Difference between revisions of "User:Jdavis/Armor"

Revision as of 19:54, 19 March 2015

This guide helps you plan armor loadouts for play in the Clockworks. It is intended for beginner and intermediate players, although all players may find it useful as a reference. It applies whether you are free-to-play or pay-to-play.

What Does Armor Do?

Armor does four things: It gives you health, protects you from damage, resists status effects, and grants you abilities. The contributions from your helmet and suit add to produce your total health, damage protection, status resistance, and abilities. (By the way, your shield does not contribute in the same way. A shield's defenses protect only the shield itself. For more detail, see the Shieldbearer Guide.)

Health

Armor gives you health, which greatly improves your survivability. A suit or helmet gains one extra health when it reaches heat level 5. Except for Ancient Plate Mail/Helm, all 5-star armor grants the same amount of health. Therefore health is rarely a consideration in choosing armor.

Damage

There are four kinds of damage: normal, piercing, elemental, and shadow. Each kind of monster attack contains a specific mixture of these types. Roughly speaking, beasts and slimes inflict piercing, gremlins and constructs inflict elemental, and fiends and undead inflict shadow. However, normal damage is often mixed in. In shallow levels, monsters inflict more normal than specialized damage. Even in Tier 3 there is a fair amount of normal. For example, in Firestorm Citadel normal damage is inflicted by Lord Vanaduke, slag guards, and trojans.

Almost all armor protects against normal damage and one other damage type. (The exceptions are Ancient Plate, Dragon Scale, Divine, and Radiant Silvermail.) When an attack hits you, your armor's protections are subtracted from the attack's gross damage to yield the net damage that you incur. For more detail, see Defense.

The overall importance of damage protection is not as big as you might think. Highly protective armor might let you survive one more hit than weakly protective armor. Also, heat and unique variants improve your armor's damage protection only slightly.

Status

Shock, freeze, and fire can absolutely wreck you, regardless of your damage protection. These three statuses should be your top defensive priorities. Stun, poison, and curse are less threatening. Sleep is not inflicted by any monster currently in the game.

[At some point I will put the status immunity thresholds here.]

Abilities

Armor can grant four kinds of abilities: movement speed increase (MSI), attack speed increase (ASI), charge time reduction (CTR), and damage bonus. All are generally useful, but their precise value depends on the weapons in use. For example, if you never charge your Dread Venom Striker, then CTR is not very useful to you.

There are four kinds of damage bonus granted by armor. Ordered from worst to best, they are:

• One weapon type against one monster family. An example is Sacred Falcon Keeper's gun construct+2. This kind of bonus is most easily replicated using unique variants on weapons.
• All weapon types, one monster family. An example is Deadly Virulisk's slime+2. This kind of bonus is more general than the first, and it can be valuable to hybrid knights on specific levels. However, it is also fairly easily replicated using unique variants.
• One weapon type, all monster families. An example is Bombastic Demo's bomb+2. This kind of bonus applies to all six monster families, and a few special cases (notably Vanaduke), and opponents in PvP. It cannot be replicated by unique variants.
• All weapon types, all monster families. An example is Chaos' damage+2. This kind of bonus is more general than the third, and hence even more valuable.

Bombers deserve some special remarks. MSI is highly valuable for bombers, because they so often rely on dodging, because they cannot shield while attacking. ASI affects the speed of animations when you place a bomb, and therefore has a small effect on bomber performance. CTR helps all aspects of bombing tremendously: inflicting damage more quickly, spreading status more quickly, spending less time vulnerable while charging, etc. In contrast, damage bonus has a practical benefit only for damage-oriented bombs.

Armor by Class

Because offensive bonuses are a crucial consideration in choosing armor, I group armors into four categories: Swords, Handguns, Bombs, and Other. Two armor sets — Black Kat and Chaos — are listed in every category, because they should be considered by every player all the time.

