Loadout Help For A Nubbie!

Hey guys, my name is Paraxion and I just recently joined the Spiral Knights community. I started playing about a week ago, and instantly started to love this epic game. So, as a nubbie, I don't have much knowledge on Armor, Weapons, etc. Can you help me out?
I have done some wiki'ing and have read some guides on SK already, and have gotten down the basics. I know what's going on with all the different paths, alchemy, materials, rarity, etc. I am just struggling to decide what my loadout should be, so I want your opinion! My main aim is to be a Elemental Knight, focusing on Elemental gear and stuff. Here's how my CURRENT loadout looks like:
-Brandish (I'm considering upgrading to Fire Element at 3*, let me know your opinion)
-Cryotech 2* Handgun (Should I change to Prismatech? I have heard from guildmates that it is very powerful, especially the final 5* version. But, it has no status effect and I would have to get the 2* to craft the 3*. I chose the Cryotech when buying 2* stuff from HOH because it looked like it had good stats, and was the opposite of Fire which was the Brandish 3* Element I intended to upgrade to. Should I stick to the Cryo or go for Prisma?)
-Magic Armor/Hood (Apparently the later evolutions of it are super OP, let me know if I should change to something like Wolver armor or anything else)
-Owlite Shield (Any good 3* shields that suit my Elemental based loadout?)
Now this is the big question. Should I change my Elemental focused loadout to something else? Remember, all of the gear above was chosen purely from preference. Is there a clearly OP set that I should have bought instead? Did I buy the right stuff (Cryotech? Owlite Shield? Magic Armor/Hood?) Please, all you experienced Knights out there, lend me some assistance! I would appreciate it greatly, and I hope to become a Knight who can teach other nubbies what I have learnt from you guys! Thanks, everyone! :D
Add me on SK if you'd like: Paraxion

You seem to be going for a sword-gun hybrid loadout, which is quite reasonable. I have a detailed sword guide which describes how to design such a set. It clears up some of the misconceptions about damage and status that you seem to have (as Corellanus has already mentioned).
You might also consider reading my armor guide. It explains what the overpowered armors are, and what you lose by using them.
Specifically about your loadout:
* You don't want to specialize in one damage type on your weapons. You almost always want multiple damage types.
* You should always plan your items in terms of their 5-star versions, because that's where everything eventually ends up. So don't talk about whether Magic Hood is good. Talk about whether Chaos Cowl, Divine Veil, and Grey Feather Cowl are good. (They are, but in different ways.)

Your weapons: Fire and freeze are both powerful and useful statuses. However they are the only statuses in the game that can't exist on a single target at once. I would recommend the Voltech since both fire and shock can be on a target and you get more damage from the status.
Armor: Your current armor set has a few solid options. One is highly defensive and while it doesn't offer damage boosts it offers excellent protection from Shock and Fire, another has shadow defense as well as elemental but lacks normal defense, and the most commonly used has powerful damage boosts but massive penalties to status.
You should probably invest in some sets to protect from each damage type, I would suggest Wolver and Shade sets.
Shields: The owlite shield is a solid choice but it is always good to be prepared, the Skelly shield line and the Bristling buckler shield should offer the coverage you need.
As for OP sets each person has their opinion. I like to be able to shrug off status easily while others want more power and speed even if it means sacrificing defense.

I think I would be fit with this gear, let me know what you think of my opinion based on your guys' comments! BTW thanks so much for the help! Highly appreciated! :D
Sword: Brandish (Fire Path)
Shield: Undecided
Armor: Wolver Armor? (Vog Path?)
Gun: Shadowtech Alchemer Path? or Pulsar? (IDK which path they all look awesome) I'm not a big fan of the slow 2 shots reload thing, and I'm not so efficient at cancelling. The pulsar has a bit of a damage penalty compared to the Shadowtech Alchemer, but fires much faster. Should I go for the Pulsar?

Also, is it worth crafting the 3* Cobalt Armor/3* Calibur/3* Great Defender/3* Bomb/3* Blaster with the the recipes the missions give you? It costs a LOT to get Orbs, especially Advanced ones. Should I just ignore those things and just move on with my desired loadout?

