Spiral Knights - The transition into 5* is always awkward.

The transition into 5* is always awkward.

13 replies [Last post]

Wed, 05/02/2012 - 21:29

Sol-Xii

Sol here.

I've been stuck at 5* HoH for a while now, at an indecision crossroads. Don't know what to upgrade first, but I do know that I want to be a Gunslinger, or use one sword.

Here are my current equips. Assume that everything is Lvl 10 and ready to upgrade.

Swords:
Silent Night~ ASI Med
Faust
Blizzbrand
Dark Thorn Blade
and a bunch of other crap. I won't include any 3* or lower.

Guns:
Argent Peacemaker
Prisma Driver~ ASI High, Fiend Med
Virulent Catalyzer~ CTR Med, Construct and Beast Low.

Armours:
Sunset Duster~ Normal Low
Ash Tail Coat~ Fire High, Shock Low

Helmets:
Miracle Hood~ Elemental Low
Sunset Stetson

I don't want to start using bombs until I get enough funds, but for now, what should I upgrade first?

If Sunset first, I have my heart set on Shadowsun.
If Ash Tail for Sword/Gun hybrid, take into account of the Fire High. Skolver or Vog should be my ONLY options. No Snarb.

I kinda want to keep using AP b/c it's already 5*, but I don't want to pair it with Virulent, so I'm stuck between Prisma w/ ASI or AP. If I choose Hybrid, I probably will stick to AP.

What I'm asking for is feedback. Which weapons should I upgrade ASAP, in order.

Thanks.

Wed, 05/02/2012 - 21:56

Arctifice

Hmm...

For a good hybrid set, upgrade your Ash tail to Vog so you have Max and High fire resistance for FSC, then upgrade your Sunset into a Shadowsun. This way, you have shadow and one and a half pieces of fire resistance, plus sword ASI and gun DMG, plenty enough to survive in FSC. If you want to use primarily swords, then upgrade your Hood into a Divine Veil for the universal fiend bonus.

Blizzbrand and DTB make an excellent pairing, since AP is mostly a slow sword pair weapon. If you have multiple weapon slots, I advise you bring your AP along with you, though. A fourth weapon slot should be reserved for either a Blitz needle or a Fang of Vog for nuking things, or if you're a team player, a vortex/status bomb.

If you want to be a purist gunner go for full Shadowsun, build up a Blitz needle and pair it with your Prisma Driver. From there, you can branch out while having a good elemental AoE weapon and a high DPS weapon. My gunning loadout consists of a Storm Driver, AP, Blitz, and Valiance for self defense. Prisma/Nova Driver will be excellent for pure elemental damage, and Blitz will be enough to execute trojans. Keep in mind that you need VH vs Fiend bonus to one shot Trojans with a charge in a four man party.

As for shields, if you're rather comfortable in your dodging skill, by all means get a Swiftstrike Buckler, they're excellent with a damage gunner build. If not, a Grey Owlite shield will suffice for defense, or a Barbarous Thorn shield if you choose to play offensively.

Hope this helps!

Wed, 05/02/2012 - 23:19

Traevelliath

...

If I was in your situation (which I was when I was getting my first 5* items), this is the order I would go in...

Blizzbrand -> Glacius
Dark Thorn Blade -> Barbarous Thorn Blade
Prisma Driver -> Nova Driver
Sunset Stetson -> Shadowsun Stetson
Ash Tail Coat -> Skolver Coat (I like Skolver over Vog, but that's just a personal preference)
Sunset Duster -> Shadowsun Slicker
Faust -> Gran Faust

At this point, I would suggest trying out Lockdown. Go Shadowsun + Skolver/Vog, with your Prisma Driver, BTB, AP, and Gran Faust. I strongly suggest Striker for this loadout. Striker gunner is easier than Recon gunner. At first you will be smashed apart easily, and it may be a bit demoralizing. I highly suggest sticking with it until you get at least enough Krogmo Coins for a Mod Calibrator. Then, get a Trueshot Module (+dam low for guns). From there, decide if you want to buy a second Mod Calibrator for around 10k cr at the AH, or play some more LD. Regardless, upgrade the Trueshot Module to +dam med.

Then start making whatever looks shiny/pretty.

Wed, 05/02/2012 - 23:49

Bluescreenofdeath

*scratches head*

If Gunslinger is what you are going for then your next order of business should be to cover all 3 damage types for handguns. So a 5* Shadow gun and a 5* Piercing gun would be your next moves.

Are you only using a 2 weapon loadout?

Basically for handguns or swords you are going to want to either cover all 3 damage types or just use a single Normal damage weapon.

Arctifice's shield comments are spot on, though if you are going to be a pure gunner you may want a Royal Jelly Shield instead of BTS for your Piercing shield.

If you were to upgrade one of the swords you have there I would make it the Dark Thorn Blade -> BTB, because you do not have a Piercing gun. The BTB is still very useful even against Neutral enemies.

Last point. I would go all in and commit to being a pure gunner or start planning a swordsman loadout. My personal experience with gunslinger loadouts has been that if I bring a sword at all I end up just using that instead, because I get impatient & the sword makes it dead faster.

