How good is the Drake Scale Shield line?
mer, 06/22/2011 - 08:55
Is a Dragon Scale Shield worth it? It seems like it'd go well with the Vog Gear I am trying to collect. Thoughts?
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 10:23
#2
I've been wondering about the
I've been wondering about the drake line myself. No normal defense would be bad for high up, but even outfitting for a run you tend to get mixed types of damage. Particularly the shield. I'll be fine.. then the ONE enemy that I don't have type defense on for my shield blows through it in one hit. Then everything else can eat me alive.
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 10:26
#3
I've never used it, though I
I've never used it, though I would think that a lack of normal defense might be problematic since almost everything in the game does some portion of normal damage.
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 11:47
#4
But then, when you get lower,
But then, when you get lower, everything does half damage of something else.
More and more I see elemental and piercing mixed together because jellies and wolvers show up in every friggin stage. Shadow is the only damage type you can regularly stay clear of. For elemental and piercing, you'll get both no matter what you do. But then you still get the occasional enemy that does loads of normal...
Such a problem. Is there no solution?
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 11:54
#5
"But then, when you get
"But then, when you get lower, everything does half damage of something else."
In Tier 3, attacks are all pure-damage. Normal is still the most common attack type, but a Shadow attack will be a pure-Shadow attack.
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 11:59
#6
So then how does one gear for
So then how does one gear for T3 when it's impossible to get a run that isn't all mixed up with all damage types?
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 12:07
#7
1) You can change your gear
1) You can change your gear in the Clockwork Terminal
and
2) The best defense is don't get hit in the first place.
Each stratum is built around a monster type or status effect theme. Just gear up for defense against that monster or resistance against that status effect.
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 12:16
#8
Changing at terminals doesn't
Changing at terminals doesn't work. The stratum are all mixed up.
I'll think, "Oh, good, we've hit the levels I made my salamander set for. So glad I have elemental resists!"
Only I end up getting a majority of wolvers and jellies in stages that don't even hint at having them in the name. Stages I got elemental dealing robots/zombies/whatever in before. Instead of being rewarded for a smart choice, I'm getting my ass torn open by jellies and wolvers I specifically chose to avoid.
I feel very cheated. I went out of my way to make a second set of armor for elemental(cheaper than upgrading my ashe tail to five star). I sunk time and money into it. Now I'm finding I should never bother stepping out of my ashe tail. Even in T3, I made it to the core in that stuff even in stages that should have been spawning elemental enemies. Instead it's piercing everywhere with a token elemental bot thrown in that I can just kite with my blaster anyway. No matter where I go it's wolvers wolvers wolvers. Jellies jellies jellies.
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 12:21
#9
Danger rooms always have
Danger rooms always have Wolvers or Jellies. Don't go into a Danger Room without Piercing armor or at least a Piercing shield.
Which gates and strata, specifically, are you referring to?
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 12:39
#10
I do not go into danger rooms
I do not go into danger rooms below tier one. Well, sometimes my team insists on doing it(and they always regret doing it). Screw danger rooms.
I mean stages that are named "Mechanized Whatever" and you hardly ever see any mecha. Plenty of jellies. Some wolvers too. Though that's always a strange sight to see them on stages that don't even have grass. It's something I've noticed over the past few days. Ever since I crafted my elemental set because I was seeing a lot of elemental enemies. Then suddenly it's wolvers and jellies everywhere and a wasted pile of tier four crap I can't use.
At first I counted it to bad luck, so I wasn't keeping track of the gate. I'll keep better tabs now. It's really starting to annoy me. I'd like to have a reason to wear my new armor.
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 12:56
#11
There are two possible enemy
There are two possible enemy types that can lead to a stage named Mechanized Mile. The first is Construct, and the second is Gremlin.
Gremlin-based Mechanized Miles have mixed enemy types. Check if the cog icon is grey (Construct) or orange (Gremlin) before venturing in.
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 13:02
#12
So you're telling me even the
So you're telling me even the color of the icon can make a difference in what to expect?
Well gee.
At least I know that now. Thank you.
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 13:12
#13
Actually the issue here is
Actually the issue here is that the Constructs' and Gremlins' Clockwork Tunnels stages have the same name. This doesn't happen for any other Clockwork Tunnels stage.
Stage icons are color coded by status theme and enemy type theme. The background color represents the status effect type, and the foreground color represents the enemy type. So a "Blast Furnace: Slimeway" is going to have mostly fire-themed monsters, and mostly slimes-- therefore you'll see a lot of Oilers, maybe a few Jellycubes or Lichens, and a smaller smattering of the other enemy types.
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 14:10
#14
Thank you.
Now on topic, is
Thank you.
Now on topic, is the drake line even useful? As already covered, even deep in tier three, you get normal damage. Tier two, everything deals half normal. I can't imagine this set being useful. I guess someone could get the set for the cosmetic appeal.. but..
I was considering the shield myself though. Since normal damage isn't usually the one that bugs me. It's the odd man out that deals the other type of damage in a themed run that blows my shield open since I don't have that type. Then again, everything dealing half normal at T2 means EVERYTHING might blow through the shield. I'm just wondering what the idea behind the set is.
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 14:17
#15
I've been looking at the
I've been looking at the drake shield line myself, and the lack of normal is a bit offputting, but I spend most of my shield blocking time against stuff that isn't normal. Jellies and Wolvers being so outlandishly common, the piercing really appeals, and since damn near everything does fire damage, that's also a big plus for me.
I really love the stats on the Owlite shields. But they are so damned ugly, I can't stand it. Plus, too cookie cutter. I want something different. Right now I'm using the Snarbolax shield, which is decent enough, but I've got my eye on the Drake line.
Thing is, no one shield will do it, just as no one armor or helm will really cover everything. As an aspiring bomber, I'm somewhat more constrained with my gear choice...Volcanic Demo Helm or Mad Bomber Hat, and then picking my armor/shield to cover the gaps as best as possible. Given enough time, I'll probably end up with 3 distinct sets, and I can definitely see the Dragon Scale Shield being in that mix.
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 14:33
#16
In T3 the most common pure
In T3 the most common pure type is Elemental. The only enemies to do pure normal would be lumbers and some of the melee attacks from robots and gremlins. Most ranged attacks you can assume are pure of that type, and I know that Zombies do partial normal and shadow with their melee.
I'm not sure how many exactly will do pure attacks, but I think it may be safe to say that almost all of the melee attacks will be at least partial normal. If the only time you find yourself defending is from ranged attacks, it's an amazing shield. The fire defense is also pretty helpful against Red Rovers and other flamethrower-type attacks.
jeu, 06/23/2011 - 14:56
#17
I'm a bit too scared to go to
I'm a bit too scared to go to T3 regularly myself. I've gotten to the core, but part of that was two five star equiped players. I only have four stars, and going even a bit into T3 gets me deeep deeep purple on my minimap. An enemy winking at me is cause for half my life bars to vanish even when I have the resists for it.
Though.. I might end up trying this set out. I have two bread and butter sets already. One for normal and element. One for normal and pierce. I've considered the drake three star just for a costume since I have little better to grind for(I'm content with four star gear for the time being). I might try getting it to the four star version. Then telling you guys how I feel about the performance.
Though it might take a bit. I've already used so much of my built up resource getting my current gear. I'd feel better grinding back up to 3k CE before crafting any big items again.
Bump.