I think that all the armor were maked to do specific things. The sellers from HoH show it.
Echo' stuff was made to attack a specific enemie and run.
Remi' stuff was made to attack group of enemies.
Daxen' stuff was made to attack from distance.
Zebulon' stuff was made to attack specific enemies.
And etc.

Going with a Vog set and a DVS, you are being a striker. Striker alone would be on trouble. Since it was made to attack on a specific enemie and run. In a party, you would fell differently. You, striker, do your function, defeating specific enemies, while for example, a Bomber hit a group of enemies.

Fehzor is mixed with stuff of Zebulon, Sylvin, Echo and Izola. I suppose he was most ready for more situations than on your specific situation, pratically full striker.

Just my opinion.

EDIT: Don't mention the brandishes. You already taked out the overpowered stuff from this thread.

So, maybe the thing that makes the Brandish OP is that a Brandish is a mix of Striker, Gunsliger, Bomber' stuff(Can kill specific enemies, attack from distance and hit multiple enemies)?????.

Here's a setup I actually use quite often, and it's easily one of my favourite setups to use.

Here's another setup I use quite often, although much more rarely as of recently. I just find smashing things to a pulp with Triglav too fun to pass up.

Many weapons simply don't gel well with how the gameplay (most particularly level style) changed. For instance, the Cutter series still operate decently on old levels such as wolver dens and aurora isles, because they are far more open, and factors that obscure movement (quantity of enemies, hazards) were not as voluminous or congested as they quickly became later.
Design changes have made it harder to use items of the old era, and it doesn't help that they have never really been touched either. Those added in the new era were implemented much more flexibly.

Overpowered gear turns the game into a joke while underpowered gear does not. I think that if we're gonna have good balance, we'll need to see the former nerfed and the latter buffed. Balancing weapons around Leviathan Blade/Valiance/Nitronome makes the most sense to me. As for defensive things, I think they key to balancing them would be to introduce new mechanics. Give special sets special abilities and whatnot. Pretty sure Fehzor wrote a suggestion on it back in the node 60k IDs or something.

@Dibsville: How do you have MSI high on the first gear set?

Chaos is a good set since it allows people to dominate witout UVs.

Hever, try taking a chaos set into UFSC, and its weaknesses become quite evident.

OOOO needs to add more challenging levels to trulyy root out skilled players who deserve to use the OPedness that is the chaos set.

I used to do FSC with AP, and Electron bomb (4star). I got on fine... (and kat claw cowl+IQ armor)

The gear IS OP.

"@Dibsville: How do you have MSI high on the first gear set?"

On the first set, my Seraphynx is only Level 56, so I only have the MSI Low perk to add to it. Mercurial Demo gives MSI Med.

My second set uses my Maskeraith, which is Level 105, so I have the MSI Med perk.

The reason I don't use Maskeraith on my first set is I quite honestly find it overpowered compared to the other Sprites (unlike 95% of people I see, I use my Sprite's constantly, and when every mob you see gets poisoned, the game starts to become just that much easier). So I put Seraphynx on their instead.

I remember nearly 3 years ago (april, 2011) when I made my first forum thread. It was asking about whether I should get a 3* Striker or a 3* Tempered Calibur.

The answer was basically (the forums were a very nice place then, if not as active):
"While the cutter line is a fun weapon, the calibur line is much more viable once you get to Tier 3. However, once you do get to Tier 3 you might want to try specialized weapons like the Divine Avenger, and pairing a Vog set with that will end up making it even more powerful."

Cutter was NOT made to be used mainly in Tier 3+. It is a side-weapon, to be used for turrets/wolvers/vana mask phase/etc. Using it alone is stupid.
While if you used a Leviathan, a Triglav, maybe a Divine Avenger or hell, back in the day I knew a gunner who only used a Valiance and never died.

All of this makes MORE sense that you should NOT be able to solo EVERYTHING with one weapon (brandish)! The DVS should be used with other weapons, the Leviathan should be used with a elemental/normal gun, etc.

