i cant afford to buy two extra weapon slots. so i was wondering, if you only had 1 sword and 1 gun what would be best?
option 1: Leviathan and Vigilance- all normals so no weaknesses or resistances
2: DA + Sentezna OR Faust + AP- gun covers two damage types that the sword doesnt so it covers all.
do you think one of these would be good or should i do something else?
levi & valiance are both normal damage. This would be redundant.
By having a levi as your sword, you can afford to bring a gun. I would suggest an elemental gun (alchemers or polaris) since the elemental guns are not weak to any of the turrets. My personal 2-slot general set up would be a levi + polaris. Final flourish/BTB + Polaris is also doable on many stages.
As said, AP and Sentenza have low usability generally since the split damage is only good against certain types. For instance, you would think the AP does "normal" damage against constructs since the elemental bonus damage will offset the pierce penalty, but it really just ends up to be low damage.
If you want, you can run the two sword types as Nicoya-Kitty has pointed out. I also have done that when I was running with two slots only. Though I would recommend one of them being the DA since the charge attack can attack turrets from afar, or have teammates with guns.
Weapon slots can be easily purchased for ~200CE in trade chat and trinkets slots for ~100CE since people will by it with 100 mist and make ~50 CE per transaction. You can also buy the upgrades yourself with an alt to save even more. This would open up a lot more options for you. I think just having 1 more weapon slot is very useful (2 swords + 1 gun, for instance), while the 4th slot is nice option to have.
Edited for a missing word.
Only Levi + Polaris/etc.gun seems to be the ideal 2-weapon setup.
"There are just some things you just can't reach with a sword.
For everything else, there's Leviathan."
Levi + DA is also not a bad idea, though it might take an eternity to take out turrets you can't reach.
You can also try sword+bomb (Ash or Venom) for a run primarily targeted at hitting arenas. Especially if you expect having teammates.
**
However, as a regular player I can't imagine having less than three weapon slots now. :D
I tried 4, though that feels like overkill.
Nicoya-Kitty described the setup that I always recommend to swordsmen: Own a piercing sword, an elemental sword, and a shadow sword, and equip whichever two seem most relevant to the stratum. This setup is even better than Nicoya-Kitty said: It gives you high damage to four families and moderate damage to two families (not high to two and moderate to four).
One of my knights plays with only two slots. Most of the game is doable with only swords. Fields of turrets protected by spikes are difficult, I must admit. Arctic-fern mentioned Leviathan with Divine Avenger. This isn't terrible, but if you're going to have two swords, then I recommend that neither of them be normal damage, as Nicoya-Kitty argued.
Sypsy is right about the undesirability of split non-normal damage. He is also right about Leviathan with Valiance. I would recommend Leviathan with any elemental gun; Polaris is a fine example. Alternatively, consider a piercing sword with an elemental gun, or a shadow sword with an elemental gun.
When I play with two weapon slot I usually carry Valiance and Callahan.
Callahan is for dodging monsters (wolvers and gremlins mostly) and Valiance for non-dodging monsters.
I used to play with Callahan + Storm Driver for a long time and it was a decent combination.
Callahan + Polaris is a combination worth mentioning as well.
Of course even if you're playing with two slots only, you should still have more then two weapons in your arsenal and use those two that are most suitable for given Stratum.
ok so i think im gonna get nightblade, flourish, and polaris and use polaris + best sword for stratum until i can afford a weapon slot. sound good?
also- is the stun flourish worth getting or should i just go with the regular one?
Your plan sounds good.
I've used Final Flourish and Barbarous Thorn Blade, and love them both, and think that they're equally good (although the charge attack is different). The two other piercing swords are less popular; people seem to prefer raw damage over status effects. But I've never used those two.
Final flourish damage > stun & fire flourishes.
From what I've read, the general consensus is that the final flourish kills so quickly that to have a status on it for less damage offers no utility. However, someone out there may like their status inflicting pierce sword for certain situations. If you were planning to do PVP, it could be useful, though not reliable.
