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Strudul's Swordmaster Guide (FSC) [updated 14/3/12]

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Fri, 02/24/2012 - 14:09
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Strudul

INTRO

I have been playing Spiral Knights since 17th June 11, I am completely f2p and would consider myself one of the more experienced players. As I progressed to 5* I always tried to enter the clockworks with a good team so I could learn new tactics and improve my skills. The players I ran with always had a similar mind-set to me, which was to complete levels quickly, efficiently and without dying. Because I was always with similar groups of players with this mind-set I rarely saw the other players who play slowly which I would not consider the best way. It occurred to me that these players were never shown the best way to complete levels and have just gone with the flow. The idea of this guide is to explain what I would consider the best way to play. I can’t make you play this way, and I know many players who refuse to accept this play style, but at least I can say I tried.

This is a guide for knights who can already beat FSC slowly, and who want to learn the pro tips necessary to beat FSC quickly. The guide is designed for sworders, but some of it applies to gunners and bombers too. Although this guide will focus on FSC, a lot of it will carry over to general sword usage.

For various other tips see the wiki - http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Swordmaster_Guide

STATS

ASI
Attack speed increase speeds up all your attacks allowing you to get off full combos easier. It allows you to attack and then get behind your shield faster if necessary.

Another reason ASI is so great, and one that is mainly ignored, is that the animation for the charge attack happens quicker than without. This has two effects; You can do more damage in a given period of time, and it actually makes one's defense better by interrupting enemy attacks and preventing them doing damage to you whatsoever, which lessens the need for a shield.

CTR
Charge time reduction allows you to charge up your attacks faster. Without any CTR, it can often take too long to charge fully and time is wasted. There is all this time where you are doing nothing, and you may even get hit, cancelling the charge and making you start again. CTR allows you to get your charge attack off quickly and efficiently.

DMG
Damage is technically the best UV to have, but in practice is less so. The boost from DMG would give you a better DPS than that of ASI in theory, but because there are a lot of times where you have to shield e.t.c, ASI may be more useful.

EQUIPMENT

Helm/Armour:
Honestly, I refuse anything except the wolver line. I can not believe anyone would pass up on VH ASI/DMG for their sword.
Vog Cub would be the preferred choice as it gives you much better defence for FSC (fire), but I used Skolver religiously before they introduced sword trinkets and UV rolling as I preferred the damage. Snarbolax armour is a happy medium, but it is harder to obtain than the other two. Snarbolax gives the shadow armour, but lacks the fire resistance of vog, hence the majority of snarby users will add a fire UV. Vog would still be my preferred choice, but I guess if you don't use trinkets, snarby is an option.

Shield:
For newer players who are still learning, a Grey Owlite may be your best option, but as you become more experienced, there are only 2 shields that should be chosen, Barbarous Thorn Shield or Swiftstrike Buckler. The barbarous thorn shield gives med sword dmg and has slightly better defence if you use your shield to defend more often. The SSB gives high asi to swords AND guns, but you cannot use to it block attacks often as it breaks easily (also using it with Vog means some of the asi is wasted on swords). The SSB is a much better shield if using a blitz needle as you gain high asi which is quite useful.

Trinkets:
Trinkets should be chosen depending on your armour. If you wear Vog (VH ASI), then damage or CTR trinkets should be chosen. Heart trinkets should NOT be used (except in PvP since everyone else uses them); these make you miss out on the huge advantage you can gain from sword dmg/asi/ctr trinks. The best defence is a good offence. My belief has always been if your offence is good enough, then the enemies should die too fast to be able to fight back (which I will cover later).

Weapons:
My preferred primary weapon for FSC is Voltedge, although Glacius/Divine Avenger are also good choices.
If you only have 2 weapon slots, the other slot should be filled with a gun for Vanaduke (unless you are going sword only). The best gun is the blitz needle, but a good alternative would be the Polaris if you can’t quite get the hang of the blitz or are very new to FSC.
If you have 3 weapon slots, the next slot should be filled with a Leviathan Blade or Dread Venom Striker. These weapon both deal pure normal damage which is best for Phases 2 and 4 of Vanaduke. Also, if you have max damage, then a Levi charge + one auto attack (by holding the attack after releasing the charge) will take out a puppy in one.
The fourth slot should contain a piercing sword such as Final Flourish or Barbarous Thorn Blade. These swords are powerful against Vanaduke phase 1, 3, 5, and also Trojans and wolvers.
An alternative for either slot 3 or 4 would be the Fang of Vog. This sword does massive damage on the charge attack, but it is recommended that you have max fire resistance as it can cause you to burn. The Fang of Vog is better for more experienced players who are happy to take damage and can deal with it.

Variants:
UVs are not always an option for everyone as they can cost quite a bit. But I will cover what I consider the best UV route to take if you can afford them.
On armour/helm pick whatever damage you receive most often. I would recommend shadow and normal on Vog. But on Skolver fire would be better.
Weapon UVs should be either asi or ctr, never damage. Damage UVs only effect monster type per UV and are a waste of money. Damage increases should be gained through either trinkets or armour. A UV should cover whatever the armour and trinks don't e.g. if you have asi from armour and damage from trinks, you should get ctr UVs (generally)
The UV on a blitz needle should really be ctr if possible, but asi works too.
A FoV requires CTR as you will only be using it for charge attacks.
A DVS requires ASI as you will only be using the auto attacks.
For BTB/FF I prefer ASI.
For other swords it is really personal preference but a good combination of dmg, ctr and asi is good.
I don’t find shield UVs important as I rarely use my shield for defence, but if you really feel the need, then either shadow or fire would be a good choice to give your shield slightly longer life.

COMBAT

The play style of a swordsman should generally be quite offensive. You have to get close most of the time and if you don’t go in with a sense of authority, then chances are you are going to get hit. However, this offensiveness may have to change depending on the numbers of players in the party and their level of skill.
Usually the best course of action when entering a fight is to enter with a charge attack pre-loaded. Release this and follow up with a few hits. Obviously the next stage all depends on the number of enemies, your dmg, number of players in the party e.t.c.

Guns:
These should rarely be used. You have created a set-up focusing on improving your sword, guns will just waste time. This should only be used to break boxes/lamps or hit enemies out of reach (because of spikes/ fire).

Bombs:
Some bombs will be useful and some are just completely unnecessary.
The graviton bomb and electron vortex are extremely useful in a party if used properly. If one person places these and everyone else releases a charge attack on the enemies, chances are they will all die or be close enough to finish with 1 hit. However these should only be used on a large group of enemies (5+) or it would be faster for everyone to just attack normally. These bombs are also not really viable for a solo use.
Shivermist Buster should almost never be used. It wastes time and causes a few problems. It is much faster for 4 people to be attacking. Also a major point of using swords is their knockback. A shivermist stops this knockback which increases the chance of you being attacked if you are playing offensively (as you should). There are only a few points where a shivermist is useful.
Other AOE bombs such as Ash of Agni and Voltaic Tempest should only really be used by bombers.

