complement it with the armor.
THAT WAS FOR THE GEAR NOW SOME TIPS
Learn how to shield-cancel, single/double-switch and learn the monster AI. Farming the first floor with sewer stash while duo gives as many crowns per second as farming vanaduke if run fast enough, this is due to slimes having more rewards in their drop table than the rest of the monsters (golden slime coins) and due to lichens giving better rewards if you kill them before they fuse. Once you get to vanaduke though farm him. Farm PvE and buy PvP materials to craft trinkets (only craft the health ones if you die too often or have already maxed out most of your aspects with your set and unique variants). You'll have to farm for recipes though as they aren't tradable. To earn money you can craft sprite food and sell it and do arcade and buy recipes to resell for more (only the ones that aren't included in hall of heroes will sell though).
A good starter setup can be the following
Divine Veil (or Perfect Mask of Seerus once you get it)
Chaos Cloak
any brandish (except Amputator) or Iron Slug
any blaster (except normal one) or any alchemer
Electron Vortex or Torpor Tantrum
Dark Briar Barrage or Dark Retribution (depends on what damage type you lack) (can be substituted by any autogun you like once you get comfortable enough using it, I personally only use Blitz Needle for vanaduke and literally nowhere else but I use these bombs in Dreams and Nightmares and sometimes in lockdown and some arcade runs and maybe jelly king)
For controls I advise that you set the switching options so that each weapon is bound to a key rather than switching with the next/previous mechanic as it has delayed switching for some reason which makes single-switching with faster weapons not-at-all efficient. I like to set my resolution to 1280x200 not because it suits my screen but because it shows as much screen of the game as possible which can make you see far ahead, this is especially useful if you have a bad connection.
Hope I helped.
Wed, 10/24/2018 - 18:14
#3
thanks, and additionally
Thanks, Traevelliath, for linking my sword guide. At my home page you can find other guides on armor, shields, and more:
https://wiki.spiralknights.com/User:Jdavis
For most of the game I think that the single most important newbie weapon is Dark Briar Barrage. For the specific-but-important scenarios of Firestorm Citadel and Dreams and Nightmares, however, DBB is not optimal.
Thu, 10/25/2018 - 12:13
#4
As much as I hate to admit it, I have a really hard time recommending bombs to starting players. I do really wish there were more bombers in the world, but I can say from experience that trying to go through the early/mid game with a primarily bomb loadout just sucks. So much of your playstyle revolves around your charge time, which is hard to improve until you got the budget for some combination of Chaos, trinkets, and high level sprite perks (roughly Sprite Level 50 to 70 for +low, and 90 to 100 for +med). Your only option is to go for bomber armor, which only provides Charge Time Reduction (CTR) med across the full set. You also will have to fully heat your bombs for that CTR med heat bonus, which takes a lot of time and resources (remember what I said about Radiant Fire Crystals?). Furthermore, lower tiered bombs have small detonation radii, further limiting them. Compared to all other weapons, Bombs have the steepest power curve in the game, relying on both being fully upgraded and with accompanying boosts.
I also find bombs are the most awkward weapon type (and by extension, playstyle) to fit into a loadout. Even with an optimal loadout, the time it takes to charge and then detonate makes them impractical to swap into mid-combo. Unless I'm using some sort of controlling bomb, I find myself either only using my DPS bomb for the entire fight, or never using my DPS bomb for the entire fight. AOE control bombs are different, but they're held back by the terrible AOE when unupgraded and their long charge times without adequate CTR. Vortexes are sorta of an exception, but due to how much they slow you down when charging, they're *very* high risk when using their un-upgraded radii. They also work best when you can follow up with a charge attack, before the vortex finishes, however that also will take a lot of CTR investment. You can try just swinging blindly into a vortex clump, but vortexes don't stun enemies, so nothing stops that cluster of enemies from immediately attacking the one thing in their melee reach.
Again, I do really want to recommend people try bombing more often because I find it is a really underrated playstyle. Vortexes are easily the best force multiplier in the game, and can completely trivialize huge crowds when properly utilized. However bombing just *sucks* until you get good 5* equipment.
Thu, 10/25/2018 - 15:26
#5
fair point
It's a fair point. Bombing requires you to dodge, which requires you to know the AI well. Maybe I shouldn't say that it's a newbie weapon.
