Spiral Knights - Gears for tier 2 and futher upgrade

Gears for tier 2 and futher upgrade

28 replies [Last post]

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 07:12

Gippyz

Hi,
Pleased to meet everyone! I have just played spiral knight for around 2 weeks.
Anyway moving on..
I need an advice on my gears for tier 2 and futher upgrade.
I am having a big problem in tier 2 being too hard for me (keep dying despite being careful), and tier 1 being too easy (finish it solo two times, dies twice at most).
I have checked out the wiki,forum, and Jdavis/Bopp 's wiki and decided on these :

Armor : wolver
Helmet : either wolver or skelly ?? I got wolver now..
Sword : currently using tampered caliber, but got brandish and flourish to develop to acheron, combuster, and final flourish.
edit : Handgun : Blaster and autogun need to do more research on this part........
shield : owlite

edit : the armor and stuff maybe for swordsman, i followed advice on a couple of forum post where most said wolver is good...

edit : I wanna be an all rounder (can be swordsman or gunslinger depends on the situation).
I am alright at dodging (except when surrounded) and shielding.
Please guide me somewhere if i have made a bad decision in my gear choice since it is not too late for me to change (haven't really upgraded much except for the cailber sword).

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 07:59

Fradow

You can't consider yourself

You can't consider yourself an all rounder with full swordsman armor and only normal damage guns.

Overall, except for your guns, your planning is good (avoid Skelly for now, it's not a good all-purpose armor at all).

For your guns, you should totally forget about autogun before you reach tier 3 and the very profitable FSC, because it's only really useful there for swordsmen. You should only have one gun (if you ever get one, some swordsmen play without gun), which is a side-arm. Blaster is ok for now, but you should consider switching to Pulsar when you get good enough to farm the Roarmulus Twins, because it's consider the best side-arm, as it is the perfect weapon against turrets of all kinds, which are the weak spot of swordsmen usually.

The problem with T2 is that only the stratum after Basil is really profitable, and that stratum is hard with 2* stuff. You can either continue to farm T1 a little more (btw, you shouldn't die at all in T1, you are probably not fully ready to do T2 if you still die in T1) or try to get carried by friends/guildmates (or generous random party).

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 08:09

Mohandar

some advice

If you are solo and don't mind taking it slow, try to aggro (get the attention of) only a few monsters at a time. When you attack with a sword, don't use the full combo unless you are certain you can knock the enemy down or cause it to flinch. For example, when attacking a lumber, take two hits, shield cancel, and get out of the way. (Look up 'shield cancel' on the wiki)

I would put the Autogun line on hold for the moment. My preference is an elemental alchemer (Prisma or Volt), but the Blaster line is also decent. The 3-shot clip is also easier to manage than the alchemer's 2-shot clip. When you do resort to gunning, stay on the move. Reloading takes a significant chunk of time, during which you cannot shield and move at reduced speed, so be judicious about using up your full clip. If you fire, but pause briefly so that your gun goes down to the ready stance position, your clip will automatically refresh.

If you must face a crowd (arena, for instance), be very aware of where the other monsters are. Don't get too caught up with hacking away at a single target, as you will get surrounded and mobbed. Instead, lead them around, using your gun or charged Calibur swings. The latter has high knockback which can be a lifesaver, but can also throw enemies into a team member so don't spam it carelessly.

As with all things, skill comes mainly with practice. Much of it is learning the timing of monster attacks (the patterns and timing are different in T2 and T3), and the timing on your own weapons. If you watch a skilled bomber, they know exactly how long their bombs take to charge, and you will often see them laying bombs without ever seeing the "charge-ready" flash.

A final note, your style will also be influenced by latency. If you live far from a server or have poor internet service, you will probably have to play more defensively.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 08:21

Gippyz

consider yourself an all rounder

Emm i forgot to mention that i am still working on the handgun section because the jarvis' guide on handgun is still under development, and I am still reading the forum ask the gunslinger or something that have loads of post.
But i will ditch the autogun..

