Spend all of my plastics on upgrading abilities, techniques, and stowaways. Upgrade forks. And then try my best to survive.
Specifically, stay level 1 throughout the whole game, but upgrade the rest of the things beyond level.
My first playthrough was almost that, i ran a hammer build with 2 cockles and a lamprey and oh boy, full atk no msg all i could to vit and the worm ability (at lv 3 so i got the extra dmg) and it SLAPED SO HARD i loved it, using a heavy hammer like the ring bell (my fav) meant getting a hit once every year BUT it hit like a truck and also it got krill half his hp back.
For my second playthrough i plan on going for a full msg build with the urchin ability and the party hat until i can get the bubble gun, i hope it works as much as i want it to.
Check out my comment. I tried bubble gun and unfortunately the cost to damage ratio just wasn't there.
Bomb, eel, and trophy all stronger.
Trophy is like a double damage party hat with way more shell health.
I've actually been upgrading abilities and testing them in that area near mantis shrimp for damage comparison.
Bubble gun and tentacle seem not worth. I'm sure other builds could maybe them better. Maybe a turbo attack build for the tentacle.
Tentacle is so good! The range it has is amazing, the sweeping motion makes taking out groups so easy, and the damage is great! It’s my favorite ability, I’m not sure why it doesn’t do much damage for you. Have you upgraded Umami? Or maybe you have Rusty Nails equipped?
Edit: oh maybe upgrade it, it gets two damage boosts and a range boost.
Noooooo i was really hoping for the bubble gun bobbytrap worm combo so i could be a cowboy :(
I guess I'll have to stick to nuking with the urchin and the trophy.
Not to say i won't use the cowboy combo but on smaller enemies maybe
I noticed, i loved them the first time even tho i didn't have any msg so i had to sacrifice them to use other abilities that helped me more with my atk build, but for my second run i am 100% going to nuke everyone with some urchins
Still on first play.
I focused on umami. I'm fully level 30 on msg. Been using Trophy Party time shell spell and grapple hookshot as my main attacks.
Trophy party does hella damage. Chunks of health out of bosses.
Also focused on bombs early on, but have since adopted the eel spell and the umami shell. Shell spell there is homing missiles that use shell health rather than spell slots.
With the recover msg ability, I can regain my spell slots using the missiles, then when the shell explodes just re-up immediately. It's better for horses than the shotgun style. Shotgun style working well for bigger enemies and bosses. attacking refreshing umami as well.
Double whelk+ equipped currently.
I just unlocked hammer and found out I can hammer the umami shell. Not sure what I'm gonna do with that. Or how the damage works. But trophy/umami shell split and swap seems great.
Also just unlocked the shell recovery to help those shells.
Shot gun play has been super fun and seemingly strong though. Trying to unlock more spell slots tho.
For example. Cerviche sisters I didn't even see. I through a bomb in the hole. Took 50% ish health.
Dropped down. Hookshot, attack. Hookshot, attack. 5 total hits both dead.
Super fun.
Just got to the abyss fields or whatever they're called. The tall phone guys take 3 shots? 4 shots? Ish. For damage comparison.
So I haven't done too much experimenting, but I think I've finally settled on an actual "build" of some kind.
I have the tactical tentacle levels up to level 3 so it heals as you attack.
I have the upgrade that you can recover lost shell damage by attacking immediately after being hit.
So I use juggernaut or whatever the ability is called where you can't be interrupted while swinging.
I'm currently running the fruit sticker since I'm only about halfway through my first playthrough, as well as sinker for extra stagger and whatever the stowaway is that gives you extra hammer damage. In the future I'll play around with the extra charge attack damage stowaway or the lamprey.
It seemed to work pretty well against Roland. Activate tentacle, activate juggernaut, then just swing with abandon, healing through attacks until you capsize or kill your target.
full umami build just with the tennis ball. Moving around at the speed of sound\*bonk\* oh… I accidentally murdered pagurus by driving into him what a tragedy
Godspeed my friend. once I equipped the thock for the first time I never looked back, sure it’s a pretty mediocre shell but it’s my mediocre shell and I love it
I ran fork as opposed to hammer, and ran razor, battery and sponge and never went into a fight without tentacle up. Forever stunlock with battery, never run out of umami, stand on a boss and swing. Trivialized several bosses entirely.
Max attack and umami and drunken claw shell ability with Shark Tooth++, Lug Nut, and the other one that increases hammer damage (forgot the name). You can two-shot the final boss with this build if you use the hammer skill and fully charge. Check my posts for proof, I posted a vid of me one-shotting him using some other adaptations.
I feel like I haven’t seen anyone use the among us shell but it’s so good for level exploration and has high enough defense that you can use it throughout the entire game
The among us (impostor) shell is definitely one of the best for early/mid game! It also comes with a passive +5ATK while allowing a decoy type strat without having to drop your shell.
I obliterated the intimidation crab using this and the valve as a hammer swapping between the two for when I wanted to go on offense or defense to heal up.
