Best weapons and setups

[OZZO]

There are stats and descriptions for each weapon in the game, but let's talk here about your personal experience.

Say, I could not get much value out of SMGs yet. It sucks at long range and at close range it is less powerful than a shotgun.

Is Dragunov the best sniper for early to mid-game? Text description doesn't give it much praise but in the fights it is decimating and versatile with single shots and bursts. I use enhancements for aim and range in my build.

In assault category FAL performed much better for me than AK47 with similar enhancements

Winchester is amazing. I use it with range and aim enhancements and it is pretty much an OP sniper now.

Among the shotguns double barrel had the best performance for me personally. I used range enhancement and now it blasts to a range of an assault rifle with damage of a shotgun! I didn't like other shotguns though. That shotty with 5 shots is crap I think and the one with 6 shots is for very close range. I use it with Fox when she fails sneak kills.

Keen to hear your thoughts and stories!

[Lightning]

So far I think my M82 I found recently is my best sniper gun atm but nearly all my snipers are using those PSG1's

[Null Winter]

The Winchester rifle modded as a sniper is hilariously busted for how early you can find it; .44 ammo isn't used by many guns so it doesn't have to compete with other rifles, the specialized .44 ammo types have no downsides when used with it, it can accept almost any attachment, and it can even be silenced with an improvised oil filter suppressor to ruin the entire aesthetic of this beautiful gun. I've yet to find a better sniper rifle.

The Galil is, surprisingly, my favorite assault rifle; it's a total crit machine due to its higher base crit chance and all the crit boosters you can mod onto it.

M105 shotgun beats all the others in general use. Yes, the double barrel can achieve higher potential burst damage using double-barreled firing on unarmored targets, but the M105 with mods can reach out to assault rifle range with more shots in the tube to Expose and Bleed most targets; it's ultimately more ammo, AP, and wound efficient due to how much safer it is.

Surprisingly, the only pistols/counted-as-a-pistol weapons I've seen are the pistols and revolvers most mercs start with, along with the uzi your IMP starts with and the customized revolvers that Tex rolls with. I haven't seen any other types, and I imagine by the time I do everyone will already have superior rifles; handguns really don't have anything going for them outside of meme dual uzi builds for Vic.

I haven't found a useable SMG; assault rifles are just as effective close-up as they are at farther ranges, while also having higher overall stats than SMGs. SMGs would need insanely higher crit chances or much lower AP costs to justify the range disadvantage over assault rifles.

The only melee weapons I've seen are the generic knives, generic machetes, Yuri's unique gut hook knife (just a standard knife that causes Bleeding on all hits), and Blood's infini-knives. I did find a "sharpened" machete with high base damage, but it lost that "mod" after a single hit. Balancing weights are also rarer than diamonds for me.

LMGs are good for mass scratch damage, but terrible for actually killing and super ammo inefficient; they're vital for siege moments but otherwise awful. The starter MG42s are nearly useless; they are the only weapons I've ever had jam and would do so regularly even above 70%. The RPK is much better.

---

There seem to be some unique weapons (or so rare they might as well be unique) floating about.

The Confidante you can get for not ratting out Herman is a good early-game stealth sniper, but it will quickly be outclassed by any Tier-2 rifles with a silencer mod.

The Winchester rifle might be unique; I've only found one and the location was special.

[glenn3e]

Originally posted by Null Winter:

The Winchester rifle modded as a sniper is hilariously busted for how early you can find it; .44 ammo isn't used by many guns so it doesn't have to compete with other rifles, the specialized .44 ammo types have no downsides when used with it, it can accept almost any attachment, and it can even be silenced with an improvised oil filter suppressor to ruin the entire aesthetic of this beautiful gun. I've yet to find a better sniper rifle.

The Galil is, surprisingly, my favorite assault rifle; it's a total crit machine due to its higher base crit chance and all the crit boosters you can mod onto it.

M105 shotgun beats all the others in general use. Yes, the double barrel can achieve higher potential burst damage using double-barreled firing on unarmored targets, but the M105 with mods can reach out to assault rifle range with more shots in the tube to Expose and Bleed most targets; it's ultimately more ammo, AP, and wound efficient due to how much safer it is.

