As said Demonicsothe, generally it's best to upgrade weapons first, because that makes the biggest difference. Seeing that both T2 boss runs (which you are probably going to run a lot) are themed with mobs resistant to piercing, i would probably stop upgrading a piercing sword and instead do elemental/shadow swords instead (right now, your only choice is brandish lines, but later you should take a look at sealed sword lines, which can be obtained from Jelly Tokens).

My plan would be : upgrade swords to 3*, then the rest to 3*, then swords to 4*, then the rest to 4*, etc. Except if you have a good reason to upgrade something else first (for example, ash tail to vog cub makes a bigger difference than a sword from 4* to 5* because of the change from piercing to elemental resistance, the fire resist and ASI).

its best to just beat jelly king a couple of times, even when you are a noob to jk but its ok if you die, after you get alot of crowns, i prefer buy armors first then weapons :)

sincerely,
ProductionInferno

I really advise against aiming for Snarbolax as the destiny of your first Wolver Coat. You do not want to be prancing around a Shadow Lair with 4* armor. Most people I see go for Vog + Skolver or full Vog, making Vanaduke runs easy.

I may not be the best person to ask about equipment, mainly because I am an impulsively kleptomaniac who has too many pieces of equipment. I would definitely suggest a Brandish, if not two. Nightblades (Shadow Damage) are best for Jelly Runs, but loose their effectiveness due to Vanaduke runs involving huge amounts of undead. Fireburst Brandishes work, but Vanaduke is in FIREstorm Citadel, so they dramatically loose their effectiveness there. Ice Burst is better for crowd control, but the Shock Burst, a PVP reward, is one of the best PVP weapons.

As a Kleptomaniac, I have acquired a huge amount of equipment for just about every situation. While this means I tend to be trailing behind the party for the first few minutes of a floor while I pick out how exactly I want to mutilate the inhabiting gremlins and how exactly I want my character to look while doing so, it also gives me a huge advantage over most players. Owlite Shields are really good for their status resists and elemental resistance. They withstand a different kind of beating, more common in places like the Ironclaw Munitions Factory (Roarmulus Twins). That being said, it is worthwhile to at least be prepared for the potential of an elemental beatdown.

In the end, I would suggest the following:

WEAPONS
Swift Flourish -> Final Flourish
Hot Edge -> Ice Burst Brandish -> Glacius (Personal Preference)
+ Brandish -> Nightblade -> Acheron

You can also replace the Ice Burst Brandish and the Nightblade for the Avenger and Faust, which are more common and regarded as slightly better (but more expensive and take a bit to get used to)

ARMOR
Bristling Buckler -> Barbarous Thorn Shield
+ Owlite Shield -> Grey Owlite Shield
Wolver Cap -> Vog Cap
Wolver Coat -> Skolver Coat

The Vog Cap can be exchanged with a Skolver cap, and the Skolver Coat and be exchanged with a Vog Coat. I just think Skolver looks cooler and its easier to find a costume piece that matches the Skolver Coat and makes you look normal :P

Wait... ONLY 31000 crowns? Ok then! Budget time!

1) Buy a Brandish at the AH for about 1500 (sort by Buy Price). Find a Nightblade Recipe for 4k or buy one from other players/AH for about 6k. Get 100CE, and then wait a day for your mist to get to 100. Now you have a shiny new Nightblade for about 13,000 - 17,000 crowns (or you can try finding a Nightblade at the AH selling for less, but I find its more rewarding to craft one yourself, and you can get UV's).

2) You have 2 options here. One option is to play about 35-ish Lockdown Games until you get 50 Krogmo Coins. Spend these coins to get a Shockburst Brandish Recipe. On average, I would estimate this will end up being ~2500 crowns worth of entry fees. Then buy a Brandish, some CE, and hoard your mist for a Shockburst Brandish. The other option is to repeat the steps above with an Ice Burst Brandish or Fire Burst Brandish.

3) Buy an Owlite Shield for the sake of versatility.

4) Work on Jelly King runs and acquiring the Dusker Coat and Cap recipes. You wont need them immediately, so do not give into temptation and buy them at the AH for more than 4k. A few trips to Basil, a few favors from guildmates, and a few JK runs later, and you will have your Dusker armor.

I also suggest that you look into a single sidearm. Many people will disagree with me, but I suggest the Pulsar line. Specifically, the Kilowatt Pulsar -> Polaris. It deals elemental damage in a huge area, massive knockback, and good damage. This is perfect for Gun Puppies and narrow choke points. They also can deal with Lumbers easily. You don't NEED to get a Pulsar, but rejecting a sidearm is like trying to run a marathon without shoes. Yeah, you may not need it, but they help. Pulsars require Roarmulus Twin runs though, which can be tricky.

Can I just ask why everyone's concerned aobut FSC so much? yeah, he'll wind up goin' there,but for now he said that that was his FIRST run into T2, he won't be thinkin' about farmin' FSC for some time, let him use what actually works for RJP now, and worry about FSC later like the rest of us. No need to go startin' the game and immediately preparin' him for end-game stuff or you might as well tell him that if it's not shadow lair useful, it's not useful at all.

My advice?
Get piercing armour; or ash tail will work to keep your damage up. Grab yourself a nightblade and 4* your bristling shield. Focus on getting your gear aimed towards breakin' down JK. After a few farms, maybe grab a sealed sword and make a Faust. Even when you're bulit up enough to get access to T3, you'll still spend all your time farming JK for the money; FSC is a long way past T3 clearance, and by that point you'll understand what you need and want enough, as well as having the money from JK farms to pay for it.
Right now, worry about JK; don't go deciding weapons because they might not be useful in FSC. If you wanna use a hot edge > fireburst to attack JK (which, btw is NOT a bad idea, since poison+fire is the popular combo for fighting JK) then use that. Enjoy the game as you play it, not as it might be in the end-game.

i'll be quick:
1) dont bother with snarbolax armor just yet. Its a long, long, long way away for you. Vog cub is probably the most suitable thing to aim for.
2) upgrading the weapons is probably the most important, especially getting it up to 4*. you have the flourish, which is pretty good, but to cover for fighting slimes and constructs (which resist piercing), get either an elemental or shadow sword. I would get elemental, but its up to you. Either way, the brandish line seems to be the best bet, since they go into the combuster, glacius or voltedge (elementals) or the acheron (shadow). For a nice mix up, you can then farm the jelly gems and get either the avenger or faust to cover up the last damage type. Youll also then have a fast, medium and slow sword to play with.
3) remember to shield cancel where appropriate. if you find yourself getting hit often by certain monsters, consider shield cancelling more