Weapon choices - ballistics or lasers?

[System105b]

Should I major in both or does one or the other have more choices ?

[jonnin]

Lasers don't do well at excess range. The particle beams are amazing but drop infrequently so getting a good one is difficult, and they also are not supreme at longer ranges.
Ironically if they had done gravity and atmosphere on these properly, ballistic would be very hard to use and less good as a type.

I strongly favor ballistics.. for a number of reasons..
- long range duels, the AI can't compete even if its randomly given a long range weapon.
- variety of function. I have a point blank murder pistol in a magshot with extra rounds, full auto, all the trimmings does 250 per shot but it empties 12 of those in a fraction of a second, nothing survives that, as just one example of something you can't get elsewhere.
- availability. I can score about 10 to 1 ballistic gold weapons to any other type.
- modability. I can set up most of the full autos as burst or single shots and many of the single shots as full auto. It solves many issues: the default autos do low damage and squander ammo, but do high damage with large mags in single shot mode, while the default single shots are like the magshot above, able to burst kill one or 2 without wasting ammo due to reload breaks/ small mags. Several shotguns are outstanding in full auto for short range work. Ballistics also get armor pen, which isn't on lasers, the 6x scope, which isn't available on lasers, etc.

As said all the types work, but I have my reasons for sticking to ballistics. One downside: ballistics require multiple weapon skills (pistol, rifle, shotgun, ballistics group) vs the other types, so its a heftier investment if you don't want to specialize.

as for ammo, if you avoid full auto waster guns like the 300+ rounds per second stuff, you get plenty in loot for all but the weird types like 45 colt ammo is rare, 7.5 whitehot is rare, most everything else is just fine.

[Jaggid Edje]

Originally posted by jonnin:

As said all the types work, but I have my reasons for sticking to ballistics. One downside: ballistics require multiple weapon skills (pistol, rifle, shotgun, ballistics group) vs the other types, so its a heftier investment if you don't want to specialize.

The Pistols, Rifles, Shotguns skills work with lasers and particle beams too. Just FYI.

[System105b]

Originally posted by jonnin:

Lasers don't do well at excess range. The particle beams are amazing but drop infrequently so getting a good one is difficult, and they also are not supreme at longer ranges.
I strongly favor ballistics.. for a number of reasons..
- long range duels, the AI can't compete even if its randomly given a long range weapon. Ironically if they had done gravity and atmosphere on these properly, they would be very hard to use and less good as a type.
- variety of function. I have a point blank murder pistol in a magshot with extra rounds, full auto, all the trimmings does 250 per shot but it empties 12 of those in a fraction of a second, nothing survives that, as just one example of something you can't get elsewhere.
- availability. I can score about 10 to 1 ballistic gold weapons to any other type.
- modability. I can set up most of the full autos as burst or single shots and many of the single shots as full auto. It solves many issues: the default autos do low damage and squander ammo, but do high damage with large mags in single shot mode, while the default single shots are like the magshot above, able to burst kill one or 2 without wasting ammo due to reload breaks/ small mags. Several shotguns are outstanding in full auto for short range work. Ballistics also get armor pen, which isn't on lasers, the 6x scope, which isn't available on lasers, etc.

As said all the types work, but I have my reasons for sticking to ballistics. One downside: ballistics require multiple weapon skills (pistol, rifle, shotgun, ballistics group) vs the other types, so its a heftier investment if you don't want to specialize.

So ballistic sniper rifle and lasers medium range. I am leaning toward the lasers

[Zhorge]

Originally posted by System105b:

Should I major in both or does one or the other have more choices ?

Lasers are under-powered. Ballistics and particle are the choices for personal weapons and work up one of your ballistic weapons (shotguns or rifles) first.

[jonnin]

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

Originally posted by jonnin:

As said all the types work, but I have my reasons for sticking to ballistics. One downside: ballistics require multiple weapon skills (pistol, rifle, shotgun, ballistics group) vs the other types, so its a heftier investment if you don't want to specialize.

The Pistols, Rifles, Shotguns skills work with lasers and particle beams too. Just FYI.

Thanks. I knew that, but with lasers, it seems like you are gonna pick rifle or pistol, but not both? And for PB, rifle and shotgun, or rifle and pistol, but not both (?) as the functions are redundant (medium and short range with the med range working fairly well at short range). You can do that with ballistics too, but IMHO you miss out, because pistols have so many ideas.

