Spiral Knights - UV Strategies

UV Strategies

23 replies [Last post]

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 09:40

Flipperhands

So I recently learned about UVs, and set out to get some nice ones on my gear. Already crafted a Calibur ASI High. But now, I'm trying to get a Sentenza or Biohazard to fill my shadow damage needs, and I notice both the Antigua and Catalyzers are uncraftable. So, I assume I can buy one with tokens, and then go to one of the gremlin smiths to throw some UVs on it?

What strategy do people usually go for? Take the 20k 1-variant service and repeat until you get an UV you need? Go for 3-variant and settle for what it gives you because more is better? I'm still pretty poor in this game and I don't feel like wasting my crowns without knowing beforehand what is generally considered the wisest investment.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 10:06

Nordlead

The cheapest option (unless

The cheapest option (unless you are super lucky) is to buy what you want from the AH or bazaar. I mean, I've spent thousands of ME crafting wolver caps, and I ended up buying a shock high wolver cap and only ever crafted one fire high wolver coat. The rest were either things I didn't want (Curse/poison Max!) or where med/low. Your odds of rolling or crafting are incredibly low if you are looking for a specific UV.

If you have a paid account (or elevator pass) then you can use free mist to craft an umbra driver, since that would be a good option for shadow damage and the cheapest way to get a UV, but you might be waiting for a long time.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 10:18

Flipperhands

I do use only ME for crafting

I do use only ME for crafting since I have an elevator pass, and I enjoy the randomness of it (for now). I was asking here because the Antigua and Catalyzer are kind of unusual, in that you have to pay the smith to get UVs on it, and I haven't seen any UVs of either on the AH when I checked.

I'm currently rolling Needle (3*) and Cryo Alchemer (3*). I figured getting a different kind of gun for shadow would be better than rolling with two drivers, but I might just follow your suggestion and get a good UV Umbra anyway if it's easier that way.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 10:33

Demonicsothe

I would suggest you build up

I would suggest you build up your arsenal before trying to roll/craft uv's. Having multiple good weapon is more benefitial than having one great weapon.

You are a payed account, so create a new account on the same computer. Account, not a new knight. You have separate mist tanks, so use that mist to craft 2* items, 2 per day. You then have a chance on uv's, or just a small profit generating knight.

Note that rolling single uv's is a better choice, although the majority of them will be damage vs family low. The preferred uv's on weapon is asi and ctr, if you must roll.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 10:43

Fradow

If you absolutely want to

If you absolutely want to gamble, the 1 UV punch is better on token weapons because for a 2 UV punch, you could roll roughly 4 times a 1 UV, so your chances to have something good are better with 1 UV.

But I find that good UV are vastly underpriced on AH (someone actually study it I think and came to the same conclusion), so your best bet would be to wait to find the one you want and just buy it. But don't get me wrong, it's still going to cost a lot if you are going for top UVs (for a reference, I bought ASI med Sealed sword for 150K some months ago, and I found it to be a good deal. My guildmates were horrified by the price).

Items you can craft are going to cost less (probably), but it's still absurdely long to make them yourself on ME as said Nordlead.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 11:06

Flipperhands

Thanks for the suggestion

Thanks for the suggestion demonic, but I actually already have a second account for ME crafting.

I'll keep the single roll UV suggestion in mind, and I guess I'll farm the AH a bit. I guess I'd try either for a Catalyzer Slime High, an Umbratech CTR med/high or an Antigua ASI med/high, from what I understand of these gun's respective mechanics. Would those make sense? The Catalyzer would be turned into a Biohazard to farm Jelly King with my elevator pass, and the others would just be regular use shadow damage guns.

edit: Hey, while I'm at it, would a Calibur ASI high be a good sidearm for a gunslinger, to use in arenas and such? I'm debating selling it instead to fund my gun purchases since it's valued at 2.3k ce on the bazaar.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 11:08

Derpules

You want shadow damage?

Get a Nightblade. (You mentioned crafting a Cali, so I assume you're not a pure gunner.) High-end Brandishes sell for tonnes, which means lots of players are rage-crafting Brandishes in the hope of getting one, which in turn means low-end Brandishes flood the market. People undervalue family type bonuses*; I suggest you take advantage of this. I nabbed a CTR Low Construct High in the AH for 15kcr. (Of course, I turned that into an ele sword, not a Nightblade.)

Or get a Shadowtech. You can probably get a CTR Med for 1k CE. A better deal, IMO, than Punching an Antigua thrice and hoping for something good.

*Yes, I know this is because Vog/Skolver + trinkets easily allows one to max out damage without them. But that's for players who can afford to buy and upkeep trinkets. For budget players, family bonuses are plenty good.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 11:18

Flipperhands

I will consider that. I kind

I will consider that. I kind of want to main gunslinger, but it's tedious when my friends are offline and I'm soloing, which makes me consider using the Calibur at least for arenas. I intend to upkeep gunslinger trinkets since I have many TF2 accounts to turn refined into CE.

I was mostly crafting caliburs and wolver caps/coats for friends who started playing with me and can't afford to buy CE, and I struck jackpot on the calibur after 5-6 crafts.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 11:23

Demonicsothe

Catalyzers, you'll want ctr,

Catalyzers, you'll want ctr, and then slime/grem to take advantage of family type. But as far as I know, the explosion from the cat charge mechanics do not benefit from damage bonus of any kind, only the slow normal shots.

Both asi and ctr works well on alchemers. All guns already have a base ctr med upon heating to 10. So a high ctr is not strictly necessary.

Asi on antigua line is great.