Surprisingly, the only pistols/counted-as-a-pistol weapons I've seen are the pistols and revolvers most mercs start with, along with the uzi your IMP starts with and the customized revolvers that Tex rolls with. I haven't seen any other types, and I imagine by the time I do everyone will already have superior rifles; handguns really don't have anything going for them outside of meme dual uzi builds for Vic.

I haven't found a useable SMG; assault rifles are just as effective close-up as they are at farther ranges, while also having higher overall stats than SMGs. SMGs would need insanely higher crit chances or much lower AP costs to justify the range disadvantage over assault rifles.

The only melee weapons I've seen are the generic knives, generic machetes, Yuri's unique gut hook knife (just a standard knife that causes Bleeding on all hits), and Blood's infini-knives. I did find a "sharpened" machete with high base damage, but it lost that "mod" after a single hit. Balancing weights are also rarer than diamonds for me.

LMGs are good for mass scratch damage, but terrible for actually killing and super ammo inefficient; they're vital for siege moments but otherwise awful. The starter MG42s are nearly useless; they are the only weapons I've ever had jam and would do so regularly even above 70%. The RPK is much better.

---

There seem to be some unique weapons (or so rare they might as well be unique) floating about.

The Confidante you can get for not ratting out Herman is a good early-game stealth sniper, but it will quickly be outclassed by any Tier-2 rifles with a silencer mod.

The Winchester rifle might be unique; I've only found one and the location was special.

Got the Winchester from Flay

[Lur Nen Rue]

i use smg for the abundant 9mm and option to use shock ammo
at 3 ap per shot i find it easy to trigger 2 crit inspire. One of my merc with stealth kill approach use smg for how mobile it is. No idea if investing 1 gold perk and 3 perk for stealth killing is bright idea tho

[T]

Perks:
Hit and Run
Fast Runner

Weapon:
Unarmed

Can solo entire enemy squads in 1 turn if they're stacked closeish together.

[Lur Nen Rue]

i think hit and run is bugged as the free move also causes your attack cost less, so you could pseudo brutalize anyone 1 tile near you
or it just the intended JA experience?

[Dorok]

Originally posted by Lur Nen Rue:

i think hit and run is bugged as the free move also causes your attack cost less, so you could pseudo brutalize anyone 1 tile near you
or it just the intended JA experience?

No obvious bug, no game can work well with such mechanic.

[veevoir]

I haven't found a useable SMG; assault rifles are just as effective close-up as they are at farther ranges, while also having higher overall stats than SMGs. SMGs would need insanely higher crit chances or much lower AP costs to justify the range disadvantage over assault rifles.

1. Craft tonnes of 9mm AP ammo, which is easy because you swim in 9mm
2. Have a nimble character like Mouse, Fox or IMP run around with an SMG using the 1-per turn skill that pretty much puts 3 bursts for the price of 6-7 AP.
3. Profit.

IT just needs skill to use - recognize the effective range, when to close gaps and/or reposition. And fiddling unfortunately, as you cannot select specific targets for run and gun.

Bonus if you can get quickscope (free 3 aim if shooting first) and a red dot (3+ aim levels apply marked to enemy). Shoot once for 4 ap to mark, then run and gun to put 3 auto-crit bursts into an enemy. Total of 10 AP. Here lie the insane crit chances you asked for :)

This is how SMGs are used. Their bonus is that you can have extra move *and* 3 bursts for 6-7 AP. Compare that to Assault rifles which are slow and steady advance.

[Dies Horribly]

Originally posted by veevoir:

I haven't found a useable SMG; assault rifles are just as effective close-up as they are at farther ranges, while also having higher overall stats than SMGs. SMGs would need insanely higher crit chances or much lower AP costs to justify the range disadvantage over assault rifles.

1. Craft tonnes of 9mm AP ammo, which is easy because you swim in 9mm
2. Have a nimble character like Mouse, Fox or IMP run around with an SMG using the 1-per turn skill that pretty much puts 3 bursts for the price of 6-7 AP.
3. Profit.

