Spiral Knights - Teching to Tier 3?

Teching to Tier 3?

16 replies [Last post]

Fri, 01/13/2012 - 09:09

Furaiz

At the moment I've been playing the game for 3 days, and my Knight is currently at Tier 2(minus a secondary weapon of any sort)
I am trying to work out the best 'tech' path I should take for tier 3 gears.

My current Gear

Wolver Cap lv 6
Wolver Coat lv 5
Owlite Shield lv 5
Brandish lv 5
Stun Gun lv 10 (I don't make much use of this except to hit switches)

I basically require 4* gear to be a tier 3 knight.

I was wondering whether it was best to go to 3* and farm tier 2 floors until I can slowly start getting 4* pieces.

I am also clueless on good armours to use.

I am thinking of being more defensively orientated, so I need a weapon with large knockbacks, and high defensive gear. The problem I have is that I am not sure what type of defences I will need in tier 3, and mainly tier 2 as well, I am fairly new to the tier 2 floors.

Can anyone give me some assistance on what options I have ?

Sitting at 6400Cr at the moment.

Fri, 01/13/2012 - 09:25

Demonicsothe

That's a good set to start

That's a good set to start with. Gradually upgrade the wolver to ashtail, the 4* set. Can't go wrong with that. Owlite is a great shield.

Brandish is a great line to upgrade into. Combuster/Glacius are the cheaper ones to get. Voltedge is generally better, but requires lockdown games to recieve the recipe for.

As you already have a elemental weapon, buying an alchemer to go into the shadow line is a good choice, especially for tier two bosses. Or you can switch, having a nightblade from the brandish line, and a elemental alchemer.

Brandish line is good defensively, the charge having good knockback. Or you can run the royal jelly palace a few times for the sealed sword line, which branches off into a elemental and shadow line, the shadow line being less preferable.

Consider getting a miracle hood for elemental defence, if you run roarmulous twins often.

Fri, 01/13/2012 - 10:06

Bopp

you are the target audience

So your primary weapon is a sword, and your secondary weapon is a gun. You are the target audience for my sword guide. It discusses basic concepts, how to construct a weapon set, which swords to choose specifically, and what armor to pursue.

Edit: About farming: Consider upgrading your Brandish to Nightblade and farming the Royal Jelly Palace. This is the most lucrative section of Tier 2, after arenas.

Fri, 01/13/2012 - 10:13

Demonicsothe

Bopp, you have to link the

Bopp, you have to link the damage page on the wiki too :P

Fri, 01/13/2012 - 11:15

Bopp

you mean, cuz I always do?

"Bopp, you have to link the damage page on the wiki too :P"

You mean, because I always do? Okay: Damage.

Apparently I need to get some new material. Or some new questions --- that would be nice.

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 03:55

Stavrosg

Defensive

On another note: You can't employ a defensive stance in Spiral Knights; It's based purely on offence, and it is paramount that you don't get hit.
Playing tank WoW style just isn't possible.

More specific, if you want a heavy sword with large knockback, start farming Royal Jelly to get a Sealed Sword with it's tokens. It's precisely what you need, but in my opinion, upgrading your Brandish is a much better solution. It's faster, meaning you can shield faster, it's charge attack has a high knockback and it's easier to employ than the sealed line's charge and it generally gives monsters a much narrower window during which they can attack you.

I don't know if I made sense, but... :)

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 04:43

Darkbrady

That said, it's not as if

That said, it's not as if going pure all out assault mode is the only option. You can't be "a tank" as such, but you can bulid yourself to tank better than you otherwise would.

The troika line has a far stronger KB than the sealed swords, and hits for huge raw damage too, has a pretty solid charge attack. They're still nerfed, but even so, bang on some of them and the more solid armour in the game, and have a couple of sets designated for the appropriate themes, and you would be able to tank better than others. It's not the same as other MMOs where you could just afk through the attacks, but you can definitely build yourself to be fragile or sturdy, and the gap is pretty large.

