2013's huge mega update of the year in SK was ofcourse battle sprites.
Do people still use them? Even if they remember to bring them, do you actually use, or rather need the skills?
Sera's shield orbs now come as a monster drop, as do drakon's fire balls.
I think it's no coincidence that the abbreviation for 'battle sprite' is BS.
Sera's Shield to walk on spike traps when too impatient to wait.
Sera's laser beam on Vana.
That's it :P
I use the sprite for the 'trinket slot'
Maskeraith's cloak for some extra DPS (especially with the charge duping glitch), Maskeraith's Quills when there's an annoying healer, Maskeraith's mobile haze bomb when I'm feeling lazy.
Of course nobody uses their battle sprites anymore, those two on-demand abilities out of the eighteen (specialized included) being redundant with random mob drops makes all three battle sprites completely and utterly worthless. It's not like those redundant abilities have any other effects or even two other skills, so why even bother with sprites at all?
If only they had a passive perk knights could choose to at least make them worth wearing, even if they forget to use the abilities...
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for the overloading of any sarcasm meters.
Still use it but obviously not as often as when it is first come out.
I use my sprite abilities all the time, even to the point of planning my loadouts around them.
Quills buff the Antigua nicely. Same with Hex and Spine Cone.
Much like the new drops borrow from the Sprite skills, I find myself wishing the Hex sticky bomb idea would be reused on the Shard bombs.
Maskeraith user here:
Not that it matters now, but when I got to soloing Grinchlin Assault, I would completely disable a rocket puppy in the final room by facing it towards the wall then cloaking out of the way, then either kill or attempt to do the same to the other rocket pup. It made the last room so much more manageable.
When doing solo speed runs in FSC, I liberally use Vengeful quills and the Hex move, depending on the waves I'm fighting (quills for smaller/more-frequent waves, hex for larger/less-frequent waves).
I'm actually eyeing Drakon for that sprinting skill. It looks so fun and... time saving :3
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Not to derail the topic (maybe something to think about/throw in on the sides), but does anyone use shield bash? I only ever use it in solo Vana fights, cause I'd rather have a slow and stunned Vanaduke and move minimally than have to keep running circles behind him and have him spamming fire tiles at full speed.
Copy/Paste from this Thread:
"My experience with Drakon as a Bomber
Drakon is a great Sprite for a Bomber, like me, who uses 1 Sword & 3 Bombs.
The Firebolt Skill is great at activating switches from afar & having the Concussive Ultimate Upgrade, the Stun+Fire can really come in handy, disabling hostile turrets from a safe distance before going in for the kill.
The Barrier is useful in some situations. Taking down Lumbers has never been faster & the Backfire Ultimate Upgrade allows me to catch up with my Party if they're ahead or going to places faster. Although, the speed boost is minor in duration, it's certainly noticable.
The Firestorm, despite what most people say, is my favorite Skill. It's basically a Fire Mist Bomb, giving you the feeling of having 5 Weapons. I chose the Explosive Ultimate Upgrade, because with the vanilla version, I wasn't able to harm Fire-Themed Monsters. Also, explosions.
I use the Sword Damage Bonus: Medium Perk on my Drakon to give me a little extra "oomph" with my Sword, since my Bombs benefit from my Mad Bomber Set & Elite Boom Module."
I didn't really use it for some time, but my seraphynx laser is being built into my play style now. I'll often use the laser when repositioning so I can get enemies where I want them or do a little more damage when I wouldn't normally be attacking.
You know, I use my Drakon all the time! Firestorm is much better than most say; it just has its quarks, but once you get around 'em, it's easy, slow cooking. :3
Maskeraith is still very useful for escaping, dealing AoE, and just adding DPS overall.
I am probably the only one and please no "hate:....
But I HATE MY SPRITE SOO MUCH I WANT TO DELETE IT...
:= STEALING THE TINIEST AMOUNT OF MY DEPTH HEAT...
