Spiral Knights - Weapons that synergize well with Volcanic Pepperbox?

Weapons that synergize well with Volcanic Pepperbox?

17 replies [Last post]

Tue, 09/17/2013 - 13:26

Warrior-Iguy

I've recently begun to help my friend out getting started in SK. He's quite nooby at combat, but we've found that he can use a Pepperbox fairly well without dying as much as using swords or anything else. He also got himself a gunslinger sash yesterday, which I thought would be a useful choice. I think he's doing fairly well.The problem here is that he has trouble with groups of monsters- he finds himself getting stuck between things while trying to pull off pepperbox charges. We're looking for a good AoE gun or bomb that'd have good synergy with his gun. Any suggestions? Blast bomb sounded like an okay option to me. I think it'd also help to note he has interest in the antigua-argent peacemaker line. Would that work well for his condition?

-Iguy the warrior of warriorness
P.S. hi

Tue, 09/17/2013 - 14:38

Bopp

hmm

Yeah, Pepperbox isn't the easiest gun for a novice, specifically for that reason: getting charges off without getting munched. Assuming that he wants to keep going down this path, he wants bombs that immobilize or group monsters:

* The obvious choice is Shivermist Buster. I don't see how fire's and freeze's being "opposites" matters. Stagger Storm would also be great. Voltaic Tempest would be okay. There is one problem: The low-star haze bombs have small radii, and your friend might not have the patience to see them to 5 stars.

* Vortex bombs might work extremely well, but I haven't tried that combination. It all depends on the gun charge time?

Darkbrady's thread here describes a loadout with Volcanic Pepperbox, Shivermist Buster, Graviton Vortex, and Sudaruska. He uses the bombs to set up Sudaruska charges, not Pepperbox charges, but maybe that thread will give you an idea.

Argent/Sentenza are certainly easy to use, but they're not very nuanced or surprising. Drivers are more powerful and more nuanced, and hence more satisfying. Polaris? Supernova? Valiance?

Tue, 09/17/2013 - 15:07

Batabii

I use VP as a sidearm mostly to keep enemies out of my face. The key is to use charge shots at point blank, shoving them away from you.

Tue, 09/17/2013 - 15:29

Writhes

Yeah the CC bombs are amazing

Yeah the CC bombs are amazing for setting up long charges. I personally love to use electron vortex to suck large packs of mobs together for close range Divine Avenger charge attacks (the physical swing from a charge hits for ridiculous damage). Since the autogun lines hinder movement on players charging and shooting I imagine a lot of the CC bombs would be of great use.

Tue, 09/17/2013 - 16:49

Warrior-Iguy

Thanks for replies.

I've thought about some of these options, some viable and some not for him. I think pepperbox as a sidearm may be effective, so I'll talk to him about valliance/drivers for a main weapon. Pulsar lines may be a bit out of his reach for now, he's on the Royal Jelly missions atm. As for bombs:

-Mist bombs start too small, may be problematic
-Vortex bombs also start with quite a small "suction area"
-Shiver may possibly maybe work okay?

I was also thinking about a blast bomb line after looking at what Fehz did with a BAB and VP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y33peYrjnjg
Do you think a strategy like this may work out?

-Warrior of Iguys

Tue, 09/17/2013 - 18:10

Poopsie

...

work out? yes. Effective? probably not. Newbie-friendly? definitely not. You may also need at least one piece of chaos with that setup because it's really slow bomb. Also keep that pulsar out of his reach please. I don't want him to turn into another annoying player.
Sorry for not suggesting anything ;x

Tue, 09/17/2013 - 18:58

Batabii

What's a CC bomb??

Wed, 09/18/2013 - 02:10

Milkman

Crowd control. I use the

Crowd control.

I use the electron vortex with my pepperbox occasionally. It works decently although sometimes if you're not fast enough you can be caught vulnerable if the vortex finishes while you're still immobilised. I'd say a shivermist buster would be a safer option, as Bopp mentioned.

Wed, 09/18/2013 - 02:51

Geosmin

I'm guessing it's short for "Crowd Control."

Whatever your friend does, for farming anything in T2 I recommend prioritising a Swiftstrike Buckler. That shield's really great for all of Tier 2, including the boss strata, and the ASI benefits autoguns pretty well.

Pepperbox is one of my favourite weapons in this game, but I use mine much differently. Rather than combining it with Freeze/Stun/Shock/Vortex/whatever, I pair it with a more mobile gun like an Alchemer or Catalyser to fill the spaces between opportunities to splatter with the Autogun. I may be atypical, though; when things get hairy and I fall back to a defensive stance, where many reach for a reliable sword, I reach for an Alchemer since it doesn't slow me down nearly as much.

If that sounds appealing, I recommend your friend stick with the Blaster for now, because Alchemers don't really mature until 4-star and because the Blaster's knockback without minimum range or charge time is really handy for gunners in general. Autogun and Blaster takes good care of both T2 boss strata, each covering the weaknesses of the other pretty well. The new "Elite" difficulty mode makes the Blaster's low DPS really noticeable, but when it's time to think about 4-star weapons, adjusting to an Alchemer or Catalyser is still easy.

