blunderbuss sucks

[RODE85]

I've never used a blunderbuss before, so I figured I would try it out and guess what I shot a zombie 30 times and nothing it kept coming, but I get my spiked club out with one hit he's down, wtf?

[BOYCOTT S-T-E-A-M!]

I completely agree that the blunderbuss is a useless weapon.

If it was better, maybe as a close range "now or never" panic shot weapon of good power. It would have a use. Cheap and effective solution to dogs early on would be nice. But its not powerful without a significant investment of time, skill, and resources.

If it stayed weak and ineffective that would be fine so long as it could be made quick and easy early on in the game. But it can't. It takes a lot of resources. By the time you get those resources you likely can have made a crossbow which is easier to maintain and supply as well as being all around more functional. Even if you can't make a crossbow, you've still likely come across a better firearm and enough money to use it more reliably than the blunderbuss. At the very least... by this point you'll certainly have your archery skill high enough that you can easily craft high quality bows and be landing great kill shots on zombies and animals.

Honestly, the only purpose I can see the blunderbuss filling is if you're playing a very shotgun focused character and want access to a shotgun skill weapon as soon as possible.



Personally, I'd rather see the game have a very early craftable gun that would function as a "pipe rifle / musket" as a replacement for the blunderbuss.

I'd envision the pipe rifle being a close to mid-range weapon. Bad accuracy. Technically, the range would be better than the bow, but the accuracy would make it tricky to use at long ranges. Long reload times. 1 round magazine. Loud weapon (when noise applies again).

Recpie to make it could be maybe...

* Wood x 50
* Scrap metal x 150
* Short Iron Pipe x 1
* Stone x 5

Can be loaded with 9mm, 10mm, 44 magnum, or 7.62mm. The better ammos would give it more damage much like using better arrows is.

The idea behind this being that you'd be able to make use of whatever ammunition you have available. It wouldn't be a reliable weapon, but it could pack a harder punch than the bow, give a way to improve rifle skills early on, and give the player a better feel of progression towards modern weapons.

As an additional form of ammunition, once you have a forge, you should be able to craft musket ball (could just use the buckshot graphics). The musket ball would take just ~5 scrap iron and 1 gunpowder to make. It would be weaker than the other actual rounds you could use in the weapon, but it would serve as a more readily replenishable ammo than using the regular ammo you can scavenge.

Once you have access to an actual firearm it really wouldn't be worth using this one anymore unless you were really in a pinch, but it would be a fun stepping stone from bow to guns.

[Ralathar44]

Honestly you have to be able to craft at least a green blunderbuss and get a few levels of shotgun skill first to evaluate. Remember that unlike a club the Blunderbuss is going to get FAR more useful the higher it's quality and skill level go.

That being said it suffers the same balance problems of all firearms. They are useless at lower quality and skill levels, and neccessarily so to keep them from invalidating everything else. Basically, firearms are intended to be extreme end game. Because once you get high enough for firearms to be a valid and effective option you can handle basically any zed in the game easily. The Crossbow is incredibly rare for much the same reason, it's that strong.

They want to keep the majority of your play time melee based and with the simple bow. Crowwbow and Firearms finally becoming effective is one of the last stages of the game where you've basically conquered the 7 Days to Die world and made it your female dog.

Only way I can see them fixing this is by making firearms and ammo alot more scarce to balance their power level. IE allow you to make your own very shoddy firearms but actual firearms with proper ammo are very powerful while their durability holds out, which won't be terribly long in post-apocalyptic conditions without the ability to properly maintain them. That is the only other way I can see them balancing effective firearms in a way that doesn't require extreme buildup of skill levels. To make the good fire arms and good ammo very limited but allow you to craft crappier versions.

Right now I find weapon parts all over the place, they are not rare at all and so cannot be too powerful without investment without breaking the game.

[YamaKami]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Ralathar44:

Honestly you have to be able to craft at least a green blunderbuss and get a few levels of shotgun skill first to evaluate. Remember that unlike a club the Blunderbuss is going to get FAR more useful the higher it's quality and skill level go.

Just to pick on that 1st bit. It's meant as a starter weapon. By the time you have what is needed (in your opinion) to evaluate it, most will already have a shotgun. So short of not having any paper for shells or finding some shells. That criteria alone makes it sounds as useless as the OP claims it to be does it not?

[Ralathar44]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von YamaKami:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Ralathar44:

Honestly you have to be able to craft at least a green blunderbuss and get a few levels of shotgun skill first to evaluate. Remember that unlike a club the Blunderbuss is going to get FAR more useful the higher it's quality and skill level go.

Just to pick on that 1st bit. It's meant as a starter weapon. By the time you have what is needed (in your opinion) to evaluate it, most will already have a shotgun. So short of not having any paper for shells or finding some shells. That criteria alone makes it sounds as useless as the OP claims it to be does it not?

