secondary weapon?

[boredukstudent]

What weapon should i team up with my SoS to give me a good range of icons? i haven't trained defence very much so dual duty weapons pointless

[rabid_schnauzer]

A lot of folks will probably say Bow of Destiny as it gets 10 through Burrow, and SoS gets a bunch through Sink.

But I disagree with that. If your opponent has Def == your Str, then Ghostkershield reduces the entire BoD+SoS combo to 5 icons (3 fire, 2 air)

I strongly recommend that your second weapon should be an anti-Gshield measure, the best of which are probably Portable Kiln, and Ultra Bubble Gun, but for which Maractite Battle Duck, Icy Battle Duck, Amulet of Thilg, Pocket Cooking Pot, Porcelin Hair Sticks, Glowing Cauldron and Ring of the Lost are also possible considerations.

[boredukstudent]

quite tempted to get an ultra bubble gun, its got a not bad average icons and the top end is very nice

[VermontHermit]

Given that you don't train defense much and the SoS is HEAVY dark attack with some physical, I have no problem with the Ultra Bubble Gun, but I think I'd prefer the Ring of the Lost, as it's fire/light attacker and blocks ALL dark, which makes up for your lack of defense in that area. And it pretty much shuts down your opponent's SoS. Wand of Reality hasn't been mentioned and the light/air combo is good (13 icons total attack), though there's a redundant 3 more icons of physical and you already do physical with the SoS. I still like the Ring of the Lost though, particularly since you're going to need something in your battleset for defense.

[rabid_schnauzer]

VermontHermit Wrote:Wand of Reality hasn't been mentioned and the light/air combo is good (13 icons total attack),

I have two Problems with this

Firstly, WoR+SoS still only gets 2 Light, 2 Air and 1 Phsyical through G-Shield against equal Def.

Secondly, WoR runs afoul of the defenses people carry against PCCs. Pteris have become the most common high level battlepet lately.

[VermontHermit]

Rabid - Fair enough comments. I STILL like the Ring of the Lost for the fairly defenseless fighter. The Wand of Reality was conspictuous by its absense and I thought should be mentioned. A plus is the air/light combo scores some against both Sink and Burrow, while the Bow of Destiny is great against Sink and poor against Burrow. Overall, while the 13-icon weapons are both fairly powerful, in the situation mentioned, I'd rather take my chances on the Ring of the Lost over either of them, as the G-Shield isn't going to kill me if my opponent doesn't train defense, and at worse, if it blocks all of my attack, I do zero damage, but the G-Shield does too. In the area of battling we're talking, the G-Shield (against anyone who has trained defense) is always a worry, but the Sword of Skardsen, is almost a given, and the Ring of the Lost is an inexpensive (relatively speaking) way of neutralizing it and winning a round. Obviously with any selections, the rest of the battleset presents a factor to be considered as well. In general, I want at least THREE weapons that I'm willing to attack with, as I expect an opponent to compromise one of main attackers. That's why a good FULL set, will tend to beat a situation where someone may have one or two GREAT weapons, but little else of note. Ideally, I think the Ring of the Lost is an ideal #3 slot weapon behind two main offensive weapons. But it's obviously costly to have a set like that, and if you have a pet that doesn't have defense, there aren't a lot of things you're going to do to be able to compensate for that weakness. The Ring of the Lost I think, while a bit offensively underpowered for the #2 attacker slot, brings with it a fairly unique defensive boost for this type of pet that puts it above the two common 13 icon weapons. Your comments though are valid, and I think certainly add to the discussion, which is what this all about, to offer thoughts for the person asking to forumulate their own opinion and turn into actions.

[boredukstudent]

i should probably mention that i mainly do 1 player battles

[VermontHermit]

Given that typical War or Plot opponents on higher levels often have a reflector and/or some defensive capabilities, I still think it's wise to have a minimum of THREE items with enough offense (or offense/defense combination) that you can rotate in as main attackers depending upon the opponent and her/his capabilities. For example if you have a Sword of Skardsen and a one player challenger has a Ghostkershield, your Sword is obviously compromised though it remains random when or if the G-Shield will be used by the opponent. And of course in two-player, there's a more aggressive effort to neutralize at least one of your primary weapons by any defensive fighter.

[rabid_schnauzer]

boredukstudent Wrote:i should probably mention that i mainly do 1 player battles

That changes things a bit. I stand by most of my previous advice, but for 1p, your best bets are probably

1. A 2nd Sword of Skardsen, although as VermontHermit points out, that may be blocked or reflected by future war opponents.

2. The somewhat cheaper Ultra Bubble Gun which gives you alternate icon types and still has the potential to do up to 20 icons. Variability is generally enough of a plus in 1player, to warrant the price increase over WoR or BoD, despite the fractional-at-best gain in average icons

3. Ring of the Lost. Full blockers can allow nearly limitless wins against some opponents. Most of the Malevolent Shadows' attacks were dark, and in the recent NCW tourney the people who won figured out that Pirate Captains Hat + Ring of the Lost reduced the Giant Hungry Malevolent Chomby's damage output to 3 physical icons while still dealing damage in return. Seriously, I can't stress enough just how awesome full blockers with attached offense are for 1p battling. Unless you have a somewhere around a 500 defense boost, there's no alternative way to rack up multiple wins.

[boredukstudent]

thanks for all the advice guys i think ill get a ultra bubble gun first, then save up for a ring of the lost