I was thinking of cases like gorgos, hordes of beasts, hordes of gremlins. Hordes of lots of things, really. DBB tears through them while leaving you, the bomber, quite safe.
In its strategic effect Dark Retribution is similar. But of course on different monster families. DBB beats DR for overall usefulness, I think. And DR makes missions like Dreams and Nightmares, which apparently some players find difficult, pretty easy.
Maybe my opinion is more like: These bombs are good for players who are 75% of the way to expertise. Not newbies, but wanting an easier time than a full expert needs.
By the way, Blitz Needle is also not a newbie weapon, for the same reason, that you need to know AI well.
Thu, 10/25/2018 - 16:05
#6
It's not really a matter of skill. Again, I want people to try bombing! It's awesome, especially when you bring a DBB into the situations you mentioned. However, an unheated 3* Twisted Spine Cone or an unheated 3* Graviton Charge with no CTR boosting gear is a completely different experience compared to a CTR Max DBB or a CTR Max Graviton Vortex. If you look at something like your Blasters or your Flourishes, the only thing that changes as you upgrade them is their damage. Bombs, on the other hand, get their increased AOE, which is crucial for a weapon that is entirely based around AOE. The only other weapons that have a similar power curve are the Alchemers with their bounces, but they don't have nearly the same CTR dependency (and by extension, heat dependency) as bombs. That is why I don't really recommend bombs to players, unless they can devote all their resources into quickly bringing those bombs to their fully upgraded/heated state.
And I only bring up the Blitz Needle due to how ubiquitous it is in FSC. Because, you are right, it's not a user-friendly gun. If it wasn't for the FSC farming meta, I wouldn't even bring it up. However, as long as you show up to an FSC pub with an elemental weapon and a Blitz, most players will be fine taking you along. Once that door opens up to you, then you have the income to expand your arsenal in whatever direction you want.
(As a sidenote, a FSC meta loadout is different than a FSC capable loadout. If you got a good circle of friends/guildies, then things can be totally different.)
Thu, 10/25/2018 - 19:32
#7
meow
Blast bombs (except Big Angry Bomb) and Dark Briar Barrage have charge time of about 0.41sec at max CTR which is less than the charge time of hazes and vortexes (which is about between double and triple at max CTR I believe) so very high or high CTR won't be much of a difference (except in PvP where bombing is irrelevant overall anyway) provided you have at least one piece chaos (as in my suggested loadout). Shard bombs and Dark Retribution have even less charge time than these mentioned above which makes them perform well with only CTR med or low and their range don't scale with their star level which makes them noob-friendly.
For the other bombs 4* range is enough as long as you can position yourself well. However, bombs become insanely powerful once you get them to 5* due to their increased overall damage on crowds due to their increased range so it's advised that you always upgrade your bombs to 5* (except shard bombs because they don't get any range increase).
But yeah 3* bombs (except shard bombs) are kinda useless.
Sun, 11/11/2018 - 11:43
#8
"Erecting a Handgun Dispenser."
In my honest opinion, the single best tip I could ever give to you, a new knight, is for you to do your own research on what equipment you want, as it'll save you a massive -- and I DO mean "massive" -- amount of resources you definitely don't wanna waste and regret later on.
There are a handful of equipment guides, like the Bopp's Sword one linked above, scattered all around the general SK community, and while they do a great job at giving a solid general understanding of each type of equipment, they tend to leave behind crucial details like equipment comparisons and/or enemy matchups, making it so that, more often than not, you're gonna have to scramble through heaps of often-outdated tidbits in order to find the relevant details that you're looking for.
Once you have a solid idea of what equipment you wanna get -- stat/efficiency minmaxing, UVs and the like taken into account -- it all boils down to perseverance in getting the necessary components for it all, though I won't sugar-coat it for ya; putting just a bit of IRL money into the game can considerably quicken your progress if used well.
That being said, here are some pro tips in maximizing your resource usage:
1) Never heat your Shields ever unless you're going to upgrade them to the next rank
2) Never heat Helms and Armor Pieces past Level 5 unless you're going to upgrade them to the next rank
3) Never upgrade your damage-dealing Weapons unless you can quickly heat them back up to Level 10
4) Never level up your Equipment with anything other than a Maximum Forging chance once it's past Level 4
5) Never use and upgrade any Harness other than the Iron Harness
6) Never use any special Sprite Food outside of leveling up your Battle Sprite
Mon, 11/12/2018 - 10:26
#9
How not to be bored
Consider your own preferences, dissect how you play, and do all of your own research when you seek out new equipment.