Speaking of Orbs above, are there any efficient ways to get Orbs? I need loads of Simple and Advanced Orbs of Alchemy ATM... it's so expensive!

Armor: I'd say keep going with your Magic set instead of a Wolver line. Going for Grey Feather set is one of the best things you can do as a noobie because having a free max fire defense and max shock defense set basically gives you free roam of most of the important areas in the game as of right now (FSC, danger missions, shadow lairs, etc). Personally, I'd say go for Grey Feather over Vog Cub, as max Shock defense > Sword ASI VH, in my eyes, but I'm sure people will tell you otherwise. I just see the ASI as a useless crutch-- not many armors actually have it so when you lose it you'll be lost in a world of slowness and you'll take damage constantly. Since Grey Feather gives no significant buffs besides its amazing defenses, you'll learn a playstyle and then you can just be better than you were before when you actually put on a different set that gives other bonuses (such as Chaos, which is worth investing in after you've gotten some defensive armors).
Shield: Stick with Grey Owlite Shield, or consider Crest of Almire. Both give maximum Fire and Shock defense which are both amazing statuses to defend against, with the main differences being that Grey Owlite Shield is Elemental (more common) while Crest of Almire is Shadow (more dangerous). You can decide how you want from that. Additionally, consider Ancient Plate Shield-- it's basically a free shield, you just need to run a certain boss ten times and you'll have enough tokens to buy it. It (probably) has the highest Normal defense in the game (honestly the only one that matters), and has maximum stun resistance, making it one of the best overall shields in the game in my opinion. Don't know what shield to take? Ancient Plate Shield works just as well as any specific shield would, but the max stun resistances makes it not get broken in one hit from the heavier monsters, which is, you know, good.
"Sword: Brandish (Fire Path)
Gun: Shadowtech Alchemer Path? or Pulsar?"
This is why I wish I initially posted here to give you ideas. e.e
For swords, consider Nightblade rather than Fireburst Brandish. And for guns, consider Storm Driver rather than those two, or Wildfire/Polaris if you really want to go for a Pulsar (I like Polaris better, but Wildfire is more useful for end-game farming, so it would be the priority). Or for what it's worth, get both Shadowtech Alchemer and Voltech Alchemer (or a Pulsar)! It's great to have options and both Alchemers are well worth the time and money you have to invest in them, as they're fantastic guns. If you really, really just don't want to go for Alchemers, then go for Phantamos and Arcana, which are both Blaster upgrades. They have nice hitboxes, nice knockback, nice damage, they're just overall good guns. They're not great, but they're certainly not bad and their drawbacks are few and far between. They're the ultimate guns for picking up if you can't decide on a gun. Or, as mentioned in Bopp's sword guide, you can go for Iron Slug, which is an amazingly strong gun that can be used effectively in any area, making it a great choice as your first gun.
Acheron (Nightblade's upgrade) is extremely powerful, and can very easily hold its own even in areas with enemies resistant to Shadow (seriously, when it got buffed people actually did one of the final areas with just Acheron and Shadow weapons, and the area is 99% filled with enemies that resist Shadow damage). While it may not make sense now, it's probably better to go for Nightblade rather than Fireburst, and I'll tell you one more reason to go for Nightblade rather than Fireburst in a moment.
"Also, is it worth crafting the 3* Cobalt Armor/3* Calibur/3* Great Defender/3* Bomb/3* Blaster"
The Cobalt armor set is the worst set in the entire game. No joke. It wouldn't be worth crafting if Three Rings payed you to craft it. Defender is the same way, except it's only the second worst shield in the game so it has that going for it at least. Calibur is good but not great and is moreso a collectors item when there's so many options available these days that outperform it. (Acheron for example, which despite being a Shadow sword does more damage to enemies resistant to Shadow than Leviathan Blade does to any enemy).
Blast Bomb and Blaster, however, are both fantastic, and well worth investing in, although you should probably hold off on that until you're Vanguard, where it should be a first priority if you still want them.
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Okay. This is a personal thing and I know it's probably going to sound kind of weird, but get the DLC. The DLC is well worth the money-- the areas are extremely fun and innovative, the boss is amazing and interesting, and more importantly, the rewards you get from it are amazing. Not only do you get hands down the best Shadow bomb in the game (and one of the best bombs in the game period), you also get one of the best Elemental swords in the game (the reason I said make Nightblade instead of Fireburst Brandish). Additionally, you can craft the Perfect Mask of Seerus, which is basically just Grey Feather Cowl but gives Gun CTR Med and Gun ASI Low; it's honestly one of the best helmets in the entire game (yeah, I'll go that far about it).
If you don't want to actually pay real money for the DLC, then save up for it and buy it with Energy you bought yourself. I know it's a lot, but the rewards are worth significantly more than the cost of buying the DLC. It's definitely something you should look in to as it will make your life so much easier and you'll be better off because of it.
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As for farming Orbs: just be patient! Make sure you're farming the right areas and that you're on Elite difficulty, and after that, patience is all you need. If you haven't already, try referring to Fehzor's guide on farming rarities and other items, there's a lot of helpful information there: http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/108732