Synopsis:
DVS is not supposed to be used as a weapon for everything. No single weapon should be.
The brandishes shouldn't either. Give a good player (not one that only uses brandish charges) a triglav and a Valiance and I bet he can solo anything in the game just as well (perhaps not as time-efficient, but just as safe) as he could with a Combuster and a Blitz Needle.

I remember when Bombers were generally well-liked and Shivermist was a god-send to any party. It's been a long time since...

Now, we have super-powered swords and discovered the secret power behind the Blitz Needle. Bombs are less relevant and optimal loadouts have been created. To be honest, the fact that there are optimal loadouts is what bugs me the most. Some combinations will work better than others, I realize this will always be the case, but when there are only a few combinations that can even stand up to that superior combo that's when it becomes a problem.

Unfortunately, this problem applies to Spiral Knights.

I do agree, though. Before we start talking about nerfs, I think we should actually consider buffing things first. Once all the underpowered gear has been buffed to challenge our current assortment of overpowered gear, then we can apply minor nerfs where they are needed and then buff the enemies some. That way, we have high damage numbers, but the monsters are now even stronger to combat that power. Then people won't be as upset their favourite piece of equipment got the nerfgun, and those that did probably had it a long way coming anyway. (Chaos, Blitz, I'm looking at you.)

Every weapon in this game is still AoE damage type including antigua, and cutter. They are just smaller AoE weapons. I could hit two zombies close each other at the same time with antigua, no problem. Cutter also is one of the best weapon for 1on1 monster.

so after all of this, all knights that I met, they are just... pixels? I have to find the meaning of spiral knight life one more time.

Wasn't the whole reason behind the Brandish buff for 1: Consistency with the explosions and 2: To bring it in line with how everyone and their grandmother made DA for FSC?

You can keep calling heresy about Brandishes till the cows come home and OOO won't even bat an eye, and yet DA and GF still out DPS and are way too fast compared to the better looking and fun as heck to use Troika line. Shard Bombs need some love, especially after being brutally murdered by an update that would leave everyone with an empty feeling and a handful of UV tickets. And heaven's forbid they bring down the power of Blitz Needle from God Tier. Gunners whined that guns weren't powerful enough, well for the past two and a half years, Blitz stands upon them all.

One of the most used rifles in Battlefield is the M16A3 and it is the most complained about rifle. The AEK-971 is almost as popular and likewise with complaining.
I conclude that being pwned endlessly or seeing other people pwning with a weapon or item will make it seem like the tool in question is overpowered.

I know it can be done against zombies, but besides minis and other low-difficulty enemies like jelly cubes and such, there's not much that sits still long enough, or groups together enough, that you can do it reliably.

Commas.

I think you're defining "overpowered" as "usable" rather than "does everything way better than it should".

Just because you can use shard bombs doesn't mean that they're not in need of some changes, for example..

What ever happened to just having fun?

What is this "fun"?

F is for fire, out of your brandish
U is for underpowered
N is for nothing that cannot be achieved
Down here in the clockwork's gleam!

Knowing how to position your shards doesn't make their DPS, bugs, and invincitinks improve or go away.

Knowing how your Callahan works and minimizing its daunting penalties doesn't stop it from dealing piddly damage.

Drivers are actually among the best guns in the game, but it's true that they require more thought to use.

Voltaic Tempest is annoyingly inconsistent unless it's stacked, which requires nearly max CTR. Electron Vortex, which I've praised time and time again, is much better all-around. Stagger Storm is pretty good since Stun has been fixed, but the user needs to be consistent or it'll throw off their team. Venom Veiler is an uncommon item, but I use it a lot myself, for reasons I think we both already understand.

____

Nitronome is one of the best bombs in the game; Argent Peacemaker is fairly weak, but I'd say it's a decent gun; Honor Blade/Leviathan is a solid choice as well.

