.50cal: Explosive vs Anti-armor

[KitKat]

Tried to google and reddit this stuff, but sooo many contradicting info out there...

Anyway. Here's what I have:

> .50cal MG "Final Word", the one from the quest.
+50% Armor-pen
+25% Weapon Speed
+250 DR when reloading

> .50cal MG that I rolled myself
+50% Dmg to Scorched
Bullets Explode for 20% Dmg
10% chance to go invis when hitting enemy

Both with Prime receiver aka Ultracite ammo, so both also get +65% dmg to Scorched on top.

Also, I run both Stabilized(R3) and Demolition Expert(R5), paired with Grenadeer(R2) - for my other guns (explosive gatling and a two-shot auto-grenade launcher).

So here's the question: Which one is better?
- For random stuff all around (daily questing, events, leveling, random looting around, etc);
- For SBQ fight - will the +50% to Scorched stack with the +65% to Scorched from the Ultracite ammo? And will the extra explosive damage - with all the perk cards - outperform the Armor-pen?

[RMPyro]

Originally posted by KitKat:

Originally posted by RMPyro:

AA is the best one. But keep in mind AA has dimishing returns, if you are using stabilizer perk, the AA on the weapon is removing 50% of the remaining armor. So its only a 25% anti armor bonus if you have that perk.

I mean, even if it works like that... Still sounds like it's worth combining either way. It's still just more damage (together with Tenderizer too btw), no?

The AA is better, only a bloodied one is better than that one. Some veteran fallout youtubers like angryturtle is using anti armor on hes weapons. Maybe check hes videos for good builds. I tried antiarmor, but I like bloodied more, it works better with dmg perks and buffs.

[KitKat]

Originally posted by RMPyro:

The AA is better, only a bloodied one is better than that one.

Alright, thanks!

Originally posted by RMPyro:

Some veteran fallout youtubers like angryturtle is using anti armor on hes weapons.

Problem is... Unless there are some solid facts and math behind that, it only remains a mere "opinion" of "some youtuber". Preference and all that. So making a statement based off "some youtuber said" is kinda... "Meh".

[RMPyro]

Originally posted by KitKat:

Originally posted by RMPyro:

The AA is better, only a bloodied one is better than that one.

Alright, thanks!

Originally posted by RMPyro:

Some veteran fallout youtubers like angryturtle is using anti armor on hes weapons.

Problem is... Unless there are some solid facts and math behind that, it only remains a mere "opinion" of "some youtuber". Preference and all that. So making a statement based off "some youtuber said" is kinda... "Meh".

No math is needed, scorch legedary one of the worst legendaries, like the other that only affect one type of enemy. Two shot, aristocrats or other half good legendaries are better. Anti armor is one of the better one, could be close to bloodied against bosses. But overall bloodied is best. That 25% speed is an dps increase by itself.

[KitKat]

Originally posted by RMPyro:

No math is needed, scorch legedary one of the worst legendaries, like the other that only affect one type of enemy.

This is fair.

Originally posted by RMPyro:

Two shot, aristocrats or other half good legendaries are better. Anti armor is one of the better one, could be close to bloodied against bosses.

Fair too. These don't seem to roll as common as I hope for tho...

Originally posted by RMPyro:

But overall bloodied is best. That 25% speed is an dps increase by itself.

I understand this. But I play full health + PA. And have no interest in skyrim stealth-archer bloodied/unyielding build at all. No matter how OP and broken, extra cheezy it is... Nothing will change my mind and I'll not play that stuff, sorry.

Still... What I meant by my comment above is that unless said "popular youtuber" actually provides numbers to prove their point(which is fine and fair), stating something is "good because that youtuber said so" is not really a great thing. Youtubers aren't "know-it-all gurus" or something - they are the same as us, regular folk, who use the same source material(practice/testing, wiki-articles, etc) as us. They just make a video out of it and make money off of that(usually, most likely). Still... They aren't "saints" to automatically assume whatever they say is undeniable truth. They also make mistakes and wrong claims... And they can also just have opinions, based on preference. That's all I'm saying. :)

[RMPyro]

Originally posted by KitKat:

Originally posted by RMPyro:

No math is needed, scorch legedary one of the worst legendaries, like the other that only affect one type of enemy.

