So, I recently got my Freezing Atomizer up to level 10 and Im going to craft into a Shivermist Buster.
So, now i need advice on which Vaporizer I should make next, please vote or give me advice for which one I should get first and so on.
No.1)Venom Veiler
No.2)Ash of Agni
No.3)Voltaic Tempest
No.4)Stagger Storm
Venom Veiler is a true support bomb, go for it.
I've personally only used Shiver, AoA, and Voltaic Tempest, so my view probably isn't comprehensive. That said, I find that this link very helpful and accurate when describing the bombs.
If your aim is to help your team do more damage, I find AoA very helpful. Laying a couple of them down at arena is one of the most effective ways to speed up kill times. I probably won't ever go for Venom Veiler myself, since the effects of poison doesn't last as long, and I find fire a more directly useful status. I've found myself killing the last stage of Arena by myself with an AoA before, which you can't do with the VV.
Voltaic...I regret spending time and money on it, to be honest. It's half damage dealing and half crown control, which in theory is very useful, but the damage is very little and the shock is rarely timed so well that it disrupts when it should. Apparently it's good when there's groups of kats, but I've never tried it. I can't comment about Stagger, but while having slowed mobs are useful in the case of greavers and wolvers, I can't see it being as useful as the other bombs.
TL;DR: I would say to go for the AoA.
I really like my plasma cap. It's best against clustering enemies like jellies or zombies, and coincidentally the two most lucrative boss strata are filled with zombies and jellies. Given that an AoA is useless in FSC, I'd give the VT the upper hand. Granted you may prefer to go with the SB there, but if someone else is on shiver duty you can drop shock on them without breaking the freeze (I'm pretty sure).
It's also kind of amusing to see RJ spaz and stop in the middle of his spin tantrum when shocked, and as others have mentioned it messes up kats pretty good.
Stagger Storm is fun in lockdown, VV is an ok support bomb but kinda meh otherwise. I don't think the poison lasts long enough for it to be really useful.
"I don't think the poison lasts long enough for it to be really useful."
You make it sound as if you have to have the bomb running all the time which isn't true. Poison applied from the haze affects the enemies for 10 seconds since poisoning them, it has no downsides while stun and shock have major downsides. Stun can screw over people in your party as its hard for most people to judge properly just how much slower the monster attacks are and you have to run the bomb all the time since the effect works for like 4-5 seconds (quotes from bombing guide: "(...) the stun duration does not last long after the mist dissipates. (...) Enemies with lunging/tackling attacks are still able to perform attacks (...) Stun wearing off in the middle of an attack animation will sometimes cause the attack to abruptly occur without completion of the animation"). And shock can screw you/party members over: "Enemies can break ghost blocks, activate switches, and blow up explosive crates with shock spasms; Enemies have reduced knock back while shocked" and triggering bomb spam on Gremlin Bombers and all what you get is awful "crowd control" with awful damage.
And a note, parts of bombing guide are sorta out of date so better ask on forums for definitive answers as you might come in some pleasant/unpleasant surprises while applying knowledge from the guide.
I would go with Voltaic Tempest, it's my favorite haze bomb. It gets better against big crowds, and can outdamage Ash of Agni in some situations, because shock ticks are AoE, contrary to fire ticks (4/5 mobs grouped = more damage than AoA). The shock is also godly against some mobs, it will prevent Kats from attacking altogether, stop zombies movement on leap, interrupt mechaknights charge/combo etc ... while doing some real damage.
Don't let the low damage per tick make you think it does low dps.
Ash of Agni would be my choice, by far. It does HUGE damage and is the single best weapon to have in non-fire arenas. I haven't used Venom Veiler because the poison duration of my toxic vaporizor Mk II was so low (maybe 4 seconds) that it didn't seem worthwhile to upgrade. If that line has been buffed to double the poison duration, it would be a decent bomb wherever menders are difficult (tier 3 Decon zones and arenas), but it's still not nearly as powerful as Ash.