Sword: Brandish (Fire Path). Shield: Undecided. Armor: Wolver Armor? (Vog Path?). Gun: Shadowtech Alchemer Path? or Pulsar?
Remember that you should always plan in terms of 5-star items. In your case this is especially important, because Pulsar leads to some guns that go terribly with Combuster, namely Polaris and Wildfire. I don't recommend Permafroster either, because of the freeze. Supernova might be okay for you, as a crowd-control weapon.
Also, is it worth crafting the 3* Cobalt Armor/3* Calibur/3* Great Defender/3* Bomb/3* Blaster with the the recipes the missions give you? It costs a LOT to get Orbs, especially Advanced ones. Should I just ignore those things and just move on with my desired loadout?
No. Do not get any of these items right now. You might think that they are a bargain, because the recipes are free. But recipe cost is a tiny fraction of the overall cost of the item. The armor and shield are terrible. The weapons are not terrible, but you're planning for better ones.
Speaking of Orbs above, are there any efficient ways to get Orbs? I need loads of Simple and Advanced Orbs of Alchemy ATM... it's so expensive!
This is a frequently asked question. My pre-composed answer is here. The short version is: Buy them, because the alternative strategies take even longer.

Thanks for all the answers once again, here's another update.
Sword: Combuster (I think I am going to aim to get BOTH the Combuster and Acheron, any tips on this?)
Shield: Grey Owlite Shield (Seems like a solid option)
Armor: Still Not Decided! (Grey Feather or Vog Cub) They Both Look Very Good...
Handgun: Umbra Driver (Can someone give me a tutorial on how to cancel the reloading time? I have heard people talk about "cancelling", and I'm not too familiar with the term.)

"Sword: Combuster (I think I am going to aim to get BOTH the Combuster and Acheron, any tips on this?)"
Get both and you're perfect.
"Shield: Grey Owlite Shield (Seems like a solid option)"
Perfect, though I still think you should consider Crest of Almire. Make sure you really want to defend against Constructs and Gremlins instead of Undead and Fiends. Many people consider the Shadow monsters to be much tougher, so choose wisely. Otherwise, the shields do basically the same exact thing, and since you get Crest of Almire as a Token Reward from a boss, you can continue upgrading your Owlite Shield until you get there, so no worries about deciding right now.
Alternatively, get Grey Owlite Shield and Dread Skelly Shield, and you'll resist the four main statuses and won't need to make any other shields for quite a while unless you just really want to.
"Armor: Still Not Decided! (Grey Feather or Vog Cub) They Both Look Very Good..."
My vote is still towards Grey Feather because Max Shock Resistance trumps having a crutch ASI Increase that will be hard to get away from once you get used to it, and you'll want to eventually get more armor sets, but they're both amazing sets. Vog Cub was my first set personally, and now that I have them both I wish I had made Grey Feather instead. Don't forget you could always make one piece from both.
"(Can someone give me a tutorial on how to cancel the reloading time? I have heard people talk about "cancelling", and I'm not too familiar with the term.)"
This is easier said than done, but it's actually very simple and can be put to muscle memory after just a small bit of practice.
First of all, you need to know what a shield cancel is. After you shoot a gun or swing a sword, if you press shield you'll end your ending animation's lag MUCH earlier, allowing you to perform another action out of your attack much sooner. This makes it faster for swinging swords, but when we're looking at guns, it lets use swap our guns almost immediately after firing. The reason this is important is because swapping weapons basically gives you a full clip again. So to shoot Umbra Driver infinitely, you'd shoot, shield cancel, swap weapon, swap back to Umbra Driver, and repeat the process. It's kind of confusing at first, but it's actually really simple. To practice, start with a slow two-shot line (get a Punch Gun for this, they're cheap and you can make/buy one for like nothing. I even have a spare if you don't want to waste any money). Once you can switch-shoot effectively with that, move on to a Blaster gun (like Proto Gun), then finally your Alchemers.
If you'd like some more information on it, check out the Gunslinger guide which notes how it can be done effectively here: http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Gunslinger_Guide#Techniques
Also, consider a Blitz Needle or Gilded Griffon just for the sake of farming a specific end-game boss (Blitz Needle preferably). It's one of those small things that will make your life much easier in the long run and allow you to get more items you want faster, so you can go from "I want to be Vanguard" to "I want to get that weapon because it looks fun, and I can get it now because end-game is easier."

