Spiral Knights - Weapons for Vanaduke

Weapons for Vanaduke

12 replies [Last post]

Fri, 07/22/2011 - 20:07

Rhythmical

This is my current set-up:

Mad Bomber Mask
Mad Bomber Suit
Grey Owlite Shield
Cold Iron Vanquisher
Nitronome
Shivermist Buster

I run in a duo party where I can nearly carry my own weight during Firestorm Citadel itself, but when it comes down to fighting Vanny, I always seem to be in the way. The question that has been stumping me the past few Vanaduke fails is this - How can I contribute, damage-wise, when fighting Vanny? I don't have any range weapons (unless you count the nitro has ranged) that will allow me to safely deploy a satisfactory amount of damage and be on my way to avoid his attacks. What I usually do is provide utility (water on mask,flame spots, duke and the occasional shiver) but that doesn't seem to be of any (great) use. I've been thinking of opening my 4th weapon slot and having some type of range weapon that will fit the role of damaging him and getting out quickly.

These are the options I'm favoring:

Neutralizer (more BOOM's, why not?)
Biohazard (Look above)
Callahan (For the Piercing and [easy] one shot escape)
Radiant Sun Shards - UV high dmg construct
-No AP. Not my kind of gun.

All your opinions and suggestions are welcomed.
fyi - (First post ever in any Forum)

Fri, 07/22/2011 - 23:47

Matuse

Legacy Username

Valiance would be the best

Valiance would be the best choice, since vana's floaty mask form is only vulnerable to Normal. It would double as your main damage output when you're keeping away from his HULK SMASH attack routine.

Shivermist is fine for locking him down briefly. More bombs won't help much.

Sat, 07/23/2011 - 02:02

Zettalux

For a ranged weapon, get a

For a ranged weapon, get a pulsar, valiance or autogun (blitz needle). Out of em all, I'd go with the pulsar.

Sat, 07/23/2011 - 03:55

Boolet

Legacy Username

@ Zetta I have a pulsar, and

@ Zetta I have a pulsar, and find it extremely difficult to hit vana after his mask is destroyed. double balls = hardly any DPS to vana.

@ Matuse I also disagree with this, he already has a cold iron which would out-DPS the valiance on his mask.

If you're looking for a weapon to pew pew Vanaduke, go for a piercing damage gun.

Options I see available, and why to pick them...

1. Argent Peacemaker.

Most common gun, and for obvious reasons. high firing rate, high bullet speed, 6 shots before reloading, can move while firing.

2. Sentenza.

If you absolutely don't want an Argent Peacemaker for whatever reason, but like the firing rate and clip size, Sentenza is your other option.

Be warned, when vanaduke enters his maskless state, he gains extremely high shadow damage resistance, making this vastly inferior to Argent Peacemaker during his final form. His other two phases this deals exactly the same damage, however.

3. Callahan.

High damage, high bullet speed, and stun. What more could you want? This would be my recommended weapon due to personal taste, as I do enjoy keeping vana stunned as much as possible. The drawback being 2-shot clip, and inability to move while firing.

4. Blitz Needle.

Possibly the highest DPS option, however you'll be standing still for the longest while firing as well, making it a high-risk high-reward option.

Out of all of these, as I said, I prefer Callahan, due to Stun. Any would work, however.

Sat, 07/23/2011 - 07:10

BiggestLoser

Legacy Username

Zelda

if u wana stick with bombs, choose radiant sunshards(be careful where the shards can go)

needle is convenient for stuck duke and will save u getting tired and maybe falling asleep
valiance is usually good, but for a bomber id rather recommend sunshards
callahan is similar to valiance, instead of 2 shots before getting ready to shield, u can fire single shots, however needle should still be doing more overall dmg with single shots(charging the cally could stun vana, i think it can be useful, try it out)

no comment on the gremlin boss crap and the antigua line is highly inconvenient

however..since ur using a sword, u might wana reconsider ditching ur mad bomber
the shiver is a good combo for ur CIV making the nitronome useless/pointless/w.e

#1 i agree to valiance pwning masks, shiver is more likely a waste of time than a help unless it clearly keeps the group alive(depending on group/situation). longer the battle lasts, lower ur odds of winning without CE revive
#3 1,2: no comment 3: i agree 4: not always, single shots on vana alone dont leave u off guard, with slags its different

Sat, 07/23/2011 - 09:21

Tenkii

Biohazard and its innate

Biohazard and its innate poison ability sounds useful, but when Vanaduke has two rows of flaming balls, it's harder to get it inside him. You'll have to wet him with the water and hope it hits at least two of his balls and then try to fit your Biohazard in the gap, but even then, that takes more time than having a faster projectile that can get in regardless of how the balls try to protect him.

Whether you feel spending the time for the poison effect is more useful to your team's DPS than continually spamming things at him is your own choice though. I generally snipe outside of range using blitz needle so I tend to not be able to see the damage numbers :X

Biohazard does shadow damage and he resists it, so as a single weapon, it's not too useful. As a status weapon, it has its uses until that point. But then, you might as well just remind your team to stock up on poison vials.

