Spiral Knights - FSC Loadout help?

FSC Loadout help?

20 replies [Last post]

Thu, 08/29/2013 - 01:02

Danovich

Hello everyone !
I just hit Vanguard recently and started doing FSC (mostly on normal/advanced)
I'm doing fine, I only die 1 or 2 times at the end of D27 and I'd like to start farming Vana too.
My current loadout is not the best :\
-Azure Guardian Helm/Armor
-Aegis
-Leviathan (considering Divine Avenger)
-Antigua (trying to get Argent Peacemaker)

So, could you guy please suggest a good loadout for Vanaduke? Thanks in advance !

Edit: Additional information: -I run solo
-I only have 2 weapon slots and no trinket slots
-I have the dragon battle sprite (if that matters)

Thu, 08/29/2013 - 01:31

Warranty-Is-Voided

first?

I haven't crafted chaos set and I know I should have.

my loadout-
perfect mask of seerus
vog cub coat
barbarous thorn shield
divine avenger
blitz needle
argent peacemaker/polaris

Thu, 08/29/2013 - 02:23

Xfight

My ideas

Defensive loadout.

Divine veil/mantle
Divine Avenger
Polaris
Blitz needle
Shivermist buster

CTR sword and gun trinkets

Offensive loadout.

Choas set
Voltedge
Argent peacemaker
Blitz needle
Electron vortex

Sword and gun Dmg bonus trinkets

For you-

Work towards getting chaos if you can.
Work towards AP.
Leviatian is OK, but DA would be better.
Most importantly! Try to get your hands on a blitz needle! :)
For a sheild use the one you have then buy the blackened crest that you gat get from brinks the token trader once you get 30 almerian seals. Then try get the crest of Almire
~~Nuff Said~~

Thu, 08/29/2013 - 02:50

Danovich

I think I'll go for AP first

I think I'll go for AP first as I don't like standing still while shooting (Blitz)
Why are you suggesting Chaos set? I'll die almost instantly if I catch on fire, no ?

Thu, 08/29/2013 - 04:30

Bopp

so many threads

There have been countless threads on loadouts for FSC. Try searching Google for something like "spiral knights forum FSC loadout". You can also view tons of videos on YouTube.

The basic ideas are that you want normal, elemental, shadow, and fire armor. Normal is important, because the Vanaduke fight itself is loaded with normal. Fire is important, especially if you lag a lot. Elemental is important for Vanaduke's fireballs on phases 2 and 4, and for fire traps if you lag a lot. Shadow is the least important, in my opinion. In weapons, you want an elemental weapon for fast zombie killing. You want a piercing weapon for trojans and Vanaduke phases 1, 3, and 5. It's easiest if your weapon for phases 1, 3, and 5 is a gun. Any weapon works for phases 2 and 4, but normal has a slight advantage. Most parties run their Vanaduke tactics through Blitz Needle and often Shivermist Buster.

I'd like to help you more, but I just can't type exactly the same text over and over again, every time someone asks this question. Please search.

Thu, 08/29/2013 - 06:39

Shotjeer

So. Chaos, Vog, and Volcanic/Rcane Salamander is ok, but compared to Vog, it trades off sword bonuses for slime bonuses, and Arcane is extremely expensive, so go Vog or Chaos. If you have a laggy computer, or you suck at dodging, don't use Chaos. Now, weapons.

For swords, you want elemental swords. Levi is good, but Brandishes, DA, and so on are better. For guns, you might want alchs (NOT Magma Driver), AP, and although you might not like standing still, blitz is amazing against Vanaduke. Polaris is als good, but your party members won't appreciate it. Shiver is the only really good bomb, or if you got an organized party, use A Vortex.

Now shields. Like Xfight said, you can save for bLackened Crest, then get CoA. Or another good shield is Grey Owlite, not to mention that it looks bad@$$. Now your question on why Chaos. Chaos set has a great amount of vurnubilities, but to make up for that, you get universal CTR and damage bonus Med...per piece. That means the full set will give you VH CTR and damage bonus, effectively turning it into a glass cannon.

Thu, 08/29/2013 - 08:47

Juances

If you solo, you can get away with normal weapons and blitz is unnecesary (and maybe a bad idea if you lack speed).

Thu, 08/29/2013 - 09:06

The-Mighty-Potato

Sword would be the least of my worries.

Leviathan Blade is an all-round great sword, with an amazing Charge. This is extremely useful for Trojans and Vanaduke. The Charge is also useful for any cornered or Stationary monsters, or when your surrounded, as it has a huge knockback. If I were you I would try and survive a few runs and get a Blackened Crest, and upgrade it to a Crest of Almire. This is the best Shield for FSC because it's Normal + Shadow + Fire + Shock. Also Trojans can actually Shock you. I've been Shocked before.