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 06:16

Bopp

how many times must we go through this?

"The troika line has a far stronger KB than the sealed swords, and hits for huge raw damage too..."

"Huge" relative to what? There is only one measure of damage, in which a 5-star Troika beats a 5-star Sealed Sword. That is the damage, on the first swing of the combo, against neutral or resistant monster type. In any other measure of damage (damage on the second swing against neutral, damage per swing against vulnerable monster type, damage per combo, damage per second), the 5-star Sealed Swords do more damage. So I think that "huge" here is quite misleading. And the Troika line's slowness does not aid defense. I strongly advise against getting any kind of Troika at this point.

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 09:08

Fradow

Agree with Bopp. Plus, the

Agree with Bopp.

Plus, the Troika charge attack is far from being solid. In fact, it's probably one of the worst, as the hitbox is not practical at all and the damage very low for a charge attack : less than sealed sword initial swing against neutral (not even counting the projectiles which can do as much if not more damage), and less than sealed sword initial swing + projectile hitting one time against resistant target.

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 09:24

Traevelliath

Offensive vs Defensive

IMO, the Brandish is best for a quick 2 strikes, then retreat a bit, run around the enemy, and then another quick two strikes. This is more of an offensive stance. The heavy weapons, like the Divine Avenger is more of a defensive weapon, where you randomly pull it out, unleashing a cleaving strike, and everyone flies away. Then, shield cancel, slowly crawl up to the enemy (or wait for the enemy to crawl up to you) and unleash another cleaving strike. That is more of a defensive stance.

Going back to the original topic, the Wolver Armor is one of the better armor sets of the game. Keep upgrading it to Dusker and Ash Tail.

I suggest doing a few snarby runs and getting a Bristling Buckler and maybe a Snarble Barb so you can have a pierce weapon in your arsenal. The Bristling Buckler is a better shield for JK farming, and it gives a nice sword bonus.

Upgrade that Brandish to Nightblade so you can farm JK easily. Once you have a good amount of runs under your belt, get a Sealed Sword through the JK tokens. Upgrade that to Avenger, then Divine Avenger. If you want to go full defensive, get a second sealed sword for Faust and Gran Faust. IMO, those are the most defensive weapons that are viable.

If you want to stick to the theme of defensive play, the Calibur line, especially its charge, is a good jack-of-all-trades weapon. Its charge attack sends crowds of mobs scattering.

Finally, as a sidearm, do some Roarmulus Twin runs and get yourself a Pulsar. The Pulsar has massive knockback, can hold up a narrow corridor indefinitely, and keep enemies at bay. It can keep long range enemies busy.

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 11:57

#10

Fradow

Huh, Sealed sword a defensive

Huh, Sealed sword a defensive weapon ? I don't quite agree, as a sealed sword fan.

The gameplay you described is the gameplay of someone beginning with Sealed swords, who realized the second hit is hard to use without getting hit back. But when you are an experienced player (even more with the recent global nerf), you just go in and unleash the heavy hitting aoe swings. As long as you are sure to hit all the attacking mobs on the second swing, you are not going to be hit (but it takes practice to know when to use this second swing or not, and how to use it).

And the gameplay for brandish you described is also defensive to me. As I see it, most Brandish users just charge all the way, which is also a defensive gameplay (Brandish charges are relatively safe and you can charge while being far from mobs). But i'm not a regular brandish user.

I agree with the rest of your advices, seems like a solid plan to me.

Just a note on Pulsar : I consider it as training wheels : use it at the beginning, but try to stop using it as soon as possible, else you'll be crippled as a player for relying too much on a weapon which is harmful to teamplay (that is, unless you run only solo).

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 12:08

#11

Furaiz

Thanks for the advice

I've decided on a few 3* gears to get into before upgrading to 4* stuff.

