I am going down the Voltech Alchemer Line and I was wondering....is the Ricochet a good part of the guns damage? is the damage reliable? when does it work best?
Alchemer Ricochet...good?
Sun, 07/10/2011 - 06:00
Sun, 07/10/2011 - 06:32
#2
To be honest the Alchemers
To be honest the Alchemers only truly shine when being fired into two or more enemies. Solo they can be okay at best, but in groups they can be devastating. I can also suggest that until they are fixed that you fire at your right-most target when fighting groups as the projectiles always bounce to the left of your character.
Sun, 07/10/2011 - 06:40
#3
5* charged attack...
1
5* charged attack...
1 initial impact
+4 split bullets
+4 first ricochets
+4 second ricochets
Firing into the center of a crowd, you can score up to 13 hits as they bounce around between targets. :D
Sun, 07/10/2011 - 07:03
#4
so....
"5* charged attack...
1 initial impact
+4 split bullets
+4 first ricochets
+4 second ricochets
Firing into the center of a crowd, you can score up to 13 hits as they bounce around between targets. :D"
So why did they even have to make a shock bomb?
Sun, 07/10/2011 - 07:45
#5
Personally, I think they're
Personally, I think they're crap most of the time. But, I've never used one myself and have only seen others use it very poorly (i.e. shooting the front enemy-- whoopdi-do, you hit one!).
^ Don't do that and I think you'll see props.
Sun, 07/10/2011 - 09:22
#6
Ricochets
As with all (most?) weapons in this game there are situation when Alchemers rocks and some when they fails. I wield Storm Driver as my main weapon and it works magic usually (especially on Graveyards), but sometimes it's better to let it stay in a holster. Some such situations are:
- area with crystal blocks of different colours with lots of enemies closed separetly - ricochet may set free too many enemies at once (you may want to deal with them one by one),
- area with lots of gates and gun puppies (for example Perimeter Promenade II) - ricochet may hit the switch and open the gates you're hiding behind,
- area with enemies closed in pens opened by ghost blocks - ricochet may hit ghost block and set too many enemies at once (you may want to deal with them one by one),
- if you're nearby an explosive block - ricochet may hit block you're standing next too (especially painful at T3),
- Ironclaw Munitions Factory - hitting switches randomly is a bad idea.
Sun, 07/10/2011 - 19:25
#7
I love my Hail driver and the
I love my Hail driver and the Alchemer line because of the ricochet. It seems to lean left so firing into the right back most enemy usually causes a spray of damage to come out of the crowd, sometimes freezing the entire group since each ricochet can cause status effect. Since the charged shot ricochet is predictable it can also be used to 'hook' around walls and gates and break otherwise hard to reach blocks.
The 4* version is excellent and unless you want to use it as a primary weapon there's no reason to go further.
The biggest downside I've seen is that since you are almost guaranteed to cause your line's status effect to a mob before death, any mob that benefits from it is your line's mortal enemy. One reason I only have 5* on the freeze line is because frozen freeze jellies aren't that scary compared to the alternatives.
Sun, 07/10/2011 - 19:55
#8
As merethif said, it's not
As merethif said, it's not always great, but it definitely has its uses. It's amazing against zombies, so any GYs, any totem levels, and definitely firestorm citadel. I LOVE my storm driver down there, even for Vanaduke himself as it's good to get him shocked. It's also pretty good for kats if you happen to be running with someone with a shivermist (my guildmaster has one and so do I). I find it useful for gun puppies (dodging and shooting), mechaknights and retrodes. Another of my guildmates has a hail driver and she uses it in the same situations.
So yeah, if you need/want a weapon for those purposes, go for an alchemer!
Sun, 07/10/2011 - 20:21
#9
Cryodriver ricochet is wonderful.
I love my cryodriver. Although there are places where ricochet is bad, those places are rare compared to where it is very very good. I don't find occasionally accidentally opening a gate to be a problem in Perimeter Promenade. If you know it's a risk, you can plan for it and dodge. I even used tthe cryodriver to good effect in parts of the Ironclaw Munitions Factory today. It's amazing against constructs, which is especially awesome in arenas. I'm so close to getting it to hail driver level (heat level 9.7ish) and I can't wait.
Sun, 07/10/2011 - 20:26
#10
Drivers are awesome. I myself
Drivers are awesome. I myself have a Storm Driver, without any UV, and without any bonuses to guns.
And yet, if I shoot a charge attack juuuuust right, I can one-shot gun puppies in a full group.
That's why I love this gun.
Sun, 07/10/2011 - 22:58
#11
The ricochets can do some fun
The ricochets can do some fun things like hitting the vulnerable side of monsters that have shields.
Mon, 07/11/2011 - 09:43
#12
Not recommended for IMS. But
Not recommended for IMS. But very useful against giant crowds of skeletons, constructs, etc. A lot of fun in FSC.
One tactic I've utilized is to stand with your back against a wall when firing. Sometimes the ricochet will bounce off the wall and hit the target again. Anything you can do to maximize the bounces will do more damage, including aiming for the center of a group rather than for the baddie standing at its edge.
Mon, 07/11/2011 - 20:17
#13
Even if you aim for enemies
Even if you aim for enemies in the middle of a group, the basic shots ricochet a little too randomly and at angles a bit too sharply back towards yourself most of the time to RELIABLY hit something else.. but obviously, yeah, the charged shots make a few bullets so in a crowd they're bound to hit a few things.
I'm trying to see the real benefit of the shock ones, though. Shock status only dishes out extra damage if the monsters are essentially touching each other, and if the group is clustered that tightly together then you won't be able to shoot past the ones at the edge to hit the one in the middle; the shots will just hit the edge ones and bounce away from the rest of the group, resulting in a useless ricochet and limited effect from the shock. Of course, if you're more concerned with the other benefits shock provides, like interrupting a single monster, then a voltech alchemer could prove useful. At least, until you get one of those new shock guns. I am soooo saving up my bark tokens to get and upgrade to one of those. :D
As you do damage to multiple targets. It doesn't do much damage but it's enough to keep the healer very busy.