Shielding:
Your shield should not really be used to ‘shield’ for any prolonged period of time, this should only happen if all other options have gone out of the window. For example you are caught in the fire breath of a zombie (although your team should be paying attention and come cancel it), or a slag is leaping at you and you can’t avoid it, or you are navigating through shadow fire.
Usually your shield should just be tapped to either bounce enemies or cancel attacks. Just because you see any enemy about to attack does not mean you should shield. You should either move out of the way, or preferably get a cancelling hit on it.

Charge Attacks:
These can seem like a very good thing. It appears you are doing massive damage and you don’t even have to get close to the enemy. However, the damage is often much less than just normal auto attacks in many situations. Charge attacks should typically be used once or twice at the start of fighting a large group, making sure the initial hit hits at least 3 enemies and the follow up hits as many enemies as possible. You should then start spamming auto attacks to finish off all the enemies.
There are currently only two times (that I can think of) this should not be the case, the enemy is out of reach with normal auto attacks so a charge attack must be used (or a gun), or the enemy is multiple steps away and an attack could be charged by the time you reach the next enemy.

Auto Attacks:
Auto attacks are where it’s at with sword users. Don’t be afraid to use these. Many people go into attack once or twice, get hit and then spend the rest of the level use charge attacks because they are scared. But the thing is, your first and second attack (for a 3 hit sword) will only cancel some attacks (such as the fire breath). You have to be confident and charge in getting off hits on as many enemies as possible ensuring your third hit goes on specific enemies to cancel their attacks.

Attacking as a Group:
Most of the time you should be killing enemies by yourself, but when there is a large group of enemies, teaming up makes the whole thing a lot easier. Usually it is best to all have a charge attack ready, unleash it and then ALL charge in spamming attacks. As long as you are all playing like this, nobody should get hit. Most of the enemies will either be dead (so they can’t attack you) or someone in the group will get a cancelling hit (3rd for a brandish e.t.c, 2nd for a DA e.t.c) (meaning they can’t attack you). Problems arise when people back off as the others are left to deal the required damage and cancelling attacks.
It is best to control the enemies into a group and avoid stragglers. Be aware of the rest of your team, and work together. Don’t hit enemies flying away from the rest of your team (unless to save them) as this slows everything down while you all go to chase it.

Trojans:
Solo – pretty simple, wait for the attack animation, move out of the way, kill it. With a blitz this should only take one charge attack. With 4 players, it may take slightly more depending.
Duo – one person takes aggro and stands INFRONT and moves side to side a very small amount rapidly. The other person goes behind and unleashes whatever (preferably a blitz charge attack). The attack should either kill it, or cancel whatever attack the Trojan would do to the other player. If the Trojan turns round and aggros you, DO NOT run round like an idiot, hold your ground and let the other person attack. They should be able to get enough hits to either kill it or cancel the attack. The biggest mistake people make with Trojans is to become fearful of them. Learn how they work and suddenly they are just as easy as everything else.

THE LEVELS ~ In Progress
I will create a text guide and a video. The text will explain the order and how to do things. The video is a graphical version that lets you see it done (in case you forgot what a video was).

D24 - Blackstone Bridge
After getting on the button, 1 or 2 players should run to the top and destroy the spiked wheel launcher things. They should then start killing enemies and work their way down. Whilst this is happening, the other players should be starting to kill the enemies at the bottom and working their way up. The players should meet, and then all continue (or go find hearts e.t.c if required/desired).

The next room involves 6 spike wheels and 6 totems. There are multiple ways to do this room, you can move all the totems out of the way, you can put totems in front of the wheels and on top of each other so they take up less space and save you on possible wheel damage, or you can ignore them (maybe moving one or 2) and just control the zombies so they die in non-totem-covered areas. I personally like to move one or two of the totems, but I guess this is personal preference as much as anything. After all the enemies are killed, place the statues on the pads and move on.

The next room involves two totems, two wheels, and lots of spike pits. The best way to do this is send one player to get the closest totem and take it back out of the way. Another player should run forward to one of the wheels and break it (one way is it charge a brandish attack and stand at the corner of the wheel), then grab the other totem and take it up out of the way. This player should then carry on up and destroy the other wheels in the next part and start killing enemies. All other players should just need to clean up the last few enemies, and then all re-group.

Next room, all charge an attack and get on the button (if you are in a real rush, then you can get on the button without a fully charged attack and it will have charged by the time you get to the enemy and want to release it).
Six zombies and two jellies will spawn, it is best to send two players to each side (far left and right) and then release attacks towards each other squishing up the enemies, keeping them in a small group and killing most of them.
Next, two fire puppies will spawn and some more zombies. Send a player to each of the puppies, whilst the other 2 players go deal with the zombies in a similar way to that stated before.
When you are done, 2 Trojans and two puppies will spawn, again one player to each puppy and one to each Trojan. The puppies are self-explanatory, for the Trojans; refer to what I said previously in the combat section.
After killing everything, pick up everything you want, break the boxes, get the hearts, break the minerals and proceed to The Charred Court.

D25 - Charred Court
I will explain this as if solo for each room.
Think of this map as a clock + a bit extra:
1 – Zombies, jellies and a Trojan
2 – Rocket puppy
3 – N/A
4 – Lots of Zombies, one Trojan and a skipping rope (no this isn’t a dirty film)
5 – Fire pit, Trojan, silkwings, zombies
6 – Entrance
7 – Wheel room
8 – Spike room
9/10 – zombies, jellies, 2 Trojans
11 – Buttons, puppies, oilers, zombies
12 – The exit
‘Left’ & ‘Right’ - the boxes that you get to by throwing water balls
Mid – Bunny pool

So, for the guide, get on the button and send one person to talk to Mr.Bunny to open the gates.
Room 1:
Break the blocks and then hit the ghost cube. (If you use a gun and stay back, the Trojans + 2 slags won’t spawn allowing you to deal with the rest of the room more easily). I normally charge an attack while the blocks are disappearing and use it on the bottom left corner enemies followed by a few auto attacks to finish them off. Then charge again and release on as many remaining enemies as possible. Then either use another charge or just auto attacks for the rest. Try to avoid knocking enemies onto the spike pits as this makes it harder to kill them….
Run up a little and the Trojan will spawn with 2 slags. Have a charge attack ready and run to one of the slags and release it, quickly use a few auto attacks and it should be dead. Move round and repeat on the other slag. This leaves just the Trojan left, so charge your Trojan killing weapon and kill it.

