Spiral Knights - Looking for advice on gear--going to 5* and Vanaduke prep

Looking for advice on gear--going to 5* and Vanaduke prep

8 replies [Last post]

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 08:59

Halandin

Hello, I'm looking for some advice on what to upgrade first for getting into Vanaduke runs, and 5* in general. I'm trying to do this cheaply, I have bought CE but I don't want to waste it, so I'm sticking with 3 weap slots, probably no trinkets, let alone bomb modules etc. I have mostly sword and bomb gear, and I tend to play very cautiously with lots of kiting.

I'm not sure whether to go swords or bombs at the moment...I'm guessing that splitting between them would not be as effective as concentrating armor bonuses on one or the other. Would one path (bomb or sword) be better for getting into Vana runs to start?

I currently have:
19497 CE
Wise Owlite Shield (shadow med)
Heavy Demo Helm (shock med)
Ash Tail Coat (ele low, curse low, poison med)
(These are the armor and shield I use on most runs.)

Dusker Cap (shock med)
Fused Demo Suit (shadow low)
Scary Skelly Mask
Scarry Skelly Suit
Elemental Cloak and Hood, got for some earlier missions when I needed the resistances
Mighty Honor Guard shield
Sinister Skelly shield (fire low, stun med)
Swirftstrike Buckler
Twisted Targe (I have the Dark Thorn Shield recipe)

Avenger
Dark Thorn Blade
Ascended Honor Blade (unheated)
Fireburst Brandish
Silent Nightblade (attack speed low)

Antigua (I have Silversix recipe, but I hear the shadow variant might be better, and I'm a couple runs Twins runs away from a pulsar)
Prismatech Alchemer mkII (charge time low, undead low)
Shadowtech Alchemer mkII (charge low)
Toxic Catalyzer
Pulsar--soon, I want the troll gun. :D

Fiery Atmomizer (gremlin low)
Lightning Capacitor (Waiting to upgrade until I get the recipe from missions.)
Dark Reprisal MKII
Freezing Atomizer (Just have one in case I want to do the Shiver line)
Graviton Charge (I don't play much lockdown/BN, so electron isn't really an option)
Rock Salt Bomb
Sun Shards
Super Blast Bomb

I also have a few misc recipes--Faust, Icebusrt Brandish, Needleshot.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 09:26

Bopp

lots of options for swording

You have lots of good equipment already, and you have lots of CE (by my standards). So you can do pretty much anything you want. I think that swording FSC is easier than bombing FSC, at least for a novice, but that might just be my sword bias.

Grey Owlite Shield and Vog Cub Coat are both great. For your helmet, you could do Volcanic Demo Helm or Vog Cub Cap. Basically you want normal, elemental, shadow, and fire protection. Of these, shadow is the least important, in my opinion. If you wanted to be more offensive, you could use Barbarous Thorn Shield instead.

For your main killing weapon, an elemental sword would be a great choice. Indeed, you can do everything but the Vanaduke fight with just this one weapon. I'd recommend Combuster over Divine Avenger, slightly. DA used to be very popular in FSC, but the zombie AI has been tweaked, so that it's not as safe to combo DA into crowds as it used to be. You say that you like kiting. That means charging, I assume. Both of these weapons have great charges. But Combuster charges faster than DA, and lets you move faster than DA does (data).

The next question is whether you're going to fight Vanaduke solo or in a party. You can do Vanaduke with only swords or only bombs, but a gun is easiest for a novice I think. If you're soloing him, then you probably want a mobile gun such as Argent Peacemaker, Nova Driver, or Polaris. If you're in a party, then you probably want Blitz Needle and/or Shivermist Buster, because that's how most parties run their Vanaduke fight.

At this point you've used two or three weapon slots. If you still have an unused weapon slot, and you don't yet have a trojan-killing weapon, then put one in. When solo I prefer Final Flourish or Barbarous Thorn Blade. When in a group, I prefer Blitz Needle.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 09:45

Rabeet-Ahsan

I agree with Bopp actually

I agree with Bopp actually but i don't like the Shivermist Buster as its not a dps bomb while the Electron Vortex now thats an amazing bomb for rounding up those slags and K.Oing them with the Glacius or Voltedge charge.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 09:59

Bopp

agree

I was recommending Shivermist Buster only for the Vanaduke fight. In most of the rest of FSC, it's not particularly helpful. On the other hand, if you're a novice who likes to play solo, then it can slow things down so that you have time to think and learn.

