Hi, basically I'm a new and casual player and really haven't played around much. But now I find myself playing quite a bit and figured might as well do it properly :D
So so far I have dusker set, vile striker med ASI UV (should've made it into a hunting blade :/), dark thorn shield and on my way of making an owlite. Initially I got striker because I liked the idea of high speed based on wiki, but I find myself sheilding after the initial 3 or 4 slashes (before I lunge) in mobs and finding the damage to be pretty pathetic. However when dealing with gunpuppies I can manage to dance around it and finish it in one go. When there are too many as per in arena then it's a different story. I also have a cyco alchemer but..I never use it, I use my freezing bomb instead (which I've used less lately).
So currently I have no CE but I have around 300k crowns. I've been putting off to upgrade my dusker because I can't decide what I want between vog and swolver or divine set...I plan to get a 3rd weapon slot and perhaps a trinket so I was wondering what people have as suggestions.
I'm thinking of getting (alchemy line wise):
DA / Acheron and a AP as a gun with vog set
But I kinda want to get a divine set with GF / ash instead.. obviously I have limited cr so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.
I like to kite, turn and kb. Not too sure about too slow weapons (although I tend to shield cancel and run around a lot ) and guns since I have no interest in them. This is also why I'm hesitate to get vog since I'm not too sure if ASI would be much of an upgrade.
Vile Striker > Hunting Blade... you definitely made the right choice. Vile Striker is very useful for the Jelly King whereas the Hunting Blade has no tanglible purpose. Killing beasts is what the Flourish does best, the Cutter line pales in comparison. An ASI offers only a small, but noticeable boost in that sword so it is a great UV to have.
You have run into the common issue with the Cutter line. It is fast and fun, but lacks knockback and early interruption that is so vital to survival in the deeper depths. If you still want something that is not terribly slow, you can try the Calibur or Brandish lines, see if they suit you better. Three hits means more damage per hit and also interruption/knockback/knockdown.
In my opinion, ASI is helpful to survival on 3-swing swords and vital for 2-swing swords. There is a lot of discussions on Vog vs Skolver, one could practically write a book on the subject. A few threads to get you started:
If using a Levi: http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/15114#comment-85618
In terms of DPS: http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/16062#comment-91664
In FSC: http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/15802#comment-90052
Mixed set: http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/10781#comment-61396
Divine set can be problematic due to the lack of normal defense. If you do use something Divine, get the Veil since it has Dmg Bonus Fiend, whereas the Mantle has none. Be sure to mix it with something that has Normal defense since there is plenty of that around, even in T3.
If your short-term goal is to do FSC, you'll have to wait on the GF and Ash - both are not useful there. Ash is one of the best bombs to have for arenas and danger rooms though, as long as the theme is not Fire.