Yeah i will continue practicing on T1. I died when fighting in the special gate (pay 3 energies) where loads of prizes but also loads of monsters to defeat.

@Mohandar :
when facing crowd, i tend to get away as much as i can (while shielding), and shoot them with handgun until i can get one of them to go 1v1.
But yeah if i am surrounded, tend to knock all of them away or shield myself as much as i can.
I looked up shield cancel, and will do next time.
I got an excellent connection, but my playstyle change according to how much life i/teammates got and how much energy i got left to revive me or the teammates. When low, i play defensively, but high, i tend to be offensive and obsessive (bad thing! will try to fix).
Thanks for your advice

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 08:30

Demonicsothe

To expand on your shields,

To expand on your shields, you'll need a piercing one for most of RJP, Royal Jelly Palace, the most proftable T2 boss. Have you fought snarbolax in T1 before? If you check the gates, you can find that in T1, there is a couple of levels named Gloaming WildWoods. Beat snarbolax a few times and buy the bristling buckler, an excellent shield for swordsmen.

Don't sell your owlite for this, as you need shields that defend from piercing, elemental, and shadow. Grey owlite is one of the best elemental shields, barbarous thorn shield is the best piercing shield for anyone who uses a sword. Shadow should be relatively uncommon in T2, but get a skelly shield if you feel like you really need it.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 08:41

Gippyz

To expand on your shields

@Demonicsothe :
Thanks for your advise.
I don't think I have fought Snarbolax yet. But will try to before tackling T2 (which is still too hard for me)..
Ah bristling buckler.. read about it just now.. yeah will get it and will keep owlite and upgrade it to grey owlite if I can.

Armor : wolver
Helmet : wolver
Sword : currently using tampered caliber, brandish and flourish to develop to acheron, combuster, and final flourish.
Handgun : Still juggling...Blaster/pulsar/alchemer
shield : owlite and will find bristling buckler

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 08:56

Demonicsothe

Reliably solo snarbolax

Reliably solo snarbolax before you attempt to hold you own in T2 solo.

As I read before somewhere, one user aptly noted: "In T1, you learn to attack. T2, you learn to shield. T3, you learn to dodge."

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 08:58

Mohandar

almost forgot

If you haven't already, figure out how shield bumping works. I find it to be indispensable against T2+ mechaknights, among other enemies. Basically, hold your shield up just long enough for the thin white circle to appear below you (if the bubble forms then you've held it too long), and it will cause enemies right up against you to go hurtling away as if bumped by something. Just be careful about launching them into teammates, as with the calibur charge.

I've heard word that different shields have different bumping capabilities but I've never really noticed (then again, my shield arsenal is ridiculously small relative to my weapons and armor). I'm pretty sure you can also control the distance you bump based on proximity to enemy and how long or hard you press the shield button, but that is tricky to gauge.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 09:09

Demonicsothe

Actually, you can hold the

Actually, you can hold the shield and it will still bump, as long as they are in your shield vincinity.
I believe the shield bump is affected by the amount of health in a shield. As in, the force you push the enemy away is determined by the health your shield has.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 09:56

Gippyz

Shield bumping

I did shield bumping accidentally last night in T2 with a bunch guys.
It is really good! But yeah it might bound to others which is badd..

@Demonicsothe : will do snorbolax comfortably solo.

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 19:46

#10

Gippyz

divine veil, skolver coat, polaris handgun

I found more stuff on the forum :
divine veil and skolver coat good for all rounder??
And polaris handgun??

Tue, 02/07/2012 - 22:23

#11

Demonicsothe

Divine veil and skolver coat

Divine veil and skolver coat covers all the status and damage types that are dangerous. The most all rounder armour set. However, once you get any kind of good at this game, you'll be switching out sets that match the stratum.

