Should I stop ranking Water Cannon?

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Moppy wrote on 2010-09-29 00:18

I'm currently at r4 but I've recently realized the sexiness of Frozen Blast and how it helps me rank AM easily. Since that realization, I've been completely ignoring Water Cannon and concentrating on Frozen Blast. After looking at a few topics, it seems Flamer is a better offensive skill compared to WC. So should I drop Water Cannon and maybe even start on Flamer or should I just finish ranking it.

Also, when I do start getting more into Alchemy, what skills should I rank first?

I know I should rank AM as soon as possible but other than that what should I do?

Right now it seems like this for me:
1)AM with Frozen Blast
2)Water Cannon or Flamer
3)Wind Blast(mainly for crocodile enchant but also for WB+WC combo)
4)Golem
5)Life Drain/Shock
6)Life Drain/Shock

Those eight alchemy skills are the only ones I truly care about for now.
Shanghai wrote on 2010-09-29 00:40

For some apparent reason, I don't particularly like Flamer as much as WC. To deal even sufficent damage, you need at least 3 charges or more, and you'll need to score criticals most of the time to deal good damage, luckily Flamer ignores Protection when calculating critical. It's got good hitstun(over 5 seconds, more than enough to help someone regain their footing), but it's just too weak at 1 charge, unlike WC. :l Rank 4 WC is fine since you're below rank 5, but I'm a bit ehh on switching to Flamer.

Yes, I do have rank 1 Flamer, but I'm jealous of the instant 1k my friend can do with a rank 1 WC full charge attack, where Flamer's damage can range from 400-1600 depending on how much you can crit. However, G12 is coming up real soon along with Heat Buster, so I might reconsider Flamer doing less damage when paired with Heat Buster.
Yogurticecream wrote on 2010-09-29 03:56

You're going to get them all eventually right? So I won't really worry.
Though what I would do is to focus on just one skill and then wait for chain cylinder and tower cylinder.
So my advice is still water cannon since you are already that far.
Taliya wrote on 2010-09-29 04:00

They're both really good. I wouldn't call Flamer an offensive skill though. Its more defensive/support. Heat buster would be your flame offensive skill.

Either way, frozen blast is useful for everyone in the party, so I say go for it.
Q wrote on 2010-09-29 05:01

Quote from Shanghai;169851:
For some apparent reason, I don't particularly like Flamer as much as WC. To deal even sufficent damage, you need at least 3 charges or more, and you'll need to score criticals most of the time to deal good damage, luckily Flamer ignores Protection when calculating critical. It's got good hitstun(over 5 seconds, more than enough to help someone regain their footing), but it's just too weak at 1 charge, unlike WC. :l Rank 4 WC is fine since you're below rank 5, but I'm a bit ehh on switching to Flamer.

Yes, I do have rank 1 Flamer, but I'm jealous of the instant 1k my friend can do with a rank 1 WC full charge attack, where Flamer's damage can range from 400-1600 depending on how much you can crit. However, G12 is coming up real soon along with Heat Buster, so I might reconsider Flamer doing less damage when paired with Heat Buster.

teeheee and i say just get it to 1 o-o;
Justified wrote on 2010-09-29 05:15

Quote from Shanghai;169851:
Yes, I do have rank 1 Flamer, but I'm jealous of the instant 1k my friend can do with a rank 1 WC full charge attack, where Flamer's damage can range from 400-1600 depending on how much you can crit. However, G12 is coming up real soon along with Heat Buster, so I might reconsider Flamer doing less damage when paired with Heat Buster.

Water Cannon only hits one mob. Flame Burst is much better since it not only hits more mobs, but also has crits. Aside from being able to see 4-digit single hits, Flame Burst is much better for many situations and will usually result in higher DPS. Water Cannon is only better when paired with the large amounts of +Water damage available, and on the off-chance you can score criticals with it.

Afaik, Flame Burst and all other alchemy skills all count evenly towards Heat Buster's activation. In that case, it becomes one of the worse skills to pair with, since you can't spend too long stacking charges without letting the activation counter reset, and the actual attack animation takes the longest. The only benefit is that they'll both get fire bonuses from cylinder and enchants. Water Cannon is still somewhat decent at low charges, Wind Blast will rack up activation points quickly, and Life Drain is possibly the best skill to couple with (mostly in transformation when hurt for full damage).