Going from JK's quote about 1500HP fully recovering his health, the Dracula gives you 10 seconds to do 2307 damage points to recover that same amount, from calculations alone. As easy as that sounds when we have weapons exceeding that number in one or two seconds, the Dracula can only be used every two minutes or so. I doubt you'd be able to survive for two minutes unless you actively change from trying to get kills to trying to survive, so the 60HP/sec regen pack seems significantly more practical. Particularly given that it has a 20% chance of negating damage.
Which weapons were you combining? These are the ones I've got so far, as well as what I know about their limitations: (Note that if you have a few weapons in your bag, you should place the combo weapons right next to each other - it makes it easier to switch between them if there's nothing else in the way) Crab/LIT07/glitched Nova + Laser Cannon If you fire one of the automatic weapons first and then switch to the Laser Cannon, you can sort of "negate" the charge up time. Aside from being awkward to maintain your aim at longer ranges, the Laser Cannon will NOT cool down during the combo, and you actually need to equip the Laser Cannon and stop firing for it to cool down properly. Otherwise, you need to wait a good 10 seconds for it to cooldown, no matter how much you've fired it. Crab/LIT07/glitched Nova + M-27B1 The M-27 version of the above. This one seems more practical in some senses because of the M-27's lack of an overheat, meaning that you can switch weapons at will whenever you want. M-27 users may theoretically be able to maintain an absolutely continuous rate of fire by switching weapons when they need to dodge a boss's attack and then changing back to the M-27 without a start-up lag. Remember, however, that the M-27 is plenty powerful enough on its own -- while this might theoretically sweeten the deal, you don't really need it that much. Black Stars + RPG-31 + RPG-24/Trinity Basically a VERY expensive way of countering Windblade and Trinity users. Aim is a little less important at close-range with that much splash damage, but this should be much less effective in open maps, or at longer ranges. R700-AA + R100 Railgun This one's done a bit differently: you need to tap the right stick to make the first railgun fire, then simply switching to the second railgun quickly enough will cause it to fire on its own, without you needing to tap the right stick again. As before, aiming at long range is quite difficult, and I don't think you can really use properly on anything but a bull, or a stationary boss. Laser Cannon + R700-AA + R100 Railgun Superion basically uses this already, except with only one railgun during the Laser Cannon's cooldown time. What you're meant to do here is use the Laser Cannon on its own, and then use the two railguns as a combo during the cannon's cooldown - it should be stronger if you can use it properly, but again, probably harder to control at longer ranges. R700-AA + R100 Railgun + RPG-31 A complete and utter theoretical nightmare, if anyone can use it properly. I'm not sure it's realistic to use four weapons in a combo in a time-efficient manner, hence why I haven't simply thrown all the RPGs and the Railguns into one huge equation. Note that thing is still completely impractical -- RPGs can't be used properly at long range, and railguns are hard to use at short range. You'd really need to be shooting at something large and stationary point-blank to consider this one. ------------------------- ...yeah, I've been thinking about these things for a while now >.>
Speed Build - usage Just found an actual usage for a speed build in PvE, and a good one: Did a random Siegfried run with 3 players. Me and P2 were standing on the hill, both with M27. P3 was very fast, and running around in the open space below, drawing all the aliens out for us to gun them down. Really amazed me, how that went, without any communication between us. The thing to note here is that P3 (the runner) did not get hit once, he finished the wave phase with full health. This could work on the PP wave as well. For the other 3 I do not see how this could work, with the layout being not as open, and the spawnpoints way closer to any good camping spots.
I might be wrong, but try tapping the weapon scroller one or twice: I seem to recall it switching weapons sometimes when I did that. I just keep getting confused as to WHICH way of the scroller it moves if that actually happened... ------------ Edit: Yup, TAP IT -- if you tap and release the weapon changer with dragging it at all (i.e. causing it to scroll), it will change to the next weapon you put in your bag (i.e. the weapon that's "above" your current one in the scroller). A bit annoying though, given how I find it quite easy to accidentally drag it slightly, which causes it not to switch at all. Glad you're having fun! You don't have freeloaders in PvP -- the worst thing we used to have were people inexplicably cashed up on mithril when it used to be far harder to come by (yeah, the bosses used to be even stingier than they are now). ...most of us here probably wouldn't have that problem now, seeing as the majority of us have grown into Rank 10-12 monsters of our own >.>
How was P3 during the actual boss-run? And was he actually killing any of the aliens himself, or simply zipping around and herding them out for you two to take out? Even if he wasn't shooting, I'm not very inclined to call that player a freeloader - he was actually doing something which helped out the team, and sounds fun as hell to boot o__O
He only killed a few, because he was rather busy running Contributed good during the boss part, no complaints. Definitely not a freeloader. That was an awesome fun run, seeing him come running back with like 10 aliens in tow, and more spawning all around him. What also made this interesting is that the wave phase went much faster, because almost all aliens spawned directly in the open "killing ground" at the foot of the hill. Plus, we two gunners never had to move and only had to keep firing at the killground, because all aliens focused on him, making us much more efficient at gunning them down. Nice tactic to keep in mind when you want a speedy boss run, and have a team that can make it work. Have to think a bit on how to pull this off on the more cramped levels like DR or Serpent wave phase.
Do you think you can show any of us what the runner was doing? Or rather, give us an idea of where and in what pattern he/she was running to stimulate and herd the spawning aliens back towards your blazing guns The main idea that's coming to my head is that that's probably the most efficient way to farm mithril in a 3-player team. One player just has to be willing to sacrifice his/her alien kills to help speed up the rush phase, and even then, (s)he's not going to be all that bored, what with the rush you're gonna get from all the speedy movement Hey DBC...should you ever get tired of the "gunning", want to step up the "running"? I'm somewhat interested in acting as the runner too, so any pointers you have, lemme know please!