Polaris is admittedly the best sidearm for swordmsmen, dealing effective damage to two kinds of turrets, and neutral to the other type. The expanded bullets always interrupt the turret from attacking, thus reducing the risk of swordsmen that lack range in their preferred weapon.

Fri, 02/10/2012 - 18:54

#12

Halcyonsentry

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but...

I'm in a similar situation, I guess. I got Tier 2 access recently, and thought that I could now rely on Royal Jelly farming to provide good income (even enough to buy CE at a profit).

Well, tough luck, I can't. Out of my five tries, only one was successful (and that was because there were two Tier 3 guys in my party). The other four times I didn't even make it to the throne room.

Anyway, I went to look up equipment. Being almost exclusively a swordsman (at least for now), I decided to try Skolver set, Barbarous Thorn Shield, and Acheron. Or rather, the 2/3* versions of those lines. That seems like it would give me the leverage necessary to start farming the jellies.

But now I face a dilemma... should I run T1 for now, until I get my equipment, or continue trying T2 even if I fail many times? If I do T1, should I continue going for Snarbolax (I already got the shield), or take another gate? If I choose Snarbolax, what should I do with my tokens after getting all three rewards?

And is there any chance I can already buy CE and still profit, or is that still far out of my reach?

Thanks for any advice.

Fri, 02/10/2012 - 19:33

#13

Gippyz

The thread is for everyone to answer and refer

Hia halcyonsentry!
We are in a very similar situation.
I couldn't reach the throne room without help of tier 3 or tier 2 experts.

What i do these days is running T1 solo and make sure i never revive myself.
If i can do that loads of time and beat Snarbolax solo, that means i am good for T2 (following Demonisothe advice above).
ATM i will just join party and go with others try to help and farm.

But yeah i am looking for more better advice from the experienced player too.

Fri, 02/10/2012 - 20:54

#14

Demonicsothe

It is possible to make a

It is possible to make a profit off ce on T2 jellies. However, hard. Try to make friends and finding an active guild. They can provide you with jumps past the beginning of T2. Specifically, Strat 3. Getting a jump to T2 basil, or close to T2 basil, will increase profits.

Be polite, nice, and willing to learn without pestering the players that show some degree of skill. Ask them to be friends at the end of the last fight, expressing the wish to run with them again. Watch them fight. Buy an alchemer, shoot at the monsters, and learn from the way they fight. Of course, don't copy the kamikaze type players, and don't rage/yell/get mad if they happen to be the rude type. Or even the silent type.

Do you have 2* wolver gear? Or cobalt, if you happened to use that set? Jellies should be okay, as long as you continue to learn how to deal with them. Shield canceling, dodging, learning attack patterns of monsters. Shield canceling is where you press shield right after attacking. It shaves a few frames off recoveries and allows you to block any attacks that may be coming. I can't teach you anything else, the rest you need practice.

If you wish, continue to run snarbolax gates. However, the profit will always be negative if you run on ce. Assuming you take this route, obtain enough tokens for the barb, the shield, and the bomb. All of those are very good weapons. Get the bomb, even if you won't use it right away. The bomb itself, at 5*, is an amazing weapon for slaughtering fiends, most notably devilites. Extra tokens can be used to buy another piece of equipment and used to vendor. I suggest buying a 2nd barb, simply because having 2 allows you to use a twisted snarble barb in T2 lockdown, and a Barbarous thorn blade in T3 lockdown

Sat, 02/11/2012 - 18:12

#15

Halcyonsentry

Okay, thanks. My current

Okay, thanks. My current setup is Wolver Coat, Cobalt Helm (to be replaced by Wolver), Brandish (hoping to upgrade to Nightblade soon enough), Bristling Buckler (going to get that up to Twisted Targe once I've done the rest), and a Blaster as my backup ranged weapon. I was planning on sticking to swords, and only switching out Blaster when I got Polaris, but I guess that's a bit too ambitious, so I'll probably grab an alchemer along the way.

