Spiral Knights - Which 5* gun should I go for?

Which 5* gun should I go for?

13 replies [Last post]

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 12:44

Batabii

This is mostly for Stellar Set but also because I want at least one.

Here are your only choices:

Nova Driver
+Allegedly good damage, splits
-no status, I tend to use sword/bomb for elemental

Callahan
+ Knocks down wolvers and gremlins, fast, good vs vanaduke, may stun
- I already have Radiant Sun Shards, Dark Briar Barrage, and Dark Thorn Blade.

Biohazard
+ I hear it's pretty good. Plus it's unique
- other players may mess me up, and so far toxic catalyzer seems really weak and slow.

Polaris
+ Great all-around, very popular
- Doesn't seem that much better or different from Gigawatt Pulsar, given the cost...

Blackhawk
+ Unique, overlooked weapon, best gun against gremlins and wolvers, and useful in pvp
- Doesn't seem as useful elsewhere, especially when I already have a lot of piercing weapons.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 13:14

Sypsy

Just a few things: Callahan

Just a few things:
Callahan not so good vs vanaduke. You're thinking blitz needle

Biohazard has a learning curve. The slow bullets may miss a lot if you're only going to use it when you have low hp and you are backed far away from mobs.

Polaris has higher damage than Gigawatt pulsar, most weapons work like this...? I don't see a reason not to upgrade it if you like it.....

More importantly, what are you using this gun for? What else will you equip with it?

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 13:34

Batabii

I want to use it for

I want to use it for all-purpose. And I hate blitz needle. I don't want to stand there 2 seconds immobile during a boss battle.

I know polaris has higher damage, but is it really worth shelling out 800CE?

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 13:55

Somenubcake

nova driver <-- u have to

nova driver <-- u have to learn how to do those trick shots to get internal ricochets. it will be hard to do if you are chased by a pile of monsters. also the volt and fire alchemers do dps due to status effects. charge attack rocks too, 1hit kill puppies and knights

Callahan <-- if you are going full gunslinger, go for it (just for the fun of it). but once u learn how to use the blitz for wolvers and devilites, you won't go back to this gun. i really don't recommend this gun for non-gunslingers because other weapons do a much better job than this gun (piercing sword for example).

biohazard <-- you are right teammates will screw you over. but when soloing, it destroy slime mobs like no tomorrow (charge charge charge, then detonate each one). when i'm with teammates i usually get a few monsters to follow me so i can use this gun effectively.
don't forgetit is also excellent at herding gremlins (push all those annoying bombers to a corner, gg for them)

polaris <-- actually the blast radius is quite a bit bigger than the gigawatt, making the upgrade worth it.

blackhawk <-- for PvP yes it's decent. PvE just NO. there are just so many better alternatives than this at PvE

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 14:50

Darkmoonshoadow

1st of all: SYPSY THAT PICTURE IS LIKE SOOOOOOO MINE. CHANGE IT NOW! I COMMAND YOU!
2nd : polaris if your solo, nova driver if parteh. polaris knockback usefull and good elemental damage and big AoE. nova driver for party because nova driver has no knockback, so you wound annoy your teammates, and splits are really usefull in arenas. i saw a guy bounce a charge attack off a wall and hit zombies with every single split. thats how usefull it is.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 15:10

Sypsy

Hello fellow mecha-knig

Hello fellow mecha-knig *BZZZZ* ht.

---
All purpose = valiance, supernova or some other normal damage gun.

Woiuld you use it against mostly constructs and undeads? Then one of the elemental guns.
Would you use it against beasts and gremlins? Then not an elemental....

Are you solo? Polaris. Party mostly? Nova, or be good at the polaris and don't annoy teammates.
Plan to use it for vana? Polaris is good.

I personally prefer polaris if I only have one gun, but your uses may differ from mine.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 17:28

Batabii

So far, I think I'll go with

So far, I think I'll go with nova driver, but I really just want something all-around, and I hate valiance so much (plus that wasn't one of the choices. shame on you.)