Room 2:
There are multiple ways to do this involving:
-Killing the rocket puppy then running round
-Shocking the puppy then running round
-Going Rambo and just charging through killing everything
-Getting aggro and positioning the puppy
My favourite is option 4, so that is the one I will explain.
Enter the room and break the SW wall by hitting the ghost switch. Run just over the respawning wall and then run back. All the enemies should have spawned. Kill the enemies in the west (use one charge attack + auto attacks). Break the SW wall again to let the Southern zombies through (this may need to be done one zombie at a time depending). You are trying to get the zombies to leap at you when the wall is down. After disposing of these zombies you can either shoot the puppy, or (if you don’t have any guns/vials to throw) break the SW wall, run to about the midpoint of the southern area, and then quickly run back to the west. The puppy should have aggro on you. Move to the very top of the entrance to the room and hug the wall out. Go as far as you can, hugging the wall until you reach the shadow fire. Wait for the puppy to stop shooting (see by the red target on you), then run to the bottom of the entrance, and hug the wall back into the room. If done correctly, the puppy should not aggro you and you can finish off the slags similar to the Southern slags.

Room 4:
Run in, hit the switch and keep that attack held and charged. Release it on the zombies that spawn from north to south. Finish these off and repeat for the second wave. On the third wave, zombies + one Trojan will spawn. Deal with the zombies first, then the Trojan last.
While doing this room, you need to be paying attention to the fire rope. You can either circle the room with the rope, or shield for a second and let the rope pass through you (, or tank the damage if you are in a real rush and you can handle it).

Room 5:
It is best to know the fire pit timings here. But basically as soon as the fire drops (if not a bit before), hit the switch to drop the gate and run through. Either hold that attack so it charges as you go through (not a good idea if using a DA which makes you run slow), or charge an attack when you reach safety (so to speak). Three slags will spawn in front of you, and a Trojan with two silkwings behind a block wall. Use a charge attack from south to north on the zombies (this knocks them away from the silkwings that will try to heal them) and then finish the zombies. It is quite important to do this part as fast as possible before the silkwings and Trojan get through and mess you up. One done, either wait for the Trojan to get through, or help him out. Quickly dispense of the silkwings and then take down the Trojan.
Head back over the two spike pits and have a charge attack ready. Zombies will spawn next to the way out, in a horizontal line. Run to the west and release it east and finish them off with a few auto attacks.

Room 7:
The shadow fire positioning in this room changes so I cannot give you the best path to take as it is not always viable. What I can tell you is that you can pass three spike pits at once easily if you time it right.
When you reach the bottom, stand in the south with a charge attack and sent if NE to hit the two slags in the east. Finish them off and then deal with the third one.
Work your way back up hugging the walls and avoiding the wheels. (You do not need to attack any of the wheels)

Room 8:
Wait for the spikes to drop and run and press the button in the middle. Quickly run to the NW corner and kill the Trojan. This will open the western gates. Run through, break the boxes and grab the totem. Take the totem and place it on another one out of the way. Start killing the slags, whilst controlling them to make sure they don’t die in the radius of a totem. Some people like to stand where the totem was and use blitz.

Room 9/10:
Charge an attack and stand on the button. I usually release this on the jellies and take them out in their little corner as fast as possible. The reason for this is that when those jellies die, they explode and leave more explosions all over the place, if the jellies are all over the room when they die; you have to worry about avoiding all these little explosions too.
Take out the zombies using a mix of charge and auto attacks; make sure to keep moving so the Trojans can’t hit you.
Take out the Trojans as usual and move on to the next room.
One thing to remember is that this room gives lots of hearts, but there is also the possibility to take a lot of damage. If you are not comfortable handling this room on your own, ask someone to help you, but make sure to work together and don’t kill each other with the Trojans.

Room 11:
This room seems very simple and easy, but the oilers can really screw you over if you aren’t careful or have low fire res.
Charge and attack and go stand on the button, run to the west corner and release it on all the enemies (1 zombie, 1 turret, and 1 oiler). The turret is the main priority for me, followed by the slag, and then the oiler. It may be best to avoid standing on the button in this corner as it opens up the next room, allowing the enemies to disperse lowering your possible DPS. Repeat each of the corners the same way and then head back to mid.

Mid:
Every room spawns three zombies in mid after you complete it. Mid should be dealt with at the end as you there are more enemies, giving you higher possible DPS and it is just generally more fun. It may be very easy to get swarmed here, but just use a good mix of charge and auto attacks and you should be fine. Usually you have a team to help you and this part is not a real challenge.

After killing all the zombies, you need to go about spawning the water balls. This can be done by either placing all the sprites/bunnies on the bunneh pool, or performing a certain glitch (which I am not going to cover :P ).

Once the water has spawned [back to 4 man team] one person takes water to the left and open the boxes, and another does same for right. The other two pick up the water when it respawns and run north to 12. It should take one water toss to pass through the first fire barrier and that player should then go break the barricades, the other player should then pass through and throw the water on the next fire barrier. If those players need health they should then run to the left/right boxes while the other players go north to break boxes and minerals
(Sorry if that is really confusing).
Next step, Ashen Armory.

D26 - Ashen Armory
Run forward are break the barricades and boxes. Someone take water and make a gap in the fire to go left. Someone else should go right and see if the statue is at bottom right. Depending on where the statue is changes how you get through this. The important part is to remember to call ‘<’ or ‘>’ to let others know where the statue is.
Take the statue to the top, place it on the pad and get on the button.
You will now have to run over spike/flame pits. All 3 can be run across at once, but depending on the time you reach the pits and your lag e.t.c this may not be achievable (not a big deal). If you stand close to the pits in the corner, you can just about reach the lamps with a sword attack (or you can just use a gun) which gives you something to do while you wait (and may help you with any health lost).
The next room has a large spike pit in the middle. Lots of zombies will spawn to the left when you stand on the button. It may be a good idea to place an AoE bomb or two (BUT NOT SHIVER) here. A vortex bomb is best as it can control the very large group so you can kill them quickly; however I usually do it with no bomb. After the enemies spawn you should run forward and release a charge attack, now at this point, many people run off to start charging another, but I find it much better to just spam attacks and push forward through the enemies (especially if the whole team does it).
The second zombie wave is slightly more awkward as the enemies are all on the spike pit out of reach of your sword. You may have to spam charge attacks, but eventually some enemies will come off the pit allowing you to get up close and personal. If you feel comfortable, you can run onto the spike pit while the spikes are down and continue to fight for a while and try knocking some zombies off.
The third wave comes with more zombies and a Trojan. If solo, I find it best to concentrate on the zombies and then deal with the Trojan last, but as a team, one or two of you should deal with the Trojan at the start being careful not to let it disrupt the rest of the team.
The next room gives you a statue and you have to make a choice (I will cover both and you can choose).
LEFT – One person should run forward and clear the barricades, another should start to water all the fire blocking the entrances. The waterboy(or girl) should not need to leave the water spawn, just pick it up and aim at the fire before throwing.
I recommend throwing water in this order
[bottom left entrance] –> [middle (optional)] -> [top left entrance] -> [bottom right entrance] -> [top right entrance] ->
[top left inside the room (optional)] -> [top right inside the room].
The other players should be clearing the rooms as this s happening. There are three zombies in each room, and same as always, use one charge attack and finish with auto attacks (or if you move as two, both releasing a charge attack should be enough). Each room also contains a statue, these should be moved as you clear rooms, and it is pretty obvious where to put them.
After placing all four statues, the gate will drop and you can open some boxes and get some minerals.
The next room contains four fire pits in each corner (sort of) with a button behind it and a key in the middle behind a gate. Each player should run and press a button. This will spawn all the zombies and drop the gates around the key. You may have to defend from the button you are on by using charge attacks to push enemies back. When the fire drops, run out and start auto attacking. You should be able to clear the room pretty fast and then use the key to continue.
RIGHT – Cross two spike pits and you will be greeted with a water spawn. Shoot the boxes to the right and pick up the water. You only need to throw ONE waterball here. Look out over the spike and pits, turn right a little bit, and throw it over the dividing wall to a small section of shadow fire. This will be your checkpoint. As soon as the spikes/fire drop run as quickly as possible diagonally left, around the corner and then right to the place you threw the water. If done properly you should just reach it without taking any damage. When the spike/fire pits drop again, dash northwards to safety and another party button.
Everyone charge attacks and get on the button. Two zombies and a fire puppy will spawn at West, North and East. One person run to each spawn and kill the turret quickly to drop the gate behind it. This allows you to press the button to drop the gates in the middle and also spawns more zombies (which is a good thing). Soon after, a Trojan will spawn, it is up to you as to when you deal with it, but I prefer to wait till the end. Kill all the enemies the usual way, put the key in the gate, and then go open the boxes and get some minerals.
LEFT VS RIGHT? – It is believed that the left path gives more profit, but it also takes longer. There is also a Trojan right which there isn’t left, if this intimidates you, then go left by all means. I would say left has more to do and fight. I personally enjoy taking the right path though as it is pretty funny watching everyone die on the fire and spikes and then crying about lag, but whatever floats your boat.
Anyway, both paths meet up at a party button. Get on, run north and break some barricades. You will be faced my yet more spikes. If the spikes are up, all charge an attack, wait for the spikes to drop and run forward onto the button and KEEP RUNNING to the other end of the room. This must be done quickly and timed well. Alternatively, you can run over the first spike pit and then wait before running again. Do not stand on the button yet as this will spawn the zombies. Have one person stand off and then just as the spikes are about to drop, get on and all run and release charges attacks pushing the zombies into the corners.