Overall, there are 72 5-star armors. In almost all cases the suit and helmet are obtained identically and enjoy identical statistics. The seven exceptions, marked with * below, are: Radiant Silvermail has no matching helmet, Perfect Mask of Seerus has no matching suit, Divine Veil has a fiend bonus while Divine Mantle does not, and the four Kat armor lines have unusual and asymmetric alchemy paths.

Swords

For sworders, these are the main options other than Black Kat and Chaos.

• Vog Cub: This is the most defensive Wolver armor. Its elemental and fire defense are frequently useful, especially in Firestorm Citadel. Its ASI improves your chances of interrupting monsters before they interrupt you. ASI also helps you shield quickly after attacking. Of course, ASI also increases your damage output.
• Skolver: This armor is a slightly less defensive and slightly more offensive than Vog Cub. Freeze is just as useful as fire, except that Firestorm Citadel is fiery. Piercing defense is less useful than elemental. Damage bonus does not aid defense. However, the damage bonus is more offensively valuable than attack speed increase, because blanket damage bonus cannot be achieved through unique variants.
• Snarbolax: This armor is like Skolver with the piercing defense traded out for more useful shadow defense. Overall it is the best of the three Wolver armors. But you can craft it only in the Shadow Lairs, so it is not easily accessible.

The Kat Claw helmet is also fine, but do not get the Kat Claw suit, which requires vast resources for such unexceptional armor.

Handguns

(In the table above, armors marked ? come in four flavors: Falcon (sh+4, fr-3), Firefly (fi+4, sh-3), Grizzly (fr+4, po-3), and Snakebite (po+4, fi-3). Also, these armors' official names begin with "Sacred", which simply means "5-star".)

For gunners, these are the main options other than Black Kat and Chaos.

• Perfect Mask of Seerus: This is highly valuable gunner armor, with excellent defense and offense. Only the helmet is available, so plan accordingly. You can obtain Seerus only through Operation Crimson Hammer, but it's worth the cost, especially because it comes with a powerful sword, a powerful bomb, and recreational value.
• Pathfinder, Shade, and Sentinel: These are the most valuable of the Padded variants, because they offer blanket damage bonuses that cannot be achieved through unique variants. Their defense is generally worse than Seerus', but if you can afford more than one of these armors, then you can customize them to whatever threat you're facing.
• Shadowsun: All of the Gunslinger variants are fine, but Shadowsun's damage bonus is disproportionately valuable, because it cannot be achieved through unique variants. Its defense is neither terrible nor great.

The Kat Eye helmet is also fine, but do not get the Kat Eye suit, which requires vast resources for such unexceptional armor.

Bombs

Remember that CTR and MSI are disproportionately useful for bombers. With that in mind, these are the most important armors for bombers, other than Black Kat and Chaos.

• Mercurial Demo: In the long term, this is the best Demo variant. Its MSI is highly valuable and hard to obtain otherwise. Its blanket damage bonus cannot be achieved through unique variants. But this armor can be crafted only in the Shadow Lairs, so it is hard to obtain. Also, Mercurial Demo is the best only if you have lots of CTR from other sources.
• Bombastic Demo: After Mercurial, this is the best Demo variant in the long term, because its blanket damage bonus cannot be achieved through unique variants. However, the same comments about CTR apply here.
• Volcanic Demo: This is the best Demo variant in the short term, because CTR is so helpful to every kind of bomb. If you're just trying out bombing for fun, then Volcanic Demo is a great way to make a lot of explosions.

The Kat Hiss helmet is also fine, but do not get the Kat Hiss suit, which requires vast resources for such unexceptional armor. For more detail check out the excellent Bombing Guide.

Other

These miscellaneous armors vary widely in quality. For example, Volcanic Salamander makes no sense, because it's offensive against slimes, which inflict piercing, but it doesn't defend against piercing. Azure Guardian is completely outclassed by other armors such as Skolver and Mercurial. (These imbalances have gotten worse over time, as the developers have adjusted the rules and buffed other items.) But some armors here are worth considering, other than Black Kat and Chaos.

