I recently picked up the 2* versions of the following Alchemers:
-Firotech
-Cryotech
-Shadowtech
-Voltech
What I really wanted to know was which of these paths would be worth following. I was thinking Cryo or Fire. Fire because of the extra elemental damage it can dish out, and Cryo because of my problems handling Gun Puppies at the later strata. Which do you guys think I should choose to upgrade?
I consider the Cryo line the most useful of the Elemental types, as it carries the most powerful CC effect and cannot set off elemental Lichen like Volt and Firo. Volt is also pretty good, just don't accidentally shoot a Quicksilver with one. I haven't tried Prisma yet, but I'm hoping the base damage is higher than the other Elemental lines due to not having a status effect.
Shadow is the other great one because it is the only weapon in the game that deals pure Shadow type damage. Gremlins are terrible at dodging these guns so it is a good choice for picking off Gremlin healers or just thinning out a thick Gremlin crowd on a stage like T3 Radioactive Recycling if you get too many and can't quite get to the pyros or healers behind the wall of melee. I also use it to kill slimes just because I can.
I use the Cryotech Alchemer series because I use it almost exclusively to kite with. That means the freeze comes in very handy. I also use it to take out puppy heads, as they take extra damage versus elemental (even if they're ice-affiliated themselves), and freezing prevents them from turning, rendering them briefly helpless.
If you primarily just want the gun for DPS purposes, I'd go with something firotech, for the DOT status.
I'm liking voltech so far. It doesn't have quite the same control as cryotech, but you can't break your own control either. A frozen mob who's shot a second time is moving. A shocked mob who's shot a second time is still shocked. Lets me use spray and pray tactics without worrying about undoing my own work. It also plays better with sources of fire. I've heard good things about the combination of voltech and fiery vaporizer
Firotech is indeed the choice for pure damage, but it plays poorly with frost (if any of your allies are packing it) and the fire aspect is basically useless for running Vanaduke. It also spreads a bit, which can be dangerous if you mess up. If you fire a voltech at a quicksilver pack, one of them gets superspeedy. If you fire a firotech at a oil slick pack, *all* of them get fiery.
Shadowtech seems like it's in a category of its own, being the only 100% Shadow handgun in the game.
In terms of Elemental Alchemers, I must admit that I'm a bit lost. Voltech is nice, but when I see Firotech and Cryotech Alchemers also have an AoE component attached, I start wondering why my Voltech doesn't. Is it because I need to upgrade it first?
I've kind of abandoned guns for now, but I did like the cryotech. It has no enemy triggering effects like it said above (except maybe for a thawed out jelly cube?) and its effect can be used against any other kind of enemy. I will admit that the dual shot can tend to break freeze, but if you're careful that's not so bad (and really its not so bad even breaking freeze since you will still deal damage).
Voltech has an "AoE" if you charge it, or upgrade it. All the alchemers have a very very minor AoE on their point of impact or extreme range. It should be noted a quicksilver which has been energized that also zips into another quicksilver will energize that one too. My friend learned that the hard way tonight, I just happened to be collateral learning.
Personally I favour the voltech. Firotech is nice for damage, but that's all it's really good for. The cryotech is probably the worst gun for parties because no one respects the freezing. On your own it's only marginally useful because it holds a target for several seconds, which can make it the kiter's gun of choice (freeze then focus on something else). Against a single opponent the gun loses out against most of the others though because its status effect doesn't help it if the target is shot again. It's the only status effect that forces you to stop doing damage for it to be effective. Empirical testing shows that fire does 150-200% of the damage of a thawed target takes over a longer period of time. Shock likewise seems like it does 75% of the damage of the thawing damage over two or three shocks, and each of those shocks will interrupt whatever the target is doing (effectively stopping charged attacks).
So far I have expirience with Voltech and Cryotech Alchemers only. I think Voltech is much more useful, especially for kiting. Shock Status really slow enemies down as it interrupt moving. Personally I don't find Freeze Status so useful when kiting - it stops your target so you have to stop too. Kiting is rather about pulling enemy after you - slowing it down sounds like better solution that makes it to freeze in place. But of course it's only how it work in my case.
Watching creatures burn is a lot of fun, especially a graveyard full of flaming zombies that crumble and die from the flames. Fire is incredibly powerful in some areas, especially graveyards and ice arenas, so the firotech alchemer can be a lot of fun. I wouldn't make it my only weapon, but it would certainly be my primary on some levels.
Someone explain to me how the prismatech is useful in any way.
Is it just a 'elementless' alchemer?
Prismatech hurts Zombies and Constructs very hard
No, there's no "holy" damage, it's basically a "pure" element. It doesn't freeze, shock, burn, or anything. It's simply... Elemental. If you want an elemental weapon which won't set off quicksilver or oil slimes, this is the gun for you.
also, I've heard it does marginally more raw damage. Makes it good against enemies like phantoms, that don't care about other status effects.
Mind you, the prismatech is pretty much the only alchemer tree that I'm not intending to eventually get recipes for.
The base Prisma has about 4 more pixels on the power meter than it's fellow alchemers. This does not appear to be reflected in later versions.
In case you didn't notice quicksilvers hurt their allies too when they are enraged so you just have to step back a little and shock them and watch the awesome room clearance. That said i just love voltech :P
Often, it's not as easy as "step back and watch", the little blighters end up pinballing into you often. And even with a decent elemental shield, it's not going to last forever.
Honestly, I don't think there is a "Best" alchemer type. The Shadowtech and Prismatech are the only ones that do status-less damage, meaning they're the only ones that you could safely use under any circumstance. Fire, shock, and freeze are all useful statuses that can become a problem when used against the wrong monsters, but the usefulness of the statuses they inflict more than make up for the 10% of the time they'd be a hinderance.
In terms of pure damage, Firotech would come out on top for the elemental ones, for obvious reasons. Volttech would be best for kiting, since you can keep shooting a shocked target without fear of breaking the effect. Cryotech, on the other hand, is good for pinning something down when you don't want to deal with it yet.
Shadowtech is good if you have any other elemental alchemer, since you aren't likely to need two of those at the same time.
Gotta catch em all!!
Actually, I'm pretty sure I will do that eventually. But for now, I'm trying out Cryo. The MK I is pretty slow to fire/quickly needs reload, so I'm hoping it gets better later on.