Well I'm currently a bomber but want to try something more hybrid, I happen to fall on the Magic armor set which I find horribly attractive and pretty viable, though I can't seem to decide on a weapon..or weapons...I wouldn't mind using any of three types, guns bombs swords, don't matter to me just something interesting and fun :)
I'm also getting destroyed in the 5-1 through 5-5 missions being that they're all shadow damage and I can't seem to take a few hits without falling flat on my butt.
Any help is appreciated!
Also thinking ahead, so any weapons with yummy upgrades would be nice, or maybe just a run-down on which weapons are worth getting and how to tell...
I also realize the magic set doesn't have shadow resist (at least the early sets) nor does it have any damage buffs, which makes me sad....
Any recommendations on how to still be more then effective? :)
Need a little help
Remember to dodge and use your shield; I take it you know about shield-bumping and shield-cancelling. If not, look them up on the wiki since that can provide a far better description than I can at the moment.
Weapons that are worth getting are ones with specialist damage types - ideally you should have one of each. Getting an elemental gun is also recommended, due to the large number of turrets that populate the Clockworks.
Weapons to go for:
Flourishes/Barbs (although I'd stay away from the status Flourish lines), Brandishes (other than Cautery), Divine Avenger, Calibur (but be careful with the charge)
Alchemer lines, full-stop (Voltech, Prismatech and Shadowtech would be my personal preferences), the elemental Pulsar line (please use it with care), the Needles (requires some practise to use without getting hit, best used primarily on Trojans), both Antigua lines, potentially the piercing Magnus line (also to be used with care)
pure Blast Bomb line (don't bother with the offshoots since they mostly suck), Dark Retribution if you can get it, Electron/Graviton if you can get them, status-inflicting bombs (prioritizing Fire, Freeze and Shock, since Poison and Stun aren't that great in PvE), Radiant Sun Shards
Weapons to avoid:
Any line that stops before 5*, with the exception of RSS
I'm also getting destroyed in the 5-1 through 5-5 missions being that they're all shadow damage and I can't seem to take a few hits without falling flat on my butt.
Get Skelly Shield. You can't go wrong with a good shield.
In my opinion a shield with decent shadow defence is more important then armour/helm with shadow defence. Sure, you can craft Divine Veil/Mantle from your Magic Set later on, but Skelly Shield is essential from the day one - or at least from the mission 5-1 ;-)
A shield won't help much, but here's some general tips:
1. Don't go for the defensive armours, as they still let in way too much damage. Go for an 'offensive' armour set.
2. In the devilite areas, keep moving erratically. If you've played Sauerbraten-instactf, you'll know why.
3. Get whichever weapons you like. The Catalyzer is fun for people who can actually aim. If you're in for the fun, don't optimize excessively. Find a weapon whose style you like, and use that. Also, the RSS is a must.
Does that help?
@Evilnut Not going to much for one weapon in specific, or at least not now, kind of like the idea of hybrid or being more versatile. also didn't know there was a shield bearer guide o-o
All the other information was greatly helpful. I'm aware the Greyfeather set is purely defensive and the magic set itself has no bonuses aside from health and yet, more defense, though the Chaos line looks pretty nice being that the CTR works for all weapons, although providing little defense at that as it's weak to four different statuses.
The weapons you mentioned I'l get right into looking, but I'm a bit confused, to protect myself a little more against those shadowy guys, picking up some shadow resist would be helpful yes? so Armor or shield? seems a little controversial up there...
Again thanks for the help, at least now I have a direction to go on!
Some new things I didn't know, thanks for that!
http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Bombing_Guide
http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Gunslinger_Guide
http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Swordmaster_Guide
http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Shieldbearer_Guide