• Divine, Grey Feather, and Dread Skelly: These armors protect well against common combinations of damage and status. Some players also like the other non-normal armors: Radiant Silvermail and Dragon Scale.
• Mercurial: MSI and shock protection are both valuable. But Mercurial Demo is better, if you can get it.
• Fallen: This armor is the less offensive, more defensive sibling to Black Kat and Chaos. But a fiend penalty on shadow armor is downright sad.

General Strategy

First consider Chaos or Black Kat. If those seem too dangerous, then try the offensive armors for Sword, Gun, and Bomb instead. If you cannot play well in those, then work on your skill. If you really decide that you need more defense in certain situations, then consider a couple of the defensive Other armors. This section also describes strategy for heating and for choosing unique variants.

Glass Cannon

Black Kat and Chaos are called "glass cannon" armors. They offer awesome offense and terrible defense. They are viable because skilled players don't need much defense and veteran players can afford status unique variants.

Chaos is easy to get. All needed recipes are in the Hall of Heroes. The 2-, 3-, and 4-star versions have good defense, which is helpful if you're still learning the game. When upgrading to 5 stars, you have the option of Divine or Grey Feather, if Chaos seems too dangerous.

Black Kat is very difficult to get, with one exception. The 3-star Black Kat Hood requires only 70 Ancient Pages, which are easily obtainable during a Kataclysmic Confrontation event. Its offense is just as good as any Black Kat armor's.

In the extreme long term, Black Kat beats Chaos, because it lets you maximize all of your offensive abilities on all of your weapons: MSI+4, damage+6 against all enemies, CTR+6, and ASI+6 on swords and handguns (and ASI+3 on bombs). To reach this pinnacle, you need Swiftstrike Buckler, the Swift Steps II sprite perk, heat level 10 on your weapons, and CTR and ASI unique variants on your weapons.

Offensive Armor

Do Chaos and Black Kat seem too risky? Then consider one or two pieces of offensive armor, selected from the Sword, Handgun, and Bomb categories above. If you're hybrid, then mix and match these offensive armors as you see fit.

Because you will probably farm Firestorm Citadel soon, it's wise to get one armor piece with fire resistance: Vog Cub, Seerus, Volcanic Demo, and Firefly variants of Padded. Your other piece could be fire also, or a different status, or glass cannon.

In the long term, you may want to have sets specialized to shock, fire, and freeze resistance. When choosing an armor piece, always ask yourself, "Will this help me build a specialized set later?" For example, two freeze helmets are generally not as useful as a freeze helmet and a freeze suit, because the latter combination gives you a complete freeze set.

Defensive Armor

If you find yourself dying a lot with the offensive armors just described, then frankly armor is not your problem. You need more skill (or a better computer, or less latency to the servers). Be patient when fighting; don't charge into battle recklessly and get surrounded. Consider switching weapons; for example, brandishes are much easier to use than cutters are.

If you really want more defensive armor, then consider some of the Other armors above. But don't be surprised if you can't even perceive the extra defense. It is noticeable only in specific situations. For example, Dread Skelly is noticeably good in Heart of Ice and Dragon Scale is noticeably good in Compound 42.

Heating

Recall that heat has only a small effect on armor. It gives one extra health at heat level 5. It slightly increases damage protection at every heat level. It does not improve abilities or status resistance at all. In contrast, heat has a dramatic effect on weapon damage and CTR. Therefore you should heat your armor after your weapons. For 5-star armor, which requires scarce Radiant Fire Crystals, it's reasonable to keep your armor at heat level 1 or heat level 5 (to get the extra health).

Unique Variants

Recall that damage unique variants have only a small practical benefit to your survivability. In contrast, status unique variants can have a huge effect. They can erase the defensive problems of glass cannon armor. They can bring non-resistant armor up to par with resistant armor. They can push resistant armor over crucial immunity thresholds. So seek out unique variants against your most important statuses — usually shock, fire, and freeze.