There are 7 waves each with 5 zombies and several Do’s and Don’ts
DO:
-All run over the spikes to the far side and fight there
-Kill the enemies as fast as possible (obviously)
-Use a vortex bomb if you have it (it is amazing here)
-Initiate with charge attacks. It is best to stand at the corner of the spike pit aiming horizontally across with other players on the opposite side doing the same. The combination of your charge attacks will kill most of the enemies and group the rest in the middle where you can quickly finish them off before charging another attack.

DON’T:
-Stand where the zombies will spawn (or at least try not to) as this forces them to spawn on the spikes
-Knock zombies onto spikes (usually by poor charge attack placement or shield bouncing) as this makes it take longer to be able to kill them. If this does happen, either focus the other enemies and wait for them crawl/leap back off the spikes, or wait for the spikes to drop and knock them off/kill them.
-Shiver. Please?
-Use Levi/FoV (Unless you are very good at controlling it). It sends enemies all over the place slowing you down.

Once done, the gate will drop and you can collect your treasure before getting on the lift to the Smoldering Steps

D27 - Smoldering Steps

D28 - Throne Room - Vanaduke
General Tips:
-Don't try to put out all the shadow fire, just let it all spawn in one group out of the way. It is also a good idea to keep the area around the water spawns clear.
-When using blitz needle, stand as close to Vanaduke as possible (especially if you have aggro). If I stand further away, I find it harder to dodge his attacks, and often get clipped by his charge and pushed by his hammer.
-If Blitzing as a group, you need to be very aware of your team. If you run circles around duke, there is a chance he will charge into all your friends and they will get pissed off with you. It is preferable to just gyrate clockwise, wait for him to attack, release charge, then change to anti-clockwise. This keeps duke attacking in one place so your team do not have to worry.
-Slags can either be ignored or taken care of. I find it best to just concentrate on duke and avoid them (maybe killing them as phase 1/3 ends and before 2/4 starts). If they cause you trouble, send one or two guys to quickly take care of them (preferably the players that will take them out the quickest).
-Trojans should be taken out as soon as possible. You can either send one person to each trojan and they can aggro it and then take it out. Alternatively you can stand behind where they will spawn with a charge attack ready (FoV is best), and have someone in front of the Trojan. When it spawns, release the charge and then when the Trojan turns to attack that person, the other player releases their charge. With Trojans removed from the equation, phase 5 becomes a walk in the park.
-If you get set on fire/stunned, but are near a water spawn, run over, grab the water, stand near a wall, and throw it at the wall so it splashes on you. The water will remove all status effects. You can also do this for somebody else if you see them on fire/stunned. And if you see someone trying to de-fire themselves, don't steal the water <_<

Sword Only ~ courtesy of Exileddread
Guide ~ courtesy of Exileddread

Sword + Blitz Mix

Blitz Primarily

Blitz + Shiver

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 14:10
#1
Strudul's picture
Strudul
Gonna reserve this :p

Gonna reserve this :p

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 16:03
#2
Tengu's picture
Tengu
you're going to get a lot of

you're going to get a lot of dissension on this post on several of your points.

My main point: Always charge attack whenever possible with Brandishes and DA. Depending on the angle and amount of charge you can have your enemy "ride", you can outstrip regular attack damage easily. Regular attacks have less knockback and more forward progression, and can put you in the middle of a cluster of enemies; a charge attack will almost always get you in and out quickly, especially with a shield cancel. The best of both worlds would be to get a straight angle on your victim, charge attack, shield cancel, and follow them to the end of their knockback ride and regular attack them there. Also, Voltedge has the same shortcomings as Glacius, but to a lesser extent. A victim who gets shocked during a charge will stop knockback progression.

also as far as charge damage, Vanaduke gets REALLY hurt from a BTB charge attack. Same with Trojans, and with the bonus effect of much better defensive movement after the attack, unlike the Blitz.

leave the Leviathan out of the equation unless you have a shivermist or a VT.

Bombs are crowd control, not dps. As the main bomber on many runs, the only ones I use down there are Shivermist, RSS, Voltaic Tempest. The real enemy in FSC is fire tiles, but a close second is uncontrolled knockback with those glitchy slags. SMB and VT are good for holding or semi-holding an enemy out of range and unable to attack, but both can also lock a player into unbumpable slag packs...so they should be used sparingly. RSS is a very capable dps bomb if used bravely, much like how a Nova Driver is, and is fully capable of 1shotting with some trinkets or UVs. Ash of Agni is next to useless. Nitronome has been relegated to LD and trolling. DBB is slightly more useful, but not enough DPS. I haven't brought VV or SS down there, but I can see both of them being useful in support functions.