I cannot remember any particular pattern he used. And we can of course try that out ourselves, see what works best. Some things I think we need to pay attention to: 1) To use the hill with the long slope and the arch to the left, not the short one. 2) That the gunners are far enough up the hill to not attract the aliens from the spawnpoint directly at the hill's foot. 3) Seen from the hill, the artifact (spaceship, building?) in the center, a rock pillar behind it and another rock to the right and closer to the hill form kind of a triangle. As far as I remember, our runner stayed mostly in that triangle, occasionally venturing off to the left and out of sight, to draw any aliens in that spawned there. Give me a beep when you feel like testing it. --- Need to check if I have everything I want for a speed loadout, or if I have to buy some more stuff.
Ahh, the Bermuda Triangle of Life -- venture in there, and you'll lose yours to a snapping turtle sitting on a hill I'll ping you a little later this week - uni's gonna have me pinned down for a little while, so I can't afford to stay up late just yet. What would you define as a speed build? The Perseus combined with the STK results in 10 speed as long as you're not holding a weapon that slows you down. A Cygni with the STK results in a costant speed of 11, whereas using the FLOAT instead results in a base speed of 10, with a 30 second burst of 12. Relative to our turtle tendencies, 8 speed already feels quite fast...now I'm trying to picture what sort of supersonic bullet you had for a teammate in there o____O
We can experiment around a bit, to finetune how much speed is needed to pull that off on Lair for starters, then other levels later. I thought about using the Cygni, in combination with the STK.F pack which gives +1 SPD and +20% POW for your teammates. This totals you for 10 SPD, and your firepower is of secondary importance in this case. Perseus sounds like a good choice for the more cramped levels, where you most likely will get hit a few times. Also, this kind of loadout&teamplay might open a niche for the Grenadelauncher and Shotgun. Will have to test if the runner can benefit from a powerful shortrange weapon. For that, I will need a few days to gather more gold, just bought the LIT and upgraded it fully, down to 6 million and ~30 Mithril. And I think the less distractions for the runner, the better. So I would not use the FLOAT, because you need to pay attention to the ability now and then.
Sheinfell: good point about the Grenade Launchers, the splash damage may come in handy for the runner. That might also put the Crab on the table, as well as the Energy Glove to some extent. Shotguns, that'd probably be the Morpheus hands down, but I'd also suggest the Windblade for its wide swing. It might depend on whether the runner wants to take out a strong enemy at close range, or alternatively attack a wider area to take out enemies coming too close to him/her. Point taken about the FLOAT pack being a distraction. I don't think anything can really touch you once you surpass a certain speed anyway... Arrow0x: technically, any sort of automatic weapon can replace the Crab/LIT07/glitched Nova if you just want to negate the M-27's start up - what you want is to have been holding the right stick for at least one second before changing to the M-27, because that's how long it takes to spin up. The reason I didn't suggest the Windblade was because it's a close-range weapon - if you're aiming to get damage on the boss, the other ones will suit that purpose better because of a greater effective range.
Something completely different: Finally had the time to mail this http://forums.toucharcade.com/showpost.php?p=2361498&postcount=4238 to Freyr. Waiting for their response.
Thanks for all your hard work putting our opinions together On a sidenote...have you taken a look at the Freyr forums as of late? I'm starting to see some of your guide terminology and organisation ideas over there...I think we might have some Freyr forum guys looking over here too, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Still sorta two different places though
Always welcome folks Yes, I noticed that they have a "Match Setup" thread now, too. Didn't see anything else that reminds me of our stuff. If you see anything that looks like a blatant ripoff of things here (e.g. our guide), mind pointing me in that direction? Sharing information and directly copying someone else's work are two different things.
I'll pass, thanks. You guys can call it anything you like, but I've seen it enough to know what it is... how generous, you brought me another bull! Oh look, your gun is jammed... again. DBC
Nothing that blatantly copies your extensive written work, mind you. I'll PM you what caught my eye, but it's not what I'd label plagiarism or intellectual property theft. DBC: Okay, pardon me while I go try fetching Sheinfell a bull... *gets gored* ...gee, this is a pain x____x
Thanks undead. Bring on the Bulls, I need some steak for dinner If terminology spreads around, it can only benefit us players. Makes it easier to discuss things when everyone uses the same words DBC: There *is* a difference between what I described and the unfortunate "let's do nothing except wave around our fancy sword at thin air and make sure to show the aliens the way to the other guys". I had a boatload of fun with that match. --- For testing this: I just bought the full Cygni armor, and I can substitute the STK.F pack and the Shotgun with something else for now. Pack is out of reach for a good while (85 Mithril), and I do not feel like spending that much for testruns only; still want to get the Sniper and the Lasercannon...
Yeah, the tapping thing works for me, but just not as smoothly as I'd like. More than half the time I end up not switching weapons because it doesn't do what I want it to... PvP: I ended up staying up way too late last night because of PvP... I think I might spring for the Triniti though. Lots of players are using them, and they're quite painful... DBC
I'm not trying to start an argument, but what you described has happened to me many times, and I don't see any difference between our experiences, except the fact that you were willing to be the only one killing. I respect that you have a different view of what you experienced. I just don't think it's helpful overall to encourage players to force the initial wave on others. I'm glad it worked out for you. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As for me, if players from the other thread are reading over here... if you put me in that situation 2-3 times in a wave, I won't be there the 3rd time you come by... I don't care if you've got an M or a sword. If you're expecting me to do all the grunt work, it's not going to work out well for you... My game tag is Drummerboycroy, just in case you're reading this... DBC