I don't understand why the Ash of Agni is so loved by some. It's main purpose is damage through its fire, correct? However, upgrading it to 5* only increases radius and damage to the initial explosion but does not change the fire. It's still Good chance of Minor fire right? It's next to useless by the time one gets to Tier 3 where a Minor fire isn't going to make much of difference. The other ones though (not including VV), specialize in movement impairment effects, which is always useful regardless of the Tier. Am I wrong in some way? I don't know, the above reasoning discouraged me from trying.
The vapor bomb that suits you is a matter of play style. I'm a Heavy Sword/Vapor Bomber, so for me the Ash is my favorite.
I especially like to use Ash in Danger Rooms and Graveyards. In a T3 Graveyard, when solo or duo, two full burns will kill a Zombie. So I'll just wake up zombies while dropping Ash, then circle back to pick up all the crowns. It works great in conjunction with other vapors e.g. Ash/VT, Ash/VV, Ash/Stun. I'll usually do one of those combos in arenas. If you are with another vapor bomber you can drop Shiver and Ash on top of each other to do a speed burn, I do this with friends occasionally... quite amusing. It debuffs Ice Cubes, making them completely harmless. I use Ash in the Wolver Danger Room too, but only if my partner can handle the crazed wolvers. It takes longer and is more dangerous than using DBB, but I don't always have DBB on me.
Voltaic Tempest is a great bomb. It does poor damage compared to Ash unless the mobs can get bunched together, so it is naturally perfect for zombies, kats, jellies and lots of mecha knights. It can interrupt Alpha Wolvers in Wolver Dens due to the density of the mobs, but it doesn't do enough damage and can make the wolvers go crazy. For me, Ash has more applications than VT. VT is perfect for Lockdown. The shock from VT can break Shiver's ice. Plus you want the mobs to bunch together, if Shiver is holding them apart it kinda defeats the purpose.
Venom Veiler is a tough one because it is even more situational than Voltaic Tempest. It shines in the last room of Arenas where the Menders can end up killing everything for you. It is good against Giant Lichen Colonies and Alpha Wolvers since you can greatly increase the survivability of your group, but this isn't so important in higher levels of play where the whole team should be proficient in dodging and have proper equipment. I think it is just nice to have for cycling with another vapor bomb so that you can get two statuses going at once. And, of course, it is nice to have against the Jelly King, but hardly necessary since the party should be collecting vials.
I would go Ash, VT, VV, but your priorities might be different.
I wouldn't bother with Stagger Storm until you are at the point that you want to collect all the bombs. The one notable thing it does is cause Alpha Wolvers to only bite once, which is nice for UGWW. I'm so busy dropping Shiver and DBB though, there is rarely time or room to get a Stagger Storm down.
@Windsickle Just in terms of damage for 4-5* versions... The Fiery line is indeed all Minor Fire, but the status damage gets nerfed if the bomb is used beyond its intended strata. I can't recall exactly, but I think that when I tested the Freezing Atomizer 4* I noticed that the damage started to drop compared to Shivermist at D19, by about 20%. By the time I reached D28 it was doing 1/2 damage compared to 5*. For T3, Minor Fire from Ash is still plenty of burn to kill things. In the last room of an arena Ash alone can easily out DPS two Menders, allowing me to carry 4 person parties through the last room just using Ash (not the best way to do so, but it works in a crunch.)
For me, its a close tie between Venom Veiler and Ash of Agni.
AoA is great in just about any case, except of a Flame Lash Arena (and fire strata in general). Just about everything dies VERY quickly when in flames.
Venom Veiler is also great if you like being a team player. You may do 0 damage by yourself, but
All these especially in the 5* version of the bombs where you can basically keep the whole room poisoned or under fire.
For even more fun, equip both and alternate between them. I've used them both in JK runs with friends, and they can help your team clear the jelly waves mere seconds after they spawn, no kidding!
Voltaic Tempest is also useful, but for me, personally, fire and poison are more useful statuses.
I can't really comment on the Stagger Storm because I need ~80 more Korgmo Coins to get the recipe and upgrade my Haze Burst to 5*and only then I can compare it to the other vaporizers.
I can only tell you NOT to equip the Shivermist Buster outside of the FSC, especially when playing with a team because freeze is the less usefull status, and it basically doesn't mix with anything else.