If you're going to bring a gun, might as well bring Polaris. It does good damage, is pretty easy to float shots where you want them, has lovely knockback, the chance to shock, and is the prefect tool to solo the gun puppy room without specialized gun gear or sneaky vial usage. I haven't used AP down there post-patch, but it was a close second.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 16:23
#3
Strudul's picture
Strudul
@Tengu

I know.

Charge attack spamming is slow, that's the whole point. Getting into the middle of all the enemis is NOT a bad thing. If you are solo, you may get swarmed and killed, but as a group it is extremely easy to fight through and kill everything without a scratch. The idea with auto attacks would be to not focus one specific target, you change target depending to keep the crowd under control and their attacks cancelled.

I am going to cover vanaduke later in the 'LEVELS' part. But yes, FoV, BTB, FF, DVS are all great choices for vanaduke.

Levi charge is good for Phase 2 and 4 duke and CAN be used on trojans effectively. But yes, I agree the charge should VERY RARELY be used on general enemies. The only other use I have for it is killing the wolvers if I don't have a piercing weapon or am too lazy to blitz.

This is a sword only guide, it doesn't reall cater for bombers. Although, I would prefer if you guys didn't use shivermist (except at the points I will cover later in 'LEVELS').

Blitz is a better gun for Vanaduke.
The gun puppy room can be done without a gun or vials - Open the bottom wall, run far enough to get aggro, run back quickly before wall closes, run to the top wall and hug it out of the room. Wait, then hug the bottom wall back in and he wont aggro you.
But as I said, you shouldn't really be using a gun to fight, it is slower (for a sword-user which this guide is aimed at)

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 16:56
#4
Majingu
HAHA Seriously - are u bored?

HAHA

Seriously - are u bored?

Youtube Videos 4 da win.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 17:20
#5
Strudul's picture
Strudul
pretty much

I was really bored and it was an excuse not to do college work.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 18:39
#6
Dancinjen's picture
Dancinjen
As a bomber, I am NOT a fan

As a bomber, I am NOT a fan of charge attacks when it comes to swords. There are many times that charge attacks can mess me up.... such as the DA charge attack.

I enjoy bringing my electron vortex in fsc and many of the people that have come with me LOVE it. I stack them one right after the other to avoid them being thrown everywhere. The only time i've received a complaint was when I went on a run with someone that kept charging their DA and pushing the zombies everywhere and not letting them get in my bomb, and the person complaining was blaming my bomb and not the person pushing the zombies around.

There are times where charge works. I have max ctr and then I have two damage trinkets which puts me at max ctr and max damage. I like to consider myself a smart and very effective bomber. Sometimes swordsmen don't see and don't use me as a bomber the way that I can be used, for instance. Fighting outside my bomb radius. Why not fight in my bomb radius? Isn't that more effective? Of course it is.

Bombs are VERY effective for crowd control and damage. I only bring a sword with me as a back up if i get stuck, but most of the time I'm bomb only in fsc and NEVER have to use my sword. Between my electron vortex and shiver sometimes I'll even use my voltaic or rss I can take out rooms and trojans by myself. I don't need help. If you have a good bomber in your team. USE THEM. Charging your sword is not always necessary or/and effective.

And please for the love of all that is holy/or lack there of.... stop recommending polaris as a good gun. PLEASE. Unless someone can go in there and not spam it (blocking my vision and I can't bomb effectively) and push zombies around (i.e. out of my bomb radius) I dont' want to see it there. I don't want it recommended. Get AP get blitz, get whatever. Just don't get polaris unless you're going to be aware of your team mates and what you do can harm them.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 19:03
#7
The-Pecan's picture
The-Pecan
my bday

june17 2011 is wen i turned 14. i started playing in october though.
nothing really else to say
so just wish me a happy birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 19:20
#8
Golfdinger's picture
Golfdinger
Lol why you dissing the

Lol why you dissing the Electron Vortex? It's king in FSC, even for solo play. The recent melee nerf to zombies makes it even easier to use, you pretty much can't get hit if you just keep moving around next to them. Memorize the spawn locations and two bombs next to each other will usually grab everything within the second. You don't even need a charge attack anymore, just mash attack with the DA and you'll outpace their attacks.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 19:45
#9
The-Rawrcake's picture
The-Rawrcake
"Honestly, anything except

"Honestly, anything except the wolver line is downright stupid. Anyone who passes up on VH ASI/DMG for their sword should be shot."

You are making a guide for swordsman and you are extremely biased. Usually, when you make guides you try your hardest to avoid bias. Not only that, but you go as far as to say that they deserve to be shot? Obviously you were joking, but you make it worse when you could have avoided it. Especially in a skill/no network lag > gear game.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 19:51
#10
Metagenic's picture
Metagenic
@The-Rawrcake

You are making a guide for swordsman and you are extremely biased.

Why would a swordsman want to use anything other than Skolver/Vog Cub in FSC?

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 19:58
#11
The-Pecan's picture
The-Pecan
im disgusted

no1 wished me a happy birthday D:
u guys r terrible people now my wishes wont come true
u ruined my life and personality now i must jump off a cliff to reclaim my dignity
good bye cruel world

i wish i could /cry
so many tears and i cant let them flow into the rivers of sarrow

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:03
#12
Dancinjen's picture
Dancinjen
No one is "dissing" the

No one is "dissing" the electron vortex that I have seen. I personally said I enjoy it. I have been around someone that didn't enjoy it but it wasn't my fault. Re-read what I said to the FULLEST extent and not speed reading and picking up what you want to read.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:05
#13
Slayzz's picture
Slayzz
"Anyone who passes up on VH

"Anyone who passes up on VH ASI/DMG for their sword should be shot."
I stopped reading your guide after this line. What a stupid, mindless thing to say. If you are going to make a productive guide that is supposed to help people, the I suggest not writing it in such a one-sided and opinionated way. What the hell would you use chroma suits, angelic sets, and other unique armor for? It is obvious that you didn't put much thought into this.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:06
#14
Gjkgfs
...

Truthfully, although this guide IS biased, I still find it a bit useful to know.

And Xtreme, happy birthday.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:08
#15
Slayzz's picture
Slayzz
If you want a real guide,

If you want a real guide, just ask Bopp. He actually thinks about what he writes, and doesn't write biased garbage like this.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:17
#16
Golfdinger's picture
Golfdinger
"These bombs are also not

"These bombs are also not really viable for a solo use."

What the hell would you use chroma suits, angelic sets, and other unique armor for? It is obvious that you didn't put much thought into this.
You don't. They simply aren't as good. They make good costumes though.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:18
#17
Dancinjen's picture
Dancinjen
"The graviton bomb and

"The graviton bomb and electron vortex are extremely useful in a party if used properly."

