Spiral Knights - Handy Brandish (And Upgrades) Tip

Handy Brandish (And Upgrades) Tip

19 replies [Last post]

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 04:35

Nitresco

Hello. I'm posting this to report a new handy skill that you can use with the new brandish (and it's upgrades) charge attack. Upon using it when right in front of an enemy, hold the shield button (Default button being "x") while executing the charge. Doing this will result in the enemy practically riding and getting hit by close to every explosion in the charge attack. This will deal massive damage, and 99% of the time deals your swords status effect to the enemy (unless they're resistant to it). Just thought I'd post this new skill here for those who haven't learned it yet.

[Note: This will most likely NOT work with the ice or shock versions, as their status effects keep the enemy in one spot when they're inflicted, and the enemy will not ride the wave of explosions.]

~Nitresco

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 06:58

Narfle

This has actually been around a long time--you could do this with the old brandish-line charge attacks as well--but still a very useful skill to share with new players. I'd add that you need to be very careful where you aim if adventuring in a party, as you don't want to throw a lumber into someone else's path--unless, of course, they also have a brandish charge waiting, in which case you can work together to pinball an enemy around with multiple charge attacks.

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 08:36

Nordlead

wait, I do this without using

wait, I do this without using shield. How does shielding help?

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 08:54

Trying

it doesnt.....

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 09:53

Narfle

it does, for heavy enemies

Try to get a lumber or a trojan to ride out the explosions from the charge attack without shield-cancelling--go ahead, explosions pass right through. And that's fine, if that's the effect you want (or again, you're diving in a party and don't want to fling a trojan at a buddy), but you're not going to move them along the path of the charge attack without shield-cancelling.

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 09:49

Nordlead

I didn't realize you were

I didn't realize you were actually shield bumping the enemies through the wave. I thought it was somehow glitching the sword to line up properly or something. Either way, it seems useless.

With the brandish lines you can charge + 2 swings for a full combo with the last hit being of the 3rd swing type, which for those immovable monsters does slightly more damage.

Charge riding the wave gives a maximum of (just looking at voltedge numbers from the wiki for lumbers)
613 + 166 * 5 = 1443

With charge + 2-swing combo you get at least 1 charge explosion (possibly 2 which would give a significant amount more damage)
613 + 166 + 292 + 382 = 1453

so, I can do slightly more damage without sending deadly monsters flying across the screen. I find lumbars flying across the screen highly annoying since their giant arm does damage as it drags across the ground.

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 10:05

Narfle

10 dmg difference?

I look at those numbers and see it as one charge attack + shield-cancelling = dead lumber, versus one charge attack + hoping it might have caught an additional explosion + hoping to get in two additional swings = dead lumber.

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 11:26

Juances

lol?

lol? A new skill? I always did that just to raise the shield and protect myself. Not just for brandish but for every weapon. Does that make me an ex-hipster?

Never noticed any serious difference. Supposing you're right, this will affect only lumbers, everything else already flies away or just dies.

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 13:50

Dark-Flare

/wave Narfle

At first the charge would go through Lumbers, but i discovered that if you hit one head on, it will ride the explosion. UNLESS i am mistaking this for Nitresco's suggestion (i think i am) which is you hit the lumber and shield bump it in a fashion that makes it ride the explosions.

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 14:07

Narfle

/greet Dark

Shield-cancelling the end of the old charge attack would create a fake knockback (in addition to being general practice for a lot of people, as Juances mentioned), and the OP is talking about shield-cancelling the new charge attack, which bounces most enemies without shield-cancelling. I haven't personally been able to bounce a lumber/trojan with the new charge attack without shield-cancelling, but if you've gotten it to work I'll give it a second shot--all the heavies I've tried it on have stayed in place with just the charge attack by itself.

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 17:49

#10

Velcro

I might have an explanation

I might have an explanation for this discrepancy.

Those of you claiming that shield canceling after the charge attack is the only way for it to ride the explosions are probably hitting them with the charge attack's initial hit fairly close. The following text graphic then shows the situation.

You XYO O O O O

X is where you hit with your initial attack, Y is the enemy, the O's are explosions. Thus you see you might actually be spawning the explosion behind the enemy, thus knocking him into you. With the shield cancel you bounce them to the point where the explosions push them in the right direction.

