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Mantis Shrimp may not look like much on the surface, but deep down it's a powerful threat you won't want to mess with. This seemingly Small and innocent little critter can become a prominent force in the right build.
The Slow Burn archetype can be very effective once established, and Mantis Shrimp fits right in. Its Small size also allows it to slot into a number of setups, making it a flexible fit, or the main focus point.
Selecting the random enchanted item at the start of your run can occasionally give you a pretty clear path to follow. Mantis Shrimp is a prime example of this. If you happen to find one that's enchanted with extra offense (in Kripp's case, Obsidian) it can be an extremely potent threat worth investing in.
Without an enchantment its Damage/Burn scaling isn't quite good enough to fly solo, but it's often a key player on 
Shot Glasses builds. It also gets even better in multiples, so be sure to grab a 
Fishing Rod if you can.
Mantis Shrimp scales best when you're able to stack multiple separate Slow triggers. It's less about quality, and more about quantity. It's important to set off as many triggers as possible, especially since Mantis Shrimp has a long Cooldown.
Despite having Ammo, you generally don't need to go out of your way to support it. Fights are fast enough to where two casts should do the trick, though it never hurts to use some 
Gunpowder just in case.
This will ultimately depend on your rate of scaling. If you can reach a critical mass to where a few hits is all you need, then you can get away without having additional Ammo or Reload. Just keep in mind that Health-stacking builds could be an issue if you have a limited capacity.
Shot Glasses is the single item that redefined Mantis Shrimp once it was released. It takes away the emphasis on needing several Slow items, and instead aims to go wide with as many active items as possible (in order to maximize the triggers). 
Seadog's Saloon is often used as well in more Friend-based setups.
Additional Ammo is always a plus, but you can often mitigate the need by upgrading it (which extends its capacity) and pairing it with 
Incendiary Rounds.
Clamera is an all-star for Slow builds thanks to its on-start effect. This can often create powerful combos with skills that say "the first time you use an item each fight" (ex. 
Rigged), giving you a huge edge during combat.
Holsters is another great option for its Haste on-start, as long as you're running primarily Small items. While it doesn't count as an active item to trigger skills or enable Shot Glasses, it's still well worth the slot.
Old Saltclaw is a solid backup threat in Mantis Shrimp builds that fits right at home with Shot Glasses. It helps increase your overall Damage output while giving you a Plan B in case you run out of Ammo.
Jellyfish and 
Bomb Squad spam Haste on themselves, creating even faster scaling for Old Saltclaw. If you're purely playing Mantis Shrimp, you can drop these in favor of something else.
Zoarcid + Incendiary Rounds work together to help extend your items' Ammo while providing reliable Haste for your most important items. 
Dive Weights takes this to the extreme with its insane amount of Burn triggers when adjacent to Incendiary Rounds.
Do note that Kripp had a rare Heavy enchanted 
Bootstraps as Vanessa, allowing him to apply Heavy across the board. That said, you can get a large percentage of this value simply by applying a Heavy enchant to Dive Weights or Incendiary Rounds.
Inexorable is one of the best Crit scaling skills if you acquire it early enough. When found, be sure to take on as many additional event PvE Encounters (Mountain Pass, Deadly Duel etc.) as you can to get extra scaling.
While this build doesn't have many items that can benefit from the board-wide Crit, simply getting Mantis Shrimp to reliable levels is well worth the investment.
Depth Charge is a fantastic source of additional Ammo for Mantis Shrimp. Having an additional +10 Ammo is likely more than enough in the event you aren't running 
Port. Even alongside infinite Reload, it can still be worth taking for the extra Damage.
Jury Rigger has offers some nice utility, even alongside Port. Having an additional source of Reload can allow the items to go off faster, as occasionally they will have to sit around and wait.
When an item only has one Ammo it can be hard for Port to sustain it with 100% uptime. Any Slows and/or Freezes can cause a lot of delays, and once multiple fail to be Reloaded, the build begins to fall apart. Jury Rigger helps patch up that weakness.
Port is a great way to solve the Ammo problem while also offering a toolbox of options, depending on what you find. Some of these have incredible synergy with Mantis Shrimp, so the sooner you can acquire a Port, the more chances you'll have at a great item.
Upgrading Port can go a long way to ensuring it drops higher quality items, as well as improving its Reload rate.
Flashbang and 
Plasma Grenade are both amazing Port items, both fulfilling the same role of applying a board-wide Slow to the enemy. Use whichever you find, and even consider multiples if ever possible.
Silencer helps reduce Mantis Shrimp's very long nine second Cooldown, while also giving it a respectable Damage buff. Aside from Port, this is likely the next best item worth upgrading.
Energy Potion is an excellent source of Haste that can continue to keep your board going so long as you have a consistent source of Reload. Gold/Diamond tier is recommended in order to maintain a healthy duration.
Ice Luge reduces the Cooldowns of adjacent items. Combined with Port this can continuously refueled until the supported items reach one second. This is a pretty wild combo if you're lucky enough to stumble upon it.
Fishing Rod fulfills a similar role to Port in that it generates items (occasionally in multiples) that can greatly support Mantis Shrimp. Clamera and 
IllusoRay are the clear standouts, but it can often help generate "filler" items when nothing better is available (ex. 
Yeti Crab functioning as a Friend for IllusoRay).
RNG definitely plays a role in what you obtain, though it's not entirely uncommon to fish up a handful of goodies throughout your adventure. Since Fishing Rod is available at Bronze it's pretty easy to come by, and you can utilize your free upgrades to let it find better quality items later on.
Figurehead is a very strong form of Cooldown reduction with a healthy Aquatic package. This helps justify the long Cooldowns of Clamera and IllusoRay, but it can still support the likes of items like 
Dock Lines.
Prioritize upgrading Figurehead whenever possible, as the reduction percentage scales greatly between tiers.
Marbles and 
Multitool fill in the gaps as nice Small Slow utility items. Neither are particularly necessary but can warrant the space if you're unable to find the common multi-Slow items (ex. Dock Lines, 
Tripwire).
