Questions about CE, crafting, the action house etc. from a new player.
Thu, 05/31/2012 - 08:14
Hello. I've started playing Spiral Knights not longer than a week ago. So far, I am loving the game and the aesthetics. I've absorbed quite some reading material from the wiki, and from a couple of guides that I found in the sticky of this forum. I've checked a couple of threads, but I still am curious about some things, and I would appreciate some help from more experienced players.
1. As I am slowly approaching the Jelly King mission, and the need of crafting 3 stars cobalt gear. (or any 3* gear, for that matter). Materials and recipes seem to be quite easy to get (especially with things around like hall of heroes), however in order to craft 3* gear, 200 energy is required for each piece. I've been playing "free to play" style so far, but at this point, does it mean I HAVE TO buy CE with real money in order to craft 3* gear? Mist energy caps at 100, and as far as I know, it cannot be "transferred" into CE.
2. Buying CE for crowns sounds not bad in theory. I even found some guides explaining how to become self efficient using the action house, by selling materials and doing profitable runs and so on. However the author of the guide wrote it at the time when 100CE costed 4k crowns. Currently 100 CE costs nearly 8k to buy. My recent "crash the fiend party" mission solo earned me 1k crowns and some materials, for the cost of 20 energy. That means I could, possibly, earn 5k crowns, and hope the lot of materials will sell for more than 3k, but that is just going even. Is it still possible to become self-efficient in Spiral Knights currently ?
3. Should I collect armor sets for every occasion ? I've got only cobalt (which you get for free), wolver, and i got myself a skelly set off AH, because fiend and undead missions gave me a rough time. Should I collect all armor sets, or at least one for every kind of damage ?
4. Many 2* items on AH seem very cheap. I think I bought a skelly shield for 1.5k, where the recipe alone costs 1k. Once It got to me how costly CE is for crowns, I ended up buying it straight from AH. After looking into the Fireburst Brandish... I have the mats, I can access the recipe, but 200 CE would cost me 16k crowns + 4k for the recipe. And I saw brandishes for 15k, 16k, 18k... so... should I skip crafting all together?
4b. Can I craft a 200CE item, using 100 mist energy and 100 CE combined?
5. Any other general tips that I couldn't find on the wiki are appreciated.
Thu, 05/31/2012 - 09:14
#2
Some additional points
3. According to my experience armour sets are not that important as shields. I'd say go for only one 5* armour set and three 5* shields first. Then consider more armour sets.
Also mixing and matching items from different sets may work too. For example, for a long time I had just on 5* armour and was working on three different helms. That way my arsenal was more versatile then if I had two full 5* sets. And the cost of having one armour and three helms are the same as having two full sets of helm and armour.
4b. Also it's convenient to craft on the days you can't or shouldn't play. Just log on, craft something and log off.
Thu, 05/31/2012 - 09:33
#3
by the way, whenever you
by the way, whenever you craft, you will use mist nrg first. ALWAYS
Fri, 06/01/2012 - 00:38
#4
Yeah,so when you buy 200ce
Yeah,so when you buy 200ce and craft something 3star.You'll have 100ce left (or more).
Fri, 06/01/2012 - 04:56
#5
easiest way to get to high
easiest way to get to high levels while being free to play is to only use your mist, then log off for the day. come back the next day when it has regenerated and repeat. You can make lots of money by merchanting, but this requires lots of time investment to learn prices.
People take forever to get to high levels sometimes because they insist on buying CE to carry on playing in the same session, even though they are not making a considerable profit from the runs. They grind and grind and it takes ages. It is more fun if you dont do this, just log off and play a different game, then come back the next day.
as for armours etc. this is actually a very skills based game. it is possible to do the hardest levels in the same gear you were given when you first started. id recommend only getting armours/shields suited to either protecting you from the enemies you find difficult (eg shadow armour for fiends), or to make your attacks stronger so you can kill things quicker, therefore get to safety faster. if using sword an example would be wolver. depends on your play style.
keep your cyclops cap and fencing jacket and switch to them on the levels you find easier, as they both come with damage bonuses.
Fri, 06/01/2012 - 07:24
#6
^Good advice.
Two main things I have to add:
If it's 3* and requires a rec you need to buy, then yes, you're usually better off buying from the AH. If you're patient and/or lucky, you can get 3*s near 10kcr.
For now, I'd gear for two things: pierce and shadow. Shadow because devilites and kats are the toughest enemies in the game; pierce because Dusker and Gunslinger are obligatory for sword- and gun-users respectively, plus you'll probably spend a lot of time farming the Royal Jelly Palace in T2. You can worry about elemental later.
Anyway, feel free to add me on SK (same name as here) if you want to ask anything else, or for the occasional help with runs (occasional not because I'm unwilling, but because I spend way more time at the AH than in missions, heh).
Fri, 06/01/2012 - 16:47
#7
Selling materials in the
Selling materials in the auction house generally isn't all that profitable. You can try it, but don't count on making tons of cash. Selling crafted items can make you some more money, so if you are crafting lots of stuff to try and get good Unique Variants (UV's), sell the left overs at a price higher than what you'd get from a Stranger vendor.
I think your question regarding energy was answered... I would just add the the best cost effective way is to buy the ce you need minus 100, take 22 hours off from the arcade (play PVP or something and don't rev or bribe), and use your 100 mist. it's free!
Fri, 06/01/2012 - 18:31
#8
2.
It's possible to be
2.
It's possible to be self-sufficient even on Tier 2. Use your Mist Energy to experiment until you find a way.
3.
Find a weapon type with comfortable delay and a shield with a lot of hp that protects against the damage type you're facing. Armor sets are secondary, because you have to get good at timing your shield for later levels anyway.
4.
Many people craft when they can't bother to play (or have a elevator pass). You can buy for those reduced prices, but you forfeit any chance of getting a UV on your item.
Sat, 06/02/2012 - 13:56
#9
Thanks to everyone for all
Thanks to everyone for all the helpful advice. Yesterday I managed to craft my first 3*, dusker helm one. I will try to finish the set, and then try to get some shadow resist later in time. I've got Tempered calibur recipe off the mission, so I'll make that too sooner or later.
Lots of good crafting and gearing tips, thanks again!
Sat, 06/02/2012 - 15:52
#10
...
If you just want an item, and don't care about UVs, I suggest you buy the 2* version and craft from there. Buy the 3* version if it is a common weapon.
Example of common weapons include, but are not limited too:
- Flourishes -> Swift Flourish
- Brandishes
- Alchemers
- Status Bombs (Haze Bomb, Firey Vaporizer, Freezing Vaporizer, etc...)
- Blasters
- Wolver Gear
- Magic Gear
- Skelly Gear
- Sometimes Jelly Gear
- Owlite Shields
and more that I cant think of right now...
This is because several people have alt-accounts that just sit around, regenerating mist. When they get 50 mist, they craft a 2* item, and then send said item to the main account. This is repeated until the user gets as many good UVs as they want via random chance per craft. Because so many people do this, the price of said pieces of equipment tends to be really low, around 1k to 1.5k most of the time.
1- no. at the lower right end of your screen, theres a (-) sign. click on it, then on market or trade tabs.
2-yes. but its hard, and will take a lot of time to get you to t3.
3- 1- either you try to be an all-rounder with lat least a set for every dmg type, or 2- you only pick piercing gates in the clockworks.
4- crafting only should start from 3* and higher.
4b YES
5. do clockworks runs. youll be able to acces the royal jelly palace, the ironclaw factory etc., and if you find a good party youll profit largely from those area's payouts.