I've seen many gunners go into a FSC but none of them seem to survive very long. I'm a full gunner and I want to be able to survive in a FSC run, what gear should I use?
I love doing lockdown on Spiral Knights but I can't survive very long with the gear I have, any suggestions for a Tier 3 pvp loadout? (Note doesn't have to be gunner)
The idea is to stay away from trouble. No armor can save you in LD.
My FSC gunslinger loadout is what I call the Chaos Gunner:
- Perfect Mask of Seerus
- Chaos Cloak
- Swiftstrike Buckler
- Nova Driver
- Blitz Needle
- Polaris
- Argent Peacemaker / Valiance
- Elite Trueshot Module (Guns +dam Med)
- Penta Heart Trinket (+6 health)
When everything is fully heated, you get CTR Ultra, ASI Very High, and +dam High on EVERYTHING (Technically just guns, but this is a Gunslinger loadout...). In FSC, with a bit of increased damage, the Nova Driver Charge Shots will be able to insta-kill two or even three zombies at a time if you can place them right (Admittedly my Nova Driver has +dam vs Undead med). Point-Blank Blitz Charges already insta-kill Zombies as well, and you can just indiscriminately spray them with this loadout. The CTR Ultra lets you really spam the charges, which truly shine when up against the really dense hordes that reside in FSC.
In terms of defense, the Fire Resist from the Perfect Mask of Seerus cancels out the fire vulnerability of the Chaos Cloak, however do watch out for Stun. Swifty is always a fickle creature, but I've found that she'll take a Trojan hit for you, if need be (just don't expect her to take anything else for a little while after). The Heart Trinket is always a nice plus in terms of survivability, but you can replace that for either damage or attack speed if you really want.
Now PvP is a different beast.
I personally go with pure Shadowsun, but I've seen some of my idol gunslingers use Justifier to shake off dem Toothpicks. Admittedly, I havent made a good pvp loadout for gunslingers, so this is just a list of what I see works:
- Justfier/Shadowsun
- Storm/Hail Driver
- Sentenza
- Valiance
- Polaris
For FSC gunner, mostly what Not-Lame said, here are the comments :
- for the helm, you really want Perfect Mask of Seerus : it has more offensive stats than any other (3 Low instead of 2 Low for most others), AND have fire resistance, which is essential for FSC (otherwise you won't have any fire resistance as a gunner). If you can't have OCH, go for Shadowsun if you are not getting double DMG trinkets, Nameless if you do
- for the armor, Shadowsun Slicker, because with double DMG trinkets, you'll get to DMG : Max. It also offer some valuable shadow defense.
- for the main guns, you really want 2 elemental alchemers to be able to alchemer-switch (which has been tested to give somewhere between 25% to 50% dps increase, perhaps more, if you do it properly). For optimal dps, in FSC get Nova and Stormy.
- a Blitz Needle is simply the best for Trojans and Vanaduke, so pack one
- for the last slot, really, take whatever you want. Not-Lame suggest a Polaris, but you could take an Umbra Driver for oilers (that's what I generally do), a Shivermist for some support, or whatever you are heating. That last slot simply isn't important.
- Swiftstrike is often used for its awesome ASI high bonus. If you are not comfortable, get an Owlite instead.
- I talked about it, but double DMG trinkets is great (though it's after all the rest). If you run with full Shadowsun, consider getting one ASI or CTR.
The thing about gunner isn't really to "survive" : it is about to not get hit. It's easier because you can stay at range, and even if you go close-up, there is no animation preventing you from moving. As long as you are not cornered, you can get away. For the record, I'm often closer from the mobs when gunning than when swording because it's just way easier to dodge.
The gunners you encountered were probably bad, because I and several other gunners I know can finish FSC without problem, going as far as carrying people. How to recognize a bad gunner ? Polaris and AP as main guns are warning signs. On the other hand, a gunner with 2 alchemers have good odds of being good (though I bet you didn't encountered much of them, those are kinda rare beasts in pick-up).
For LD, what Not-Lame said seems to be good. I would add double Heart Trinkets for Strikers (mandatory if you don't want to be crushed). Other than that, I'm not that much of a LD player, and specifically I can't use Striker class anyway. Perhaps mention which role you prefer ?
I'm F2P, so my sets rule out things like the seerus gear.
My FSC gunslinger gear is:
- Chaos set (+med damage/CTR for all weapons)
- Swiftstrike (+high ASI)
- 2 Elite Trueshot modules (+ VH damage)
- Neutralizer - used with Vortex
- Nova Driver - general use vs undeads. Alternatively, I'll bring Hail Driver if I doubt my teammates.