He doesn't hate on them, he's just the typical swordsman that thinks bombing is stupid. Bombing isn't stupid, and is way more useful than he is giving it credit for. I can do many things solo full bomb.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:23
#18
Slayzz's picture
Slayzz
They are more specialized

They are more specialized armor, IMO. For example, Deadly Virulisk set is pretty much a slime Skolver set. Though I do agree, a universal DMG bonus is better then a specific one. The difference is that the DVS applies to all weapons, rather than just swords leaving more options available, like if you decide to go swordsman initially, then go gunner in RJP or something.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:30
#19
Golfdinger's picture
Golfdinger
Swords are for dps. Guns are

Swords are for dps. Guns are for utility, but can be for dps if you're not very good at the game. The notable exception is the Blitz Needle charge for trojans/Vanaduke. Why on earth would you go gunner in RJP?

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:40
#20
Slayzz's picture
Slayzz
"Why on earth would you go

"Why on earth would you go gunner in RJP?"

......You're kidding, right?

In this game, there exists multiple weapons.
1) BOMBS
2) SWORDS
3) GUNS

There are people who play this game with the three weapons mentioned above. However, some decide to MAIN a specific type of weapon. Hence, there are the following CLASSES of PLAYERS:
1) GUNNERS (use GUNS)
2) SWORDIES (use SWORDS)
3) BOMBERs (use BOMBS)

Because of your comment, I will focus on one of the three groups: GUNNERS (Also known as GUNSLINGERS).

GUNNERS are players of this game Spiral Knights who decide to use GUNS as their main weapons. If GUNS are their main
weapons, then OBVIOUSLY they would use GUNS for almost every situation, INCLUDING RJP. Using the information learned today, we can say that it is plausible to bring GUNS into RJP.

You apparently are another stupid swordsman.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:40
#21
Demonicsothe's picture
Demonicsothe
@Golfdinger

Fun? Variety? Don't like using swords? There is a number of possible reasons why one would use non-swords, if you don't mind the loss of dps.

"but can be for dps if you're not very good at the game"

Not true. By saying that, it is as if you are saying guns give easier dps. As in, swords have a higher skill cap to deal more damage.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:47
#22
Golfdinger's picture
Golfdinger
Now hold on there, we're

Now hold on there. We're talking about what's most effective, not about personal preferences.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:47
#23
Slayzz's picture
Slayzz
Wow....you are more

Wow....you are more narrow-minded than I thought.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:56
#24
Golfdinger's picture
Golfdinger
Guns do have a high skill

Guns do have a high skill ceiling, higher than swords when you start getting into Driver and weapon swapping tricks, but they still don't match up to swords in terms of damage.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:58
#25
Slayzz's picture
Slayzz
Well, it depends.......know

Well, it depends.......know what, forget it.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:59
#26
Maeko's picture
Maeko
@Golfdinger

I believe bombing is more effective then going swordsman 100% And I was a Swordie
until a few months ago.

I can't count the number of times I enter a danger room or arena, or anywhere, really, and of my party, who comes out with the only health loss being liberating heat from downed swordies? This guy.

I don't put my teammates in situations to perish, but you catch my drift.

And also, before you will likely call Nitro-spam, the only things that cause knockback in my Bombing loadouts is a DA and Polaris.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 20:59
#27
The-Rawrcake's picture
The-Rawrcake
"I stopped reading your guide

"I stopped reading your guide after this line. What a stupid, mindless thing to say. If you are going to make a productive guide that is supposed to help people, the I suggest not writing it in such a one-sided and opinionated way. What the hell would you use chroma suits, angelic sets, and other unique armor for? It is obvious that you didn't put much thought into this."

:) Slayzz says it perfectly.

Anyways, I agree with Slayzz 100%. Ask Bopp. Not this guy.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 21:06
#28
Kattamoon's picture
Kattamoon
well

Well, like I used the follow kinds of game styles:

1.- Pure swordgirl
2.- Pure Gunslinger
3.- Pure Bomber
4.- Hibrid Sword-bomber
5.- Hibrid Sword-bomber-gunner
6.- Hibrid Sword - gunner

Can I say:

Armour sets and weapons depends of the style you play
The pure sword are the most fast killing metod, my preference style is it for that razon
Gunslinger are the most evading and dont hit style (shot far away from the monster)
Bomber are the most crowds control and less defense/more expose to damage style

Correction: Voltaic Tempest stops block the knockback too.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 21:01
#29
Slayzz's picture
Slayzz
@Maeko I congratulate you for

@Maeko I congratulate you for being unique and supporting the fact that Swordies are not the best on every situation.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 21:15
#30
Golfdinger's picture
Golfdinger
We should run FSC together

We should run FSC together sometime. I'm sure it would be very interesting and maybe fun.

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 22:20
#31
Gpyro's picture
Gpyro
Sorry

I am apologizing to you gunners and bombers for this mans BS to you guys. I hope you can forgive sword users since we aren't all like this. Once again sorry.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 00:57
#32
Zinqf's picture
Zinqf
@FSC Guide

Get Divine Avenger then Roll your face vigorously across the keyboard. Collect the loot drops then fight Vanaduke.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 02:26
#33
Strudul's picture
Strudul
Right, where to start.

I clearly said the vortex bombs were awesome. I love it when someone uses it, all I said was dont use it on 1 or 2 enemies, just attack them normally.

I said in general I don't recommend any gun use in fsc. The only time the gun should rly be used is in duke (and trojans for blitz). So I agree completely about not spamming Polaris.

Happy birthday for 17th June Xtremejim. I am sorry that i was asleep and could not show my full affection.

The guide is not technically biased. It is designed to show you the optimal way to do stuff. If you really believe that you could do fsc better in something that doesn't give VH asi/dmg then something is really wrong. If I covered everything else I would just explain that it is okay, but not as good for very obvious reasons. If people need to use other armour for the better defense, then they are playing wrong. The whole point of the guide is to show you how to play so you AREN'T taking that damage and CAN use offensive armour.

I don't hate on bombers. But I do find that using a sword is faster. But there are plenty of situations where I am happy to have a bomber with me. The only things I don't like are when a swordie uses primarily bombs as this is stupid, and when they use bombs unnecessarily (for exmaple shivermist constantly instead of just doing good damage). I personally have a mad bobmer set and nitronome and I find it lots of fun. As long as a bomber plays properly then they are a good addition to any team. HOWEVER this is not a bomber guide, it is a SWORD ONLY GUIDE.

Should about cover it.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 04:03
#34
Nubskills's picture
Nubskills
Mew mew mew mew.......

I think some of your advice might be a bit narrowed, offensive swordplay can certainly work out very well, but things like spamming charge attacks and pulling off hit-and-run tactics can work too for extra survivability, especially if you have a low latency or fps. Also, guns as a sidearm for swordsmen can certainly help in a few situations, for example Polaris can be used to push enemies into a corner (wortex swording) and for faraway turrets, which can be taken out with swords too, of course. Also, maybe you could add subtle reminders in your original post that this is a swordies' guide, which could make it look less biased lol....Not your fault or anything, but some of the longer term forumers have seen quite a few players who claim that swords are the best and everything else isn't as viable. And for skills required, i think it would be safe to say that each weapon type requires different types of skill, if you catch my drift. Hmm, when you say heart trinkets shouldn't be used, maybe you could mention that they shouldn't be used over the sword buff trinkets for PvE, they certainly help Strikers a big bunch in LD.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 05:43
#35
Strudul's picture
Strudul
@Nubskills

FSC isn't even slightly hard and there is no need to play that defensive >_<
But obviously you should play differently if u lag.