(Not trying to repeat what you say Bopp, but I felt that you didn't communicate that the status flourish does less damage compared to FF/BTB very well)
And yes, Ardentopheliac, that's a good plan, rotate 2 swords + polaris.
Sounds like a solid plan for 2 weapons.
According to the wiki, the status rapiers are not optimal because the proc rate is significantly lower than the damage reduction in comparison to final flourish/ Barbarous Thorn Blade. I have a 3* Swift Flourish that I use for T2 pvp and I currently have the 4* Barbarous, Dark Thorn Blade. I prefer the charge attack of the Snarby line which is why I leveled it.
I'm not the best person to give advice because I'm not a veteran with all 5* gear, but if I had to have two weapons and two weapons only, I'd probably want to go with Thorn Blade & Polaris. I find I want a sword against fiends in general and they're vulnerable to piercing. I usually want a sword against wolvers so same situation. Polaris is good against 2/3s of turrets and moderate against the last type. Undead takes moderate from piercing and sword is great for kats, rest of undead polaris rips through. For constructs, ploaris works great across the board. Gremlins can be a bit of a pain with guns, but no issue there as they're strong against elemental. Piercing is moderate for them. I personally find most slimes easy so I feel little danger diving in with a sword, but with the polaris you can use the knockback to herd them into corners which is fun.
Sypsy and Malhaku have explained things well.
I agree that Nightblade, Flourish, and Polaris make sense as a start.
Personally when running with two slots I usually prefer to select a damage-type sword and a damage-type gun, set to cover the likely enemies. (Usually they'll be two different damage types, unless I'm doing something really one-note like FSC). I have at least a 4* for all three damage types for swords and guns.
Why consider having a gun instead of two swords?
1) There are some situations that practically require a gun: huge turret farms, tricky button puzzles (like the approach to the Roar Twins), the Vanaduke fight, etc.
2) When I'm dangerously low hp or surrounded by devilites, I can focus on shielding and dodging while still getting a shot or two off safely. I can stay conscious and safe until I come across some hearts
Usually when first scouting a gate I always bring a gun unless I'm going in a party. Taking apart Gun Puppy farms with a Faust charge attack is not fun.
Also, it's worth remembering that elemental and shadow swords are half normal damage. That means that they are at least passable against the enemies they're weak to.
Although the situations that Whitecrab describes really do benefit from a gun, unfortunately there is no one gun that works in all of them. Fields of turrets call for an elemental gun (or shadow, if they're polyps, but elemental suffices for them). Vanaduke calls for a piercing gun. For hitting the switches in Ironclaw Munitions Factory, any kind of gun works.
So once you start getting guns to handle these situations, you want at least two guns: Blitz Needle (or Callahan), and any elemental gun.
Although the situations that Whitecrab describes really do benefit from a gun, unfortunately there is no one gun that works in all of them
That's why you can equip two guns ;-D
For hitting the switches in Ironclaw Munitions Factory, any kind of gun works.
Apart from Alchemers which ricochet and may hit switch several times :-(
Also I'm not sure if Autogun works well with switches in Ironclaw Munitions Factory.
It's ALWAYS worth it to buy a single weapon slot. a month is a LONG time for 250CE, and 3 weapons = 3 weapon types = 3 damage types so you can easily diversify for any situation. I tried 4 weapon slots briefly, but it was just too confusing and unnecessary. With 3 slots, you never have to "skip" a weapon to cycle to the one you need.
Also if you're only gonna have two of the same weapon, do NOT get 2 guns. Guns are weak and don't have good knockback force at close range, every gun has non-cancelable reload time (compared to swords which generally have a negligible pause at the end of a combo) plus a large amount are elemental. For pure sword, you can go winmillion or DA for range, and for bombs you can use RSS as a gun substitute, but no gun has a counterpart to make up for bombs or swords.
