Spiral Knights - An Oldbie's perspective on change

An Oldbie's perspective on change

7 replies [Last post]

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 08:32

Axellon

So, for Reasons (being torqued off at the implementation of Shadow Lairs, switching computers, and getting bored with how long it took to grind out CE to craft stuff) I took a LONG break from SK right after the implementation of Shadow Lairs and Accessories (I have no idea what's with my forum account age, since I know I posted on the forums before. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I bound my old account to Steam?), and came back earlier this month for Other Reasons (my good laptop died, so I installed this on my old laptop to have something to play).

So, here's my thoughts:

New Energy System: When I first saw this, I was kinda cheezed (mostly because my Mist Tank got turned into sparks of life), but with thought I think it's a way better system; the old Facebook Game-style system didn't really work for a game where a run takes 20+ minutes.

The Forge: Eeeeh... I recognize the need for F2P games to have some sort of Annoying Gate to encourage people to buy stuff, but I think Alchemy Orbs already fill that niche nicely and that the ever-increasing number of crystals that it takes to level gear combines badly with the whole 'upgraded gear doesn't surpass its previous version until level 7' thing (which, being an old bad mechanic, is outside the scope of this thread). And I hear it gets EVEN WORSE once you start trying to level 5* gear. Eww!

Missions: Woot! The ONLY bad thing I have to say about these is that 90% of them are pretty much dead, which makes it pretty hard to do Elite runs and get Fire Crystals. Especially for a Bomber like yours truely. Also, the new beginning missions (made a new knight to try 'em out) are sweet.

Battle Sprites: Meh. I like the IDEA, but the game is hectic enough that I often forget to use mine. Plus the fact that none of them really synergize well with Bombing.

Operation Crimson Hammer: Totally worth the $5 (actually the first money I've ever spent on this game). Like with other missions, though, it's pretty much dead all the time, at least at T1 and T2.

Crystal Bombs: WHYYYYYYYYYYY? No, seriously, I have no idea what motivated this change, but it's pretty thoroughly crippled the ability of solo bombers to fight turrets. Anyone know the reasoning behind the change?

So, yeah, those are my thoughts!

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 09:23

Misty-Wellington

Plus the fact that none of them really synergize well with Bombing.

I'd have to disagree. and I'll tell you why;

Drakon's Fireball can be used for instant damage - a pretty decent counter to your bombs' delayed fuse - and the long range of the Fireball can also be used to hit switches or far away Ghost Blocks. The Fire Barrier can be used as some form of protection and offense when you're zooming past enemies and placing bombs.

Maskeraith won't be as useful until level 50 when it gains Hexing Haze, which tags enemies and deals damage. Monsters can be tagged multiple times for extra damage. As a bomber who pretty is much built for group decimation (works well on lower numbers too) it's perfect for your playstyle.

Seraphynx's Heart Attack can "enchant" a group of monsters to drop hearts more often. Great for groups and team support, though besides its primary ability Ray of Light, it doesn't directly assist you in a fight.

None of the Sprites will be all too useful until you get them to level 50, where they become 4* equipment.

_____

Shard Bombs were changed because OOO felt that the bombs acted more like a Handgun than an actual bomb with their long reach, and bombs placed directly over enemies could OHKO them. It was never how they intended the bombs to act, thus the change. I wouldn't mind so much if they weren't so weak; you have to spam them to do any real damage.

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 09:26

Seiran

Forge

It's nice to hear about the missions from someone playing through them now, at this point. I created a new character recently, and I'll admit that the content for the new players is pretty cool too. But you're right - for the majority of the missions (especially the ones that just have you go through some arcade-style stages with no special features), people complete them then never go back. As usual, the most common runs are going to be the boss runs, and missions are way faster to get to bosses than going through arcade like before, so arcade population is a little low as well.

The forge system isn't actually all that bad until you hit 5*, and that's only because they tweaked Radiant Fire Crystals (5*) to very rarely drop from d27 and less rarely drop from d28 boxes... with the exception of shadow lairs where all fire crystal drops are Radiants.

I'll double Misty's suggestion for Maskeraith. That pet skill is amazing with vortex, and perfect for you because its cooldown is so long (40 seconds if you have max cooldown reduction) that you'll only need/get to do it at the beginning of large waves.

@Solo bomber:
As silly as it sounds, Blast bomb -> Nitronome route (yeah, the most basic of all bombs, right? haha) is probably one of the best solo bombs now. A while back, I saw a video comparing stage runs using blast/(effective) shard bombs, and the blast bomb runs were quicker :\

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 09:43

Misty-Wellington

people complete them then never go back

You can blame the Party Finder for this. It only shows Mission parties close to your rank and all newly-made Arcade parties. Nobody at the higher-end of the spectrum knows when a lower-end party is being made.

I'd help more people with missions if I could tweak my settings to see lower-end parties.

with the exception of shadow lairs where all fire crystal drops are Radiants.

Nope. I did one the other day and I only got 6 Radiants, all the others were Shinings. Mind you we did only do it on Normal; was our first time at Ice Queen.

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 09:36

Axellon

I guess I see the logic

I guess I see the logic behind the shard bomb change now.
But that doesn't mean I have to like it!

As for sprites, I'm glad that I (apparently) made the right call with Maskeraith then. I was starting to doubt myself.

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 09:48

Seiran

oops

@Axellon
Also misc. tip on heating: I'm assuming you're T3 already, but the 4* crystals are really common there, and if you want any of the lower crystals, you can craft them downwards (for some CR, you'll get 3 lower grade crystals for 1 higher grade crystal).

While I myself have been on a bit of a crafting boycott (will only craft 5* if it's absolutely needed), crafting up to 4* is not bad at all :3

@Misty:
I'm pretty sure lower depth arcade parties show up in party finder, but I'm talking about missions: people don't replay the 'non-special' missions.
[edit in response to edit]:
I'm mostly sure in-progress missions don't show up on Party Finder, feel free to correct me on that. So that said, if you hit a mission and click join party, you'll get sent to an open party that's in the mission lobby.
...but people don't do that for anything except boss runs :\

Also, touché on the Normal Shadow Lair; I leave my difficulty on Elite and forgot that there were other options. I think difficulty has bearing on the drops...

If they don't affect fire crystals, then I'm scaling my Vanaduke speed runs back to Normal difficulty >:3

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 09:46

Misty-Wellington

I edited my comment. Felt as though I didn't explain myself fully or properly xD

Difficulty I believe does affect Crystal drops, but don't quote me on that. Not entirely sure. It does affect other Rarity and loot drops, at any rate.

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 11:04

Fangel

Difficulty affects rarities

The quality of the rarities shouldn't change, but the number should. I believe shining fire crystals drop on the first floor of shadow lairs. I've only done shadow gloaming wildwoods and firestorm citadel, so I don't really remember the drop tables too well.

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An Oldbie's perspective on change