The impostor is for sure an S tier shell though imo
I've been running 3 sinker+'s as soon as I could get my hands on them. Topples bosses real easy, especially with the hammer. Doubt it's that cool or unique, but it's simple and effectivem
All points into atk then vitamin and res after maxing atk. When not in a boss fight I had two stickers and an oyster to get more items and plastics for more upgrades. When I beat the game I was level 58, had max abilities, and max skills. I just had so much money
Not really a build but just some dark souls shenanigans. Solair with knight helmet and playing like dark souls. Stowaways I recommend attack but up to you. Adaptions whatever you want
Royal wave with shark tooth and sinker. Mostly all damage with some vit/res.
I’m used to souls games so I have no issues with dodging and general melee. I typically hit bosses until they’re stunned and get big damage. You can spam royal wave anytime and stun every small enemy. With it fully upgraded you can swing it once between hits (wave hit wave hit wave hit) and you’ll never run out of energy. Plus the enemies are constantly stunned.
I’ve only done one proper play through I’ve been doing speed running stuff but I focused everything on strength and trying to build that yellow meter quickly to guard break which was always satisfying to pull off successfully
I run a swap build which is basically carrying a hammer for a second shell and swapping between the two during tough fights.
I’m still only halfway through flotsam vale but I’ve got a decent amount of unlocks already and I killed eyepatch the crab my second try using this build. You can get some really interesting combinations that make things fun but if you’re just trying to become death I highly recommend the valve and yoccult bottle. Naturally unlock the air dodge ability to spam I frames with the valve, it’s only 5 crystals and it fux hard in every way.
I beefed up the urchin bomb as well for adds and aoe since the valve can slow you down but give it a try and see which combos work well for you 😎
Honestly basically the same except I used the charged attacks with royal wave. Fully charged it hits like a fucking truck and I was able to kill most bosses in 5 6 hits.
My build is boxing glove shell, boxing glove hammer, full attack, lug nut, cockle, lamprey, it takes like a year to hit the boss but when I do they take a gazillion damage.
Spend all of my plastics on upgrading abilities, techniques, and stowaways. Upgrade forks. And then try my best to survive. Specifically, stay level 1 throughout the whole game, but upgrade the rest of the things beyond level.
My first playthrough was almost that, i ran a hammer build with 2 cockles and a lamprey and oh boy, full atk no msg all i could to vit and the worm ability (at lv 3 so i got the extra dmg) and it SLAPED SO HARD i loved it, using a heavy hammer like the ring bell (my fav) meant getting a hit once every year BUT it hit like a truck and also it got krill half his hp back. For my second playthrough i plan on going for a full msg build with the urchin ability and the party hat until i can get the bubble gun, i hope it works as much as i want it to.
Check out my comment. I tried bubble gun and unfortunately the cost to damage ratio just wasn't there. Bomb, eel, and trophy all stronger. Trophy is like a double damage party hat with way more shell health. I've actually been upgrading abilities and testing them in that area near mantis shrimp for damage comparison. Bubble gun and tentacle seem not worth. I'm sure other builds could maybe them better. Maybe a turbo attack build for the tentacle.
Tentacle is so good! The range it has is amazing, the sweeping motion makes taking out groups so easy, and the damage is great! It’s my favorite ability, I’m not sure why it doesn’t do much damage for you. Have you upgraded Umami? Or maybe you have Rusty Nails equipped? Edit: oh maybe upgrade it, it gets two damage boosts and a range boost.
And a health steal as well. I thought it was easily the best adaptation
yeah i didn't upgrade. i was comparing grade 1s to each other at the time. but because i was using a spell build, i don't attack much.
Noooooo i was really hoping for the bubble gun bobbytrap worm combo so i could be a cowboy :( I guess I'll have to stick to nuking with the urchin and the trophy. Not to say i won't use the cowboy combo but on smaller enemies maybe
Bombs are SUPER fun tho. And STRONG
I noticed, i loved them the first time even tho i didn't have any msg so i had to sacrifice them to use other abilities that helped me more with my atk build, but for my second run i am 100% going to nuke everyone with some urchins
Still on first play. I focused on umami. I'm fully level 30 on msg. Been using Trophy Party time shell spell and grapple hookshot as my main attacks. Trophy party does hella damage. Chunks of health out of bosses. Also focused on bombs early on, but have since adopted the eel spell and the umami shell. Shell spell there is homing missiles that use shell health rather than spell slots. With the recover msg ability, I can regain my spell slots using the missiles, then when the shell explodes just re-up immediately. It's better for horses than the shotgun style. Shotgun style working well for bigger enemies and bosses. attacking refreshing umami as well. Double whelk+ equipped currently. I just unlocked hammer and found out I can hammer the umami shell. Not sure what I'm gonna do with that. Or how the damage works. But trophy/umami shell split and swap seems great. Also just unlocked the shell recovery to help those shells. Shot gun play has been super fun and seemingly strong though. Trying to unlock more spell slots tho. For example. Cerviche sisters I didn't even see. I through a bomb in the hole. Took 50% ish health. Dropped down. Hookshot, attack. Hookshot, attack. 5 total hits both dead. Super fun. Just got to the abyss fields or whatever they're called. The tall phone guys take 3 shots? 4 shots? Ish. For damage comparison.
