Spiral Knights - Jack of all trades?

Jack of all trades?

12 replies [Last post]

Thu, 01/24/2013 - 17:38

Knightclub

Hi All.

I've been playing for a short while and have acquired myself a broad range of 2* items in an attempt to figure out what I wanted to specialize in. The problem is I'm not sure I want to specialize in anything at all. I started playing with swords and was missing my bomb, moved to bombs, and wished I had a gun, tried some guns and wanted either bombs or swords....

So....Is it possible to run a 3 slot Sword/Gun/Bomb character effectively? All the guides I'm reading and a lot of the toons I inspect all seem to indicate that specialization was key...

And what kind of kit should I be gearing up towards?

Many thanks!

Thu, 01/24/2013 - 17:48

Poopsie

I don't really recommend but chaos set + swiftstrike buckler is pretty universal to me, you'll get ctr med + damage med + asi high on any weapon.

Thu, 01/24/2013 - 17:58

Toxicblade

Derp

Hi there, Knightclub. There are definitely ways to run a 3 slot character effectively. I would wear armor that gives bonuses to guns and bombs, and use a snarby shield, because the snarby shield gives bonuses to swords.

Specialization isn't always the way to go. In fact, many players that are fully geared out have one weapon from each weapon type, with another weapon of their favorite type.

You'll probably be wanting to head for Wolver armor, Gunslinger armor, or Demo armor, because they give bonuses to Swords, Guns, and Bombs, respectively.

Thu, 01/24/2013 - 19:11

Bopp

agree

The reason that people (including me) specialize in one weapon type is that they can then wear armor that benefits that one weapon type. Having multiple kinds of weapons makes it harder to optimize bonuses, but might make for a more versatile and fun play style. So do it if you want.

As Poopsie said, the ultimate all-rounder set is Chaos with Swiftstrike. But the defense on that is really bad. Consider mixing up sworder, gunner, and bomber armors, based on the weapons you're using. For example, wear Vog Cub and Shadowsun, as Toxicblade suggested.

Also: Be aware that a lot of weapons don't really mature until they're 5-star. For example, the haze bombs get big radii at 5-star, and hence really big areas of coverage. The vortex bombs get much better at 5-star. The alchemers get much better once you master the ricochets and the switching. So be aware that your opinions, regarding the weapons that you've already tried, may change.

Thu, 01/24/2013 - 21:20

Spiltmilk

Hybridize!

Specialization is ideal but you can play a hybrid like me! If you don't mind being a cookie-cutter build you can use this combo to head to the core from the very beginning and defeat all 4 bosses on your own. These are just items I recommend to be good investments if your trying to be conservative with your energy and still be able to explore all the clockworks. I'm named the 5* versions, but that is also including the lower versions as well.

The Weapons
Slot 1: Leviathan
Slot 2: Polaris
(Optional) Slot 3: Ash of Agni
(Optional) Slot 4: Flourish/Barbarous Thorn Blade

Defense
Armor: Elemental + Normal | Piercing + Normal
Shield: Shadow (Dread Skelly or Crest of Almire)

The Why
Leviathan: Normal damage and can handle all monster types. The only monster you might have trouble with this sword are the T3 greavers. The Barbarous Thorn Blade or Flourish type weapon is ideal for Fiends.

Polaris: Elemental ranged damage. It kills all gun puppies and Graveyard Phantoms.

Ash of Agni: Elemental status inflicting bomb. A great Arena/Danger room bomb. You run in clockwise or counterclockwise around the map as you plant this bomb! Even if it is a fire Arena/Danger room its okay. The bomb will still do damage as long as they step inside the center. Optional because you can treat the leviathan's charge attack like a mini-nitronome bomb... you run in clockwise or counterclockwise around the room as you charge up then release then continue running around to repeat.

Flourish/Barbarous Thorn Blade: Piercing damage and can handle all fiends efficiently. Its optional because you can do it with leviathan but it requires some finesse. For T3 Greavers, swing then shield. Swing then shield. Swing then shield. Swing then shield.

Armor: Most damage that will come through that you can't help to avoid sometimes will be piercing and elemental types. I would recommend Vog set, it is cliche but it is good for this reason. It has no negative status effects and provides an unnecessary but nice attack speed bonus to your leviathan.

Shield: I recommended shadow shield because majority of them are ranged attacks... such as Lasers, televisions, forks and the dread skelly and crest of almire have a good amount of meaty normal defense. I find the Crest of Almire to be a very good well-rounded shield.

These are just recommendations and I find them to be very newbie friendly as they are easy to use. It is also important to have good defense and resist. You don't need UVs or Fastest attack speed or High CTR to survive clockworks, those I consider a luxury. As you may have realized, these items at 5* will be more effective (bomb increasing in radius). Sure there are other better weapons, but you will find these to be the jack of all trades. This was my setup before they started putting in weapon loadouts in clockworks.

If I had a friend that wanted to save energy, these are what I would tell them to work on acquiring. As you can see you cover all damage-types and a bomb that excels at clearing arenas or danger rooms. You can avoid danger rooms or arenas and maybe avoid fiends. So at the bare minimum you can still get by with just a leviathan and polaris. If you have questions to how to use each weapon for what monster or Boss just ask away :)

Thu, 01/24/2013 - 21:26

Knightclub

Wowza!

