Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Kid Icarus thoughts - Flintlock Staff

Flintlock Staff

It's outer appearance is pretty simple, but kinda cool in that way. The sound that occurs when you shoot is satisfying too.
It's strong points are:
-Very long range
-Very fast charged shot
-Incredible maximum power
However, it's weak points are:
-Absolutely no homing in its charged shots
-Very small hitbox
-Direct attacks are absolutely weak
And as you can see, there isn't a weapon that focuses itself in one area as this weapon. All power from direct attacks have been stuffed in to its ranged attacks, giving it massive power, range, and speed.
However, it is also very hard to hit moving opponents, because the shot it shoots is very small, though it does get a little bigger as it moves through the air.
No matter how strong an attack is, it doesn't matter if it doesn't hit. So when using this weapon, you will need very good aim.

I personally think it is a very easy weapon to build.
Because the only modifier you need is Standing Charge Shot + 4. Nothing else.
Why Standing? Because Standing already has enough power and range. The Forward Dash has only about 20% more power and 5m of extra range, but it gets even harder to hit the opponent. Dash attacks also leave you open to attacks as well. Not worth it.
Then there is Range+3. This depends on personal preference really, because it has some good points and bad points. You don't really need it because the range for the Standing Charge Shot is already over 110m, which is usually all you need. There aren't that many stages and times where you will need to use Range+3.
However, if you do add Range+3, your opponent will have a pretty hard time getting out of your range. Also, because of the shot speed, no matter how far you are, the difficulty of hitting the opponent won't change much.

As a staff, the attacks do more damage the farther away your target is. In Flintlock's case, the change is pretty drastice. To far-away enemies, you deal great damage, but hitting nearby enemies won't result in much damage done.
Because of the system in Kid Icarus, the maximum and minimum damage for a weapon does not change, meaning if you increase the range, you deal less damage to enemies nearby. Keep that in mind when choosing your modifiers.

There is also the option to lower your range. By doing this, you do more damage to nearby enemies. However, you are also killing one of the weapon's strong points, which is incredibly range, so I don't really favor it.
One reason is because if an enemy is nearby, they will probably see you. And if they see you, they will move around, making it very hard to hit the target. As a sniper, you generally aim for people who do not notice and dodge you, which is hard to do when you have to close your distance from them.
However, you still have a long range despite Range-3, so it is an option, I guess.

For modifiers, the only thing you need is Standing Charge Shot and Range stars. You can stop there, giving yourself a fairly cheap weapon.
The only other thing that might help to add are defense-increasing modifiers, though you generally will try to stay out of your opponent's attack range.

For Powers, unlike some other range weapons, you won't need to increase your already high power with Trade-Off or Energy Charge.
By using Slip-Shot, you can shoot any enemy on the map, anywhere, but unless you use Auto Target to automatically target your enemy when you fire, it'll be a bad guessing game.
Auto Target is a useful ability to help you target enemies, but however, you have to beware that using that power will actually make it harder to hit enemies moving sideways. If you have great aim, it might be easier to hit enemies without it.
You can use Quick Charge to shoot more quickly. The more you shoot, the more likely it is you will hit a target.
Teleport is the usual one to bring along. Considering close combat is the last thing you want to do with Flintlock, it helps greatly to be able to run away.
Invisibility might allow you to sneak closer to enemies and shoot without them noticing, though depending on the distance and map, it might not matter.

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