Weapons
Combuster and Acheron are two of the most powerful swords in the game. They are also easy to use. The only problem here is that you might get a little bored, because they have exactly the same style. It would be nice to mix in a different elemental sword, or maybe Gran Faust, or maybe a piercing sword, just for variety. But you can always do that later.
Umbra Driver is a great gun, but there are very few situations in which you will want to carry both Acheron and Umbra. So you're basically planning for only two loadouts: Combuster and Umbra, or Combuster and Acheron.
Consider replacing Umbra Driver with Callahan or Iron Slug. Or consider replacing Acheron with Final Flourish/Barbarous Thorn Blade. Or Dark Briar Barrage. Then you can have three useful two-weapon loadouts instead of just two.
Actually, I'm assuming an important detail that you've omitted: Do you plan to continue using just two weapon slots? Or do you plan to use weapon slot upgrades? Either one is fine, but we can't plan a good loadout for you without knowing how many weapons are in it.
Armor and Shield
Grey Owlite is a very reliable defensive shield. It's a great first choice.
In armors you are deciding between Vog Cub, which offers a nice mix of offense and defense, and Grey Feather, which is highly defensive. My armor guide advises you to consider defensive armors only after you've failed with more offensive armors. So I recommend Vog Cub strongly over Grey Feather right now.
Dibsville's viewpoint is reasonable, but his view of ASI as a "crutch" versus shock protection is pure opinion. You could just as fairly view shock protection as a crutch that lets you not learn how to dodge.

I find I agree with Bopp. (I seem to do that often.) Vog+(Acheron, Combuster, FF/BTB - pick one to fit the area you're in}+Slug is a very strong offensive set. Throw in a Dark Briar Barrage for occasional variety and you'll be great.
I'd probably use the BTS instead of an Owilite shield. I have both, but the Owlite's status bonus is not as great a boon as it sounds. It only protects itself, not you, and then only while you're actively using it. But the BTS's damage bonus benefits you all the time.
That, and I find I use shields for actual shielding a lot less than I thought I would. Most often I use my shield for bumping, which either one can do just as well as the other.

Smalltownguy is right, that you will eventually use Barbarous Thorn Shield more than Grey Owlite Shield, because its defense is adequate for most situations (and it offers an offensive bonus). Eventually you may even use the 3-star Swiftstrike Buckler more than Grey Owlite Shield.
But right now you seem to be concerned about defense --- maybe because your computer is laggy, or you're not confident in your skills yet --- and Grey Owlite Shield is a fine choice.
When you are somewhere around 4 stars, you might want to pick up Swiftstrike Buckler as a second shield. Also, when the next Kataclysmic Confrontation event occurs, be sure to get the 3-star Black Kat helmet. These are both cheap ways to start exploring "glass cannon" (high offense, low defense) loadouts.

