Spiral Knights - Cutters, not quite as useless

Cutters, not quite as useless

7 replies [Last post]

Tue, 05/27/2014 - 05:43

Holy-Nightmare

I rarely see Cutter lines when I play, (except maybe with lower tier players).

The biggest problem with these weapons is the lack of damage and the fact that in order to flinch an enemy you must complete a long combo. This combo also moves you around a lot and makes hitting a single target with every hit difficult.

Much like how I have come to understand the shard bombs (incredible flinch rate) I think I have found out the best use of the cutter line.

Most swords have a 2 or 3 strike combo, this means that anything you hit generally stays in a tight group. A good player using the Cutter can snag an enemy on the edge of the group and combo-push it away. This can be especially useful when separating a mender from its friends, pushing it so far away that it becomes easy prey for your team. The Cutter is also great at quickly cornering enemies, but this ability is a tad more situational than the other as it requires alert teammates who are ready to deal a final blow to an immobilized enemy (various weapon charges are extremely helpful).

The dread venom striker is considered superior while the WHB only really trumps it on poison beast levels.

This is more of a utility/support weapon and can easily be used to single out high priority enemies.
(it is also terribly fun to use)

Tue, 05/27/2014 - 06:30

Bopp

good points, but

You raise good points. Here are some counterpoints.

I do agree that DVS is generally better than WHB, but if you're thinking about flinching enemies, you might take another look at WHB. Its charge attack flinches enemies much more than DVS' does.

When dealing with menders and other high-priority targets, I charge-attack them to kill them quickly: Acheron, Obsidian, Umbra, Blitz, Callahan, etc. In my opinion this is even better than "separating them". But maybe I feel this way from playing solo so much.

Tue, 05/27/2014 - 06:47

Holy-Nightmare

I have read about the flinch

I have read about the flinch rate increase and am actually in the process of fully heating a Hunting blade to be alched. The charge could be useful if you don't travel with the kind of players who brandish charge blast everything out of your way (as this leaves you open to attack and immobile).

Cutters are better as group weapons because when you are alone enemies will follow you when you pull a mender from the group and will catch up when it shields. You need allies to kill/distract the group while you mercilessly beat whatever target fits your fancy.

They could also work in a same weapon party (i.e. everyone has one same weapon) but finding a party to do this and work together well would be hard.

Tue, 05/27/2014 - 08:07

Bopp

my point

I guess that's my point. To take out a high-priority target with a Cutter, you separate them and beat them to death. This process takes a while, so hopefully you have teammates who can occupy the rest of the monsters. In contrast, to take out a high-priority target with many other weapons, you just instantly kill the monster with a charge. In this way, Cutters are dramatically less useful than other weapons.

That's not to say that Cutters are useless. You can beat the game with just about any weapon, if you're clever. And Cutters are quite fun, in a hack-and-slash kind of way. But nothing here so far has changed my opinion that they are among the weakest of swords.

Tue, 05/27/2014 - 13:15

Soulstaker

It used to be a great weapon

It used to be a great weapon for JK, but ever since Maskeraith and the sprites came out I rarely see them now. While it was just better to get higher DPS weapons and kill it quickly, I still commonly saw it but not anymore. This is why I reccommend maskeraith to new players since it's great for JK and the quills do decent amount of damages.

Wed, 05/28/2014 - 09:08

Krakob

I'd say that cutters synergise with Maskeraith like few weapons do.

The quills are broken at a high pace thanks to cutter's many hits. It gets even better once the cutter gets ghost strikes as well.
Due to their (relatively) high dps, one can pull off great assassination stunts with the invisibility, especially if you have Deadly Cloak.
While I guess nothing is particularly good with the Hexing Haze (maybe bombs due to their mobility?), I'd like to say that cutters may be a bit better than your average sword because you're always on the move and you're never stuck comboing or charging.

Fri, 05/30/2014 - 19:29

Sub-Hazrd

to add on the uses of DVS/WHB

um, well. i use nothing but DVS(with gun back up for anything out of my immediate range), and i have found it to be quite useful as something as simple as a drill. be it through a bunch of bricks of through some critters, it does the job. now, perhaps i am able to use it as such because i run and standing DB ultra on all weapon with Chaos and BKC. but i have not found a more use full sword than it even in vana. i use it quite a bit on groups as well. though i never charge it. i personally have found the charge rather useless. it put you in one place facing one direction for too long a time.

Sat, 05/31/2014 - 03:50

Bopp

now just imagine

Now just imagine using that +5 damage bonus (and +4 CTR) with Acheron, Combuster, or Warmaster Rocket Hammer. I mean, damage bonus helps all of these weapons. When you have damage +0, DVS is one of the weaker swords. When you have damage +5, DVS is still one of the weaker swords.

I do agree with you about the charge, though. And DVS is certainly nice for cutting through bricks (though WRH is just as fast). And DVS is certainly fun.

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Cutters, not quite as useless