[Doombringer]

The most important skill for increasing gun damage is... Weapon Engineering.

The Lasers skill affects all energy weapons.
(which includes particle beams - it affecting particle beams is not a bug, Bethesda just chose a poor names for the +energy weapon damage skill.)

If you want to do sneak attacks you use non-railgun ballistic weapons, otherwise railguns or particle weapons.

[System105b]

Originally posted by Doombringer:

The most important skill for increasing gun damage is... Weapon Engineering.

The Lasers skill affects all energy weapons.
(which includes particle beams - it affecting particle beams is not a bug, Bethesda just chose a poor names for the +energy weapon damage skill.)

If you want to do sneak attacks you use non-railgun ballistic weapons, otherwise railguns or particle weapons.

What do I use for a quick painless one strike kill attack when sneaking?

[System105b]

Tell me the equinox is not a cool looking weapon?

[Jaggid Edje]

Originally posted by Doombringer:

The Lasers skill affects all energy weapons.
(which includes particle beams - it affecting particle beams is not a bug, Bethesda just chose a poor names for the +energy weapon damage skill.)

I'll bet you 100 bucks it is a bug, and will be fixed.
The ballistics skill doesn't increase particle beam physical damage the same way and particle beam damage stats are definitely not balanced around being able to get the benefit of 3 different weapon skills instead of the normal 2 like, literally, every other weapon.

It being a bug is also further reinforced by the fact that for ship weapons, the Laser Weapons Systems skill does NOT increase particle beam damage. Ships have a 1 for 1 mirror of the 3 weapon skills. If it was NOT a bug, surely they'd be set up the same.

[System105b]

Game time. Goodnight all

[jonnin]

Originally posted by System105b:

Originally posted by Doombringer:

The most important skill for increasing gun damage is... Weapon Engineering.

The Lasers skill affects all energy weapons.
(which includes particle beams - it affecting particle beams is not a bug, Bethesda just chose a poor names for the +energy weapon damage skill.)

If you want to do sneak attacks you use non-railgun ballistic weapons, otherwise railguns or particle weapons.

What do I use for a quick painless one strike kill attack when sneaking?

the magsniper. The advanced one all tricked out is around base 1000 depending on the RNG stuff, and with sneaks and perks for sneaking, will one shot most common enemy. Note that holding a button burns O2 to remove the scope wobble.

[Faiza, Star Made Knight]

Originally posted by fauxpas:

Ballistics are generally the better choice due to having the vast majority of options.


However, Lasers (4) turns the humble cutter into the most powerful weapon in the game, followed by a modded Equinox.

hmm i never considered this

[Hobo Misanthropus]

The magshear is the best weapon in the game. (Ballistic MI weapon) unless you are a coward and use stealth.

[Doombringer]

Originally posted by Jaggid Edje:

I'll bet you 100 bucks it is a bug, and will be fixed.
The ballistics skill doesn't increase particle beam physical damage the same way

Ballistics doesn't affect particle weapons because they aren't ballistic weapons, they are energy weapons (hence they have keyword energy weapon, which is what the Lasers skill looks for).

Originally posted by System105b:

What do I use for a quick painless one strike kill attack when sneaking?

Hard Target if you want a silenced weapon, magsniper otherwise.

[Gromov]

Originally posted by System105b:

Originally posted by kdodds:

Whatever your character would use. They're all viable. There isn't really a "best" weapon. For example, my magsniper has a base damage of something like 500 or 600 (with skills applied) then add conditional multipliers like sneak/surprise, plus charge up, I can already one shot almost anything at like level 42 or so (when I got it). But it's pretty useless in interiors where you'd need to hip shoot with it without charging and yeah, you may get the first guy, but speed is important, especially with melee Spacers that rush you. Right now I'm mostly using the Ambassador and a Beowolf sniper conversion for close to mid range, and occasionally a shotgun (I forget which) and shattering wakizashi. My specialization is in pistols. The Ambassador does a little over 300 base right now, but with Stealth multipliers it, as well, can pretty much head shot anything in range.

I can't count higher than 600! You are way to big for me. Also *SUCK* at aiming. I want a high accuracy!

Why not go for 40mm High Explosive fun?