- Blitz Needle - Trojans/Vanaduke
- Electron Vortex - For use with crowds (Swordsmen can deal with clumped monsters much quicker, so this is IMO a better use with teammates around)
comments:
The armor set doesn't matter. Sometimes I bring Justifier, just to keep in touch with max ASI's nuances. If you don't have trinkets/trueshots, you would want to get as high damage as possible, so most people go with the Shadowsun set.
My LD gunslinger gear is:
- Justifier set (+ VH ASI for guns)
- Recon (+med CTR/ASI for guns, + vh CTR for bombs)
- 2 Elite Trueshot modules (+ VH damage)
- Hail Driver
- Storm Driver
- Umbra Driver
- Valiance
comments:
I kill people like a ninja with a magic machine gun.
For FSC, I just can't advise Chaos Set to someone starting out. The fire debuff is hard to deal with, as every single fire will remove half of your health, just like that. Mixing out with a fire resistance part may be a solution, but if you are a pure gunslinger and not an hybrid, there is very little point getting all those negative resistances.
If you can't have Seerus, I'd go as far as advising a Divine Veil to get started in FSC : that's how deadly I think the fire is.
I also don't advise heart trinkets if your primary goal is FSC. Sure, do use them if you are short on money and want to be a Striker in LD, but otherwise, get some offensive trinkets. They will serve you much better in the long run. Contrary to fire resistance, having a few more bars won't make much of a difference, especially once you get a vitapod.
I use the set Not-Lame posted. Works well enough. Before I used to use Owlite and AP, it's not too bad if you need to shield more.
I don't play T3 LD much but I use
Shadowsun Stetson, Justifier Jacket, Storm Driver, Umbra Driver, Polaris, Valiance, Penta-Heart, Elite Trueshot and play as striker.
Gunning is perfectly viable in FSC.
Helm: You want fire resist, and I would recommend at least one piece of gear with natural resist. Perfect Mask of Seerus has that and gives a great gun bonus so it's the obvious pick. If you can't afford one of those and you can't get a pair of medium fire UVs, I'd advise putting on some piece of non-gun gear that has fire resist. Of those, I'd recommend Divine Veil since it provide a useful fiend bonus and has shadow and elemental resists.
Armor: Shadowsun is a pretty obvious pick. Ideally it has some sort of fire UV.
Weapons: you must have a Blitz. Polaris is far and away the best elemental gun in FSC (not true elsewhere, but in FSC Polaris tops alchemers and AP in damage output). You don't really need other weapons, so take whatever. I carry an Umbra for the slimes and an AP to shoot lamps with.
You want that Blitz Needle to have as much damage and CTR as possible, so your trinket plans will likely either be two gun damage trinkets, or one damage and one CTR.
Shield: I wouldn't recommend Swiftstrike to a newbie, but you should plan to switch to it once you get the hang of Vana, as the ASI goes a long way. Until then, Grey Owlite.
For gunning in T3 Lockdown, I find the game pretty unplayable without max damage on guns. So that's 1-2 pieces of Shadowsun and 1-2 damage trinkets. An alchemer and Valiance are preferred for damage output.
meh. In term of effectiveness killing zombies considering other party members, it goes like this
Blitz Needle > All Elemental Alchemer > AP > Polaris.
Polaris just gives you a glimpse of awesomeness for yourself, meanwhile other party members need to chase whatever monsters you've thrown away, far away.
Fire resist is not needed after a while, assuming you have good connection and enough experience to do FSC.
From my knowledge, FSC Gunner loadouts go something like this:
Perfect Mask of Seerus/Shadowsun Stetson
Shadowsun Slicker
Swiftstrike Buckler
Storm Driver/Hail Driver(rarely)
Nova Driver(?)
Polaris
Blitz Needle
A set off the top of my head from "Ask a Master Gunslinger" thread.
For PvP:
Skolver set
Final Flourish/BTB
Gran Faust/Divine Avenger
Valiance/Trollaris
Your average clone set up. Not much to say, self-explanatory if you've ever been in a Skolver filled LD game.
Striker Gunner:
Shadowsun Stetson/Perfect Mask of Seerus
Shadowsun Slicker
Storm Driver
Umbra Driver/Hail Driver
Callahan(?)
Valiance
^Something I've seen a friend roll around with. You might as well slap on a handgun ASI trinket, much needed for weapon switching.
Although, my advice may be a bit off, since I haven't yet acquired all the weapons listed above and can't give you a personal view. Just some stuff from other threads.