Armor lines you should end with
Grey Owlite for fire/shock/elemental protection
Skolver for freeze/pierce protection with sword boosts
Sacred Firefly Shade for Fire/Shadow protection with gun boosts
Shields
Grey Owlite shield
Barbarous Thorn shield for Pierce with sword boosts
Dread Skelly shield for shadow/freeze/poison resists
Sword
Combuster is a good pick (even though I prefer the Divine avenger)
Acheron is good but I would suggest trying to get the Obsidian edge which is a sidegrade. It's poison should prove very helpful late game when healers are stronger.
Final Flourish is your pierce sword. It's sidegrades aren't as useful.
Guns
Iron Slug
Blitz needle
Phantasmos
Storm or Nova Driver
Cobalt line defensive gear is only really good at status free pierce levels and even then players appreciate having more offensive boosts so you can just sell them for now unless you want to make the Almirian crusader set later.
The weapons are all very solid options that allow you to combat any enemy. Granted they have less damage but no monster resists it's damage type.

Holy-Nightmare, I mostly agree with your choices, but there are too many. Which ones would you advise Paraxion to get first, if you had to pick just one helmet, one suit, one shield, and two or three weapons?

First I would invest in getting armors to resist all 3 damage types
Wolver
Shade
Magic
and the 3 base shields
Bristling buckler (earnable)
Skelly (free!)
Owlite (up to you to craft)
Considering the first 2-3 bosses
Nightblade
Spine cone
Volt driver
or
Fireburst brandish
Fiery vaporizer
Needle gun

Sorry for the late reply, I have just been occupied lately from school. Firstly, I would like to put out that I didn't know that I could get more than 2 slots for weapons. I will probably put a bomb there in the blank spot, and I am planning to get 2 different loadouts. The reason being is, I don't have enough resources at the moment to get 3 loadouts, so maybe later when I get better I will get a new loadout.
Swords: Combuster and Acheron
Handguns: Umbra Driver and Iron Slug
Shields: Barbarous Thorn Shield and Grey Owlite Shield
Armor: Grey Feather and Vog Cub
Bombs: Dark Briar Barrage (Any suggestions for a good 2nd bomb? Or should I use DBB for both loadouts when I get 3 weapon slots?)
Thanks guys, and add me on SK if you need! (Paraxion is my IGN)

Later in the game, I will also aim to get the Autogun and make it a Blitz Needle.

