1. How hard is it? I'm probably gonna be soloing it because I highly doubt there are many people still playing it.
2. How long is it/How much Energy will all the lifts cost?
3. Can you sell the reward items? (I only really want the Bomb, the Hammer doesn't really interest me and an extra 35,000 crowns would always be welcome)
4. How do you get the masks?
If you ask me, OCH isn't worth...
* You can't resell or trade the hammer, the shadow bomb (which got really nerfed), and the unique material needed to craft the mask.
* CR payout is pretty bad (4k cr for 50ce)
* OCH would be hard to solo the first times, as there are some new enemies/tricks. You need to beat it 3 times in the same tier in order to craft the mask.
1. It's not as bad as an SL. Just be prepared for a crapton of Gremlins and a few constructs. THis coming from the guy who tried to solo it with an Ascended Calibur+Silversix with no elemental defense (full 4*). It was brutal, and I had to call in help quite a bit, including CE revs, but nowhere near as hard as an SL.
2. What Askua linked. Lift costs are the same, 5 stages.
3. Asuka summed it up fairly well.
4. You get a fragment based on the tier for the respective type of mask. i.e. T3=Perfect mask fragment. You need three (last I checked) fragments to make the mask, as well as a few other materials. Use that Anvil in the Mission Lobby to craft the mask, standard crafting costs apply.
Note that the Mask you craft will be BOUND. You CAN unbind it to sell, but the Hammer and Bomb stay.
So long as you constantly get the monsters moving into the orbs by placing new ones like venn diagrams, it should take care of melee monsters that chase after you.
Except for royal minis. The orbs don't hit royal minis. Not sure if design or fault. Reported it anyway.
Actually the bomb has become quite good again with the recent damage boost to bombs. No where near as over-powered as the original incarnation, but that was game breakingly over-powered.
Asuka summed up your questions pretty well. You can still find people for it. The payout is rather meh actually (4.5k for T3, I personally think it should be closer to FSC's payout), but there's a decent size group that still play it because it's fun.
~Gwen
I'm still entirely baffled that this map is considered one of the hardest in the game; I've literally never once had a problem with it. Gremlins are not that difficult, especially if you have a shadow weapon. An Acheron utterly destroys them in only 2-3 hits. I'm certain a Gran Faust would do the same.
That said? It's fun to play through a few times, though it does get old, especially soloing it. The pacing is a little slower, but I love how the whole thing is set up. It's unique to other maps. I don't really want to spoil it even though it's not a HUGE part of how it plays out, but I was still really impressed by it.
Getting two free weapons for finishing each difficulty is pretty cool, though neither are permanent spots on my arsenal. They're still fun to mess around with, though.
A well placed mender and his 'circle of trust' may be pain in the butt.
Not if you're a Bomber (Circle of trust, meet Nitronome with max CTR and Damage)
It is worth it for the hammer alone.
-Entropize
Not, if you're a bomber that also cares about his allies, venom veiler. meet 'circle of death'
Menders in OCH rarely spawn in a way that make it difficult to deal with them quickly, the only places I can think of where that's likely happen is the arena room with mortafires and explosive blocks behind a wall, and the one near the end with constructs behind gates. I'd say the stages are slightly more difficult than FSC (fewer traps, but tougher enemies and less generous with health), but the boss is much easier due to the lack of blindspots.
Worth it just for the Rocket Hammer. Really fun and powerful weapon. I joke that it's pay to win, since it's fast, powerful, and you have to pay Sega to obtain it (even via Steam trading). They don't really tell you in-game or on the wiki, but the dash move that hits enemies hits 3 times, often doing enough damage to kill so you can shield cancel before doing the 2nd swing (which has a slow follow-through that you can't cancel out of).
OCH is a nice mission to run through a few times, has new stuff to see, but I find the mortar gremlins tedious to fight. I soloed tier 1, and had one buddy along for tiers 2 and 3. People can't be serious that it's hard though. Seerus is relatively easy to beat. Had one revive (on mist) during the tier 3 fight. Like Roarmulus, random luck can draw out the fight, making it longer than you might want.
Also, the ending is anti-climactic.
But Rocket Hammer!
1. T3 OCH is pretty hard from what i heard, even comparable to SL
2. http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Operation_Crimson_Hammer
3. You can sell mask, its tradeable. Bomb and hammer are not tradeable (dont know if they are sellable to vendors).
4. You get a part of mask every time you defat boss. In order to make full mask you must defat boss several times.