The Brandish Line
mar, 06/21/2011 - 11:36
Heya, was wondering a couple things about the Brandish line of weaponry. Had an argument with my sister about which one was the best given our respective situations. Still on 2* items and planning on taking the Spur line all the way up to Winmillion at 4*. But beyond that it's a toss-up where to go next.
We both have already agreed that Cautery Sword isn't worth it and that Combuster isn't going to be helpful in the end-game with fire-resistant enemies. But then we come down to a disagreement over Acheron vs Glacius. I personally feel Acheron would be a better choice, partially for the look and partially for the shadow damage, of which only Gran Faust shares. And after looking through past discussions of Faust vs Acheron, I can safely place my confidence in Acheron. By nature I'm a gun user, but I don't like the feel of the Alchemiser series much, and everyone's been telling me to avoid Sentenza at all costs, so I felt that Acheron paired with Valiance would be a strong combo.
However, my sister believes that Glacius, given its elemental typing and the ability to freeze, has a leg up over Acheron, rendering Acheron worthless. She is a sword user, and is planning on using Glacius as her main and possibly Divine Avenger to pair up with it. Now, I just want to confirm which blade would be the better given our respective situations.
Any help?
mar, 06/21/2011 - 11:52
#2
They're equally good, it just
They're equally good, it just depends on what other weapon you're going to use and what kind of monsters you're facing. There's no absolute best weapon for any situation. Being a Brandish user myself I chose the Nightblade because of it's effectiveness on jellies, and the Tier 2 boss is a jelly.
mar, 06/21/2011 - 12:18
#3
Acheron with Valiance seems
Acheron with Valiance seems pretty solid, but I'd still recommend picking up 3rd and 4th wep slots so you can maximize damage. (getting a piercing and elemental damaging weapon.) The Glacius is just as effective as the Acheron really, the only way you can freeze is with the charge attack and that's not really doing much.
I do not recommend that she has a Glacius with Divine Avenger, two elemental damaging weapons isn't really going to benefit. Always try to expand your type effectiveness so you can never have a weakness.
mar, 06/21/2011 - 12:28
#4
Now with more math!
Acheron + Valiance has a blind spot: Devilites resist Shadow damage and auto-dodge gunfire.
Also: Damage versus Undead...
Acheron: 50% Normal, 50% Shadow --> 50% Normal, 12.5% Shadow = 62.5% standard damage against a Zombie.
Combuster/Glacius: 50% Normal, 50% Elemental --> 50% Normal, 62.5% Elemental = 112.5% standard damage against a Zombie.
There are no Gremlins or Beasts in Firestorm Citadel to resist Elemental damage.
Glacius and Combuster deal almost twice as much damage as Acheron in Firestorm Citadel.
So you'll just have to sorta chip away at the Zombies and Trojans with your Valiance. That'll... take a while...
mar, 06/21/2011 - 12:46
#5
If you don't like the feel of
If you don't like the feel of the Alchemers, I recommend you hang up your Gunslinger armor right now. Near as I can tell, they're pretty much the best gun line in the game right now, in as much as any gun could be considered "good". Small clip size is a pain, but the ricochet ability pretty much sells it. The status effects are just gravy. Rich, thick, delicious gravy mind...
And those other guys are right. Either elemental brandish line is equally good on undead and constructs. Fire resistance just means you won't be able to set them on fire, but the Combuster will hit them just as hard as the Glacius.
There's also no reason you can't eventually grab either one and still get an Archeron, although the Gran Faust is honestly a better weapon if you're after a melee shadow damage option. Curse status is also ridiculously good, and the Faust/Gran Faust can inflict curse status on regular swings. (Which is good, seeing as the charge attack has a chance to Curse YOU!)
mar, 06/21/2011 - 16:05
#6
Mmmm...guess I'll get some CE
Mmmm...guess I'll get some CE and dabble in ice bombs for a third weapon...thanks for the advice guys!
If you're disregarding Combuster on the grounds of "Firestorm Citadel enemies are immune to Fire status," then you should disregard Acheron and the Sentenza on the same grounds: Firestorm Citadel's enemies (primarily Undead and Fiends) are nigh-immune to Shadow damage.
In fact, the Combuster will still deal increased damage to them because it's Elemental damage. And it can only ignite enemies on its charged attack anyway. By contrast, the Acheron is completely incapable of dealing any status effect, even on other enemies.