Spiral Knights - The Gauntlet -- Last level -- 2nd Arena -- What's your solo strat? (Spoilers within, I suppose)

The Gauntlet -- Last level -- 2nd Arena -- What's your solo strat? (Spoilers within, I suppose)

14 replies [Last post]

Thu, 03/08/2012 - 12:41

Sypsy

This is a topic for a 9-1 Mission. So if you don't want spoilers, don't read on.

So the gauntlet was fun. The only thing that sucked was that undead/fiend/freeze themed arena.

My first mistake was taking out the two Howlitzers first. This spawned a trojan, at least two devilites, and a few more things, like zombies and wings, I think.

Boy, trying to dodge everything was a nightmare. Dodging kats, slag breathes, devilite tosses & a trojan smash were too much for me. I could survive if I kept moving, but i could NOT get an attack in safely.
It especially sucked when you were thrown into the freeze vents by a trojan. Instant death, or near instant death. That crest of almire snapped almost instantly. My deadshot set had no freeze resist and I died so fast from near full health I was surprised.

Yes, I had a deadshot set & crest of almire as my defenses. It's the only shadow stuff I have.

Looking back, I should have:
a) Left one howlitzer, kill everything else and all the waves after that, then work on the next set of waves.
b) had a skelly shield & set because I need that freeze resist. (Or snarby, but let's take that out of the equation since a new player should not be expected to have it since SL comes after the missions.)

Is anyone else's experience similar to mine? Perhaps just doing A solves everything and I don't need to worry about the freeze. If not, it's kinda annoying how I would suddenly need a skelly/snarby set and skelly shield, items that I have never wanted nor needed before this, to make that arena at least a BIT forgiving.

I can't imagine the chaos that would ensue if there were 4 people in the arena and the wave management falls apart. Getting sniped by devilite throws meant for someone else. Trojans pushing you into freeze because they were running for someone else.

Anyway, it is time for me to pick your brain.
What are your strategies for tackling that arena?
What armor/shield do you use?
Does anyone run it without shadow defenses or shield?

Thu, 03/08/2012 - 13:28

Zinqf

@Sypsy

What are your strategies for tackling that arena?
Leviathan Blade and DA.

What Armor/Shield do you use?
Usually the Snarbolax shield...

Does anyone run it without shadow defense or shield
Yes, in fact I just got started with missions and uploaded 7-3 (Freeze themed arena) and 8-1 (Dark City style mission). I run both without piercing weapons or shadow defense =)

When I play more ill pick out other t3 levels that stand out =)

7-3 Freeze Arena T3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G35UWbBHmsg
8-1 The Return of Ur - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AnxtQeN1XY

I assume there will be harder missions later, but that's for when I get back from work.

Thu, 03/08/2012 - 13:41

Uuni

I did that level with a

I did that level with a friend who had DA and I had rocket hammer, gladly the last one was way easier, just fire and mechs.

Without devilites or kats the freeze arena would have been too easy, just if the freeze traps were not connected to the wall I could just run around the map and kite stuff to death

Thu, 03/08/2012 - 14:01

Sypsy

@ ZingqfThis was for the 9-2

@ Zingqf

This was for the 9-2 arena? specificly the 2nd room?
Show me a vid =)

@Uuni,

Explain more, friend just charged his/her da & and you dashed around with a hammer?
I could hardly see that working very well.... Guess I'd have to see it.

Thu, 03/08/2012 - 14:03

Paweu

Take out Howlitzers first,

Take out Howlitzers first, then the incoming Greavers (while staying on bottom) and then go for devilites and finally kats; leave zombies till anything else spawns (well, you can kill a few to have more place to run around but i felt rather confident so i didn't) and just repeat this process. If you have a shock bomb, even the 4* i'd recommend equipping it, shock does wonders against kats. If you have a Storm Driver then its really nice too to use just remember to not unload the whole clip. If you get frozen, don't shield till the hit, spam the shield button; dunno if its just me but sometimes it seems to deflect the damage instead of taking it as a whole.

And lol @ Zinqf

Thu, 03/08/2012 - 14:09

Hadn

Agreed! The frost round was

Agreed! The frost round was the worst out of the 3.

All I can say is .. Electron Vortex ^^

Often I ran out of places to escape a swinging / bounding Zombie so I just pop one of those bad boys down and proceed to charge my Voltedge at them, rinse and repeat.

