Spiral Knights - Upgrade recommendation for a versatile build?

Upgrade recommendation for a versatile build?

6 replies [Last post]

Tue, 07/12/2011 - 18:05

nuttz96

Legacy Username

I like being a generalist and cant stand not being able to bomb or shoot at far away switch, so I have decided on 1 sword, 1 gun, and 1 bomb.

So far this is what I am using:

Sword: 4* Ascended Calibur
Gun: 3* Cryotech Alchemer
Bomb: 3* Fiery Vaporizer MK II

Armor: 3* Elemental Cloak
Helm: 3* Elemental Hood
Shield: 3* Horned Owlite Shield

I am still new to the game and still hasn't clear all of tier 2 yet. I have killed Romulus and gotten to jelly king couple of times, but never actually down the king. My playstyle is rather defensive, either attack twice then shield or abuse Calibur charge while keeping away from the mobs. Is this a good way to play, or am I losing too much potential playing so defensive. Also since the second hit of calibur does a slight knock back, I have been testing doing a small combo of Calibur hit, Calibur hit, switch to gun, hit once, then switch back. It works quite well but at times it gets too confusing and I just end up sticking with the sword the whole entire fight.

Also, how is my item set up? I know that a lot of people on the forum says the Magic Armor set isn't a good set for first armor, but the wolver set is just so overused that I don't want to join the bandwagon (Calibur is already too mainstream to me and I already considered switching it out too many times).
Also, what item should I upgrade to 4* next? I play with some other people and their gears are a lot worse than mine, so thats the main reason why I haven't been able to kill JK yet. I heard that the fire bomb is very effective on JK, so should I upgrade my fire bomb to 4*, or should I focus on armor since it will be better in the long run? My rank 3 ice alchemer also seems really weak, but I read that it gets WAY better at rank 4. Too many good options!! What do you guys think should be my primary upgrade?

Tue, 07/12/2011 - 18:16

Prisega

I think your first priority

I think your first priority upgrade should be one of your armor slots, so either your helm or your armor. I currently run a 4* helm with 3* armor which gives me enough protection in T2 (trust me I'm having the same issues with priority upgrading but they're all weapons, I decided to save the suit for later)

Playing defensively is fine. In fact I think its much better and with your bomb you can do it pretty well I'd imagine. Run in, plant bomb, set enemies on fire, charge Calibur, attack enemies. I've been playing around with the Static Capacitor so having a Fiery Vaporizer must be very good for damage. And as a note, all items gain major stat boosts when going from 3* to 4* which is why I immediately took my helmet from 2* to 4* Just make sure you don't spam the charge attack of your Calibur so much that you're sending enemies flying into your teamates. Always make sure the path is pretty clear.

I think your bomb is good enough for Jelly King since he only moves around a lot during the final stage at which point you can poison and curse him since you could save those by inflicting Fire on him earlier. You can also clear the room of those stupid Jellies. I think this bomb should be your first or second priority along with one of your armor slots. BTW I don't see anything wrong with the Elemental line of armor.

Tue, 07/12/2011 - 18:35

culture

Legacy Username

Looking good

The Magic line is fun to use and probably one of the better alternatives to the Wolver line. Ignoring the Chaos option, that line has useful defenses and resistances.

When I'm paying attention and playing smart I play defensively. I'm a fan of the haze bombs for that reason, I like to control the mobs and keep them in line, killing them only at the most opportune time. That is a bit different than the charge-in-and-destroy-rawwwrrr method, but to each his own.

One thing you might try with your Calibur Charge - a frozen enemy will take all three hits from the charge attack. So try freezing them first with your alchemer then go in for the charge attack. Many enemies in the game can be one-hit in this manner. That's probably my favorite thing about the Calibur line. The other thing I like about Caliburs is that the damage is Normal so it has no weakness - this lets me fill the other weapon slots with specialized bombs/guns. Granted it won't do as much damage to Undead as a DA, but with a DA you need something else to handle Beasts and Gremlins.

Upgrading your armor/shield to 4* is going to greatly increase your survivability in T2. 3* weapons perform well in T2 compared to 4-5* weapons since higher star weapons are nerfed slightly at those depths. Of course, as you mentioned, weapons get better mechanics such as the additional ricochets in alchemers at 4-5*. So might do an armor then a weapon, mix it up a bit to improve your defense and offense together.

Tue, 07/12/2011 - 20:20

nuttz96

Legacy Username

Oh wow, I did not know about

Oh wow, I did not know about the frozen + calibur charge combo. I also have the freeze haze bomb at rank 3, would that be a better choice for my set up?

Tue, 07/12/2011 - 20:21

nuttz96

Legacy Username

Oh wow, I did not know about

edit: double post

Tue, 07/12/2011 - 20:51

Icee

That set is a great start.

There is no better or worse between freeze bombs and fire bombs. Both are very useful in many situations and less useful in a handful of others. I would say work up both to 5* eventually, prioritizing the one you think is most fun for you right now. That way you can bring the freeze bomb to fire levels, the fire bomb to freeze levels, and both of them to other levels.

I have Ash of Agni and Shivermist. I prefer Ash of Agni in the Royal Jelly Palace where it helps kill the large crowds of jellies quickly, but Shivermist is far more helpful in the Ironclaw Munitions Factory where it holds the respawning scuttlebots still so I can concentrate on the switches. I own both but choose which one to carry based on what levels are in the stratum.

I agree with those who said to concentrate on upgrading your armor and shield first. These take a huge leap between 3* and 4*. If you're good at blocking and don't get hit often, prioritize your shield. If you aren't great at blocking and get hit frequently, prioritize the armor (and practice blocking). Also don't be afraid to try new armors and mix and match a set to get different bonuses. The magic line is great armor, but there are other good options, too. The difference between 2* and 3* defenses isn't much, so you could try a spiral demo set and wolver gear to see if you prefer charge time or sword damage bonuses over the fire and shock resist. I personally use demo gear, but I'm working up some magic as well so I can get a divine mantle and stop getting slaughtered by tier 3 devilites.

The cryotech alchemer is a great choice. It's definitely my preferred way to kill a gun puppy, and it absolutely obliterated the zombies and phantoms in a graveyard tonight.

Tue, 07/12/2011 - 20:56

IceMilkTea

Legacy Username

Gear Choices

Well, imo your gear choices should change depending on what youre going to do.

Heres an example,
I have 3 weapon slots, when im going to do a JK run, i bring my DA for the gun puppies/lumbers, GF for the jellies/grem healers, and an Ash of Agni.
Because of the number of jellies running around, DoTs + GF wide swing extra dmg will kill em faster than a shivermist(no dmg)+GF. And Jellies dont really need crowd control, you can just run around make em chase you while you turn back and swing/use charge atk if you see an opening.

But when i go to say, T3 or FSC where the mobs hit harder, I would bring a shivermist instead. Because the crowd control effect is really helpful. Especially if i hit say... a group of constructs/zombies with a shivermist, i can just do a charged up DA for intial swing + projectile dmg to the whole group which is nice.

In your case just swap the GF/DA above with Calibur Charge.

Once you find a 'combo' you like to use and is effective, your other gear choices will change too. In the JK run example above, i wear a mad bomber cap + vog coat. I swing my swords relatively fast, and my bomb CTR is at Ultra plus a small dmg bonus. (I coud use a skolver coat which would prob b better but maybe later~ since i still have sum other weapons i wanna get first)
Simple example of a sword+bomb combo.

Yes Wolver set is overused but thats cuz theyre good for sword users which are the majority of players consists of.
I think get your shield up next, owlite line is one of the best all round shied around.

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Upgrade recommendation for a versatile build?