Those who say that the shield cancel is unneeded may have this situation:

You X OYO O O O

You may still just be able to barely clip the enemy with the end of the initial hit but far enough so the explosions spawn on the right side.

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 21:14

#11

Dark-Flare

What i found...

I was doing this more today during an arena: When you shield cancel the charge attack, you also shield bump the lumber. Thus, the lumber is pushed along with the explosion, and it DOES reach the end of the explosion chain. However, I don't know whether or not all the hits land. I know at least one does, but it may be the shield bump that sends it all the way.

Also, I was using a grey owlite, if that makes a difference (shield bump distance)

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 23:13

#12

Stavrosg

Shield bump works

I was also doing that for a long time, and yes, if you shield-cancel, it bumps a lumber in the way of the wave and he gets all the explosions.
I believe that in T3, the charge & 2 hit combo is risky, and you may not kill him right away, so you're better off shield-bumping them away.

It's fun in RJP, sending the jellies to ride the wave, as they're killed with the last explosion xD

Thu, 01/12/2012 - 23:34

#13

Batabii

OLD news...shield canceling.

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 10:57

#14

Nitresco

@Batabii @Dark-Flare

@ Batabii Not exactly shield canceling, the shield added in is more for the purpose of getting the enemy started across the pain train explosion than canceling the charge. However, the shield cancel allows you to immediately get started on another charge attack, and if you have a decent CTR Reduction like I do, you can have a charge ready to either harass another group of enemies with the same tactic, or finish off a tier 3 enemy that still has a good amount of HP left over after the almost usually fatal charge attack skill I mentioned above. So, you are half right. Yes, it's old news shield canceling. But it's also new news shield comboing (what I like to call it).

@Dark-Flare I can confirm all the explosions hit. However, it takes practice to time it right so it does. If you have a Max ASI increase, I find that you finish the slash and push them away before they can be hit by at least half the explosions. Sometimes, it's best to delay for a couple thousandths of a second more to get that timing right so you can hit them with every charge explosion. And as for the shield being used, I find that 5* shield bump farther than any lower star shields, although this may just be a fluke in my experimenting.

Sat, 01/14/2012 - 23:04

#15

Volkani

You have to shield bump the

You have to shield bump the bigger mobs, but I've noticed with my Blazebrand that most mobs will ride the explosions without a shield bump, kats being the main exception. The only problems I've ran into is unleashing my charge on mechaknight groups and one of them shielding to stop the charge.

Sun, 01/15/2012 - 02:29

#16

Nitresco

@Volkani

I've had the same problems as well. If in a group, get a friend to set off all the Mecha's Shields with a gun, and while they are in that shield recharge period, use your charge attack. As for your note on the smaller mobs being hit by all of the charges without a shield bash, I've noticed an issue. The momentum of the original charge slash seems to wear off too fast to carry an enemy through all the explosions. However, I'm testing this mostly on zombies and retrodes at the moment, and I'll perform a few more tests. Maybe zombies and retrodes can be classified as a larger mob like the Lumber, as they seem to require a shield bash most of the time to suffer the full extent of the charge's damage. Like I said, I'll further test this new mechanic over the next few days, and will eventually try to create a simple list grouping enemies into either "Shield-Bash Required", "Shield-Bash Optional", and "Shield-Bash Discouraged".

Sun, 01/15/2012 - 19:48

#17

Volkani

I'm pretty sure most mobs

I'm pretty sure most mobs fall under "Shield Bash not required", as the knockback from the explosions causes the rest of them to hit. Only exceptions I've seen are Lumbers, Trojans, Kats mid-dash, and (Giant) Lichen Colonies. Anything with anti-projectile behaviors might need some +Sword damage to cause a flinch/knockdown so they don't dodge/shield out, though.

(Note: Above only guaranteed with Fireburst/Nightblade lines)

Fri, 01/20/2012 - 17:03

#18

Irokwe

Oh,

So l don't have to shield bump except vs big stuffs?

Fri, 01/20/2012 - 19:08

#19

Nicoya-Kitty

You know, I honestly have to

You know, I honestly have to say I've never got a shield bump to work with my Voltedge charge. I dunno if I'm not running with enough ASI or what, but by the time my shield comes up the explosions are already going off and it's far too late for the bump to catch up.

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Handy Brandish (And Upgrades) Tip