You can push enemies into a corner with swords (or stop messing about and just kil them).

There arent any far away turrets that need taking out.....

I tried to add many reminders that this is sword only....

This guide will be mainly for fsc (hence the title) and doesn't cover PvP.
It doesn't go in depth about fsc yet because I haven't got round to it. At the moment it jsut covers sword play in general.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 05:08
#36
Nubskills's picture
Nubskills
nyan nyan nyan nyan....

My ping/latency bar is permanently at 1 bar, and my computer isn't that great a comp, so I have low fps too lol. Pretty much shielding when you see lines below an enemy(charging) is going to guarantee a hit. being anywhere on top of spike platforms when they're flashing also guarantees a hit, just like other trap areas. I'm not saying FSC is hard, on a non-bad day I won't die on the full run, but you did mention staying alive as a swordie, so you could include defensive strategies if you want. Mind you, staying defensive can really help for inexperienced players learning the ropes or general laggers that happen to live far from the servers.

Lol PvE is pretty much FSC and Clockworks in general, I meant that you could clarify heart pendants should be more for PvP instead of Player versus Enemy.

Turrets in arenas can be very troublesome, especially if you have lag issues. If the room is full of turrets, you'll usually have to shield at the last minute if you use swords, due to the large number of projectiles present, hence guns might be better there if you can't shield or tank well.

Hmm, I think if you include less dissing of stuff more people would hear you out, since there ARE other playstyles with swords too that work just as well. For example, with specialised equips, those can help out quite a lot too, and tanking hits or shielding better could potentially allow you to shift towards a more offensive orientation. Course, a lot of this is preference, if it doesn't work for you, then you probably shouldn't use it. What works for one might not work for another.

Maybe you could explain the different types of swords available? Fast ones, slow ones, medium speeds, unique ones, etc. and their advantages and disadvantages? Try not to include as much opinion as fact, remember that not everybody would agree with your preferences lol

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 05:09
#37
Bobertg's picture
Bobertg
@Strudul

I think you meant PVP in that last post of yours.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 05:52
#38
Strudul's picture
Strudul
Well...

@ Nubskills I see you point, but I can't really make a guide for being laggy

Playing defensive is okay while learning, but once you know the enemy, there is no excuse for not being offensive (expcet lag or whatever)

The guide doesn't entriely apply to arenas (unless it is a fire undead one same as fsc). However, if an arena is done correctly, then all the turrets should not be aggroing you and there won't be loads of projectiles allowing you to use your sword to quickly takedown turrets one by one. A sword is faster so is again the best option. The turret will either have its attacks cancelled or just be dead.

My point is kinda that this is what I would consider the best play style. I fail to see how any other can work better. The best players I know I consider good because of how they play, which is offensive and fast.

There is already explainations on the different types of swords on the wiki.

My preference is as it is cos I am pretty sure it is the best.... I could prove it with various testing but I'm too lazy.

@Bobertg fixed ty :3

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 07:14
#39
Kreuz-Drache's picture
Kreuz-Drache
The guide doesn't entriely
    The guide doesn't entriely apply to arenas (unless it is a fire undead one same as fsc).

Eh, Fire Undead arenas are a lot more different than FSC. Featuring Kats, and possibly devilites and greavers. All which are faster enemies and can create bullet hell in later depths. Not as bad as most turrets mind you, but still pretty tricky to dodge. FSC is practically 80% of Zombies/Slag, all of which are fairly easy to kill. Arenas are lot more random.

    My point is kinda that this is what I would consider the best play style. I fail to see how any other can work better. The best players I know I consider good because of how they play, which is offensive and fast.

    My preference is as it is cos I am pretty sure it is the best

Your preference =/= it being the best. Best for you? Perhaps. Best for everyone? Not really.

The way I see it, the best in general is just doing what you do best, and not having you or any of your team mates energy reving. Who cares is something takes longer, as long as it gets the job done with as few of deaths as possible.

    I could prove it with various testing but I'm too lazy.

If you're not going to bother trying to prove your point, then many others are not going to bother with yours. Very few are going to take you seriously unless you provide GOOD evidence and reasoning as to why it is the best.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 07:25
#40
Bopp's picture
Bopp
know your audience

I agree with much of your guide. Like the other responders, I find some of the statements too strident. But most of those have been discussed. My recommendation is that you think carefully about who your audience is, and maybe even explicitly name it at the start of your guide.

Your guide can't be for really advanced players, because these players don't need your guide, right? Your guide has to be for people who are just starting to try FSC, or who have tried it a couple of times and could use some pointers.

Your guide advises against Shivermist Buster, but most of these players will use the Blitz/Shivermist tactic on Vanaduke, if only because they find themselves in such a party. Is the Depth 28 part of the guide going to advocate for Shivermist Buster? Then you need to tell people to bring it along, earlier in the guide, right? And while you and I agree that Shivermist is irritating in most of FSC, it's also really helpful for a novice who is just learning the place. Think about your audience.

In your later posts, you say stuff like "FSC isn't even slightly hard". You are clearly not thinking about your audience there. Or "once you know the enemy, there is no excuse for not being offensive". Again, your entire purpose is to help people who don't know the enemy yet.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 08:04
#41
Strudul's picture
Strudul
okay.

@ Kreuz

Eh, Fire Undead arenas are a lot more different than FSC. Featuring Kats, and possibly devilites and greavers. All which are faster enemies and can create bullet hell in later depths. Not as bad as most turrets mind you, but still pretty tricky to dodge. FSC is practically 80% of Zombies/Slag, all of which are fairly easy to kill. Arenas are lot more random.

Kinda against the point.

Your preference =/= it being the best. Best for you? Perhaps. Best for everyone? Not really.

The way I see it, the best in general is just doing what you do best, and not having you or any of your team mates energy reving. Who cares is something takes longer, as long as it gets the job done with as few of deaths as possible.

But you see IMHO faster is better. Faster means you can do more runs in less time. Most 4 man fsc runs I do (23 - 29) take less than half an hour, but I see people who are taking hours. Using my methods you can make a lot more moolah.

If you're not going to bother trying to prove your point, then many others are not going to bother with yours. Very few are going to take you seriously unless you provide GOOD evidence and reasoning as to why it is the best.

I have backed many things up with facts and I intend to record some vids as evidence, but I am not gonna test other people's methods (unless it sounds good) as I have thme all and it is clear they are not as good.

@Bopp
Your guide can't be for really advanced players, because these players don't need your guide, right? Your guide has to be for people who are just starting to try FSC, or who have tried it a couple of times and could use some pointers.

See, I am gonna get a lot of hate for this, but honestly the so called 'advanced players' are probably the target audience. Newer players may need to take it slower and then start to implement my guide into their own. The advanced players are the ones I see more often just spamming charge attacks, playing pathetically safe, not working as a team e.t.c. Of course I am not saying ALL advanced players and it depends how you define 'advanced'.

