I am not sure whether or not I need a gun or not for my arsenal. My future setup is gran faust, shivermist buster and snarble barb. I dont know whether or not I would need a glacius to take down constructs (especially rocket puppies) in seconds; or if I would need a polaris for safe damage. More and more it seems like gun puppies are being put out of the reach of swords. If I chose glacius over the polaris I would more than likely choose skolver and bristling buckler as my armor to help me take down gun puppies as fast as possible. What do you think? Is it more important for me to do safe damage against gun puppies or be able to take them down quickly in areas like arenas and danger rooms?
Polaris or Glacius
Fri, 09/09/2011 - 08:49
Fri, 09/09/2011 - 11:18
#2
I tried using my gun only,
I tried using my gun only, once and found that it was boring for me. I am concerned about safety but I can usually manage with swords.
Thing is a lot of times it seems like gun puppies are spawned in places where your expected to use a gun. Like when their spawned over spikes or when its nearly impossible to use your sword without your shield breaking. Could a skolver, bristling buckler and a glacius combo take puppies out before you have to shield? I kinda thought I could use the fausts charge on gun puppies on spikes but I m not sure if that would work out.
Fri, 09/09/2011 - 11:19
#3
Polaris
Get a Polaris. It's too good to pass up and will really help you out. Reasons:
1. DPS is only slightly lower than swords on stationary/cornered targets, like gun puppies
2. Can lock down gun puppies so that you can keep firing and kill them without any retaliation
3. AoE knock-back is great for moving multiple enemies (be careful in groups)
4. Amazing AoE DPS (In some rooms of FSC you can do 3000+ damage in a single clip)
5. Guns are practically required for Vanaduke
6. Shock is a very useful condition to apply
The Glacius will help you do more DPS on single enemies and small groups of undead and constructs, but Polaris has far more utility. I have both and would always take my Polaris over Glacius provided I have another sword to use.
Fri, 09/09/2011 - 11:28
#4
It sounds like the polaris is
It sounds like the polaris is your best bet based on your concerns about gun puppies--remember that the gran faust charge attack has a good chance to curse you, and constructs like gun puppies are neutral to shadow dmg anyway. And I agree that if you're having that much trouble taking them down, guns are probably the way to go, or else you need to carve out more time to practice your shield canceling.
Fri, 09/09/2011 - 11:34
#5
Hmm
Very interesting question. There are a lot of possibilities here.
The Polaris is a really good gun. It is the perfect weapon for sniping that solo gun puppy over the spikes or across the ravine. In T3, it will take 2 clips when solo to knock it out. About 4 clips in a full party. You'll be far enough away that you can dodge any shots it sends your way. It does wonders on Retrodes and Lumbers too. And if you shoot, pause then unload clip it works great against Mechas (their shield requires the pause in there for the rest of the shots to connect.)
The time when I switch to a sword in T3 construct arenas is in the last room, when there are 8-12 gun puppies around the room. Especially if someone was derp enough to wake them all up. Need to take out 2-4 in one corner fast to get some breathing room. Then I can switch to the safer Polaris gunning/dodging approach.
I would recommend making both an elemental sword and an elemental gun, giving priority to the Polaris. Obviously you can't carry 5 weapons. But if you check out the strata, look to see which arenas you want to hit, chances are you can leave one of the three swords behind and not miss it. No fiends/beasts? No need for the Snarble Barb this time, etc.
Until you have an elemental sword too, your GF can deal with gun puppies and polyps just fine. For the howlitzers though, you'll need to switch to snarble barb if they are too close for Polaris use.
One other note is that the Polaris' shot does interrupt Gun Puppies, particularly the T3 ones since their attack animation is so long. I haven't use a Polaris for long enough to consistently time it right though.
Surviving the gun puppy bullet hell is going to be reliant on your shield and armor choices. The bonus from full Skolver might change the number of hits from 4 to 3 in a full party, but not in all situations. It is more important that you have a elemental, shadow or piercing defense in your shield depending on what kind of turret you are facing. For any projectile that hits you instead of the shield, your armor's defense will improve your survivability.
Fri, 09/09/2011 - 15:37
#6
Thanks for the advice
I will definitely keep the polaris in my arsenal primarily as a utility weapon. I guess I can switch out my glacius with my snarble barb depending on whether or not I am going into an arena or danger room. If the skolver really makes that little of a difference then I guess it really isnt worth using soley for the dps.
Sat, 09/10/2011 - 16:09
#7
1 thing.
@Culture Great post, just 1 correction. Only the 3rd (Last) shot of the Polaris's clip interrupts monsters.
Though I can solo the rocket room in FSC with my Giga pulsar. Love it. Get a Polaris IMO, great for vanaduke not to mention undead.
Sat, 09/10/2011 - 17:52
#8
No jp, ANY expanded shot will
No jp, ANY expanded shot will interrupt monsters. From a technical standpoint, there's no difference whatsoever between the individual pulsar shots - they all have the same damage, range, knockback, status chance, attack interruption capability.
Just remember the shot has to connect during the monster's attack charge animation to actually stop the attack.
You seem awfully concerened about your safety, so much so that you consider Skolver as a means of playing safer instead of killing things faster. Maybe swords aren't for you. Why don't you just go full Gunslinger?