IT just needs skill to use - recognize the effective range, when to close gaps and/or reposition. And fiddling unfortunately, as you cannot select specific targets for run and gun.

Bonus if you can get quickscope (free 3 aim if shooting first) and a red dot (3+ aim levels apply marked to enemy). Shoot once for 4 ap to mark, then run and gun to put 3 auto-crit bursts into an enemy. Total of 10 AP. Here lie the insane crit chances you asked for :)

This is how SMGs are used. Their bonus is that you can have extra move *and* 3 bursts for 6-7 AP. Compare that to Assault rifles which are slow and steady advance.

Yeh, but compare that to a quickscope moded FN-FAL that you can use from cover, and at higher ranges (comparable to sniping ranges), for just 5 AP, more accuracy, headshot damage which will be much larger than whatever those 3 SMG bursts will do - unless you're hitting every bullet with those, which I doubt.
Also, freemove almost negates that run-and-gun advantage from SMGs.

[Lightning]

Originally posted by T:

Perks:
Hit and Run
Fast Runner

Weapon:
Unarmed

Can solo entire enemy squads in 1 turn if they're stacked closeish together.

That's until and if they patch it, seems kind of buggy atm

[ElLegolo]

The RPK is a friggin powerhouse. I cleared the E7 camp without any damage with good positioning. Bigger mag, that 3x aim scope, suppressor... The enemies were dead before they could even do anything, nobody survived even a single burst. You don´t even need any perks.

[Oddball_E8]

I think the one use I can imagine for the SMG's is the run and gun function they have.

If you like to play aggressively, they're pretty great for use while you're relocating.

Getting three free burst fires at enemies while you're moving is not a bad thing...

Equipping your Assault Rifles with the tactical grip for having the swap be free is great for repositioning with the SMG and then shooting the AR in the next turn.

[jarx]

Opportunistic killer, Killzone, Reflex sight, Recoil booster on a HK21(fire routine and reactive fire too if youre extra mean) . For 99 % of battles it is overkill, but when you have 20++ mean angry elites running towards you, you sit back, relax and watch the show. Havent seen any setup come close to damage/kills per turn

[Dorok]

I think that AP ammo could change a lot for SMG. For the IMP I picked perks low aiming penalty for burst, and higher aiming from closer range. Not sure how it works but the SMG burst in first easy sectors was hitting with a lot of bullets in not all.

But well in my main play I didn't noticed any single SMG upgades unlike Pistol with Desert Eagle, could be a part of the problem.

[Tommy]

For Rifles/Snipers the Winchester modded for extra range is my go to weapon as I can do at least two aimed shots, if Inspire and Morale kicks in for extra AP you can also do three shots with minimal aiming.

The Dragunov still has a unique selling point by having a higher ammo capacity. If you have the perks Reactive Fire and Killzone you do two interrupt attacks per enemy that misses you - here the Winchester often runs out of ammo, while the Dragunov can give you more interrupt attacks and can take out more enemies outside your own turn.

For Machine Guns the RPK-74 is a very solid gun. With enough accuracy it can take out a lot of enemies with minimal AP cost, although ammo capacity (90) is the lowest of all machine guns so your Overwatch is limited to 9 long bursts. The Minimi is also okay as basically every machinegun is godlike and the Minimi can be used to save ammo for your better weapons as it uses 5.56 ammo. The best Machine Gun is the HK21 as it has the higest damage and the highest ammo capacity (180). Try to save ammo for it so you can use it in tough fights. I can't recommend the MG42 as it does not support mods which means far worse accuracy.

Regarding Assault Rifles the FN FAL is good, but I haven't used it much as it uses an ammo type I want to save for my HK21. I didn't like any of the other assault rifles.

The same applies to all Handguns and SMG. I haven't found any use for them outside of the early game. I also haven't used any of the Heavy Weapons, as Machine Guns are much better for dealing with groups and if I need to blow up a wall I just use grenades. I haven't really tested any Shotguns or Melee Weapons so far.