I agree that Graviton Vortex and Electron Vortex are fun bombs, that can speed up your processing of crowds of zombies on depths 24-27. But they are far from essential in FSC.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 12:28

Fehzor

Electron vortex is really nice for FSC's levels, people will love you for bringing that.... haze bombs are alright there, all appropriate bombs are good for processing the masses into pulp, which is pretty much all FSC is.... processing zombies into crowns. Like a meat grinder.

And shiver is perfectly usable if not more so, as long as your group is capable of collaborating around using it with their weapons, which is somewhat rare as no one talks before running out; they just want to smash stuff, not collectively smash stuff efficiently.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 14:25

Halandin

@Bopp: Thanks! I'm thinking

@Bopp: Thanks! I'm thinking I'll start with swords as primary, it does sound easier. Hm, I see what you mean about Combuster. I've done some of the first Ashes to Ashes level a few times, in which I took Avenger since it is my only 4* ele sword, and I relied a lot on the knockback to survive in small areas, only using the full combo when facing one zombie. If I took a Combuster I'd probably need to take Barbarous Thorn Blade so I would have something with knockback. (By kiting I mean charging, shooting, bombs, and knockback weapon use as I frantically run around. :D).

I don't think I play enough to keep up 2 weapon slots right now, though that would make it easier. I guess I need weapons that meet one or more of elemental (damage, e.g. sword, and ranged), knockback, ,anti-trojan, and anti-Vanaduke. Loads of people have Polaris so I'm guessing I could get away with not having that for now. I think I'll upgrade my shield and main armor first, although I'm going to have to get some 4* shadow def armor to beat a mission to get closer to Plasma Capacitor recipe...

@Rabeet & Fehzor: I have a Gravitron Vortex that's I'm going to upgrade for slime levels and RJP. I'd have to play a LOT of BN and lockdown to get enough krogmo coins for the Electron Vortex, neither of which I am good at, and they also cost crowns to play.

I suppose now it's whether I should go for Shiver or Blitz first. On the one hand I have partly bomber armor and already have a pierce weapon at 4*, but Blitz is ranged, and I suppose could sometimes be used against zombies and puppies if needed.

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 14:59

Bopp

response

I use only three weapon slots, so you certainly don't need a fourth. You don't even need three slots, if you coordinate with your party ahead of time. For example, if someone else is bringing Shivermist Buster to the Vanaduke fight, then you don't need to; just bring an elemental sword and Blitz Needle.

Polaris is obviously a great knockback weapon, but not in the short shots --- only in the long shots and charge shots. To pull those off, you need a decent amount of room already. Hmm. Since you like bombing, you might instead consider a knockback bomb such as Nitronome, or a crowd-control bomb such as Voltaic Tempest, Shivermist Buster, Stagger Storm, or a vortex. It depends somewhat on whether you're solo, in a random party, or in a known party.

If you have room to charge Combuster, then you can use its charges for your knockback needs. I do it constantly. But that tactic depends on your CTR, how well you know the zombie AI, and how well you know the rooms, I guess.

I would go for Blitz Needle before Shivermist Buster. In the Vanaduke fight, it's more useful to have multiple Blitzes than multiple Shivermists. Also, Blitz is more widely applicable throughout Spiral Knights. Then again, you like bombs, and you like playing carefully; those facts suggest Shivermist first.

Thu, 01/24/2013 - 03:04

Poopsie

...

great knockback = less party friendly. I could tolerate weapons with high damage + knockback. but I would avoid using polaris as much as possible when in party. That gun makes you go brainless and think you are the most awesome person with all those flashy attack even though you are doing mediocre damage.

Thu, 01/24/2013 - 07:51

Halandin

@Bopp: I'm thinking going

@Bopp: I'm thinking going mostly sword until I have full bomber armor since that takes more CTR to pull off well. Once I manage to beat the 8-1 and 8-2 missions, I'll be able to get Plasma Capacitator, that and the 5* grav vortex would probably work work well together. It'd be easier with the electron vortex, but that would take 300 krogmo coins, and I have 12. :D I suppose a CTR trinket for swords or bombs would be nice, but that costs about the same as a weapon, and the weapons would be more useful. I'll have to experiment with my Silent Nightblade to see what the timing is like for charges with just full heat.

@Poopsie: O_O I want to feel awesome...to watch the flashing lights go on forever shoving zombies around into everything...

And if I were brainless, the zombies wouldn't go after me. LOL But I think Polaris will be low on the list of weapons to get, I can always use my silversix recipe if I need an elemental gun.

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Looking for advice on gear--going to 5* and Vanaduke prep