Spiral Knights - Assistance with Battle Sprite selection. (dedicated bomber)

Assistance with Battle Sprite selection. (dedicated bomber)

21 replies [Last post]

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 09:38

Doctorgeneric

So i've just come back fairly recently, and have done a good chunk of research in regards to the new battle sprites that came out on the 30th.

To give people an idea I am a dedicated bomber, always have been and probably always will be. Not even sure if my kind still exist or not or if we have gone the way of the dinosaurs. Regardless I am looking for which one would suit my play-style more, aka hit and run tactics with bombs kiting all day.

I like the look of the dragon but his skills really do not seem to mesh well with my style of play based off of the first two.

The second one is kinda useful but I barely get hit as it is so not sure if heart attack is that useful.

Lastly is the ghost guy which seems that he has the potential to be the most useful, largely cause i don't have a poison bomb in the tier 5 level to assist me in that regard. The stealth cloak also seems pretty useful with the attack damage or the knock back effect. The only thing is would i be able to charge a bomb while under the cloak?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

-Doc

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 09:43

Theopholis

The Maskeraith is probably your best bet. As a bomber you won't have much use for Deadly Shadow Cloak, so make sure you pick Vengeful.

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 10:34

Doctorgeneric

I am thinking the same thing

I am thinking the same thing just looking for some more input/feedback

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 10:44

Maeko

The only bad thing about the

The only bad thing about the Maskeraith for us Bombers is the fact that the quills can't break blocks. And since OOO say fit to remove our shards (never forget), you'll be needing a gun or a sword as a backup, possibly.

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 10:54

Doctorgeneric

Wait, what exactly happened

Wait, what exactly happened to our shard bombs? I've been gone a while and haven't really read up to anything that's happened to the bombs themselves. If the quills aren't a good selling point then i'll likely go with the dragon since I can make good use of that speed boost for kiting with agni or shiver mist bombs.

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 11:07

Fileclerk

speed boost

does the speed boost shorten charge at all (he asks with false hope)? Also, what happened to shards?

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 11:13

Zeddy

Shard bombs got... changed. Instead of being fragmentation bombs, they're now cluster bombs. Attack power was also greatly reduced and there is an arbitrary, buggily enforced hit limit. That said, they're still fun to use.

You're looking for either Drakon or Maskeraith. Drakon's firestorm can put out an area of damage which can stack onto your own areas of damage (other than AoA), and his fireball can be used to reach switches and such so you don't need to carry a gun around. The fire barrier can help you do damage to things by just running close to them, and indeed one of the ultimates will let you run like lightning for a couple of seconds (with a cooldown of around 40).

Maskeraith's quills do not directly damage, but rather boost your own hits by a fixed amount of damage for a short period of time. It synergizes best with weapons that do many hits rather than weapons that do heavy hits. Ash of Agni, Voltaic Tempest, Dark Retribution and Shard Bombs are all examples of such bombs. Nitro and DBB won't work as well. Maskeraith's third skill is also a mobile damage haze.

You can't charge while cloaking, sorry.

Drakon and Maskeraith's speed boosts do not affect charge time. Seraphinx has an ultimate that boosts charge time for about 5 seconds, but it will be worthless if you're already at CTR max.

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 11:28

Doctorgeneric

Yea i'm running a full mad

Yea i'm running a full mad bomber suit, So i cap on CTR as soon as my bombs hit level 10. (Best defense is a good offense.) Really appreciate the insightful post Zeddy as it does clear up a bunch of questions I had regarding the two. Likely going to go towards the Drakon since I have no guns at all (only have melee and bombs with the melee being only the ones i have gotten for free from quests.) The speed boost and the Aoe definitely appeals to me as I can use all 3 abilities efficiently vs. the maskewraiths two that I can semi use.

My main bomb is always my nitronome, although I do have a plethora of 5 star bombs, the nitro is by far my favorite in terms of overall use.

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 11:30

Autofire

You are experiencing a PICNIC ERROR!

What about Seraphynx? It seems like a bomber's friend, as far as I can tell.

Ray of Light: When used perpendicular to the oncoming enemies, it becomes an effective wall, giving you breather space for placing bombs. On big enemies you can point it to them for instant DPS. Also, this can break blocks quickly because it does several hits rapidly, so if you point it to a wall of rocks, you can break 'em down fast.
Heart Attack: Due to it's AoE nature, you could (ab)use it more effectively than if you had guns/swords. You could mark a crowd and then kill the whole bunch at once, probably filling your health up.
Angelic_Aura: Makes you a tank. If you get swarmed, you could pop this and then you could get a few vital seconds needed to charge your BAB. (Or other Blast Bomb type bomb.) Valkyrian Aura even grants you and your bomber buddies a CTR boost!

While it's up to you, if I were a full on bomber I would take Sera, and then chose Dazzling Light Ray(Because I can imagine that Kats and Greavers would be annoying), Iron Heart Attack(Because I prefer how it looks and I don't have a preference), and Valkyrian Aura(Because of CTR).

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 11:32

Theopholis

I can see the Seraphinx's shield being handy as a bomber too. You could easily run into the most dangerous situations to lay a few bombs, and then get back out no problem.

You should probably just try out all three in the missions, and pick which ever one you like the most. Eventually you'll be able to get more.

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 11:55

#10

Doctorgeneric

Seraphinx is looking more

Seraphinx is looking more useful than the ghost that's for sure, as a solid alternative. Still debating on the two but I can say that I value the speed boost heavily on the dragon largely cause kiting and distance breaking is a pretty big incentive to a bomber. Though I do like the angelic aura on the cat, the question is why do i see people give so much flak about heart attack being useless on higher tiered dungeons?