I guess I'll keep running Snarbolax until I've got one shield/bomb and two swords, while trying to find some friends or even join a guild. And improve my personal skill, of course. Once that's done, I'll upgrade my equipment as much as I can, then start on Royal Jelly. Thanks for the help!

Edit: Blaster, not Calibur, sorry.

Sat, 02/11/2012 - 16:48

#16

Demonicsothe

Well, you can put off both

Well, you can put off both the bomb and 2nd sword if you think that you want to keep doing T2. The shield and sword are just some of the best weapons for swordsmen in the game. T1 doesn't pose much in terms of challenge, so moving up asap, or within your confidence limits, would be best. Calibur is not exactly a ranged weapon. It is a melee. Polaris is a good gun, if you wish to run some Roarmulous twins alongside jelly kings. Alchemers are just more easily obtainable.

Starting t2 as soon as you can is best for profit and learning.

Sat, 02/11/2012 - 18:21

#17

Halcyonsentry

I meant Blaster, not Calibur,

I meant Blaster, not Calibur, sorry. :P
I mean, who names a sword Calibur?

Yeah, I can already reliably solo T1, but the jump from T1 to T2 is a bit too much for me at the moment. Also, since I probably won't want to go back to T1 later, it might be good to finish Snarbolax now.

Sun, 02/12/2012 - 11:19

#18

Merethif

@Halcyonsentry I mean, who

@Halcyonsentry
I mean, who names a sword Calibur?

A sword most known to humanity is named Excalibur, hence the name Calibur :-D

I was planning on sticking to swords, and only switching out Blaster when I got Polaris, but I guess that's a bit too ambitious, so I'll probably grab an alchemer along the way.

Just note that Alchemers are terrible choice for Ironclaw Munition Factory. Blaster is more reliable there for switch-work. Alchemer's ricochets can hit random switches and mess everything up. And actually I find Roarmulus Twins a way easier then Royal Jelly so it's not that difficult to get Pulsar early.

Sun, 02/12/2012 - 22:57

#19

Demonicsothe

As a certain youtube channel

As a certain youtube channel by the name of Nusqual puts it, RT fights are more of a waiting room. Relying on luck of RT movement and proper switching.

Both RT and JK can take enormous amounts of time, if done improperly. Of those 2, JK is harder, if only because not taking damage while fighting him is hard if you are slowly slogging through his heal. But, JK has the advantages of being the faster one to be completed if powerhoused through.

Went off track there. But yea, getting a pulsar early on would be benefitial. You would learn to utilize its knockback on monstrs during solo, and completely shutting down turrets in a group.

Wed, 02/15/2012 - 08:06

#20

Habed-Fastron

just wondering...

Do you guys pay for anything on here? Been on here for a little longer than a month, and it just feels like keeping this game truly FTP instead of buying some CE is a loooong process. Affording the right armor can take a while just to get, especially not playing every day. I currently do solo runs through T1 just to get enough crowns to trade up for CE. I just barely got a wolver set last week. I noticed that I made a mistake when I originally went full cobalt armor and bought an autogun, before I ever gained access to T2 levels. SO, basically my question now is, I want to collect crowns a bit faster than I have; does anybody have suggestions? The set I currently use is:
helm: wolver
armor: wolver
sword: calibur, brandish (want to upgrade both)
gun: autogun
If you couldn't tell, I was leaning more into being a swordsman.

Wed, 02/15/2012 - 09:28

#21

Nordlead

I bought $6 worth of stuff

I bought $6 worth of stuff (2kce + 4 weeks elevator pass when the explorers pack was on sale). Since then I haven't bought anything. My brother hasn't bought anything (though I think I've given him like 2kCE or maybe a little less) and he can do FSC with little problem.

As you get farther in the game, you earn crowns faster and faster (up to a point). T1 pays very little. T2 Royal Jelly pays better (and is even profitable on CE alone) and Firestorm Citadel pays even more. T3 non-boss runs can be extremely profitable if you get good materials. I once got a sun silver and 3x volcanic iron. That is 8kcr in materials right there plus all the crowns from the arenas I was playing in the 6th stratum.