:= EATING ALL OF MY MATS....
argh.......cake
younr, pets don't steal heat. your gear recieves the heat you would get if the sprite wasn't there and the sprite gets the the sam amount but without stealing anything.
I second Bitsbee, though my Drakon doesn't have the Barrier and Firestorm Ultimates yet.
Yes I certainly do. Maskie's quills to poison, the hex for crowds, and the cloak to either get away safely, or to use the shield bash safely. Plus, it's a walking trinket, without having to pay a monthly fee of energy.
To answer Seiran, I do use my shield bash as stated earlier. I use it to stun the baddies first, then let my teammates handle them while I take on other targets. Or I use it on zombies so that they get out of the grim's totem range. The bash is still useful.
Aw hells yeah! What us would my Maskeraith be if I never used him to aid me in battle and if I didn't over-spoil him with all the sprite stuff and harnesses?
I'm also thinking of getting a seraphynx.
I spit upon people that max out their sprite and never use it for its abilities. Same to the people that are in the low levels and never feed their pet/have a pet who is ready to level up and I offer to sell the food item for a cheap price and they refuse to buy it.
Let's hope I'll make use of my future seraphynx then O.o. But my Masker is my original and he does everything so well and..
BWARGH HALP ME!
I love for my Seraphynx.
I'm getting close to getting my Masky, so I'm hoping it'll be worth all all the saving.
It'll be fun to play around with a different sprite that I'm not used its abilities and such. :3
I just expect people to use a Battle Sprite, not all of them at once. The best method, like any Pokémon game, is to max out a Pokémon and use an EXP Share. Since there are no EXP Shares, max your Maskeraith then bring Seraphinx to levels you don't lean on your sprite too much. Besides, Angelic Aura works especially well on the fire/spike maze in D26 of FSC. Hexzyle Haze works well when you summon every slag at once at the opposite room. Drakon... upgraded forms of Firestorm? Up speed and damage or deal damage, or use a Barrier to rack damage at the zombies.
Also Heat amps make sprites regenerate hunger twice as fast.
Lvl 100 seraphynx....you better be damn sure i use it if its lvl 100. Its actually halariouse that I can do Gauntlet now with a 3 star shield and only loose a E revive :]
I use Seraphynx to give me more chances for hearts in a pinch. Haven't unlocked the shield ability yet, so I can't give my word on that. The Ray is kinda useless unless there's a way to make it do over 100 damage a hit. I don't own a Maskeraith or Drakon, so those are sadly out of the question.
Yes, i make use of my sprite. Maskeraith's utility is too good to ignore.
I use my maskeraith all the time and It isn't even level 90 yet.
I only have a Drakon and it is only level 79. There are already some Steam guides. But from gathered info, here is my knowledge for ultimates:
Drakon:
Concussive if you are good at accuracy and want enemies slowed down, Meteoric for not so great accuracy or if you have a Swagger Storm or a lot of skill with shield bashes.
Scorching for more damage, Backfire for 2sec extra MSI. If you use your barrier mostly for damaging purposes, get Scorching, otherwise Backfire.
Do you want attack and speed boosts to your whole party, or a big tile of destruction? Depends on preference, vortex enhances bonuses/damages. Honestly don't know becuase I don't even use Firestorm that often.
Seraphinx:
Disintigration Ray because Dazzling is terrible in comparison.
Iron Heart Attack, because Violent is bugged.
Valkyre if you charge weapons a lot, and now is a great time to spam Blitz/VP everywhere. Seraphic if you love your shield when you already have a shield. More emphasis on Valkyre.
Maskeraith:
Explosions are small, go with Vengeful. Not that Virluent is bad or anything, but the explosions are small. I've seen them myself.
The bonuses last for two seconds, but I have never seen Vengeful Cloak in action. Ask Zeddy, he knows.
Haunted Haze is bugged, go with Chaotic.