As for howls - just place an EV to keep any extra floating mobs at bay while taking out the howls seems to work alright in my opinion. Each to their own I guess.

Thu, 03/08/2012 - 15:46

Whereismyface

Those damn howlitzers

Agreed on this round being the worst of them.

I went in with skolver for freeze resist and Crest of almire, since i didnt have much shadow resist i went heavy on the offense, i managed to spawn the trojan in early too but it wasnt too big a threat, my strategy was to keep pushing away anything that got close with combuster charge spam, positioning myself so it'd hit whatever was near me and any nearby devilites. I left the trojan alive till near the end since its attacks were stunning enemies and keeping them scattered so i didnt get cornered.

Fri, 03/09/2012 - 05:38

Zinqf

@9-2 Gauntlet

Just tried this for the first time...what was being thrown at me surprised me....

Although, it was an extremely clean run. People underestimate the Leviathan Blade. I'll be uploading this, and maybe you guys will agree.

Fri, 03/09/2012 - 05:43

Fallout

gettin mad at that stage like a baws.

I tried to solo this level like 5 times (i don't like revives...) - and that was after that first level with shock/fiend which just meant i would be shock-locked till I died lol. I don't know what's worse; the countable 2s lagg or the fact i have no shadow defence whatsoever. I ended up nitonoming the bajeebus out of everything on the stage which seemed to work nicely (nitro would interrupt howls, keep the devilites occupied and i could take down the trojan just by running circles): also I used the Nova's charge whenever I could, which would dominate everything if I aimed it into the center. I must say that it's one of the most challenging stages I've played; i wish they implemented these as late t3 danger rooms. If they keep adding missions, rooms like these will definitely keep me occupied for a while.

Fri, 03/09/2012 - 06:34

Maeko

well damn, there goes my hope

well damn, there goes my hope of it being random every time.

Fri, 03/09/2012 - 12:42

#10

Zinqf

@Leviathan Blade

Went to sleep, woke up, and it finally uploaded.

Mission 9-2 The Gauntlet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blUFaSDtb_k

Would like to add a suggested kill order for the 2nd room, its my opinion but it works for me...
Greavers --> Howlizters --> Devilites --> Kats --> Silkwings --> Trojan --> Slag

The idea is that you are eliminating the largest sources of harder to dodge damage first so the rest just falls.

Fri, 03/09/2012 - 13:05

#11

Aumir

Same here, howlitzer round

Same here, howlitzer round was worst for me, I literally raged XD It was frustrating though, well, I had fun nevertheless (CE revives not mentioned XD) Last round was fortunately easier... to me at least.

But yeah, some of the spawns are quite unfair, as much as the Silent Legion with the mob with 2 Grievers each round and a moth in the last. Well, it had to be challenging! xD

Fri, 03/09/2012 - 14:58

#12

Vokster

This is how I did it. Along with some fitting Drum and Bass. ^^ No deaths and no use of health caps. :> You can see all the gear I used for each room. Strangely I found the fiend and undead room to be the easiest of the 3. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUlo6FTe8m0

Sat, 03/10/2012 - 03:00

#13

Zinqf

@Vokster

Since you are, for no known reason, making a weak attempt at one-upping my First Impression run...I'd like to point out 2 things.

1. Even though I wore literally zero piercing defense in the first room (which I didn't take a single hit from), and wore literally zero shadow defense in the second room (With no shadow shield)...I still took far less hits in this level than you did.

2. I proved that you don't need Best in Slot gear or even the right defenses to finesse an extremely smooth run the first time (Yes, this was my first ever time playing the level). You proved that you can, over time, get a smooth run with Best in Slot gear eventually.

Sat, 03/10/2012 - 04:23

#14

Vokster

@Zinqf

Point being? This isn't an "I am clearly better than you" contest. I wasn't trying to 1-up you. xP I just posted my strategy of soloing the gauntlet, just like you did. I could easily do this with the gear you got without taking a hit, it's not a hard level. I guess I was trying more for speed than flawlessness. ^^ If I know I'm not gonna die, I don't really care how much I get hit. Have to say though, I sucked pretty bad on the final room. Could've done a lot better. xD

Search

The Gauntlet -- Last level -- 2nd Arena -- What's your solo strat? (Spoilers within, I suppose)