That's mainly because firearm parts are basically readily avialable. They are all over the place. So not only can you realistically scrounge them, you can realistically replace them. The Blunderbuss is the only firearm you actually craft yourself. That's supposed to be it's role in the current game. But the other weapons are overly available so it steps on that role.

Secondary role is cheaper ammunition :D.

[BOYCOTT S-T-E-A-M!]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Ralathar44:

Honestly you have to be able to craft at least a green blunderbuss and get a few levels of shotgun skill first to evaluate. Remember that unlike a club the Blunderbuss is going to get FAR more useful the higher it's quality and skill level go.

That being said it suffers the same balance problems of all firearms. They are useless at lower quality and skill levels, and neccessarily so to keep them from invalidating everything else. Basically, firearms are intended to be extreme end game. Because once you get high enough for firearms to be a valid and effective option you can handle basically any zed in the game easily. The Crossbow is incredibly rare for much the same reason, it's that strong.

They want to keep the majority of your play time melee based and with the simple bow. Crowwbow and Firearms finally becoming effective is one of the last stages of the game where you've basically conquered the 7 Days to Die world and made it your female dog.

Only way I can see them fixing this is by making firearms and ammo alot more scarce to balance their power level. IE allow you to make your own very shoddy firearms but actual firearms with proper ammo are very powerful while their durability holds out, which won't be terribly long in post-apocalyptic conditions without the ability to properly maintain them. That is the only other way I can see them balancing effective firearms in a way that doesn't require extreme buildup of skill levels. To make the good fire arms and good ammo very limited but allow you to craft crappier versions.

Right now I find weapon parts all over the place, they are not rare at all and so cannot be too powerful without investment without breaking the game.

I've never found the crossbow to be an end game weapon. Its certainly powerful and I always keep one handy until I'm drowning in bullets, but with how early you can get it and how easy it is to keep it stocked I don't really consider it an end game weapon.

I mean the bow is the first ranged weapon and with how useful it is you're likely to have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with gathering feathers. So by the time you get a forge, which doesn't take long unless you're brand new to the game, you could easily have enough feathers saved up to have 250+ crossbow bolts.

The only time I could see the crossbow not being something people get early would be if they have really bad luck and don't get the recipe untl late.


As for the blunderbuss being more useful than the club. I haven't had that experience. The blunderbuss requires a lot more upkeep and resources to keep it going. Plus any ammo you're making for the blunderbuss is taking away from your stockpile of supplies to make actual ammo in end game.

A spiked club or a sledgehammer lasts right through end game without issue as well. With moderate skill in blunt weapons its easy to drop the majority of zombies with a single blow to the head and then finish them off with another one or two. The sledgehammer, even without the new upgrade, also works as a great tool for smashing through safes, doors, just about anything in your way.


Thats just from my experience and point of view of course.

[Ralathar44]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von BOYCOTT S-T-E-A-M!:

The only time I could see the crossbow not being something people get early would be if they have really bad luck and don't get the recipe untl late.

I have issues ever finding the crossbow in basically every play through. I find like everything else lol.

I've never found the crossbow to be an end game weapon. Its certainly powerful and I always keep one handy until I'm drowning in bullets, but with how early you can get it and how easy it is to keep it stocked I don't really consider it an end game weapon.

It does very high damage to Zeds silently, one shots are common. That is on par with firearms due to the silent nature of it. In fact it's often more powerful than firearms because of it's high damage combined with said silence.

[Ruffio]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Asuzu:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von TaichungCanuck:

Zombies can fall off giant cliffs with no damage, but bump them on the noggin with a club, and down they go.
The amount of damage a firearm does depends on the user's skill.
You die of heat stroke while standing naked in the snow.
You need to eat and drink every few seconds.
Yep. There are lots of things in this game which make no sense.

Mind you, we are discussing reality things in a zombie shooter game...
As much as I criticize the game myself, I have to disagree with some stuff.

- You roughly have to eat 1-2 times and drink 2-3 times per *game* day, there is nothing unrealistic in that
.

Eat a whole bear and a dozen eggs in a day/night cycle, seems a bit excesive :p

[YamaKami]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Ralathar44:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von YamaKami:

Just to pick on that 1st bit. It's meant as a starter weapon. By the time you have what is needed (in your opinion) to evaluate it, most will already have a shotgun. So short of not having any paper for shells or finding some shells. That criteria alone makes it sounds as useless as the OP claims it to be does it not?

That's mainly because firearm parts are basically readily avialable. They are all over the place. So not only can you realistically scrounge them, you can realistically replace them. The Blunderbuss is the only firearm you actually craft yourself. That's supposed to be it's role in the current game. But the other weapons are overly available so it steps on that role.

Secondary role is cheaper ammunition :D.

Given that though the bow is sooo much better that it makes the blunderbuss redundant and not needed. aka useless as the OP put it.

[krzosu18]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von RODE_85:

I've never used a blunderbuss before, so I figured I would try it out and guess what I shot a zombie 30 times and nothing it kept coming, but I get my spiked club out with one hit he's down, wtf?