Thanks for all the replies! I've got a lot to think about. I'm already working on Barbarous Thorn Blade, I was planing on moving towards the Barbarous Thorn Shield...but mix n' match armor to mitigate damage types the way you described it makes sense to me.

Question about Leviathan. Is the main advantage of using it because it does normal damage? Does the damage go down drastically if I used a split damage sword?

Right now, Im rocking...

Barbarous Thorn Blade
Calibur
Twisted Spine Cone
Wolver Coat/Cap

2/3 from Piercing damage is not ideal I know....But they look so cool...LOL. I'm going to grab a pulsar and add it into the mix. See how she plays.

Thanks again for all the suggestions! Id love to hear more :)

Thu, 01/24/2013 - 22:16

Bopp

Leviathan, normal swords

Question about Leviathan. Is the main advantage of using it because it does normal damage? Does the damage go down drastically if I used a split damage sword?

On a non-normal weapon, the resistance penalty is much larger than the vulnerability bonus. A split-damage sword does about 120% damage to vulnerable enemies (that is, a 20% bonus) and does about 58% damage to resistant enemies (that is, a 42% penalty). For more detail, you might inspect the damages of various 5-star swords at depth 24.

Yes, Leviathan is nice because it's normal and hence usable against all enemies. However, instead of owning one normal sword, you should strongly consider owning two or three non-normal swords. Even if you carry only one at a time, you can usually exploit the vulnerabilities and avoid the resistances by equipping wisely. Going into FSC? Bring your elemental sword. Going into Heart of Ice? Bring your piercing sword. And so forth. This is even easier if you equip a gun and a bomb that complement your sword (or vice-versa). My detailed sword guide might or might not help.

Thu, 01/24/2013 - 22:57

Knightclub

OMGYOUREFAMOUS!

Actually I was just going over your guide and the breakdown and comparisons are incredibly useful! I am most certainly going to aim for 3 5* swords, I will likely roll with only 1 or 2 at a time, but that still leaves me 1, or 2 slots to fill with guns and bombs...Ive already seen how useful a balanced configuration of swords to swap between is , I would imagine this only gets more apparent as time goes on.

My tenuous list and ever changing list.

Barb Fang Blade
Archon

Polaris or Argent Peacemaker...

Nitro/Dark Briar Barrage

Fri, 01/25/2013 - 07:34

Bopp

great choices

I'm glad that you found my guide useful. Your choices look great. A piercing sword, elemental gun, and shadow sword is an awesome combination. Another combination that I love is piercing sword, elemental gun, and crowd-control bomb such as Voltaic Tempest. Nitronome would be fine in there too.

I'm mildly concerned about piercing sword, elemental gun, and piercing bomb. Mecha knights flinch at the gun and resist the other weapons. You can get around this with careful shooting, but it's not the easiest combination.

I myself would choose Nova Driver or Storm Driver over Polaris or Argent. Although Argent is easier to use than the alchemers, the alchemers do higher damage in the hands of an expert. Polaris does insane knockback, which is useful in some situations but irritating to your teammates in other situations.

Fri, 01/25/2013 - 08:55

Aureate

even if its a fire danger room its okay

I would personally have to disagree with that statement. The damage from a haze-bomb's initial blast isn't particularly high, not to mention the fuse is quite long and the damaging blast radius is smaller than you'd think (about a third of the radius of the haze mist). Fire-immune enemies aren't really likely to be taking much damage, particularly in Arenas where there are often Menders or Silkwings hanging around.

I would agree with Bopp in that you're probably going to want an assortment of damage types. Barbarous Thorn Blade and Acheron are good swords, but I would add that AP has fairly low-damage shots, and that Polaris is an utility gun mainly designed for getting rid of turrets. If you're looking for a higher-damage option, then Storm Driver or Nova Driver would probably be better choices for you.

As for bombs, there are a lot of options to choose from. I'm not sure how many different ones you'd want to invest in, or what purpose you'd plan to use them for, but it seems as if you plan to use your swords for damage output and bombs for crowd control (although I might be wrong). In that case, you might wish to get a Vortex bomb, which will work nicely in conjunction with your other weapons. Nitronome is good at keeping enemies away, but can be somewhat obnoxious if used carelessly, with its large screenflash and heavy knockback; Dark Briar Barrage is a more party-friendly option, knocking down small enemies rather than flinging them away.

Fri, 01/25/2013 - 08:59

#10

Vesperaldus

Swiftstrike Buckler = ASI

Swiftstrike Buckler = ASI bomber ftw!
:D

Fri, 01/25/2013 - 09:51

#11

Bopp

Aureate

Aureate, with which statement are you disagreeing? Is it one of mine, or is it Spiltmilk's endorsement of Ash of Agni? Please clarify.

Fri, 01/25/2013 - 18:48

#12

Spiltmilk

Hehehe...

@Bopp, Mines Bopp. He meant the ash of agni. He is disagreeing with me ^_^.

@Aureate, but you just haven't seen me in action with the bomb (^_-), but your exactly right about the Menders and Silkwings. This is where I use Leviathan or Flourish to take them out, but I feel like you guys are missing the merit of the setup lol but its okay.

He asked for Jack of all trades, I just had a different idea in my mind of what I consider the jack of all trades. I actually agree with all the advice you guys are offering to Knightclub. Also Bopp, it is an excellent sword guide.

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Jack of all trades?