I have used two guns and nothing else before, and found I am more comfortable with that than with just two swords. To each their own, I guess, but it sounds to me like you are missing some important things. Two guns does not mean two of the same weapon, it means two weapons that share the attribute of instantly available ranged attack- probably in exchange for DPS. The reload cannot be cancelled, but it can easily be avoided by just the slightest bit of fire discipline and, if you do decide you want to go for a full combo, at least you have the option of being at a safe distance just in case. I fail to see how the fact that many guns are Elemental-type is any kind of argument against using only guns. It's not as if we choose a class and roll for a random weapon in that class. There are decent Piercing and Shadow choices, which IS relevent to the decision. In general I recommend swords for Piercing damage before guns, but that does not mean using a gun instead is a poor choice for every player. I myself like to mix it up that way too, and don't feel the slightest bit handicapped- it's just not for every one since it suits a more patient, deliberate approach. When I feel like a faster game, I take the Snarbie. When I feel like a relaxed romp, I take the Magnus. I also like how guns in general disrupt user movement a lot less than swords in general. Besides the Autoguns, which are an exception, the worst guns in this respect seem to be the Magnus series, yet Magnus only interrupts my movement the slightest bit more than my Brandishes, and much less than my Troika- the latter being probably a better comparison since Troika and Magnus are relatively big and slow for their classes.
+1 re: Elemental gun & Pierce sword, with Shadow sword to swap in at need
It seems like the optimal approach to me, with the only weakness being either Quicksilvers, Oilers or Ice Cubes in an unexpected place if your gun is not the Prismatech Alchemer. It is not a big deal, though; Quicksilvers seem to be the most dangerous ones to supercharge, yet I still feel comfortable using my Kilowatt Pulsar on them when my other weapon is the Twisted Snarbie. I just use only charge attacks to minimise the number of hits to kill, and Alchemers are even better for that.
I also find Magnus & Nightblade a fun combo to use. Magnus knocks (non-Alpha) Wolvers down and causes all nearby dodgy monsters to give you some room to safely use a sword. I was somewhat surprised to find the Nightblade more than adequate for Constructs and Beasts, but it makes sense considering the popularity of the Calibur line. Against Devilites, the gun trades the knockdown for bonus damage. The sword swaps out for your favourite Elemental sword since Kats are usually found where Devilites are, while Beasts and Gremlins become scarce.
I am trying to figure out a really great use for a Shadow-damage gun, and suspect that when I get my Iceburst Brandish I will have such a use. I noticed that Catalyser charges can stick to frozen monsters without unfreezing them. :D If the Shadowtech & Iceburst combo works as well against Gremlins as I hope, I will have use for loadouts featuring swords and guns in all 3 non-normal damage types, which I find pleasing.
The cassical Calibur + elemental gun combo... The jack of all trades.. works everywhere but... its mediocre..
Try a calibur and Cryotech.. cryo is awsome for turrets.. and when freeze unleash a GODLY CHARGE ATTACK.. you can do the samething with a Shivermist and FoV ( im not sure about FoV)
"cry is awsome for turrets" LOL
I ran two slots up until less than a month ago. Generally I'd run two swords, and pick between my snarby, my elemental brandish, and my nightblade (I now have a faust to add to the list, but it would basically just sub in place of the nightblade).
I never really felt an urgent need to cover all three damage types, since covering two would give you bonus against two families and leave you neutral against the other four. I also never really felt the urge to carry a gun, except for that damn gun puppy gauntlet in Scarlet Fortress Grim Gallery, but it was either run through that or put up with a Spiral Court level, so... Come to think of it, there's also those 4 puppies in Jade Tangle that can be a bit annoying, and that energy gate in I think the low gardens with the zig zag of puppies and silkwings. The point is there's not a lot of places where having a gun is super critical, especially if you're running with a group.
I should say, though, that weapon slot upgrades aren't all that expensive. You can buy a full set of weapon and trinket slots (two each) on the AH for about 36kcr. (It's less than the energy required to buy them, since people use alts to buy them with mist) That's a lot less than the cost of crafting just a single 5* weapon (~53kcr at current energy prices).