Spiral Knights - Alchemer bonus damage

Alchemer bonus damage

7 replies [Last post]

Sun, 07/10/2011 - 13:41

ShideKnight

Legacy Username

So I want to have a good elemental gun to use, and the alchemers look the best to me. Thinking about pure damage, which one is the best? It seems to me the firotech would be, because the proc effect is pure damage.

But I have also heard that the shock effect from the voltech does damage, and that it can do damage to surrounding enemies if they are close when the proc hits. So my question is, does the shock damage outdo the fire damage on single targets? What about on a crowd, has anyone ever seen the fire from a firotech spread?

And lastly, what about the prismatech? Does it do better damage than both the others on single targets?

Sun, 07/10/2011 - 14:27

Kavron

Well, the different effects

Well, the different effects all have different purposes. Fire does more damage, but shock also stops enemies for a brief moment when it triggers. And then freeze completely stops them for the duration, then deals more damage when the ice breaks. As for prismatech, I'm really not sure. Its all really up to your playstyle. I dunno how the prismatech works.

Sun, 07/10/2011 - 23:46

Alchemystic

The Prismatech does more

The Prismatech does more damage in exchange for not inflicting any status effects. The status effect Alchemers tend to be more useful because the status effects are helpful against monsters that aren't weak against elemental damage.

It is important to understand that status effects are separate from damage type. It is easiest to explain with an example. A Cryo Knight is immune to shock and is a member of the Construct monster family. Contructs are weak against elemental damage so a Cryo Knight will take extra damage from a Cryotech Alchemer but it won't get frozen.

Mon, 07/11/2011 - 04:44

Lds-Sparhawk

I'm still tres new, but...

Based on FossaFerox's conclusions about the alchemer lines' final 'forms' (i.e. the Drivers), I'd go with Cryotech (and, indeed, as of yesterday evening, I just have! :D). Have a read through this thread to see why:
http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/5286

Mon, 07/11/2011 - 13:22

Prisega

No offense or anything but

No offense or anything but the reason the Hail Driver was recommended was because its Elemental, so are the others. It was also said that its useful against Gun Puppy's which it really isn't all that much. You may as well slaughter them with Fire or interrupt them with Shock. Then there's the part about the Freeze damage which has its own problems springing from the ricochet.

Anyway you have to use whichever status compliments your playstyle the most. If you're really having trouble with a single slow enemy then Hail Driver is probably the best, if you have trouble with large groups of enemies then Storm Driver is probably the best, if you just want to deal as much damage as possible and don't care whats getting hit (I love when the fire spreads off the ricochet) then go with the Magma Driver.

The other 2, Nova Driver and Umbra Driver don't inflict status but are slightly more powerful than the other guns. The Umbra Driver is a Shadow damage gun though so you probably don't want that. If what you meant by "spreading fire" with the Firotech was if the ricochet bullets could cause fire then yes they can. If you meant that closeby enemies can set each other on fire then the answer is no (Fire would be way overpowered). Obviously though the bullets bouncing off of one enemy can hit another closeby enemy and set them on fire.

Mon, 07/11/2011 - 16:34

ShideKnight

Legacy Username

Thank you everyone for your

Thank you everyone for your helpful comments ^_^

My last question really is whether or not a prismatech gun will tend to do more or less damage than a firotech. Basicaly the question is whether or not the firotech's proc triggers often enough and is strong enough to generaly do more damage than the prismatech's extra damage.

It seems to me that the firotech procs often enough, but I don't have a prismatech to test with.

Mon, 07/11/2011 - 16:45

Prisega

I don't have a Prismatech

I don't have a Prismatech either (or know what "proc" is, although I have a stretched idea on it) but since the damage meter isn't too much higher I'd assume the damage from the fire would overpower a Prismatech since the Fire is only weakened against Gremlins and Beasts which the Prismatech wouldn't perform so well against anyway. I also noticed, and this may be coincidental since they both have the same chance of Fire based on the description, but I think once you get to MK II you'll see a lot more burning going on. This is from a single shot alone, not counting the ricochet in. The ricochet rate definitely increases though, I barely ever noticed it (if it ever happened) before getting the MK II

Mon, 07/11/2011 - 23:09

Samshimi

Legacy Username

I own a Prismatech Mk II and

I own a Prismatech Mk II and to be honest, I'm getting a bit sick of it. I didn't craft/buy it but a friend gave it to me after obtaining it from a treasure box. The rate of fire from alchemers aren't great, even when you time it so you don't have to go through the reload animation. In my opinion, don't go for an alchemer if you want a gun with high DPS. Alchemers, especially the hail driver line is great for inflicting statuses on mobs. Try the shadow alchemer, it seems pretty decent.

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Alchemer bonus damage