My planned loadout:
Vog Cub Set + Barbarous Thorn Shield + Elite Slash Module + Elite Sword Focus Module
Sword buffs: ASI very high, DMG very high, CTR very high
Both swords are great, but which one is better for doing FSC efficiently with this setup?
But such CTR is a brandish paradise....if you dont care about spamming all day. You could say you can do the same thing with a DA,but it's slighlty slower.
In most of the Clockworks, I prefer Glacius/Combuster over DA, due to the high DPS. But in FSC I prefer DA, because the wide, long swing means that I can hit two or more monsters at once, doing high DPS and knocking the entire crowd away from me.
And, by the way, I charge my sword before getting on party buttons, but otherwise I almost never charge my sword. The DPS is typically higher when you do regular attacks.
Who uses normal combo? or even single hit shield cancels on Zombie.
Bopp might have a point about DPS vs a single target, but the Brandishes charge attack can hit a ton more targets at the same time. When I run FSC I either run:
Voltedge: CTR Max, DMG Max, ASI Med
or
Combuster: CTR Ultra, DMG Max, ASI Very High
Zombies are so easy to keep clumped up that I pretty much only use the Brandishes charge attack on them and with CTR & Damage Max'd it will make very short work of very large mobs of Zombies. Way faster then just hitting a few at a time with either the DA or Brandish's combo attacks.
"Bopp might have a point about DPS vs a single target, but the Brandishes charge attack can hit a ton more targets at the same time."
Are you saying that a Brandish charge attack hits many more monsters than a DA charge attack? Are you sure? Or are you saying that a Brandish charge hits many more monsters than a DA combo (which hits more monsters than a Brandish combo)?
My total CTR on my Combuster/Glacius is only about High (Medium + Low UV). I've never tried your "charge all the time" tactic with CTR Maximum! I'd like to.
To clarify, I was trying to say this: Against a single monster, Brandish combos out-DPS DA combos. Against a tight, slow crowd (such as FSC zombies), DA combos out-DPS Brandish combos.
Bopp, "Against a single monster, Brandish combos out-DPS DA combos. Against a tight, slow crowd (such as FSC zombies), DA combos out-DPS Brandish combos."
Sure I agree with this statement, but my point is CTR Max makes the Brandish such a crazy powerhouse that I rarely ever use a normal combo in FSC. So for me the Brandish's normal combo just is not a factor. That and the charge attack is perfect for mobs, but works best if you kite them into a nice clump or line get them lined up. The ultimate is to combine a CTR Max Vortex bomb with a CTR Max Brandish. This leads to crazy damage.
Point was that a Brandish charge hits more targets then a DA combo or a Brandish combo & with CTR Max it will out DPS a large group. If you keep them herded tight you can hit most of a mob with a single charge (works similar to a Vortex/Brandish combo, but not as awesome).
I'm not trying to compare Brandish charge spam to DA charge spam, because I have never used the DA with CTR Max (can't rage craft for this one). I don't feel like I can give it a fair shake (my gut says Brandish charge is better, but I would not swear to that). I was saying that for a large group of Zombies, a Brandish with VH-Max CTR will kill them faster charge spamming then any sword could hope to using normal swing combos (Even with ASI Max, which I have done both DA & Brandish).
I run 3 Brandishes:
Voltedge UV CTR Med
Combuster UV CTR High
Acheron UV Construct Med
There is not a huge difference between CTR Ultra and Max, but I pretty much almost never use the charge on my Acheron unless I have an Elite Sword Focus Module equipped and even then it feels much slower then my Voltedge & Combuster. Also, I don't use my Voltedge without a Focus Module, but I have found that with the Combuster I am willing to sacrifice the Module for a bit more ASI (the ASI also helps the charge attacks come faster as the first swing animation and the charge attack animation are faster, though it doesn't effect the actual charging time).
Yes, we understand each other. I can't verify or refute your point about whether it's better to spam charges than to spam combos. When I get higher CTR maybe I'll try to run some kind of test. (And by the way, you don't need to convince me that Brandishes are great in general. I use them heavily and recommend them frequently. :)
Yeah I know you like them. That is why I was surprised that you were talking about using Brandish combos in FSC where the mobs are so juicy for the charge.
I've been chasing the Holy Grail of UV Very High CTR on Brandishes for a long time (crafting 2* & 3*s). I'm pretty content with my UV CTR High Combuster & now rage crafting to try to get some CTR on a Nightblade. Shooting for at least Med to be worth the trouble/expense to replace the one I already have.
You said you have CTR High. Is that from UV CTR Low + full heat CTR Med? If so try investing in an Elite Sword Focus Module to bring it up to CTR Ultra and see how that feels. The only downside to this is you would likely have to sacrifice some ASI and possibly some protection if you wanted to maintain DMG Max (which is how I ran FSC for most of the time I ran it). I have been running FCS lately with Vog/Snarb, BTS, and 5* Slash & Quickstrike trinkets. As soon as I get around to it I will crafting another Slash I will go back to full Vog for FSC (until I get around to building the rest of my FSC gunner loadout).
"You said you have CTR High. Is that from UV CTR Low + full heat CTR Med? If so try investing in an Elite Sword Focus Module to bring it up to CTR Ultra and see how that feels. The only downside to this is you would likely have to sacrifice some ASI and possibly some protection if you wanted to maintain DMG Max..."
Yeah, exactly. My general program is to obtain ASI and damage bonus through armor and trinkets (I'm fully loaded there), and to obtain CTR through weapon UVs. As we speak, two of my characters are mass-crafting Brandishes to get good CTR.
I used to run DA for fsc, for both combo and charge.
After the brandish change patch in early january, I haven't used it once, reaching only use my comubster (ctr med) as my main sword.
I find the charge is less messy in that I can herd mobs into a neat lines and get lots of damage. I hardly ever use the combo unless there's a single target, but even then I find myself reaching for my AP so I don't have to walk over to it.
I've tried the voltedge in the test server. I don't like how the shock stops the mob from sliding down the brandish charge.
@Bluescreen
Have you considered running with a swiftstrike? It gives you one more point of ASI. I find the difference between med and high puts it into the realm of useful while high vs vhigh & ultra is just gravy.
This would allow you to run say: Full snarb/deadshot, elite slash, elite focus. Max dmg (at least to undead), ctr med bonuses ontop of asi high.
@Sypsy
Yeah, whenever I get around to running FSC as a gunner I will switch to my Swiftstrike. However, for now the BTS works better for the role I am currently filling and my sword style. When I am not spamming charge attacks I tend to use my shield often when hacking and the Swiftstrike just can't take much punishment if FSC. I usually pack my Levi UV CTR High for the mask phases as well and I like my shield to be able to take a few fireball hits (if my water tossers miss their mark). Also, for Brandish charge spamming my way through FSC, ASI is just icing on the cake while CTR and DMG+ make a huge difference. I'm really happy running FSC with CTR Ultra, DMG Max, & ASI VH (or CTR Max, DMG Max, ASI Med depending on how I pack).
One other note, Damage Bonus vs Undead will not score you any extra damage vs the Duke (he is not technically Undead), while Sword/Handgun/Bomb Damage Bonuses will do extra damage to him.
DA
Heavy swords are superior to brandishes when you are facing large mobs like those in FSC