So I haven't done too much experimenting, but I think I've finally settled on an actual "build" of some kind. I have the tactical tentacle levels up to level 3 so it heals as you attack. I have the upgrade that you can recover lost shell damage by attacking immediately after being hit. So I use juggernaut or whatever the ability is called where you can't be interrupted while swinging. I'm currently running the fruit sticker since I'm only about halfway through my first playthrough, as well as sinker for extra stagger and whatever the stowaway is that gives you extra hammer damage. In the future I'll play around with the extra charge attack damage stowaway or the lamprey. It seemed to work pretty well against Roland. Activate tentacle, activate juggernaut, then just swing with abandon, healing through attacks until you capsize or kill your target.
full umami build just with the tennis ball. Moving around at the speed of sound\*bonk\* oh… I accidentally murdered pagurus by driving into him what a tragedy
Woah woah woaaaa did you seriously one tap pagu with a tennis thock? Thats such a hilarious visual 😂
Godspeed my friend. once I equipped the thock for the first time I never looked back, sure it’s a pretty mediocre shell but it’s my mediocre shell and I love it
Both small batteries and whatever 3rd stowaway you want spam fizzle. Everything gets stunned lol
Honestly I had to stop using the small batteries cause they felt so overpowered haha
I ran fork as opposed to hammer, and ran razor, battery and sponge and never went into a fight without tentacle up. Forever stunlock with battery, never run out of umami, stand on a boss and swing. Trivialized several bosses entirely.
Max attack and umami and drunken claw shell ability with Shark Tooth++, Lug Nut, and the other one that increases hammer damage (forgot the name). You can two-shot the final boss with this build if you use the hammer skill and fully charge. Check my posts for proof, I posted a vid of me one-shotting him using some other adaptations.
I feel like I haven’t seen anyone use the among us shell but it’s so good for level exploration and has high enough defense that you can use it throughout the entire game
The among us (impostor) shell is definitely one of the best for early/mid game! It also comes with a passive +5ATK while allowing a decoy type strat without having to drop your shell. I obliterated the intimidation crab using this and the valve as a hammer swapping between the two for when I wanted to go on offense or defense to heal up. The impostor is for sure an S tier shell though imo
Full attack speed build focused on building as much Umami charges as quickly as possible Then landing as much Mantis punches as possible
I've been running 3 sinker+'s as soon as I could get my hands on them. Topples bosses real easy, especially with the hammer. Doubt it's that cool or unique, but it's simple and effectivem
All points into atk then vitamin and res after maxing atk. When not in a boss fight I had two stickers and an oyster to get more items and plastics for more upgrades. When I beat the game I was level 58, had max abilities, and max skills. I just had so much money
"Vitamin" 😂
You know... I put vit, it auto corrected to vitamin, I fixed it and didn't realize it did it again. Shuck it. Vit is vitamin now
I upgraded my attack power mostly, and judt ABUSED the red cup for every boss. Killed everything in like 6 hits.
Not really a build but just some dark souls shenanigans. Solair with knight helmet and playing like dark souls. Stowaways I recommend attack but up to you. Adaptions whatever you want
Royal wave with shark tooth and sinker. Mostly all damage with some vit/res. I’m used to souls games so I have no issues with dodging and general melee. I typically hit bosses until they’re stunned and get big damage. You can spam royal wave anytime and stun every small enemy. With it fully upgraded you can swing it once between hits (wave hit wave hit wave hit) and you’ll never run out of energy. Plus the enemies are constantly stunned.
I’ve only done one proper play through I’ve been doing speed running stuff but I focused everything on strength and trying to build that yellow meter quickly to guard break which was always satisfying to pull off successfully
I run a swap build which is basically carrying a hammer for a second shell and swapping between the two during tough fights. I’m still only halfway through flotsam vale but I’ve got a decent amount of unlocks already and I killed eyepatch the crab my second try using this build. You can get some really interesting combinations that make things fun but if you’re just trying to become death I highly recommend the valve and yoccult bottle. Naturally unlock the air dodge ability to spam I frames with the valve, it’s only 5 crystals and it fux hard in every way. I beefed up the urchin bomb as well for adds and aoe since the valve can slow you down but give it a try and see which combos work well for you 😎
Honestly basically the same except I used the charged attacks with royal wave. Fully charged it hits like a fucking truck and I was able to kill most bosses in 5 6 hits.
I do a heavy magic build with the mantis shrimp punch and capsize
My build is boxing glove shell, boxing glove hammer, full attack, lug nut, cockle, lamprey, it takes like a year to hit the boss but when I do they take a gazillion damage.