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 18:16

Kickthebucket

don't think my input will be

don't think my input will be of much use seeing i'm neighter a bomber or a gunner (or a real swordsman at that)

i for going solo i use a sword (now faust wich i love btw or calibur line) and for a gun is use the Gigawatt Pulsar (soon to be polaris)

i'd say take the one you need the most (so ask yourself what enemy bothers you the most? if wolvers go for the calahan)

but i love my Gigawatt Pulsar i allmost never leave haven without it (it's the fear off all gunpuppy's and lumbers whoehaha) the knockback comes in handy as crowd controll (except for mechaknights wich you need to shoot one bullet first in order to activate their shield and then shoot the other 2 or 3 if you want)

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 20:53

Sypsy

No, what I'm trying to say is

No, what I'm trying to say is that you're being vague about what your intended uses are.....
When you just say a catch all-phrase like "all-purpose", then generally people would steer you to a normal damage weapon.

That is why I was asking for what situations you would use it.

For instance, do you see yourself shooting at gremlins and beasts? I suppose not since you've probably not considered that and are still leaning towards the nova, but these considerations have not really been described in your earlier posts.

If you are have a sword for elemental, will you carry this gun in conjuction? What about an additional 1 or 2 weapon slots.
Will you have a weapon at least in another type so you can do damage to anything? For instance, an acheron, flourish or even levi.

You have merely provided a list of weapons and we can only tell you our own experiences on it. As to recommending one over the other... depends on use.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 22:44

Arctic-Fern

Yes.

"All-purpose"

As a swordie/bomber with one gun it's either Valiance, Supernova or Polaris. Maybe Nova.

Anything you can't fix with a sword or bomb usually comes in the form of turrets, and the Polaris fixes that. Elemental deals super effective damage to 2 out of 3 turrets, and normal damage to polyps. With no knockback to worry about if you only use Polaris against turrets and sword/bomb everything else, Polaris' DPS is maximized, making it far superior than Nova Driver for this purpose (except when Nova Driver scores a "critical" charged shot sometimes, when the bullets bounce inside the enemy).

For instance, do you see yourself shooting at gremlins and beasts?

Umbra Driver or Blitz Needle for the former (original poster has DBB)
Callahan or Blitz Needle for the latter (again, OP has DBB)

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 22:33

#10

Fradow

I'll back up other comments

I'll back up other comments here, and recommend you a Polaris. It is considered OP for a reason.

If you don't like the knockback because you are mainly in a party, go for the Nova Driver. Elemental guns wins as a side-arm, because of puppies being all weak or neutral (for popylpsn which are not that mainstream) to elemental.

Callahan would be useless considering the other weapons you have. There is really no reason to use it if you are not a full gunslinger. It do crappy damage (considering the time you need to fire) and root you for a moment. At least, the Blitz, while rooting you for long, do high damage. That would be a good gun to have at 5* for Vanaduke.

Biohazard, as you said, is hard to use unless you are solo or with mates that understand well how to play with it (they are rare).

Sentenza is split damage, and there is really no reason to use it in PvE. If you are worried about gremlins and beasts, train more with your current weapons. Thorn Blade and Piercing bomb wreck both.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 23:25

#11

Batabii

"so ask yourself what enemy bothers you the most?"

I guess devilites, nothing else really gives me trouble. Still, I already have DBB, DTB, and RSS for them...

I have 3 weapons slots, and again, all suggestions aim for nova driver for being pretty middle-ground. Since I generally favor bombs, a gun would be good for gun puppies, and again, I'd rather not upgrade to polaris until later, especially if the knockback affects my teammates. But I don't really have any one specific setup, it depends on the stratum. But generally I go Faust, DBB, Electron Vortex, though I have a ton of other sets.

