I have three questions about item crafting:

1) Is there any advantage to using high level items in recipes? For instance, you need a hot edge (of any level) to make a searing edge. Is there any difference between using a level 10 hot edge and using a level 1 hot edge to make a searing edge?

2) Can you variant stack? For instance, can you have one Ash of Agni with 5 unique variants on it?

I am interested in faust, and silent nightblade. I would like to know you guys opinion of which is better.
I would think silent nightblade, because of the three strikes and speed, and I've heard that faust doesn't do a ton more damage.
Faust, curses though on the second swing, but the charge attack isn't really usable.

Which is better/which do you prefer--Calibur or Brandish? I started SK very recently and got my grubby hands on a Calibur, but now I'm not too sure about my rash decision. Should I have gone for the various elemental damage in the Brandish tree, or was the Calibur a better choice?
The Calibur does a buttload of damage, at least for where I'm at. Certainly better than my Hot Edge.

http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/10863

I never did get around to making that suggestions topic to make the Blackened Crest purchasable with Almirian Seals.

Guess I don't need to now. :D

So anyway, I'm interested to see how a Crest of Almire will compare to a Grey Owlite in FSC. I'm thinking Grey Owlite will still be the better choice because of the elemental, but Crest of Almire looks like a great shield for general Shadow stuff.

Ok, so I've been through several swords, guns, and bombs now and I think I've finally decided that I want to go with the heavy sword set for now, and I am curently using a Kamarin. My question is, after realizing how horrible (imo) the autogun or any gun that makes you stationary when you fire is with a heavy sword set, I can't decide what gun to use while I work torwards getting the Antigua series. Personally I think it should be a Cryotech Alchemer or a Blaster, the cryo for the freeze effect and the blaster because mobility and shot power/number of shots before reload seems nice.

Hey, I'm fairly new to SK. Been playing for about a week and I plan to buy more energy to advance in the game. I've been reading through several threads about weapons/effects etc. I wanted to know what you thought of the following set up. Also, if you could make any suggestions/subsitutions/points about each, I'd appreciate that. My main routine will be to kill and explore as I'm a noob, nothing much else :p

Weapons: Leviathan Blade, *Dread Venom Striker OR Divine Avenger?
Bomb: Nitronome
Armour: Vog Cub set
Shield: Grey Owlite Shield

1. Is this a good setup, why?

Can someone help me out try decide which owlite is better max normal or max shadow owlite.

I believe I am one of the very few enthusiasts of this bomb, but consider that:
-if you manage to hit one opponent with multiple shards then this bomb easily outmatches and radius-based bombs in terms of damage;
-the shards fly very, very far - way further than any pistol shots;
-SHOCK ELEMENT INCAPACITATES HEALERS (anyone thought about it? I did not - but I saw it and it does);
-your teammates see what is happening on battlefield (try two bombers with nitronomes - visual effects clouds the vision terribly);

So I've upgraded all my equipment to 5* and all that's left is to get my cap and coat there as well. So which way should I go with my Ash Tail set?

My weapons are Dread Venom Striker and Magma Driver, with a Grey Owlite Shield.

I'm thinking the Vog Cub set will be better for Firestorm Citadel, but Skolvers will work better with my blade when doing JK.

I'll probably end up having both at a later time, but who knows how long that'll take.

I just want to make sure, because I can't really search the forums for every admin post and there's nothing I've seen anywhere that answers this question.

Not only are status effects unapplyable while shielding anyway, but even the glitch (I'm assuming) that lets Greavers put their status affects on you through shields is UNAFFECTED BY SHIELD RESISTANCE.

So there really is no point to these shield resistances, right?