I mean alternate path as in the alternate to the mainstream Dread Venom Striker and Leviathan Blade paths respectively to title, by the way.
So basically: Myths I need to bust about Wild Hunting Blade, Hunting Blade, and the Cold Iron swords. These are either personal or community myths.
Myth: Dread Venom Striker is completely superior to Wild Hunting Blade with damage maximum in every way.
The question(s): Does Wild Hunting Blade's charge interrupt enemies? I know Dread Venom Striker's doesn't to some extent. If so, is it on the final giant wolver slash or during the first 4/8 hits? Is it to all family types or just wolvers/gremlins etc?
Outcome: If answer to question is yes, WHB is more viable for a player who likes to mix charges with combos.
Myth: (From the wiki, sword guide)"Also, the Wild Hunting Blade has more range, since the phantasmal Wolvers bite in front of the blade, not behind as in the Dread Venom Striker"
The question(s): Self explanatory: True or False? Does ping delaying animations have something to do with it?
Outcome: Self explanatory
Myth: Cold Iron Vanquisher/Sword has less knockback than Leviathan Blade lines on the charge.
The question(s): How much/little exactly is less knockback? Can someone upload/link a video to actually demonstrate how much is "less" knockback?
Outcome: Self explanatory
Myth: I recently made Hunting Blade (planning to go to WHB) but noticed that its swings felt slower than Dread Venom Striker (tested with no asi) and its charge time felt longer than DVS (both ctr med).
The question(s): Is Hunting Blade really slower than DVS (slash/charge or both)? If so, does WHB have a speed boost to match DVS?
Outcome: If first question is yes, second question no, then Dread Venom Striker is superior in terms of speed. If both questions are yes, then there is incentive to upgrade Hunting Blade to WHB (aside from aesthetic reasons/charge reason outlined above). If first question is no (therefore ruling out the second), then viability of both swords depends on charge.
What I hope to get out of this: I plan on collecting (most) weapons so actual usage doesn't really matter. I already have BTB, all four 5* brandishes, DA/GF so I'm pretty much done for actual combat gear. I just want to actually find out these because interesting news- I mean it's not everyday someone told you "Hey did you know WHB charge can actually interrupt enemies?" Prove me wrong or otherwise I'm fine, I don't need real statistics, just some reliable opinions. Other things: Depending on if I can bust this whole CIV charge "myth" I want to make levi before CIV if it's busted, or I'll have to make a CIV myself to test stuff out.
Other notes: Hunting Blade/DVS observation made on D25 of FSC against slags. DVS has damage maximum against undead and vhigh against all at level 10 with no asi. Hunting blade was at level 4 with a ctr med UV and no asi.
Most of these are thoroughly treated in my detailed sword guide. You can also search Google for things like "spiral knights forum WHB DVS" to see many threads.
* Yes, WHB's charge does interrupt monsters more often than DVS' charge.
* No, WHB does not have greater range than DVS. My testing against explosive blocks in the ATH suggests that they have the same range.
* It would be nice to quantify the charge knockback of CIV vs. Leviathan (in terms of tiles, probably), but it's not crucial. The key point is that CIV's charge is more likely to land on a single monster multiple times. To land multiple hits with the Leviathan charge, the monster must be stationary, pinned in a corner, or something like that.
* Yes, the Lancer Knightz data (quoted in my sword guide) indicate that WHB is slightly slower than DVS in both regular and charge attacks.