I would also forget about your Antigua for now and focus on Blitz Needle, for 2 reasons...

1) Other Party Members will most likely remove you from the party if you don't have a Blitz or Strike Needle. If they're kind enough they might give you the Water Job. ( I'm aware you say you solo, but trust me, a Blitz is a must-have for any Vanguard).

2) It deals ridiculous amounts of damage. Try getting a CTR on it. (Deals about 1000+ DMG Per charge to Vanaduke). If you're not a fan of Gunning it seriously doesn't matter. I can't stand pure Gunslinging but I enjoy using Blitz. I'm sure you will too.

Next thing I'd do is focus on your Helmet and Armor. You can do this while farming Vanaduke for a Blackened Crest. If you're afraid of rolling UV'S on an Autogun or you don't want to buy an overpriced CTR med in Auction House then I recommend you go for 1 piece of Chaos. For the other piece I'd go for Vog Cub. That way overall, without any UV'S You'd have:

Leviathan Blade
Damage Bonus: Medium
Attack Speed Increase: Medium
Charge Time Reduction: Very High (At L10)

Blitz Needle:
Damage Bonus: Medium
Charge Time Reduction: Very High (At L10)

Attack Speed isn't as important as Charge Time Reduction for Blitz. Also the Charge Very High would be nice for your Leviathan Blade.

I'd personally go Chaos Cowl + Vog Cub Coat because I think the other way round it looks quite Ugly. =) But your choice...

Also if you can try and get a small Fire resistance on either (or both) your Vog and Chaos, because Chaos has a Fire Penalty.

Chaos Cowl = -2 Fire Resistance
Vog Cub Coat = +4 Fire Resistance

Overall: +2 Fire resistance.

If you can, try and get a Fire Medium on both pieces and boost that up to a +6. (Both pieces of Vog is +8, but +6 is fine).

This is what I'd do if I was in your shoes.

Also once you got your Blackened Crest every 30 tokens you could make 30,000 crowns by selling a piece of Ancient Plate Gear to any Vendor in Bazaar. That would help you out on getting your Helmet/Armor.

Goodluck on what you choose to do! :)

Thu, 08/29/2013 - 23:10

Danovich

@Bopp I thought shadow was

@Bopp I thought shadow was the most important with elemental so thanks for the heads up !
@Juances Yeah, I'm getting AP because I'm afraid Vana would just crush me :D
@The-Mighty-Potato I guess first I'll get a Chaos + Vog and then later I'll try full chaos
@Shotjeer "...but to make up for that, you get universal CTR and damage bonus Med...per piece." Ah, I didn't know it was UNIVERSAL I thought it was only for swords...and now i can see that Crest of Almire can counter the fire weakness.
I'll get these: DA , AP
Vog+Chaos
CoA

Once again, thank you all for the help ! :)

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 08:30

Demonicsothe

I'm not sure if you worded it

I'm not sure if you worded it weird or didn't understand how shield resistances work. But the stats on the shield protects itself. If you're lit on fire, the fire resist on CoA won't help you. Just making sure you know this.

And you'll still want a shield to use before you grinded out the crest. On the old difficulty, a 4* owlite could tank a vana mace. Not sure about the new difficulties.

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 10:26

#10

Traevelliath

IMO, I'm more concerned about Shadow than fire in FSC. It's personal preference really. I ran most of my first FSC runs in Nameless, way back in the day, until I managed to afford Snarby and Shadowsun, so I never really ran FSC with fire resist until much much later. I find it's easier to evade the stationary sources of fire than the mass hordes of Zombies (If both are easy for you to evade, then go #YOLO/Chaos).

In the end, you'll get used to either Fire Resist or Shadow Defense, to the point where running with the other is just awkward. Also, nothing stops you from taking a literal trial by fire and going in with neither. You'll die more, but you'll get better. Most of the really old vets probably went into FSC the first time with Ash Tail and an Avenger (I personally went in with Sunset and a Gigawatt Pulsar :P).

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 15:26

#11

Danovich

Confused

"the stats on the shield protects itself"
You mean it will break from fire in, let's say, 5 ticks when a shield without fire resist would break in 3 ?
Damn, I was so happy but now I'm afraid :\ anyway, thanks for the info, I didn't know that !

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 15:48

#12

Bopp

To learn how shields work, read the wiki articles "Shield" and "Shieldbearer's Guide". The short version is:

When a shield is activated and unbroken, it blocks ALL attacks from reaching you --- all damage, and all status. However, as it absorbs this damage and status, the shield gets weakened. Eventually, it breaks. Once it's broken (and also when it's not activated), it blocks NO attacks from reaching you --- no damage, no status. Okay so far? Now, what the damage and status protections on a shield do is simple: They prolong how long the shield lasts before breaking.

