Lockdown rewards?

Not that I really care, but this question is better suited to the Arsenal forum. More players read that forum, so you might get better answers.

The answer depends on what other items you have. For example, if you already have a lot of brandishes, then Voltedge should not be a high priority. Ignoring that for now...

* Don't get Plague Needle, because Blitz Needle is better. Blitz does much more damage, so that your target dies, so that there is no point in poisoning it. (Disclaimer: I don't own Plague Needle, and I haven't seen it used since the Gunner Update, but this seems to be the popular opinion. Other players may chime in with more current information.)

* Don't get Voltedge, because Combuster is better, even in Firestorm Citadel. See my comparison here. (Disclaimer: I don't own Voltedge. Some players report great success in pairing Voltedge with vortex bombs.)

* Don't get Triglav, because Sudaruska is roughly as good. See my comparison here. (Disclaimer: I don't own Triglav, but freeze has a lot of drawbacks, whereas stun is highly valuable. Note that Triglav freezes more than Sudaruska stuns, however.)

* Stagger Storm is greatly under-appreciated. Very few people have it. Stun is really powerful, and Stagger Storm spreads tons of it (like any haze bomb). Stagger Storm sometimes makes me feel sorry for the monsters. When your teammates see you using it, first they will say, "What is that? Why did you bring that?" Later they will laugh and thank you for destroying the enemies' ability to fight.

"* Don't get Plague Needle, because Blitz Needle is better."

As an owner of both I can concur that Plague Needle is a downgrade from Blitz Needle. In fact, it's almost a downgrade from Volcanic Pepperbox.

"* Don't get Voltedge, because Combuster is better, even in Firestorm Citadel."

As biased as I am towards Voltedge, Combuster is definitely better overall, so +1 to this.

"* Don't get Triglav, because Sudaruska is roughly as good."

Actually, not so much; while Sudaruska has its own perks, Triglav has just as many, and from tens of hours of using both the only enemy I've ever found where I preferred using Sudaruska over a Triglav was against a Lumber because they'll smash you during your recovery animation on a charge (where Sudaruska would always push the Lumber away, Triglav risks freezing it in your face, although you shouldn't be charging in front of a Lumber in the first place). From my experience, Triglav wins in every other situation (besides Freeze biomes obviously). But that's just my personal opinion, I still think Stun is an overpowered status and is undervalued, but in a comparison I've always found more use out of Triglav. On the note of getting Triglav: don't get it.

As for Stagger Storm, it's an amazing bomb and if you have CTR reductions of some kind it can make mince-meat of many areas people generally think are the toughest areas in the game. Really the only place the bomb isn't useful is in Slime areas due to their resistance to Stun, but in every other area not only is it useful, but it excels as a bomb and is just all-around an amazing weapon to own. Stun is overpowered and overlooked as a status and when you hold the power to spread it mercilessly it simply lets you massacre everything in your path. This is what you should get, if you're only picking one recipe.

Plague Needle is the hipster Blitz.
Voltedge is the hipster Combuster.
Triglav is the hipster Sudaraska (Which is already the hipster weapon of choice so it's like hipster-ception)

Stagger is good though. However, my personal favorite is the Electron Vortex.

Forgot about that.

Opinions on the EV?

What is there to say about EV?

You charge it, lay the smack down on everything in the middle, then it shocks on the explosion which allows you to freely get off another hit or two, or safely charge another EV. There's not much to say-- it's a damn good bomb, one of the best. In a Stagger Storm vs. Electron Vortex choice, I'd take EV over SS any day of the week. Not because it's better, but because it's so much more satisfying.

But seriously, if you were picking one, get Electron Vortex because of its overall usefulness; Stagger Storm can wait. Didn't initially talk about EV because you didn't mention it; I had assumed because you simply didn't want it or were already working towards EV/GV/OC.

Yeah, I was wondering why you weren't considering all possible rewards. Vortex bombs are great, and Electron Vortex is the most respected of them. It's a higher priority than Stagger Storm, unless you already have a vortex bomb, in which case it's a low priority.