I'll say it again. Items are not overpowered because they can be used to decent effect. Overpowered is when a blitz charge deals 2580-2865 in stratum 6 (taking data from the wiki) and a brandish charge deals 481-531 + (118 x 5).

Players should be powerful when they play well, like managing to use a vortex and not die, or perfectly aiming an alchemer charge. They shouldn't be powerful because they can deal massive damage for free, while being safe. That isn't playing well; that's having an item that's too good for how easy it is to use.

-Against what enemies do you have the liberty to shieldbump enemies together, aim at the marked target among a group, and... well, et cetera. The range on those explosions isn't a giant leap from "right next to each other". /shrug

-On what difficulty, damage bonus, and party size are you able to flinch enemies on every hit of a Callahan? When I've played on Elite in a full party with at least a damage bonus of High for guns, Gremlins don't flinch on the first hit. If you mean Greavers, well.. they're Greavers. They flinch from a light breeze.

I'd love for you to tell me exactly how this is done, not for the sake of argument, but because I actually want to know.

-bleargh

-Dark Retribution is an extremely strong bomb and without argument the strongest shadow bomb in the game. I never knew it was underused, just that it wasn't often used in T3..

-Biohazard? Why Biohazard? Wouldn't using some combination of Venom Veiler and a bomb be much better, saving a fast gun or sword for Greavers? That's what I did. It wasn't much trouble.

-The reason people complained about Grinchlin Assault is because the level design was based on your ability to deal with situations you literally can't avoid taking damage in, by minimizing the odds that those such situations pop up, or the damage you take from them (hence the kiting-friendly DR, poison status [which is seriously underestimated, I agree], and more). Coincidentally, the best strategy in the final room was to bring the most ridiculously broken weapons possible to one-phase the giant Battlepod, because of that stupid Mender occasionally deciding to drop an unblockable healing rune right on the 'pod, full healing it. You can't even poison the thing, you just keep killing it off or pushing it into a corner as you wait for the new phase to end again, praying that it doesn't gimp you out of your progress.

Needless to say, it wasn't exactly entertaining as it was infuriating, until you knew what gear you had to bring and why. There was very little freedom in how you went about no-sparking it.

I HAVE THE SHINIEST MEAT BICYCLE

-I understand that enemies are grouped into certain "flinch resist" categories..
I know Callahan can flinch menders, but when I was doing GA, it seemed like that was all it could flinch, unless I was playing in a duo or alone.. and more importantly, only when I hit them with successive shots. Am I missing something here? Was I just not using enough +damage?

-But Biohazard arguably makes you even more open to Greavers. With weapon slots, I'd just drop the charge, whack the offending Greaver with my trusty hammer, then continue misting. Unless multiple Greavers were all targeting me, I'd be able to start misting again, usually so the enemies would be free from poison for a few brief moments, if at all. Conveniently, the 'explosion' if you can call it that also flinches Greavers in a pinch.

I did use a Carbine. A very handy gun for poisoning key targets [with adequate ASI]; also what I swapped VV out for when I was only using 3 slots.

-Well, I mean, yeah, there's more than just a Blitz that goes into the one-phase-or-bust strat, but it seemed like sufficient info.

-The Gunner Update is going to be the thing that brings me back into the game instead of haunting the forums, or it'll be what drives me away from it completely. A multi-month balance patch with sweeping changes to guns and their mechanics, and multiple new additions... If it proves that they listen to what people have to say, and I hope it does, then I'll stick around.

But if it proves they don't? Well, adios, and it was fun wasting so much time in the Suggestions board..

_________________

On a side note, I really wish all these game mechanics were explained to us instead of having us painstakingly experiment and research nearly every aspect of the game, from damage numbers to knockback to flinching thresholds to status resistance..

“I can already see Spiral Knights dieing and being shut down due to the moral absence of Nick.”

Put your crystal ball away.

DVS is underpowered, not balanced. Blitz, Brandish and Chaos remain OP even though there does exist underpowered gear.