Specific Situations

Bosses

The Gloaming Wildwoods are three levels of beasts, with some constructs and undead. There is no status, other than lumber stun. Hazards include spikes, exploding blocks, and briars. You want normal and piercing armor. There may not actually be much piercing damage in there, as it's only Stratum 2.

The Royal Jelly Palace is three levels of slimes, some constructs, and some silkwings. There is no status, other than lumber stun. The only hazards are spikes and exploding blocks. You want normal and piercing armor. Elemental and stun armor are slightly useful.

Ironclaw Munitions Factory is three levels of constructs and gremlins, with a shock theme. Hazards are plentiful, including missiles, shock grates, exploding rockets, exploding blocks, and lasers. You want normal, elemental, and shock armor.

Firestorm Citadel is five levels of zombies and trojans, with some constructs and silkwings, and very few beasts and slimes. The theme is fire, but keep in mind that trojans can stun and shock. Hazards include wheel throwers, spikes, fire grates, shadow fire, exploding blocks, and revolving balls. You want normal, elemental, shadow, and fire armor. Of these, shadow is arguably the least important, because zombies are easy to dodge. Vanaduke, slag guards, and trojans all inflict lots of normal damage.

Shadow Lairs

The Shadow Gloaming Wildwoods are similar to the regular Gloaming Wildwoods, but with many additional undead. The gun puppies have been replaced with howlitzers. There is a strong poison theme. You want normal, piercing, shadow, and poison armor.

The Shadow Royal Jelly Palace is much like the ordinary Royal jelly Palace, but with a freeze theme. Also, the gun puppies have been replaced with polyps. You want normal, piercing, and freeze armor.

The Shadow Ironclaw Munitions Factory is much like the usual Ironclaw Munitions Factory, but with a fire theme in addition to the regular shock theme. You want normal, elemental, shock, and fire armor.

The Shadow Firestorm Citadel resembles the Firestorm Citadel, but with a curse theme in addition to the usual fire theme. Also, the gun puppies have been replaced with howlitzers. You want normal, elemental, shadow, fire, and curse armor.

The Unknown Passage is an extra level that comes after every Shadow Lair boss. It is the same for all Shadow Lairs; it has nothing to do with any of their themes. Normal damage is most prevalent, but piercing, elemental, and shadow damage are all present. Status is not a major consideration, but poison and stun can occur.

Some Other Missions

Legion of Almire is two undead-stuffed levels, like an amped-up graveyard where the phantoms have been replaced by worse monsters. There is no status, except for lumber stun. Hazards include exploding blocks, briars, and spikes. You want normal and shadow armor. The lack of status gives you great freedom in optimizing your offense.

Compound 42 is two levels filled with slimes, gremlins, poison, and fire. Hazards include poison grates, fire grates, flamethrowers, and shadow fire. You want normal, piercing, elemental, fire, and poison armor. Dragon Scale is perfect for this mission.

Heart of Ice consists of two freeze-themed levels filled with fiends and beasts, and scattered howlitzers. Hazards include freeze grates, spikes, exploding blocks, and revolving balls. You want normal, piercing, shadow, and freeze armor. Of these, piercing is probably least important, because beasts are easy to dodge. The ideal armor is Black Kat.

Ghosts in the Machine consists of two shock-filled levels filled with constructs and undead. Hazards include shock grates, revolving shock balls, and lots of drones. You want normal, elemental, shadow, and shock armor. Of these, shadow is arguably least important, because zombies are slow. Seerus is excellent armor here.

Operation Crimson Hammer is five levels filled with gremlins and constructs. Hazards include briars, exploding rockets, missiles, and shadow fire. You want normal, elemental, and fire armor, although there is not much fire.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, armor is boring in Spiral Knights. It doesn't give you any special powers. At best it enhances your weapons slightly or improves your survivability slightly. When collecting gear, you should diversify much more in weapons than in armor, because trying different styles of weapon is fun. This guide exists, just to help you avoid a lot of costly exploration in armor.

Thanks to the Arsenal forum regulars for enlightening discussion. Happy travels.