Don't bother getting a Dark Harness, get either crystal or golden, you'll wish you did, especially in FSC where you can quill Vanaduke or stun it or even lower its defenses.
Most of you probably know all of this stuff. You just have to know when to use an ability in the right situation. Group of mobs? Have a Sera use Valkyre Aura and a Maskie activate Chaotic Haze and spam VPs then make a run for it. Long hallway? Backfire Barrier or Deadly Cloak can speed things up a bit! Trojan? Use Sera's ray and go around the trojan as the kitty continues to attack for some sweet damage. Need to hit a switch in a pinch, but forgot a gun? Firebolt. Want to have fun with your new Obsidian Crusher? Upgrade Firestorm and have someone quill the sucked in mobs and continue spamming brandish charges. Need defense for the upcoming swarm of Greavers? Drakon's barrier and Sera's Metal Cardiac Arrest.
I often forget about it but whenever I'm waiting for spikes I suddenly remember about my sera shield. And after using it once I usually use it more often. But I rarely "needs" it, like most pointed out sera is only good for shielding spike traps and lazoring vana/JK. The hearts is also good because of how large you can reach for enemies. You can hit a whole group when they spawn and let your friends obliterate them for quick HP...
D26 is where I reached 210 seconds of deff buff because you can hold on it for pretty much the entire level once you get it going. A lot of groups spawn together pretty nicely to time it. Then you move fast to the next area, put zombol together on the left with statues then rush all 4 buttons to open gate, rush on key, heart attack, open gate, smash zombs... man I just laugh thinking about it and how awesome it was....
I let my sprite wear a shadow harness to FSC, I neglected to choose either of the first two ultimates, and I left the quills' poison stat at zero so they're still cute and purple. The reactions I get when I explain this to people are EASILY worth whatever time I could have saved being optimal and remembering to use skills.
Cloaking is still useful for getting where I want to go without getting bogged down, though, and Backfire Barrier and Angelic Aura seem like they'd be similarly helpful.
Then let me ask you all this.
If you had the option of getting all the mats and cr back that you invested in your pet, would you do it?
Hexzyle Haze works well when you summon every slag at once at the opposite room
What.
@Scirio
No, because I want to be able to have my pet perks and slap slags in the face with a Firebolt when preparing Blitz or Nova charges.
@Hexzyle
The phrase Hexing Haze sounds a bit boring. So I changed it.
There's a secret third ultimate for hexing haze! When used, enemies are inflicted with "science" and randomly change status variants.
Usevnsevnsixfivfor: Also Heat amps make sprites regenerate hunger twice as fast.
Interesting claim found!
Confirmation wanted!
From Wiki: Playing with the sprite in the Clockworks regenerates its appetite a bit faster.
^ and this was my impression as well, originally thinking it it regained appetite per floor completed (proven sadly wrong when I tried 'skipping' deconstruction zones). I thought it was just up to a timer and that maybe I was just hitting those spots coincidentally when completing stages, but if it's based on heat gain... that'd totally make sense!
Edit:
I'd totally have loved to test this but my Maskeraith's maxed out and can't eat anymore and I'm too poor/indecisive to get a new pet.
I maxed all three pets, and rarely use the abilities. Most of the time I just forget I have them and use the sprite for an additional trinket slot. If the cooldown for abilities didn't apply for all of them when only one ability was used, I would certainly use them more. As it stands, they're little more than an extension of my epeen.
I've been using the quills from my maskeraith since I got it until now, with it being fully leveled. Great for tossing in when there is a crowd with healers or combining with fire or shock weapons. The cloak makes an occasional get-out-of-jail card, and hex combined with Spike Shower makes hash of beast levels.
Heck yes.
The 3 of em help out so much it's not even funny. (Yeah, drakon's burnout and big rock hard firebolt)
Although I do love playing the medic of the party with seraphynx. Dem hearts are pretty tasty. And I have yet to see a single person ignore the defense orbs since practically almost everyone calls them useless.