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 23:12

#12

Abathur

Hey Batabii :) I'm Abathur -

Hey Batabii :)

I'm Abathur - Master Gunslinger, playing with guns only (rarely, just for fun with swords, and sometimes with some bombs too - however)

Before you buy yourself a gun, you should know everything about that one. So: I almost got every gun ingame. You can add me and I'll show you what ever you want.

About Biohazard - totally underused weapon, its awesome! But I'm gonna show you that too XP

Here some demos for Bio and Blitz in one Movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krJtNczQ5zU

Add me ingame - Abathur :) glad to help!

Fri, 10/07/2011 - 05:35

#13

Birgus

bullet points!

I'm currently working toward trying a wide selection of 3-star weapons to see what I like most. I'm told that mechanics generally don't change dramatically from 3-star to 5-star, so things I've used that are much relevant to your question include Kilowatt Pulsar, Toxic Catalyser, Shadowtech Alchemer, and recently Magnus. I'm not sure about the Alchemer, but I've heated the others to 10 so I have a good feel for them.

Nova Driver and Polaris:
* "In general," these are tied for best single-gun choice because turrets are the biggest reason to use a gun and...
* The only things Elemental is weak against are two of the biggest reasons to use anything but a gun.
* The choice between the two mostly comes down to solo & Vanaduke (Polaris) vs. party play. (Nova Driver) It's probably worth considering that the Pulsars are widely considered overpowered and noobish, and Alchemers grossly underappreciated. (except Freezing since it often undoes its own status effect)
* Either one makes good sense with your Faust and DBB.

Biohazard
* It melts slimes like butter in a hot pan, but is not remarkably good for anything else. It's very satisfying against Slimes, but not recommended for Royal Jelly since sword-level focused DPS is essential.
* It doesn't work well for party play, unless you have a very well-coordinated group.
* At least for me, it's hard to hit Gremlins with it.
* It has unique mechanics and really, really crazy sound effects. :D
* Your Electron Vortex should make monsters, particularly Gremlins, easier to hit. The all-around excellent Dark Thorn Blade should round out your weapons nicely.

Blackhawk
* For split damage types, resistance is much heavier than vulnerability. That means the gun performs AT BEST as if it were half-Normal, and otherwise worse than if it were half-Normal. It's painful, because guns have low DPS and most people feel that bonus damage is critical to get much out of them.
* Of the two Antigua upgrades, the Shadow one gets by far the most disrespect. I cannot comment further on that, for lack of experience.

Callahan (It's just misunderstood!)
* Like the Blackhawk, it gets a lot of disrespect. This is not because Callahan in any way fails to work just fine, it's because Blitz Needle tears things to shreds in a jiffy. If the Magnus-Callahan type is just what you need, what does it matter that changing your playstyle to something you don't find as enjoyable would allow you to kill things even faster? I do recommend giving the Autogun a fair chance, but if you don't like it there's nothing wrong with that. Basically, this is the anti-dodger Gun alternative for people who don't like Autogun mechanics.
* Magnus has surprisingly low DPS and the movement impairment is a lot by gun standards (ignoring the Autogun family, of course) but still good compared to bombs and heavy swords. This is assuming you DO NOT go full combo and spend forever reloading with impaired movement. Constant running and single-shotting probably gives the best DPS for this weapon anyway; if you like Alchemers for the non-charged attack, you should be fine with Magnus.
* Magnus' specialty is the three monster types that are notoriously hard to handle with guns; Gremlins, Wolvers, and Devilites. As such, it gives you a great defensive bonus in being able to handle them from further away than most players can. This could be really great if you have lag or performance issues. For me at least, this is HUGE. Those monsters come apart more slowly, but still surely and I also take a lot less damage in the end.
* You mentioned Devilites in particular. If you already have piercing weapons that are not working, that is not an argument against trying others to see if one solves your Fiend problem. I have a hard time with Fiends in general, so I probably don't know how to deal properly with them either, but for what it's worth Magnus and Twisted Snarbie are my prime choices for Fiends. I expect Toxic Needle to join that list after I get it, though...

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Which 5* gun should I go for?