You should make one of the vortexes.
The Electron Vortex is considered the best since the shock can keep the monsters together after the explosion - which can blast monsters all over the screen. It is the hardest to get due to being obtainable via krogmo coins, thus pvp.
The Obsidian Crusher can be a decent option, the poison may sometimes help if the monsters aren't killed fast enough, but for this weapon you need the materials from the apocrea event - which takes a few hours to get, but obviously you have to wait for the event.
The Graviton Vortex is the easiest to get, it has no status (does bit more dmg than the crusher), nothing fancy over here, but it does the job, which is:
to suck everything together so then you can kill them with the weapon of your choise.
Vortexes work well with almost every weapon in the game, and can make clearing places way faster.
(oh yeah, there's actually a 4th one, from the promo, which does fire, but only a handful of ppl can experience that...)
A couple points of interest:
Chaos Set(the 5 star version of magic armor I'm guessing you are referring to) is powerful yes, but unfortunately has negative status resistance, meaning you will not only take MORE damage from statuses like fire and shock, but they will also last longer when you're affected by them. So no, it is not the BEST option, just one of the most sought after. It gives a great damage and charge bonus to all weapons, but if you're not used to dodging and avoiding damage by the time you have to make it, you're going to be in a world of pain the moment you obtain it.
Statuses and Elemental damage are almost completely different things in this game, "Elemental" is a type of damage/resistance that is done by certain weapons/enemies, where statuses are just side effects of many weapons, although the shock status does deal exclusively elemental damage, it is the only case where a status does do that. I'm guessing you're talking about elemental resistance and damage obviously, but "specializing" in that damage type only isn't going to help you in the long run either, as many enemies, especially as you progress through missions, are going to resist elemental, meaning it'll take you much longer to kill them off than it could have.
Statuses however, except Shock, do entirely normal damage, meaning you won't see gold/yellow or gray numbers on the damage from them. There isn't an "opposite" for statuses, some just tend to be more useful at times than others. When I think about using Freeze as a counter to Fire in status, I think back to haze styled bombs where a Shivermist Buster is placed next to an Ash of Agni, speeding up the damage caused by the fire because the freezing effect stops them in place and freezes them, but as they are also affected by the fire, they are near instantly thawed out and refrozen, helping to kill them off a little faster than would be normal for just fire.
Which brings me to my next point, your weapons. A Combuster(5* fire brandish) along with the Acheron(5* shadow brandish) or Obsidian Edge(also 5* shadow brandish, made from an event, so is harder to obtain) is probably one of your best choices if you intend to do mostly damage with your sword, people will say the Voltedge or Glacius is better, and they have reasons to believe so. I personally think the Combuster is one of your best damage options for an elemental sword, because when you use the charge, it is more likely to hit enemies with the entire charge shot, where the Glacius and Voltedge tend to freeze them halfway because they stop in place from the status effect, the Combuster will still set them on fire, but won't stop them halfway through. This is probably the only reason I prefer it over the others, but the choice still falls to you.
As for your other weapon, I don't suggest it also being elemental, as you need to make sure you have some variety of damage types so you can handle anything on a given floor with relative ease. That being said, You also need to make sure you want to use an Alchemer as your other weapon, there are quite a number of weapon choices now, and while the Alchemer shots may bounce after hitting, and the charge shot is basically a cluster bomb when fired at a crowd, you only get 2 basic shots before you are forced to reload, meaning you have to shield cancel each shot, or constantly "insta-switch(setting a button for each weapon and constantly using those to switch between two different ones)" weapons back and forth to cancel out the second attack and reset your bullet count again in a much shorter time. If this is something you want to use and deal with, then go right ahead, get the Alchemer and run with it, but as a counter to your Elemental Brandish I would then suggest a Shadowtech Alchemer, as it is the exact same as a Prismatech you were thinking of getting, except it deals Shadow damage instead.
If you decide you don't want to worry about that or the reload as much, then I suggest one of the blasters or maybe a Pulsar or Antigua line weapon. They all have a Shadow damage type option to make, but you won't see any of those in the HoH, because they all came with the gunner update or are boss line weapons, meaning you have to play the arcade and buy recipes from Basil. If you don't want to take shadow damage but instead want piercing damage, the Antigua and blaster both have a piercing damage type you can make as well, and the Antigua itself deals piercing damage starting out. If you chose a blaster or Antigua though, neither of them deals a status effect, an Obsidian Carbine does deal Poison status, but again, that's an event weapon that you would be waiting around to make.
My final point(for now) would be your armor, there is a number of armors based around boosting the damage type you want to do most and the weapons you prefer to use without sacrificing your defense in the process. Well, some variety, at least, if you want swords, unfortunately the only one that really boosts JUST swords is the Wolver line of armor, but there is an option for each type of damage resistance at 5 star there, however if you want shadow defense you have to complete at least one shadow lair(providing you have the materials to craft it AND bought one of the materials you would get FROM the lair already), however a lot of people do like the fiery look of Vog, as that would be the Elemental defense line you might be looking for. If you prefer to boost your gun damage/speed however, there is not only the selection from the HoH, but a large number of armors were added to Basil for exclusive gun bonuses, however until 5 star all the boosts you would get would be "low" from both the armor and helmet, and once at 5 star the damage bonuses would be "medium" to a specific enemy type, or "low" to all types depending on which one you selected to go with, meaning with armor and helmet the boost would be either "very high" to one type or just "medium" to everything when you use guns, but there is a type of gunner based armor for each damage type and nearly all statuses in the game, so that is worth looking into though if you want gunner based armor instead.
Oh, I will also add that while the Chaos set gives damage bonuses in exchange for negative defense, the other two options for the magic cloak/hood both have rather high defense and resistance, but do not really boost your damage at all, so if you want to keep the cloak and hood, but do not mind getting something other than Chaos, you have the Grey Feather Mantle/Cowl and Divine Mantle/Veil to pick from as well.
I could go into bombs as well, but I'll let you think about the above first. if you have any questions you can add me in game as well, my name is the same as on the left here.