I accidentally showed up to a vana run with just blitz needle, neutralizer, and biohazard, and out of all of them, blitz needle was definitely the most useful in terms of DPS. Neutralizer did okay-damage on the mask phase, but if I had brought a DA (even with the resist damage!), it would have been outdps'd. But other than that, Neutralizer is 'fine'.

Callahan is decent over all though.

I hear sun shards can be useful as long as you aim the shards well, but I'm not a bomber by any means so I can't speak for it.

Sat, 07/23/2011 - 17:27

IceMilkTea

Legacy Username

lol ....

" ... but when Vanaduke has two rows of flaming balls, it's harder to get it inside him. You'll have to wet him with the water and hope it hits at least two of his balls and then try to fit your Biohazard in the gap, but even then, that takes more time than having a faster projectile that can get in regardless of how the balls try to protect him. "

i LoL'ed ....

Sat, 07/23/2011 - 17:53

Guhnom

Normally when I fight him I

Normally when I fight him I have one guy hold him in place with shivermist while the rest of us kite him with Blitz Needles, but if you're for the free-range Vanaduke play, you'd probably benefit from Argent as it offers the most mobility of all the guns, and is decent in the citadel too. Valiance for an all-around gun, but I imagine you'd use your bombs anywhere else, and only need a gun for the boss fight.

Blitz Needle does the best DPS, but you may be sacrificing mobility for damage. Argent sacrifices damage for maximum mobility, and callahan is somewhere in between. I don't bomb so I can't vouch for sun shards or anything.

Sat, 07/23/2011 - 18:20

Hunta

Legacy Username

Opinion

Combuster
Fearless Rigadoon (I often change this weapon depending if i'm heating stuff up or not)
Valiance
Vog Cap
Vog Coat
Grey Owlite Shield
Radiant Sun Shards

With the fast variety of equipment out there.... I'll often change to devine sets, mad bomber etc ... what ever i'm heating up really, However,

Radiant Sun Shards are great if you keep Vana to the lower part of the board, have someone using Shivermist and water is used to get rid of moons in the 2nd and 3rd stage. So for anything other than solo missions... i hardly use it to be honest.

My prefered system to defeat him quickly is 2 Shivermisters (keeping his turning to a true minimum) and 2 people gunning like crazy (hopefully running AWAY from his front.... god it hurts when people forget he is left handed. lol). What I have found with doing this is no matter what level of experience or what armour is used, a quicker result and less damage caused to Knights is the outcome.

Sun, 07/24/2011 - 01:03

tomu

Legacy Username

lol

Exactly what IceMilkTea said

Sun, 07/24/2011 - 02:23

#10

arasuki

Legacy Username

the best option IMO...

well my normal setup if im soloing or even when im gangbanging vana is
-shivermist buster
-divine avenger
-cold iron vanquisher
-argent peacemaker
shivermist buster:this bomb is basically a must unless you have superior shield/dodging skills. It allows you to pick your fights and thin out the offense.
Divine avenger: a classical favourite. The charge attack and its knockback is very useful. Hint: the glitch that lets you heal before the round starts ;)
argent peacemaker:the fireballs on vana respawn fairly often and it may prove difficult to fire slow projectiles into him. Plus this weapon is dominant against undead adding to your undd pwning powers in FSC.
Last but not least, cold iron vanquisher: ok. You may ask, but why do we need to bring a CIV when we bring a DA? Well. If you combine the spin charge attack of the CIV with the shivermist buster, it can deal highly destructive damage to a large group of slags. Also note the high dmg vs undead and its generally faster attack speed than DA, this weapon is a trusty companion all throughout FSC.
NOTE: when vana's face falls off and hovers around like its high, it is resistant to EVERYTHING except normal damage, thats also why you bring a CIV.

Now for your gun choices, all the guns you chose have much lower projectile speed than the AP. But since that is off your list here is my opinion.
Regardin the neutralizers and biohazard, the projectiles travel extremely slowly and if blocked by the fire balls, are completely useless.
I suggest going either a polaris or a supernova. The polaris deals elemental which is bonus vs undead and also has aoe. It helps getting to vana AND while fighting vana as even if the fireballs block the bullet, it doesnt block the explosion.

Sun, 07/24/2011 - 07:21

#11

Algol-Sixty

all the guns you chose have

all the guns you chose have much lower projectile speed than the AP

This isn't right. Many guns have bullets that go just as fast as the AP, the callahan mentioned earlier in this thread is one. Bullet speed is hard to measure since the graphics/animation may well not reflect the actual results.

That said, the combined speed and range of the AP makes it my preference during the last phase of vanaduck. I rarely carry the AP otherwise.

Sun, 07/24/2011 - 20:35

#12

Ardlien

Legacy Username

I think your weapons are just

I think your weapons are just fine for contributing a lot to the vana fight, assuming your partner(s) has a suitable ranged weapon for dps (barb sword charged attack or blitz needle). Simply use your shivermist to keep him from getting out of hand, then use your vanquisher for the mask. If you really want to have the DPS option, add one of those two weapons, or the AP perhaps.

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Weapons for Vanaduke