This is fair.

Originally posted by RMPyro:

Two shot, aristocrats or other half good legendaries are better. Anti armor is one of the better one, could be close to bloodied against bosses.

Fair too. These don't seem to roll as common as I hope for tho...

Originally posted by RMPyro:

But overall bloodied is best. That 25% speed is an dps increase by itself.

I understand this. But I play full health + PA. And have no interest in skyrim stealth-archer bloodied/unyielding build at all. No matter how OP and broken, extra cheezy it is... Nothing will change my mind and I'll not play that stuff, sorry.

Still... What I meant by my comment above is that unless said "popular youtuber" actually provides numbers to prove their point(which is fine and fair), stating something is "good because that youtuber said so" is not really a great thing. Youtubers aren't "know-it-all gurus" or something - they are the same as us, regular folk, who use the same source material(practice/testing, wiki-articles, etc) as us. They just make a video out of it and make money off of that(usually, most likely). Still... They aren't "saints" to automatically assume whatever they say is undeniable truth. They also make mistakes and wrong claims... And they can also just have opinions, based on preference. That's all I'm saying. :)

Play however you like, did the same but still ended up using the heavy meta builds, but I played the build before it became a meta when everyone else was using bloodied commando meta. Maybe the make the juggernaught build viable later, because now it isn't because there are no so many dmg perks for full health build.

It became a meta build when they added legendary perks and legendary effects in power armor.

[Wack-A-Mole MLRS]

I would write down all the weapons I carry but I would run out of ink.

[Chronocide]

Originally posted by KitKat:

Tried to google and reddit this stuff, but sooo many contradicting info out there...

Anyway. Here's what I have:

> .50cal MG "Final Word", the one from the quest.
+50% Armor-pen
+25% Weapon Speed
+250 DR when reloading

> .50cal MG that I rolled myself
+50% Dmg to Scorched
Bullets Explode for 20% Dmg
10% chance to go invis when hitting enemy

Bullets Explode means it can hit you....That self damage also seems to degrade the weapons faster.

Unless I really needed the AoE, I'd avoid exploding bullets.

Doesn't that weapon shoot fast enough where AoE isn't needed?

[KitKat]

Originally posted by Chronocide:

Bullets Explode means it can hit you....That self damage also seems to degrade the weapons faster.

Unless I really needed the AoE, I'd avoid exploding bullets.

Doesn't that weapon shoot fast enough where AoE isn't needed?

That is actually very fair point.

So... Final Word (anti-armor/weapon speed) for direct damage. And gatling with explosive bullets for "tagging" on events. While just throw this explodey .50cal into the shop or convert to scrip.

Thanks for the help, folks!

[lordoftheapes79]

Originally posted by KitKat:

Originally posted by lordoftheapes79:

AA for using, Ex for tagging.

Thing is, for "tagging", I've already got either the Gatling or the Two-shot nade launcher, sooooooo... :D Question still stands.

Then you have your answer. There's no other use for a scorched weapon.

[insert food here]

I would not use any enemy specific weapon prefixes. If you have the stash space and the carry weight free you can do it but it is not ideal.

AA is good against everything. Enemy specific prefixes are only good against those specific enemies but bad against everything else.

[drxabstract22]

Originally posted by Chronocide:

Bullets Explode means it can hit you....That self damage also seems to degrade the weapons faster.

This is technically true. Not because the weapon is taking damage from itself in a literal sense, but because weapon condition decreases based on the sum total damage being dealt by it... Including to its own user. Your armor is another story.

Taking explosive damage from your own weapon is a minor concern compared to the reason why you're taking it--Your target is next to you!