It seems like most people just ask for what's best and don't try stuff out for themselves. I made a Magma Driver originally and loved it! But since making a Storm Driver I'm really kicking myself over it.
Because Spiral Knights relies heavily on player skill I think it is very important that people try all different kinds of gear to find what suits them best. I've sadly had to hang up my Winmillion due to it lacking a 5* version even though it was my main weapon through the Preview.
its not that simple! u start off poor and u have no money, u try to find a way, the funnest and easiest way to keep playing and making money
the 1st weapon choice is very important, when u have money u can still try other weapons
There's a middle ground, here. Some gear is objectively inferior to other gear. Some gear is just bad. Some gear is underrated, or VERY good in specific circumstances, etc.
So don't try to reinvent the wheel. Take people's advice, but with a pinch of salt, and perform your own experiments to decide what's good for you. That goes for the "omg graviton is crap" crowd, but also for the dumbasses that try to tell you that rock salt bombs are a viable weapon, or that carrying four guns is a valid lifestyle choice.
Also, I don't think anyone says that Nitronome is the only valid bomb. We all worship at the altar of the Shivermist Buster.
Other good swords:
Flourish (Puts some serious damage on Trojans and pesky Wolvers)
Brandish (If you know which evolution you want, just don't go with the Cautery.)
Other good guns:
Any status-based Alchemer
Magnus (The only gun series with bullets fast enough to catch an auto-dodging monster)
(Also, the Blaster is a bit on the weak side... Three shots deal barely more damage than a single sword swipe in Tier 2, plus four enemy types auto-dodge gunfire.)
Other good bombs:
Haze Bomb (if you know which evolution you want)
Also, the Graviton bomb halves your movement speed while charging, which is bad news in a Danger Room full of Tier 3 jellycubes. THAT is why people don't use it.
Additionally, the Blast Bomb series and Haze Bomb series are the only two non-token bombs that go up to 5*, now that Graviton is part of the Blast Bomb series.
Kozma's armors are pretty poor.
"Standard issue" gear is standard issue because that is the equipment that works in the widest variety of situations. It might not be the best, but it's not going to get you killed in an overly specific situation. Blasters have no status or highest damage, but you can move while you shoot. That's one big plus.
The autogun series will get you killed just for daring to fire one volley. Unless you have a reliable team that knows they need to protect you.
An elemental sword is useless against enemies of that element.
A calibur will always at least work.
See where this is going? You take specific gear once you're confident you have your bases covered.
"An elemental sword is useless against enemies of that element."
Nah, "Elemental" is a damage type. A Fire zombie will still take extra damage from a Firebreak Brandish or Firotech Alchemer, it just can't catch fire from the charged attack.
I'm wondering if the original complaint comes from wanting to try the 1* craftable "Newbie trap" gear. Bolted Blade, Hot Edge, Static Edge, Stun Gun, Super Slime Slasher... The issue is that you can't upgrade them past 2*, and that's where Kozma's stuff begins anyway, so... it just makes more sense to skip to Kozma's stuff since it's not that far out of reach to new players anyway.
Well my point stands. The game is built around the idea of specific gear for a specific situation. If you're bringing fire to a fire zombie fight, you would have been a bit better off with standard gear.
But yes, the newbie trap crap turned me off elemental or damage bonus weapons myself. First I thought, "Okay, so this stun gun and slime slasher are just typical newbie game crap. Every MMO has crap beginning gear!" Then I got a brandish. Then I got that.. certain upgrade to the brandish. I wondered where my charge explosion went. Then I decided I didn't mind cause I got a UV that gave me damage against fiends too. Then I wished I had never made the frigggin thing because it doesn't even do damage appropriate for it's stars. What good is an additional status or boost if the sword is only doing damage ON PAR with the stars only when the effect procs?
Something similar turned me off elemental guns too. Someone said I should make a freezing gun. It was cool for a while, but I quickly discovered that, in the course of spamming shots to get a proc, I'd just end up unfreezing what I just froze. Even if this didn't happen, my teammates would immediately descend upon the frozen target and ignore every other enemy. Which defeats the purpose of freezing specific targets in the first place. Telling then not to do this doesn't fix it.
Badly designed gear can indeed leave a lasting bad taste.
"...Which defeats the purpose of freezing specific targets in the first place. Telling then not to do this doesn't fix it."
Oh, if they were using a Calibur-line weapon, they can get triple damage from their charged attack on frozen enemies (The charged attack hits up to three times, but the first hit normally knocks the enemy far, far out of range for the other two). Freeze is a Calibur-wielder's favorite status effect.
Except they weren't doing that.
I'm much happier with my poison bomb though. Best thing I EVER got. It's only the two star, but damn. It won us a jelly run by itself. My first jelly run win too. So many times they were too grouped around the butterflies for us to kill them first, and the JK itself was easypie with it. Just snuggle up to the JK with my bomb. Then run away so I could charge another.
I'm not even a bomber. I just keep it as the third slot for utility.
Thinking of a freeze bomb next after seeing it in action. Much better than a freeze GUN. Doesn't unfreeze it's own targets.
"The autogun series will get you killed just for daring to fire one volley. Unless you have a reliable team that knows they need to protect you. "
No, you just need to know the timing of monsters' attacks and when it's okay to use it. I got my autogun before realizing I was stationary when I used it and honestly I love it. Lots of damage, burning status, etc. It just takes a bit of skill to utilize it.
It's not a GREAT gun by any means but you are not instantly dying with it, either.
Other good swords:
Flourish (Puts some serious damage on Trojans and pesky Wolvers)
This a million times. I just blew through the Jade Titan T3 solo using nothing but my Storm Driver and Furious Flamberge. The rapier-style piercing weapons are amaaaazing for dealing with beasts. Not only do they deal excellent critical damage, but they move you and your target out of the way. It's so good for isolating one enemy at a time.
I actually don't use the Flourish's second and third strikes, preferring to spam its first strike after shield-cancelling. It's in a wider AoE and it pushes them away from me. I find that I tend to thrust myself into trouble, not safety, if I do its full combo. But whatever works, honestly. We can both do our respective methods and not get touched in that gate, which makes the Flourish great whichever way you use it!
Perhaps it's not that non-standard, non-token gear isn't good, it's just that it's not worth it. You say yourself - "much harder to acquire", as opposed to "most easy to use".
Wouldn't it make sense that when offering general advice for a large audience, the safest generality would pretty much be "get the easy to get thing that's also very easy to use"?