Thu, 05/03/2012 - 05:45

Bopp

mostly agree with Bluescreenofdeath

How many weapon slots do you use? I didn't see this mentioned, and it's crucial.

I mostly agree with Bluescreenofdeath (as usual). You want a piercing weapon, an elemental weapon, and a shadow weapon. In your case, you could make two of them guns and one of them a sword.

The elemental one should be a gun, for turrets. The piercing one could well be the sword. Blue is exactly right, that BTB is really quite good against gremlins and undead. So consider Barbarous Thorn Blade, Nova Driver, and Biohazard? I've never used Biohazard, and it seems fun, but I would probably go for Umbra Driver instead.

If I were you, I'd just get gunner armor.

Thu, 05/03/2012 - 22:30

Sol-Xii

Sorry about that

I'll be using three slots.
I will probably be using Blizz, b/c I love it.
But it isn't recommended if I carry it w/ Prisma?

Nova Driver
Biohazard
Blitz Needle? Or is BTB better?

Shadowsun Stetson
Vog Cub Coat
Grey Owlite Shield
Should I use Vog for fire, actually carry a sword, or full Shadowsun, like Bopp said?
Trying so hard to stay away from my Blizz. . . .
Thanks for the help so far, everyone.

Thu, 05/03/2012 - 22:37

Sol-Xii

Sorry about that

Double post. . .

Thu, 05/03/2012 - 22:51

Bopp

hmm

So you're using three slots, and you want to use mainly guns, and you want your elemental weapon to be a sword.

Your first option is to go elemental sword, piercing gun, shadow gun. This covers all three damage types. Its only major drawback is that elemental is the most useful damage type to use against turrets, and swords can have trouble against turrets.

Another option is to go elemental sword, elemental gun, and a piercing or shadow gun. This covers only two damage types, but you can still inflict lots of damage on 4/6 of monsters, and your turret handling is probably better.

I've never run with these weapon setups, so I'll bow out and let others comment further. Good luck.

Thu, 05/03/2012 - 23:56

Fradow

That's a though one. I only

That's a though one. I only started doing hybrid sword/gun recently, but here are my thought :

- a piercing gun is really missing in your arsenal. A strike Needle would be my first move in your situation, in prevision for FSC. The BTB is great for all other levels, but you shouldn't upgrade it to 5* soon, because there is not much difference with the 4* version.

- the upgrade of both ash tail and sunset are a must : they gain some stats and change of defense type (depending on what you choose). Though if you plan to buy the DLC, the mask have more stats than other gunners helmets (a low and a med, compare to only a med for standard gunner helmets).

- as said Bopp, the elemental sword is not ideal. What do you like about blizzbrand ? The freeze ? If not, consider carrying silent nightblade instead, which is great against gremlins. The upgrade of brandish line is good, but not great, because it adds some explosions to the charge attack.

Fri, 05/04/2012 - 20:36

Sol-Xii

Sooo

Acheron
Nova Driver
Blitz Needle

Shadowsun Stetson
Vog Cub Coat
Grey Owlite Shield

Prisma will stay, for turrets (AP doesn't deal enough damage), and I'll work on getting a BN.
Do I need Vog's bonus for Acheron, or should I just run full Shadowsun w/ it? The fire is useful.
And I saw some videos on T3 PvP, and Umbra seems useful. Should I switch out for Umbra any time soon, or is Nova sufficient? Does Acheron work well in PvP?

Fri, 05/04/2012 - 21:11

#10

Fradow

That seems like a good set.

That seems like a good set. Just remember that you can switch weapon for specific level. I am thinking about fiends levels, which are probably best dealt with your dark thorn blade.

Acheron doesn't benefit that much from ASI (lots of people use mostly the charge), but the fire resistance on Vog is certainly a reason to take it. And Acheron will still benefits of that ASI when you don't charge.

I am not that experienced in gunning in PvP, but basically, the only difference between Umbra and Nova is the damage type. Considering that lots of people take piercing defense for toothpicks, I would not advise getting Umbra right now. It comes down to what armors you expect to encounter.

Acheron, and all brandishs, aren't very popular in LD, because the charge is easy to interrupt or avoid, and the normal swings pattern is not very good (no large hitbox, no huge swing forward). That's why people prefer toothpick, heavy swords or hammer.

Fri, 05/04/2012 - 21:52

#11

Sol-Xii

Thanks, guys.

Thanks for your help, everyone.

I'll keep using my above set until I rack up enough funds to switch to Umbra and full Shadowsun.
I guess T3 LD will have to wait. *Sigh*.
Thanks, Fradow!

Goal:
Get ALL the guns~!

Fri, 05/11/2012 - 13:41

#12

Bagelbite

Hey!

Add me in game and we can gun together, Id love to show ya some tips about gunning! See ya in game

Fri, 05/11/2012 - 22:25

#13

Sol-Xii

Those pesky Devilites.

Sounds good, Bagel~~~

Darn. Now I have an urge to eat a bagel.

I'm just trying to finish up my "Neon Tiget" set. It sounds like Nova Driver.
Anyone wanna guess what I named my set after? :)

Under the heat of
Under the heeaaat of
Under the heat of the Shadowsun~
Nova Driver,
There's a lot on your mind

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The transition into 5* is always awkward.