So I Just reached haven and I'm planning on using guns. but I have no idea which guns are really good. I aready know that I need one elemental gun one shadow gun and one piercing gun but which guns are the best for overall use?? because I can play only in the weekends and I'ts really hard to get a lot of stuff for me D:
Need guns advice!!!
Mon, 08/12/2013 - 17:52
Mon, 08/12/2013 - 18:17
#2
Alchemers: Umbra and Nova, or
Alchemers: Umbra and Nova, or Storm replacing Nova. Umbra deals shadow damage and nova deals elemental. Storm does elemental as well, but deals shock status effect at the cost of some damage. These are the guns you'll want if you are strapped for time.
Antigua line has argent peacemaker as elemental damage, and sentenza as shadow. These guns are only available as a boss token reward, or paying a tidy sum of crowns to obtain either the antigua or the upgrades to the 5* lines. That means the recipes are only available from Basil, which means a fair amount of run to him in clockworks for a chance at obtaining the recipes or paying more than the base price to buy the recipes.
Mon, 08/12/2013 - 18:31
#3
Gunslinger Guide
Have you read the Gunslinger Guide on the wiki? It's a good place to start.
You can also search the forums for the many, many threads on this topic. Don't use the forum's built-in search function, though. Go through Google, Yahoo, etc. For example, search Google for "spiral knights forum gun advice".
Tue, 08/13/2013 - 03:21
#4
Totally not blowing trumpets or anything, but...
Some of the information about prices and energy may no longer be accurate after the recent changes to crafting.
However, I'd still recommend you start with Alchemers, which are reasonably reliable and high-damage weapons when you get used to them. To give you an idea of how ridiculously powerful they get: it is possible, with a single Nova Driver charge, to kill a turret in a single hit, or to take out a cluster of 3 zombies in a single hit. They start off fairly weak, but get a lot more powerful as they're upgraded to level 5. Nova and Umbra are pure damage; Storm and Hail trade in some direct damage for the utility of their status, and Magma trades in some direct damage for... fire status, which is damage over time.
The other shadow and elemental guns will take a while to get, since they are boss reward weapons.
For piercing guns, there's the Blitz Needle, which has a ridiculously overpowered damage output but needs some practice to use safely, or there's the Callahan, which is a bit safer to use but does much less damage in comparison. (The only other option is a mildly weaker version of Blitz Needle with poison and it requires a lot of tokens, which will also take a while to get.) Take your pick.
Tue, 08/13/2013 - 12:39
#5
Your first two guns...
Your first two primary guns should be the shadowtech alchemer and either the prismatech or the voltech alchemer.
Both of these guns in combination are effective in combat when used correctly and cover all monsters with at least neutral damage.
They aren't neccessarily that great for the first 2 versions but once you hit driver level their bullet splitting effect becomes a lot more useful.
Tue, 08/13/2013 - 14:02
#6
thanks!
Bopp I already read the gunslinger guide and it kinda helped me but I wanted a little more information, Aureate thanks for the guide I have never saw that one and I will read it soon!
so by now i have watched some videos of the alchemers and decided to take one for elemental and another for shadow, and I want a status alchemer so which one is the best for overall use? And I will get the blitz needle too
Tue, 08/13/2013 - 14:16
#7
okay then
I'm glad that you've read the Gunslinger Guide. And I'm glad that you're going for alchemers. They are not as easy to master as some of the other guns, but they are more fun, and they are more powerful once you master them.
In choosing an elemental alchemer, you're simply choosing whether you want fire (Magma), freeze (Hail), shock (Storm), or extra damage (Nova). These statuses have the same tradeoffs as everywhere in Spiral Knights. Fire does nice damage, but offers no crowd control. Freeze can be extremely helpful to your party, but it can also harm your party by hindering knockback, kiting, and shield-bumping. Shock offers some damage --- against tight crowds the damage can even exceed that of fire --- and some crowd control. But it can also hinder knockback, kiting, and shield-bumping, and it can make enemy attacks unpredictable.
My advice is to go for Storm Driver or Nova Driver. I've never used Magma Driver, but the extra damage of Nova and the extra utility of Storm seem better. Hail Driver has nice charge attacks, but its regular attacks are frustrating. When they do freeze, which is rare, the next shot often unfreezes. You have to fire carefully, which slows down your damage output.
Tue, 08/13/2013 - 14:21
#8
For the status alchemers
You have a choice of shock, fire, and freeze. Each of them is good in their own way, but this is how my line of thought went in picking my first alchemer.
Shock is a great status, deals elemental and stops the enemies movement on each tick of damage. It also deals enemies that are close to the shocked target, although they have to be basically touching. Not hard to do with some circle kiting. The damage sacrificed for the status could be covered by applying shock and having it tick for a good amount of aoe damage.
Fire is a dps centered status. On single targets, it should perform better than shock if the target is not resistant to fire damage and weak to elemental. However, guns are pure in their damage type unlike most swords, which deals a combination of elemental/shadow plus normal. Thus, guns are most optimal when used on targets with a weakness to that specific gun. With this in mind, the fire alchemer did not appeal to me because it does not suit my line of thinking. But it could be said that fire can easily be applies to groups for a great amount of damage, if you set a target on fire and switch to another one.
Freeze is crowd control. It provides no extra damage unless you wait for the ice to thaw. Its good if you are running away to catch your breath, or to get in a better position. Compared to all the other alchemers, you will do less damage with this gun. But you can be safer. The main reason I didn't go for this gun is that to make use of the freeze, you have to actually freeze the monster. But the way alchemers work is to bounce bullets internally. That means you will break the freeze of the first hit with the internal second bounce. Shock provides better utility with an interrupt that can't be removed and damage at the same time.
There is nothing wrong with each of these guns, it's just that I wanted the damage and control at the same time, so I picked the storm. Any of these guns will work.
Tue, 08/13/2013 - 15:15
#9
Generally I agree with Bopp and Demonicsothe.
Also note that out of all status Alchemers, Storm and Magma ones seems more party friendly - you don't risk other party members' actions break monsters free from ice. Also Strom and Magma can be paired together nicely: I remember playing in two person party once - I have been sporting a Storm Driver and my friend has been wielding Magma Driver (both guns probably wasn't 5* yet by that time). It was really enjoyable run - with numerous ricochets we unleashed real bullet hell and left nothing but piles of fried and toasted enemies on our way.
Storm Driver was my first 5* handgun and although nowadays I'm using almost exclusively Nova Driver, if you're into status alchemers, my vote goes to Strom.
Wed, 08/14/2013 - 14:44
#10
Thanks again!
I know nova driver has more damage but I really want a status alchemer, so I will follow your advices and pick a storm driver!
valiance is excellent