The most important thing to get a grip on is your own ideal weapon feel, which you can only know by trial and error at such an early level of experience. But you can figure out how most weapons are supposed to be used either by examining their raw stats -- clip size, for example, will reveal how much rapid clicking you'll do for handguns -- or asking around and learning certain weapons' meta. With this, you can plan your armors based on your weapons' styles to get the most optimal set of bonuses.
Some equipment can have less obvious utility and advantages or disadvantages. Warmaster Rocket Hammer would be the strongest example of an unforeseen use in a weapon: the second slash does damage multiple times in one input, which will turn it into one of the highest damage per second weapons in the game against stationary and low-knockback enemies, despite being a slow sword with wide swings. Weapons with disadvantages are too many to be characterized by one example. With this also, asking around and trying things yourself will be crucial.
The problem with popular weapon and armor recommendations for newer knights is that most of them don't consider the player's side at all. What approach that makes the game the most enjoyable to you can't be prescribed to you by someone else who plays the game their own certain way.
Get away from Cobalt gear as soon as possible. Don't need to sell the gear or recipes, but don't bother upgrading them. They're well behind the power curve, in terms of usability. The only ones that are maybe worth upgrading are the Blaster (the specialized variants tend to be better, but the normal is sorta alright) and the Nitronome (which is notorious for being disruptive in teamplay). Personally I'm still a fan of the Wolver sets, but a lot of experienced players will push you towards the Magic set due to the incredibly powerful Chaos set. I don't like recommending it because it's like training with weights on. You'll emerge from it stronger, but it's a rough road.
I would recommend getting a solid elemental sword as you transition from 2* to 3*, and 3* to 4*. In the short term, you'll want one for the Ironclaw Munitions Factory. In the long term, you'll want one for the Firestorm Citadel. Obligatory link to Bopp's Sword Guide because a lot of work, knowledge, and experience went into making that thing. More specifically, I want to direct you to a line in this section, which reads "Remember that, if you're into swords, then you want to own a piercing sword, an elemental sword, and a shadow sword."
If you want a short answer for gear recommendations: I like the Fireburst Brandish -> Combuster. Also, I am an old fan of the Nightblade -> Acheron before it turned into a horrifying monstrosity. Still love the gal, but dear god has she become something else. Final Flourish is fun, but I don't use it nearly as much as my Combuster and Acheron.
Somewhere between 3* and 4*, I would recommend seriously considering a third weapon slot, if you don't already have one. It's ~8.33 energy a day, which is roughly 675 to 750 cr (depending on the E price). Make sure you first have the weapons that can fill that third slot. Best time to buy would be when you have the aforementioned three sword damage types, and then a preferred sidearm or two. I would recommend holding off on a 4th weapon slot though. In like 90% of end game levels, 2 weapons is incredibly limiting, 3 weapons is perfect, 4 is fun but unnecessary. Trinkets are bells and whistles that aren't as necessary with Sprite perks. I find them fun, but the only trinket that *might* be a priority is a Heart Trinket.
One final note is the almighty Blitz Needle. Practically speaking, if you want to farm the highest paying series of levels in the game, you'll want a Blitz Needle (or at least the 4* Strike Needle). It's tricky to use, but the burst of DPS is the highest in the game. Master it, and you can break the game. Work towards one at some point. From a strictly numerical standpoint, it's better to have a fully heated 4* Strike Needle than an unheated 5* Blitz Needle.
Final note, Radiants. Every 5* knight will complain about Radiant Fire Crystals. They are *INCREDIBLY* rare, compared to other fire crystals, so you have to be *VERY* careful with them. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, fully heated 4* weapons will usually out-damage an unheated 5* weapon up until that 5* weapon hits heat level 7 or 8. The exceptions to this are AOE status/control bombs, who want that increased AOE that comes with their 5* upgrade, the Iron Slug which changes dramatically from it's 4* Mega Magnus, and armor. Armor will change dramatically between 4* and 5*, so it is almost always worth it to upgrade your armor to 5*.
Sorry if this turned into a giant post about gear recommendations. That happens when I'm procrastinating on my homework...