Normal damage swords are a great backup sword, and a asi uv allows you to be more effective at dealing damage without using armour/trinket slots to obtain the same bonus.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 11:24

Flipperhands

I think that about covers all

I think that about covers all the information I needed. Thank you everyone, you've been most helpful.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 12:06

#10

Flipperhands

Oh, one last thing. Is it

Oh, one last thing. Is it common for gunslingers to use Swiftstrike, or do they go for a more well-rounded shield? I ask because a SS with a ASI high gun would cap ASI if I understand things correctly.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 12:32

#11

Fradow

Yes they do, because being at

Yes they do, because being at a range means they don't get to use their shield that much and Swiftstrike bonus is awesome (it's also the only offensive shield for gunslingers). Just understand that its defensive power is very weak, especially in T3 where it will breaks at every single attack.

The swiftstrike plus an ASI high gun is the only way to be capped in both ASI and DMG, using full shadowsun and 2 damage trinkets.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 13:55

#12

Flipperhands

I guess that's a plan. I'm

I guess that's a plan. I'm currently checking to see if it's cheaper to craft or punch Swifstrike, since I can't find any UV on the AH.

edit: I need to quit it with this UV obsession, I don't need an UV swiftstrike just yet. Just buying a regular one to -maybe- punch at a later date will do.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 13:57

#13

Derpules

Crafting.

You can sell the clean SSBs on the AH and recoup a large part of your costs. The chance for multi-UVs is always nice, too.

Or just ignore UVs on shields. No amount of UVs will make an SSB particularly durable. Save your resources for the items where UVs really matter.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 14:17

#14

Flipperhands

I guess if I use 100 ME to

I guess if I use 100 ME to craft SSB and sell them for 14k cr, I negate the cost of the mats and the 100 CE needed, plus a small profit. But I'd rather use those 100 ME to craft 2 autoguns / alchemers every day until I get one with the UV I need. That just feels more important, as you say yourself.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 14:24

#15

Derpules

Mist isn't free.

You should probably value your mist as highly as your CE. That's why I say you merely recoup part of your costs. When you assume a cost of 200 CE, and factor in the cost of mats, crafting SSBs is a loss-making enterprise, albeit less so than ticketing them.

But yeah, I'd mass craft pretty much any 2* item over a shield, let alone a 3* shield.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 15:10

#16

Demonicsothe

He has an alt for mist

He has an alt for mist crafting. Sure, running clockworks on an alt is more profitable, but mist crafting using the daily mist is profectly viable, since that mist would not be used.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 16:04

#17

Flipperhands

Running clockworks on an alt?

Running clockworks on an alt? I'm curious, could you elaborate? I run my alternate steam accounts on Sandboxie so I can have more than one running at a time. If there's something lucrative that can be done with that setup, I'd really like to know.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 17:23

#18

Demonicsothe

You could drag your alts on

You could drag your alts on runs you do, thus multiplying the total amount of cr gain to you by however many alts you have. I'm not sure if this is allowed by ToS, as someone asked about it weeks ago on general discussion.

I was actually referring to playing on 2 accounts, since clockwork diving is the best source of crowns.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 18:42

#19

Nicoya-Kitty

It's allowed but discouraged.

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 18:49

#20

Flipperhands

I just tried it and it feels

I just tried it and it feels like more trouble than it's worth.

Thu, 03/01/2012 - 16:38

#21

Flipperhands

I'm building up to my early

I'm building up to my early T3 set and working on my trinkets. I noticed that the item budget is a lot more lax on the trinkets than it is for the coats and hats. For trinkets, 2 DMG = 2 ASI = 2 CTR. For armor, it's 1 DMG = 2 ASI, and the Shadowsun has vulnerabilities to boot.

Now, my question is, just how important is it to go from VH DMG (trinkets alone) to MAX DMG (trinkets + full shadowsun)? Because I could probably make a pretty decent hybrid set instead, if ditching those last two tiers of damage won't affect me too much. My alchemers already have CTR LOW (I'm on a budget, don't judge, I'll save up for CTR Med/High before I turn them 5*), and passive CTR med at heat level 10 if I remember correctly. So that's CTR 3 now, CTR 4-5 if I fork over for better UVs down the line. I use Swiftstrike Buckler, so that + nameless/justifier would bring me to 7 (overkill) or I could mix and match with one shadowsun item for a final result of either DMG 4 ASI 6 CTR 3-5 or DMG 5 ASI 5 CTR 3-5, and lower poison/curse vulnerabilities to boot.

Which path would be best? Am I underevaluating the effectiveness of MAX damage? Or is VH across the board just as good?

Thu, 03/01/2012 - 19:20

#22

Demonicsothe

Gun setup?

Gunner armour has always been subpar in bonuses, when compared to swordsmen.

I hear that this is preferred:

Shadowsun+justifier/nameless, 2 elite trueshots, swiftstrike.
This gives you ultra damage, and ultra asi, I believe. Could be vh asi.

Ctr is not a required stat on most guns, bar blitz, catalyzer, and alchemers, if that is your fancy. I would think of the ctr uv's as nice little bonuses for now, and not worry about them in your setup.

The main difference between a asi vh armour/damage vh trink setup and ultra asi/ultra dmg is the shield. You need swiftstrike in order to give up an armour slot for damage. This shield, or lack of, might affect your gameplay. But it is the setup that gives you the most bonuses, without uv.

Thu, 03/01/2012 - 20:00

#23

Flipperhands

Shadowsun+justifier/nameless,

Shadowsun+justifier/nameless, 2 elite trueshots, swiftstrike.

Sweet, that is pretty much what I was going for. Already got one Elite Trueshot and Swifstrike, so I'm getting there. And regarding CTR... my weapons are Strike Needle, Cryo Driver and Shadow Driver. So that's why I figured CTR would be good. I'll get better UVs way far down the line I guess, CTR low will do for now.

Search

UV Strategies