My suggestion is stop doing solo runs in T1. Instead find some people willing to play with you in T2 where you will earn more CR. It may be harder, but it will force you to get better faster than playing the pushover monsters in T1.

Also, to save CR, but all your 2* gear from the AH unless you are going to repeatedly craft an item. Recipes can be bought and resold, and I've done that off and on. I mean, if you have 8kcr sitting in your pocket, you an easily turn it into 10kcr or even more.

Since you are leaning toward being a swordman, you can save some cr by dropping calibur (you can just leave it in your inventory because maybe someday it'll be worth coming back to). It is a normal attack weapon, which won't do as well as specialized weapons. You have an elemental or shadow sword (brandish can turn into either), so get something like a snarble barb (if you have the tokens from the snarbolax) or another specialized sword. For more information on swords, you can read the sword guide on the wiki under the playing guides section.

Wed, 02/15/2012 - 09:35

#22

Habed-Fastron

thanks

I was saving for a snarble barb, I've been doing Snarbolax runs to get enough token. But I did want to keep the calibur because eventually I do want to have a Leviathon blade along with an Acheron and a BTB.

Wed, 02/15/2012 - 10:35

#23

Halcyonsentry

Reasoning behind Leviathan?

The Leviathan Blade is generally considered a good back-up weapon for bombers or gunners who only want one sword, as it's one of the best normal swords, and so works equally well everywhere. But if you're going to be a swordsman, that means you're going to have more than one sword. Even if you just have BTB and Acheron, that still gives you:

Extra damage against beasts and fiends (BTB)
Extra damage against gremlins and slimes (Acheron)
Normal damage against undead (BTB)
Normal damage against construct (Acheron)

So the extra Leviathan Blade would add almost nothing to your arsenal. If you really want it, leave it for later, when getting a five-star weapon won't be so terrifically time-consuming.

@ Merethif:
Oh, wow, how had I not realized that >.<
I was thinking along the lines of "caliber," which obviously would make more sense for a gun rather than a sword.

Thu, 02/16/2012 - 09:05

#24

Habed-Fastron

I wanted a good set

The reason I wanted a Leviathon blade was to have a good set of 5* swords. But thinking about it, putting time into some elemental swords along with BTB and Acheron would make more sense, huh?

Thu, 02/16/2012 - 09:14

#25

Nordlead

Obviously, get whatever you

Obviously, get whatever you want, as the game is easily playable with normal weapons. It'll just take longer to defeat monsters compared to using specialized weapons. So, if you really have to have it, there is nothing stopping you from crafting it. However, if getting good weapons faster is your priority, then you should leave the leviathon blade alone for a while and revisit it later.

What I would do, is focus on the specialized swords and get all of them to at least 4*. Once you've done that, take a look at your equipment and decide what you want/need next. Go to 5* for everything, or craft up the calibur if you are still interested in it, or even expand your arsenal to other weapon types.

Thu, 02/16/2012 - 09:23

#26

Habed-Fastron

Good idea

Ya, I'd rather specialize. The sword isn't THAT important to me, so specialization it is. Thanks Nordlead. Do you know of any good clans who do T2 runs and don't take a whole application process to get into (meaning just a more friendly type of clan)? Seems harder to find... I know I can't solo running forever on here, so that's why I'm lookin

Thu, 02/16/2012 - 09:37

#27

Nordlead

I don't really know the

I don't really know the different guilds. I always just played pick up games. I either joined a random group, or started a group and left it open. Yea, sometimes that leads to having bad groups, but most of the time things went well.

There is a forum for guilds here, and you can poke around there to see what is available.

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 23:13

#28

Owl-City

What path

Hey could someone help me what path should I pick : the blaster or the shadowtech alchemer. And what shouldni pick for 5 star should I choose skolver or vog. Thanks :)

Search

Gears for tier 2 and futher upgrade