Dusker Cap
Dusker Coat
Great Defender(still not sure this is the best option for general full Jelly King runs, because of a variety of other mobs before it)
Nightblade

Second Sword

I'm not sure on what line of brandish to upgrade too, seeing as I'm a pretty defensive orientated person.

I contemplated whether I should go for the freeze-line, as that will lock down annoying monsters such as those 'Ghost-cats'. In fact, those mobs pretty much ruin me.

However, whether that's always useful I don't know.

I will mainly be running the Jelly King with the 3* set for a good while, at least until I purchase some 4* recipes for ash tail, because that's pretty expensive in my current position.

I've pretty much decided I have no need of a gun, at least until I can regularly afford the weapon slot upgrades every month, on in game income.

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 12:34

#12

Fradow

Good starting gear, here are

Good starting gear, here are some feedbacks :
- Defender line is not that great for swordsman, compared to Bristing Buckler line, which offer a sword bonus damage for a little less resistance. You are probably not going to notice the difference in resistance, but sword bonus damage can add up very fast. There is a reason offensive is priviliged in this game. Mobs before JK strata can be whatever, they are significantly weaker than JK strata, which is really only jellys, plus lumbers and puppies. No shield is meant to tank lumbers hits, and you should dodge puppies bullets as much as possible.
- the mobs you are talking about are Kats. While freezing is ok against them, shock is even better, as it will totally prevent them from attacking. But shock brandish require PvP tokens, so you'll probably want to stick with freeze, which have overall good utility.
- you don't really need a gun for now except some edge cases. If you are in a party, someone is probably going to have a gun, so no sweat.

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 13:59

#13

Bopp

strongly advise BTS over Aegis

Furaiz, Fradow is right in advising you to use Barbarous Thorn Shield (Bristling Buckler) over Aegis (Defender). Both are piercing shields, but BTS gives you a damage bonus on your swords, which is REALLY valuable. All of this is covered in my sword guide (linked above).

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 14:17

#14

Furaiz

Thorn sheild

Ok, the damage bonus is a big draw for me as well, so I will be getting the thorn shield

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 15:56

#15

Irokwe

just wanted to add that the

just wanted to add that the sudaruska is generally better than the triglav, cuz the tri can freeze. Freeze=no knockback. Knockback is the only reason to get this sword. no knockback=epic fail.

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I would recommend:
ash tail cap
ash tail coat

thorn shield

avenger/blizzbrand

silent nightblade/faust

Final flourish/thorn blade

*note: get a brandish line sword and a sealed sword line sword, and not 2 ss/brand lines

Also, if u plan on using the thorn blade instead of the flourish, then get the thorn blade b4 the thorn shield cuz it'll be easier to get the shield then.

And finally (for now) if u want some cheap stuff, visit the shop with the name that looks something like ★★★★★ASGARD, HOME OF THE GODS,and cheap stuffs★★★★★
cheap stuffs ftw!

also, u can ask me questions ingame, too (ign: irokwe[social→friend options→add friend]), but im in gmt+2 (europe)

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 23:51

#16

Demonicsothe

I use both sealed lines,

I use both sealed lines, since getting faust was easier than getting a silent nightblade. Going to have to replace it though.

But having two brandish lines is infact decent. Acheron and volt/combuster/glacius covers all of your special damage needs. And this way, you are using the same style of weapons. Easier to learn, easier to switch between. Very new player friendly.

I agree with heavy swords being a defensive type. Say you are cornered in the last arena room by 8 mecha knights. No amount of luck or uv's will let you full combo them as they all attack at a different time. Heavies require one hit to maximize potential, the potential being the knockback it provides.

Yea, heavy sword users do tend to have to use the swings offensively. Because many times, thats all we have besides a gun. Perhaps thats not the way they were designed, or not the way you wish to use them. But their application is to push enemies back, away from the user. Being cornered or trapped by a group is no problem for most heavy users. Likewise, a ss will not compare to a brandish in trying to take down targets.

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Teching to Tier 3?