Your guide advises against Shivermist Buster, but most of these players will use the Blitz/Shivermist tactic on Vanaduke, if only because they find themselves in such a party. Is the Depth 28 part of the guide going to advocate for Shivermist Buster? Then you need to tell people to bring it along, earlier in the guide, right? And while you and I agree that Shivermist is irritating in most of FSC, it's also really helpful for a novice who is just learning the place. Think about your audience.

Well as I just said this may be aimed at more advanced players who reeeeeally shouldn't need shiv. I guess when you are new it may be helpful, but I find it a lot more annoying and players will learn bad habits.
I also disagree with the blitz + shiver tactic, it is slow and just ... sigh.
I will cover better ways to complete vanaduke later.
I guess a shiver would be okay if you are really struggling, but you should at least be trying to do without. The advantage of more damage means faster duke kills. If the duke dies faster, there is less time for players to make mistakes and take damage.

In your later posts, you say stuff like "FSC isn't even slightly hard". You are clearly not thinking about your audience there. Or "once you know the enemy, there is no excuse for not being offensive". Again, your entire purpose is to help people who don't know the enemy yet.

Again my we may disagree about the target audience. It isn't called 'guide for noobs', but maybe I should rename it to 'advanced guide'. The fact that you are at fsc should imply a decent level of skill and it doesn't take too long to get used to.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 08:30
#42
Trying's picture
Trying
one thing

You can only call yourself a swordmaster after using all swords.
Have you?

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 08:49
#43
Strudul's picture
Strudul
@Trying

Fortunately they invented three amazing things:
-Common sense
-Youtube
-Conversation

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 09:14
#44
Bopp's picture
Bopp
audience clarified

Strudul, thanks for clarifying your intended audience. Your guide makes more sense to me now. The intro to your guide does describe your goals, but in a discursive way. Maybe just state them clearly and succinctly: "This is a guide for knights who can already beat FSC slowly, and who want to learn the pro tips necessary to beat FSC quickly. The guide is designed for sworders, but some of it applies to gunners and bombers too."

Make sure the intro indicates that this guide is about FSC. (Currently only the title mentions FSC.) Take out the disclaimer about not discussing shield bumping --- even the disclaimer is too low-level for your intended audience. Your armor section should mention Snarbolax; it's clearly more appropriate than Skolver, and your intended audience will wonder how it compares to Vog Cub.

I agree with the other posters that you should try to lessen the appearance of bias/opinion. You should use more formal, "professional" language. This will reassure your audience that you are serious, thoughtful, and trustworthy. Remove the negative text in the intro about players doing FSC "wrong". Don't talk about right and wrong; talk about fast and slow, which are more objective.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 09:17
#45
Strudul's picture
Strudul
@Bopp

I will get on it.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 09:29
#46
Kreuz-Drache's picture
Kreuz-Drache
Kinda against the point.You
    Kinda against the point.

You said that the guide doesn't apply to arenas except for fire undead ones. I'm saying a fire undead arena is different from a stage in FSC. I was saying you were comparing an apple to an orange.

    But you see IMHO faster is better. Faster means you can do more runs in less time. Most 4 man fsc runs I do (23 - 29) take less than half an hour, but I see people who are taking hours. Using my methods you can make a lot more moolah.

What good is time is, if you run on purely on mist? I don't have a pass as well as I only play when I know that I don't have anything planned. And I try avoid using CE for my runs, because I feel it's unfair to those who wish to craft up their gear. So time is meaningless for me(as well as some others.).

Also, taking your time can wield less deaths, which in turn less likely to leave less of a need to energy rev. Less energy spent = more money to made in the future.

Again, I'm someone who prefers not having to energy rev. If it means I have to be slower, than so be it.

    I have backed many things up with facts and I intend to record some vids as evidence, but I am not gonna test other people's methods (unless it sounds good) as I have thme all and it is clear they are not as good.

And your "facts" are disagreed heavily apparently, as said by many others.

So unless it sounds good, you're not going to bother challenging the point or testing it? How are you going to prove those methods wrong/right then? If anything, looks like you're just ignoring them, like an elitist. I'm certain you don't want to look like an elitist in front of others.(Or atleast, I hope you don't want to.)

Again, as mentioned on this thread, it seems you have a preference for aggression, which ok. Really.
What's not ok, is that fact you feel you have shove down your preference and pass it on as fact. That's the problem.

EDIT:

    I agree with the other posters that you should try to lessen the appearance of bias/opinion. You should use more formal, "professional" language. This will reassure your audience that you are serious, thoughtful, and trustworthy. Remove the negative text in the intro about players doing FSC "wrong". Don't talk about right and wrong; talk about fast and slow, which are more objective.

^THIS. You can't possibly go wrong with this. It will make things a lot less bumpy and have your audience more understanding with you.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 09:34
#47
Vescrit's picture
Vescrit
As a swordsman who went

As a swordsman who went completely against the flow of wolver lines, I don't really care for this guide. I agree that wolver lines increase your damage output and all, but I went with the chroma line and I own each 5* set of it. Why? Because I can and that is how I like to play.

I don't need the maxed out stats to be good. I don't need advise, sure I mess up at times, but don't we all. (BS if you claim you don't.)

"Charge attack spamming is slow"

Brandish lines with CTR MAX and VH due to UV's and trinkets = Burn/Freeze/Shock ALL the mobs! (Although I was lucky on alot of those UVs and just to get medium CTRs can get expensive with rolling)

"Why on earth would you go gunner in RJP?"

Off topic but, BECAUSE IT IS FUN. Last night for kicks I crafted a gunslinger set and a magnus. Equipped my AP, Blackhawk, the mentioned Magnus and a swiftstrike buckler. I literally had a blast with the Ultra speed increase. I only did like 40-50 damage per shot on enemies weak to each gun, but I took them down in almost no time.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 09:56
#48
Exileddread's picture
Exileddread
Nice guide. This is certainly

Nice guide. This is certainly the way to go for speed, so I'm not sure why people are getting mad. Maybe I didn't see the edits/changes or something. The only thing I would disagree with is taking a pierce over FoV. An FoV can simply OHKO a trojan unless you're in a 4-man (1 charge + 2 auto attacks). A DVS is almost on par with a BTB/FF's DPS on Vanaduke's body, and much easier to maneuver around his body with. It also out DPS's Levi by a long shot unless you're charge spamming with a Levi that has a lot of CTR.

PS: I heard you got into a little rough out with Glutes over music haha.

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 10:18
#49
Kattamoon's picture
Kattamoon
hi

hi Strudul, I m kattamoon from youtube :P

Sat, 02/25/2012 - 10:22
#50
God-King's picture
God-King
"Honestly, anything except

"Honestly, anything except the wolver line is downright stupid. Anyone who passes up on VH ASI/DMG for their sword should be shot."

Stopped reading after this line.

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