Well blunderbuss does suck at first -> so if you wish to maximize its effectiveness you should first -> raise the gunsmithing skill by making powder (as much as possible) -> then make the blunder buss ammo and THEN craft blunderbuss -> making stuff in this order will make sure that you made the best possible quality blunderbuss and that has direct corelation to damage -> so make ammo first (thus level a bit of gunsmithing) then make the gun itself -> repeat this process whenever you need more ammo or new blunder.

This method works okay if you dont plan to put any points into gunsmithing (aka if you wish to spent those elsewhere)

Imho blunder might be okay if used properly -> for eg i tend to herd few zombies (so they are very close) and then fire at those clostered ones -> this increses the overall damage since more pellets will actually hit smth

Keep in mind that blunder can be a potential liability due to initial low dmg and long reload -> and adjust your tactics accordingly -> so if a dog comes at you using blunder will most likely result in severe loss of HP due to multiple dog bites (possibly death) and you wont be able to respond quickly enough due to long reload time.

Personaly i use blunder when i can control the crowd -> for eg i build a ledge and zombies walk onto it -> then i can shoot them -> and then they dall off the ledge to a moat so in this case : they come into close range (aka more pellets will hit) and since they will fall down im still safe and can reload in peace -> this results in safety and maximised damage output.
and if i do kill a zombie since its close i can even loot the body right there in my base without leaving the safety.

xMxxZ_
##xxx##
#xxxx###
#xxxx####
#SSSSSSS

So the zombie comes onto the ledge -> gets hit by blunder shots - then its either killed or wounded -> and it falls down from the ledge onto spikes (getting some more dmg) and tries to climb it yet again and so on and on

M- me standing on the antispider ledge
# walls
Z zombie
x - empty space
S spikes

ofc you can use blunder "normaly" but its can be away more riskier and time consuming but to each his own

so in my case i use in only in base defence during hordes but thats about it

[Thord]

I believe that in Alpha 14 the blunderbuss slowed down or stunned what it hit which made it handy against dogs and bears. I used it more or less in early game at a point where all weapons were of a low to mid level therefore nothing did piles of damage. Very close range of course but against something fast moving being close is not unusual.

Anyone know if it still slows down mobs?

[Asuzu]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von ThordTV:

I believe that in Alpha 14 the blunderbuss slowed down or stunned what it hit which made it handy against dogs and bears. I used it more or less in early game at a point where all weapons were of a low to mid level therefore nothing did piles of damage. Very close range of course but against something fast moving being close is not unusual.

Anyone know if it still slows down mobs?

Yes it has same stun chances as shotgun.
The problem is, gunpowder is much more precious now with nerfed mining nodes as of A15 - and that means, there is NO WAY I am spending my gunpowder on blunderbuss ammo, ever.
Just a balancing issue.

[MeDaDaddy]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von ThordTV:

I believe that in Alpha 14 the blunderbuss slowed down or stunned what it hit which made it handy against dogs and bears. I used it more or less in early game at a point where all weapons were of a low to mid level therefore nothing did piles of damage. Very close range of course but against something fast moving being close is not unusual.

Anyone know if it still slows down mobs?

Yeah it's a great weapon just for that "winded" buff.

I love it (and my Pipe Bombs!!) since it is easy to craft and (as mentioned by others) you can get it to decent quality by making gunpowder & it boosts shotgun skill for later on.

For players who play with low loot % (10%, 25% loot etc) and no loot respawn (& no airdrops) it's pretty much the only decent firearm available up to mid-game depending upon luck finding decent quality shottie parts, since using grey & orange Pistols found in the WC's are just a waste of ammo due to their inherent inaccuracy.

EDIT: Plus, we need a second ranged weapon since feathers are a pain to find on low-loot games.

This may change in stable A15 of course since we can now combine 2 grey parts at the workbench and maybe get an orange part out of it, meaning found crap quality guns may not get auto-scrapped anymore.

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Asuzu:

*snip*
The problem is, gunpowder is much more precious now with nerfed mining nodes as of A15 - and that means, there is NO WAY I am spending my gunpowder on blunderbuss ammo, ever.
Just a balancing issue.

Again, gunpowder is infinite in supply if we are prepared to put the mining work into it.

For players in a world with low loot drops, it's an effective weapon IMO.

I still use it in the A15 experimental builds; a face full of blunderbuss really slows them dogs down :)

EDIT: krzosu18 has the right idea !

[♡Pure♡]

all firearms suck at low quality. their accuracy sucks. this is why melee is op early on. melee is dead on the crosshair.
end game you have 600 quality items which have 99% accuracy.

[RobertW]

The blunderbuss is a great tool to make noise - nothing more.
It's going to be a little usefully when it's going green. But until that you will have a much better shotgun. I never use it.

[BOYCOTT S-T-E-A-M!]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von MeDaDaddy:

I still use it in the A15 experimental builds; a face full of blunderbuss really slows them dogs down :)

A crossbow bolt though usually drops them for good.