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 12:04

#11

Orbwanter

I've found Heart Attack to actually more effective in Tier 3 than T2. I usually use it more for keeping my teammates alive than myself.

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 12:38

#12

Maeko

No, no, I'm saying that that

No, no, I'm saying that that was the only downside. the Quills are awesome solo and in groups. they help you murder the crap out of medics as well. They proc on DoTs as well, so Agni/Tempest away!

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 13:16

#13

Doctorgeneric

oi why did they have to make

oi why did they have to make it such a set in stone choice =_=

Found out that the Cloak isn't very useful for bombers, even with the vengeful knockback it's still not worth using to try and get into the melee range for it to fire off. Only plus side is that you can sneak through a group of enemies that are giving you grief if you wanted to.

Although the spines being a damage amplifier for dots does appeal to me.

Hmm more research is required.

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 18:48

#14

Doctorgeneric

still looking for more

still looking for more opinions :3

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 19:43

#15

Nidhoggr

Honk Honk

Skipped earlier posts because TL;DR.
My bro is a newbie Bomberman and has given me some incite into the Sprites and their uses.

Maskwraith's cloak doesn't let you charge a bomb when active, making it pretty useless.
Wraith's spikes are still good for extra damage, but have a delay and cannot break blocks.

Dragon's breath is great for switch hitting, block breaking, and enemy frying.
Shield is a shield, handy for close bombing.

Cat's ray breath is good for stun locking close enemies but, again, has a stupid delay.
Heart attack is handy but not that noticeable until leveled up.

I would say Dragon if you like damage, Cat if you like support or close damage. Wraith is currently not so hot since spike nerfs (the hell OOO?)

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 21:21

#16

Serpine

Seraphynx

I myself am not a Seraphynx user, but have a good guild-mate who uses Seraphynx to the extent where it benefits him, AND the party.

The advantages:
--->Ray Of Light:
*Allows users to leave behind an enemy in the ray and set up for next waves/enemies in arena's or general clockworks.
*Breaking blocks while defending yourself

--->Heart Attack:
*In certain missions or places where mobs spawn in congestion, - i.e bombies, silkwings, knockers, etc- heart attack proves to not only effect the majority of the monsters, but also provide more chance for hearts to spawn.
*In a certain mission, Ghosts in the Machine, there is the one room where bombies spawn infinitely. After the room is defeated, activating multiple waves of bombies and inflicting the heart 'curse' on all of them allows you to farm health.

--->Aura:
*Useful for the safe placement of bombs in the midst of dangerous situations. I.e. The last wave of D27 on Firestorm Citadel.
*Getting out of situations where you are under the influence of, shock, curse, poison. It just gives you a safe way to get out of those tough situations.
*By pass traps in order to set up before monsters spawn, lay bombs ahead of teammates, as well as letting you get to the fight first.

All in all, being a bomber myself, I do recommend picking the Seraphynx as your sprite. My reason being as Seraphynx is a sprite meant to aid a party, and a bomber's point in game is mainly support. (I'm not saying bombers can't outplay other people, just generally.)

~Serpine

Sat, 08/10/2013 - 00:55

#17

Alchemystic

I would also recommend

I would also recommend Seraphynx.

Ray of Light: It isn't too useful against most enemies but it can help against stationary targets like turrets and battlepods.

Heart Attack: If you don't get hit too often, the Iron Heart Attack ultimate will allow you to be more agressive. The defense orbs dropped will help you tank damage and charge more bombs instead of shielding.

Angelic Aura: If CTR isn't a problem, the Seraphic Aura ultimate is a great alternative. The increased shield regen is useful if you make strategic use of shield bashing to stun a problematic group of enemies like greavers.

Sat, 08/10/2013 - 02:38

#18

Earthboundimmortal

i would...

I would use maskareth, partly cause im a half bomber so I know if it's useful.
quills: if you choose vengeful, it can spread throught the whole radius, which is useful, and the haze is good to hurt them while your charging

Sat, 08/10/2013 - 02:47

#19

The-Mighty-Potato

I'd go Seraphynx (for bombers)

Seeing as you're a bomber the Seraphynx's heart attack would come in handy. I can't see the Drakon or Makeraith being anymore useful than Sera.

Sat, 08/10/2013 - 04:47

#20

Gravelord-Caste

The Truths don't provide any Answers

I'm leaning towards Drakon, due to the instant ranged damage and the second ability. Maskeraith would be good, if you're patient enough to get the Vengeful Quills, plus the Shadow Cloak can help get you out of trouble when you need it. I don't know too much about Seraphinx, so I can't comment there.

EDIT: had a run with Sera users: if you're not going to use a sprite for combat purposes, Sera's first ability should help with getting rid of tougher blocks and mining minerals.

Sat, 08/10/2013 - 04:43

#21

Zeddy

@Nidhoggr

"Wraith is currently not so hot since spike nerfs"

Oh, get out of here. Have you even spoken to a Maskeraith user since that patch? I received the following set of PMs one hour ago:

[Dutch-Oven]: "quills so OP"
[Dutch-Oven]: "just killed a giant lichen with silkwings in under a second"
[Dutch-Oven]: "it was beautiful ;__;"

The nerf was, like, 5%, and with the same patch they fixed the ultimates so they did full damage.

In regards to the cloak and charging, it's been brought up elsewhere that if you get Deadly Cloak, you can plant two or three slowly-detonating bombs (shards, irontech, DR), cloak, and get the giant damage bonus applied to all of the bombs. Not sure that's worth it DPS-wise compared to just sticking with quills, but that's a thing you can do.

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Assistance with Battle Sprite selection. (dedicated bomber)