You know how pinning light monsters against an obstacle lets you force them to take full damage from the Autogun's charge attack, kinda like with Calibur, and how some monsters are just totally helpless to retaliate if you kick them away as they approach, allowing you spam uncharged attacks almost constantly? Shield-bumps alone can do both of those, but both Blaster and Swiftstrike are really handy for making it easier. Alternating between a lazy double (press and release just slow enough that you attack twice instead of once) from the Blaster and a squirt from the Autogun until monster is dead is a newb-friendly way to balance DPS with monster control, and works for most monsters. Of those for which it doesn't work well, either of those weapons on its own is well-suited- for example, Blaster's good for Devilites and Greavers while Autogun's good for Lumbers and Trojans.

Wed, 09/18/2013 - 04:01

Midnight-Dj

hyrid or pure gun?

So is your friend going for a pure gun or gun/bomb hybrid?

If he is gunning for pure gun, then he may wanna see the pulsars and the catalyzers, these guns are the best forms of AoE out there and they can create a good distance between you and your enemies, during this space, you can land a charge of pepper box! However he should consider making a leviathan blade and use it as a side weapon, it does a great job of keeping mobs away and do an average damage to all enemies.

If bomb/hybrid, I suggest the shivermist, the blast bomb from my personal experience, is bad to use if you actually run away after placing the bomb coz the bomb tends to blow enemies into you not away. The shiver however keeps the enemies in place, the fire is inrelevent since the neemy will defreeze after been attacked anyway. And if you are going for bomb/gun hybrid, you should tell your friend to look into to buy some demo suits to pair up with the gunslinger sash. Suits such as volcanic and bombastic can provide you with good status resist for the end game.

Wed, 09/18/2013 - 12:28

#10

Batabii

Wait, what? Isn't EVERY bomb "crowd control"?

Wed, 09/18/2013 - 16:49

#11

Milkman

Ash of Agni wouldn't be. But yes, most are to some degree. I think the distinction comes down to whether damage or crowd control is prioritised.

Wed, 09/18/2013 - 22:21

#12

Awoogawooga

Since your friend is new, I'd

Since your friend is new, I'd recommend the Freezing Vaporizer.

First off, it's a relatively small investment to start with, but at lower levels, you can already feel the benefits. Really, you don't need Shivermist Buster except against Vana himself. Once you reach Freezing Atomizer (4*), it'll be pretty effective in most situations already.

Second, if your friend is willing to make a moderate investment, he can skip straight to the Freezing Vaporizer Mk II (3*) via the AH. It'll save him the trouble of finding Advance Orbs, although since he's presumably running through the missions, he might have a viable stash from mission rewards.

Third, of course, the Freezing Vaporizer can be upgraded to Shivermist Buster, which will be rather convenient once he reaches Vana. Some players seem to "look down" on Shivermist against Vana, but really, there's no shame in making the final boss fight a whole lot easier than attacking him willy nilly.

I wouldn't recommend any other bomb to your friend at this juncture. The Freezing Vaporizer will shut down all enemy movement, making it ideal for something like Pepperbox. As he rises up the ranks and starts amassing a personal armory, he might look into other bombs, but Freeze is good for someone just starting out, especially since he's using a gun that lowers his mobility.

Fri, 09/20/2013 - 12:23

#13

Merethif

@Batabii

@Batabii
All bombs are AoE (Area of Effect), but not CC (Crowd Control)

Ash of Agni, Venom Veiler, Dark Briar Barrage, Dark Retribution, all four Blast bombs and all six Shards bombs aren't Crowd Control.

I suppose the only true Crowd Control bombs are Shivermist Buster, Stagger Storm, Voltaic Tempest, Electron Vortex and Graviton Vortex.

I may be wrong though, I'm not pro when it comes to game naming.

Fri, 09/20/2013 - 16:43

#14

Sylveon

Knockback IS crowd control. Unwieldy cc, but cc nonetheless.

Fri, 09/20/2013 - 18:02

#15

Hmmnm

Mist bombs are the way to

Mist bombs are the way to go.

Gravity is pretty hard to use for new users. Your walking speed slows down much more when charging a gravity bomb than a mist bomb. Even if that doesn't bother you, its pretty hard to charge your other weapon fast enough.

While its true you can get more damage from a gravity-charge attack combo, I'd say it'll works only if you have a good charge speed increase UV on your autogun.

Fri, 09/20/2013 - 20:48

#16

Batabii

So the only bomb that isn't crowd control is DBB? And maybe the shard bombs...and technically VV/AoA since they don't affect mobility. Is that what it is?

Sat, 09/21/2013 - 02:36

#17

Krakob

Nitro and such are crowd control in the same way that Suda and Triglav are.

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Weapons that synergize well with Volcanic Pepperbox?