Fri, 08/30/2013 - 15:51

#13

Demonicsothe

Status don't get applied to

Status don't get applied to shields. Instead, when an attack is suppose to to deal a status, it is just a flat damage applied to the shield on top of the regular attack. But you have the concept right. Your shield just wont be ticking from fire, but it will take less total damage than a equal shield with less fire resist.

Edit: Bopp plz

Sat, 08/31/2013 - 00:08

#14

Odd-Look

My personal loadout: Snarbie

My personal loadout:
Snarbie set
Ironmight Plate Shield (Need to replace with crest of almire)
Voltedge
Polaris
Shivermist Buster
Blitz Needle

Sat, 08/31/2013 - 08:19

#15

Hardfault

Here's a loadout for ya!

It's a loadout I've been running with for countless eons and it works great!
Helm : I used to use the vog cub cap at first but the complete ASI didn't help much. Once I was used to avoiding slags and such I got myself a chaos cowl. Works great for swords, guns and bombs!
Armour : Vog cub coat is what I'm currently using. The ASI does give a slight edge although not much. I will be soon making a snarby coat to pair along with my chaos cowl.
Shield : Grey Owlite Shield (GoS) seems to do the trick except for when a trojans dashes at you or waves of slags target you at one time. But as you build up on experience these 2 situations shouldn't bother you.
Weapon 1 : A trusty Glacius! Now this sword is hated by some and loved by other. People complain that this sword's charge doesn't make the mobs ride the entire wave therefore reducing the dps of the charge. But if you consider it this was ; mobs not riding the entire wave is a good thing as this give a chance of freezing the mobs behind it as well!
Weapon 2 : The blitz needle to handle any pesky trojans that dare dash at you! But ever since I made a final flourish that's what I've been using since it's more fun to use!

Mon, 09/02/2013 - 06:15

#16

Kraanx

my set: Dragon scale helm: Uv

my set:
Dragon scale helm: Uv fire high
Volcanic Plate mail: Uv shock med
Sprite Perk:(who you gonna call?) Ghostbuster
thats what i always use.
as for the weps:
Triglav/electron vortex if i'm feeling offensive and not doing vana
Triglav/Storm driver if i'm feeling defesive and not doing vana
Triglav (can be replaced by a fang of vog)/ strike needle if i'm doing vana
then again, dont consider this.

Wed, 09/04/2013 - 06:58

#17

Danovich

Thanks for all the help guys

Thanks for all the help guys !
I guess in the end, it's just personal preference, so for weapons I'm gonna get AP ( I'll try blitz sometime too) and DA.
Armor, I'm working towards Chaos set (I have almost 2 miracle)
Oh, and I also use the Ghostbuster perk with my pet :D (might try the fire resistance one,but i don't think it's worth it)
Shield, just gonna hold onto aegis for a while.

Thanks again for your help everyone ! :)

Wed, 09/04/2013 - 23:44

#18

Khamsin

I would get a Polaris before

I would get a Polaris before getting AP honestly. AP is nice but it is more gimmicky... good for provoking blocks, hitting devilites, and chipping away at an enemy you want to engage in melee, but otherwise the Polaris is better - high AE damage, push back, and shock. You can destroy several of the encounters just with your Polaris if you need to.

Thu, 09/05/2013 - 07:32

#19

Bopp

Blitz is the bigger issue

A bigger problem than getting Polaris before Argent Peacemaker is getting Blitz Needle before AP. But this poster seems to really want AP, and we are unable to sway him.

Mon, 10/07/2013 - 04:17

#20

Not-Someone

My vana set

First of all, congratz for reaching Vangaurd

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Perfect mask of Seerus (If you don't have OCH, just use the Vog Cub Helm. of Volcanic Demo Helm if you're a bomber)

Vog cub Coat (or Volc Demo suit)

Crest of Almire (Or Grey Owlite shield for starters. They both work pretty equally in FSC so it's a choice).

(optional) 2 penta-heart pendants (or any useful trinkets you want)

Leviathan Blade (tears his mask right up in 3-4 charges per chance to hit)

BLITZ NEEDLE. This is a must have weapon for when you're in Vanaduke's room. Also useful for dealing with Trojans (SPOILERS!) if you can out-maneuver them.

Shiermist Buster (It's optional but it's HIGHLY recommended for crowd control).

Argent PeaceMaker (It's optional but it's useful for dealing with Slag Walkers. Heck, since it's the final boss level you can bring any item down there for heating/forging. But bring a good elemental-inducing weapon if you're doing a fully prepared run).

Any Battle Sprite will do (I have Maskeraith)

Perk: Ghostbuster (Excorsizer doesn't really work on Vana)

Harness: Golden (piercing). (Only equipable by Seraphynx and Maskeraith. Piercing damage is Vanaduke's weakness). Or if you have the Drakon, use the Crystal (elemental) harness.

Hope this helps :3

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FSC Loadout help?