Your preferred pistol?

[Soren]

Upon first glance the Red9 seems to be the pistol of choice by people new to the game. It has the most damage, so one would presume it will give you the most bang per buck in a run. But the damage stat is an over-rated one since action commands are the bread and butter here.

The Punisher would be my hands down favourite if it had more practical uses through the campaign besides being able to shoot through wooden shields. It's exclusive is beyond useless as well. With this in mind, one might assume the Red9 is the choice to be because the stats point towards it being the most ammo efficient. I disagree.

Damage isn't the only stat that contributes to killing power. The exclusive on the default handgun actually seems to give it more damage per shot on average (when hitting the head only though). Heads explode left and right, once you get that exclusive. So the gun can pull off one hit kills, constantly. Giving it a much higher damage per shot average, which holds to be even more true in pro mode. On top of this it takes up less space then a Red9. The Red9 may have more accuracy with the stock, but without it, the Red9 actually has less accuracy then other pistols. Pretty much forcing the gun to take up even more space if you choose it.

[The Antennae Gentleman]

Blacktail because it's the most balanced (fire rate, power, etc are all at very high values). You don't get the normal pistol special until very late in the game, and Red9 takes too many slots. Punisher must be some sort of joke weapon from the devs.

[Soren]

I don't know. I've always found it a blast to shoot through a shield at the leg and then proceed to kick the shield off. If you were going through a handgun only run or a no shotgun run, then the Punisher would be a good alternative at some points in the game. Sadly, there aren't enough of these points in the game to justify using the gun long term. And man does the exclusive suck for it.

[Mordy]

I've always used the Red9 when i've played through the game on ps2/ps3 but here, now that i got the game yet again, maybe the stock handgun would be a decent option, as the extra headshot crit chance pays off in the end.

At least so i hope anyways.

[Lantern_Sky]

I like to use the Red 9 since it technically does the best damage with each shot. Finding the room for it isn't that hard especially if you are selling/using other consumbales like nades, health etc. Also, the medium attache case upgrade becomes available before the Red 9 and stock.

There is an advantage to the starting handgun once you get the final "head shot" upgrade. If you are great at pulling off head shots it will be a great gun for you. However there is an added drawback to there being less damage. Once you start facing shielded enemies it will take the handgun longer to punch through that shield than the Red 9. Even on Professional the Red 9 will break the shield apart with each shot.

BTW if this is your first playthrough i.e. the difficulty is easy or normal. Even before fully upgrading the Red 9 you may find the game gets super easy because the Red 9 effectively becomes a hand cannon with pistol ammo. You may want to save the Red 9 for a more difficult playthrough and actually enjoy some of the other guns in the game.

[-3xA'Lu©κy the disappearing act]

Red 9. Everything you've said is valid but the Red 9 is a gun I can never seem to pass up.

It's also the gun I used almost exclusively on my professional difficulty.

Originally posted by Action Hotdog:

Even on Professional the Red 9 will break the shield apart with each shot ... Even before fully upgrading the Red 9 you may find the game gets super easy because the Red 9 effectively becomes a hand cannon with pistol ammo.

^ This. So much this.

[Soren]

Originally posted by -3xA'Lu©κy:

Red 9. Everything you've said is valid but the Red 9 is a gun I can never seem to pass up.

It's also the gun I used almost exclusively on my professional difficulty.

Originally posted by Action Hotdog:

Even on Professional the Red 9 will break the shield apart with each shot ... Even before fully upgrading the Red 9 you may find the game gets super easy because the Red 9 effectively becomes a hand cannon with pistol ammo.

^ This. So much this.

Like I said, the damage may suggest otherwise, but the Handgun seems to be far more deadly in the case of normal enemies that possess heads for you too shoot. Critical headshots are estimated to happen 25-50% of the time with the exclusive. Critical headshots are instant kills against an enemy. Which means las plagas also have less of a chance of appearing since you will insta kill an enemy before it can appear. On top of that, the chance for an insta kill even works on a las plagas should they appear before you get a critical. The more HP an enemy has, the more damage per shot average an exclusive handgun upgrade is likely to do. So the gun has even more damage per shot average on pro mode, but less damage per shot average on easy mode.

The Red9 may have more damage per shot average before the exclusive upgrade, or even in easy mode. But the handgun is deadlier against enemies with heads (especially high HP enemies like las plagas and spike armoured dudes), it has even more DPSA in pro mode, takes less space in the case (which if you're like me you're always full of supplies during a run), has better firing speed, has better reload speed, has more capacity, costs far less to fully upgrade, and it's exclusive is even offered much earlier in the game.

The only case where the Red9 actually seems excel over the handgun late game is steadiness and recoil if you possess a stock. Which leads the gun too taking up basically twice the space. That and easy mode, but that is only partially contributed to the fact that the Red9 got a damage buff on it's exclusive since the gamecube version of the game.

The Red9 may also have more damage early game, but players can get the majority of their damage from action commands early game while enemies mostly use melee attacks, making the damage from pistols less useful then one might conceive early on. Suplex anyone? Late game, when enemies have guns, is a much harder environment to pull off action commands. Making damage from a pistol itself more crucial at that point.

In short, I feel as though the Red9 is a good balanced pistol for people new to the game who need to conserve ammo, but don't know how to. People who go for body shots against their enemies because that's an easier to hit target. But the Handgun is superior gun if you have the skill to handle it. To veterans or naturals at the game who find headshots easy and use action commands more often then not.

[six]

Am i the only one trying to complete the game with just a rifle, knife and flash grenades?

[-3xA'Lu©κy the disappearing act]

Originally posted by Soren the Impaler:

Originally posted by -3xA'Lu©κy:

Red 9. Everything you've said is valid but the Red 9 is a gun I can never seem to pass up.

It's also the gun I used almost exclusively on my professional difficulty.




^ This. So much this.

Like I said, the damage may suggest otherwise, but the Handgun seems to be far more deadly in the case of normal enemies that possess heads for you too shoot. Critical headshots are estimated to happen 25-50% of the time with the exclusive. Critical headshots are instant kills against an enemy. Which means las plagas also have less of a chance of appearing since you will insta kill an enemy before it can appear. On top of that, the chance for an insta kill even works on a las plagas should they appear before you get a critical. The more HP an enemy has, the more damage per shot average an exclusive handgun upgrade is likely to do. So the gun has even more damage per shot average on pro mode, but less damage per shot average on easy mode.

The Red9 may have more damage per shot average before the exclusive upgrade, or even in easy mode. But the handgun is deadlier against enemies with heads (especially high HP enemies like las plagas and spike armoured dudes), it has even more DPSA in pro mode, takes less space in the case (which if you're like me you're always full of supplies during a run), has better firing speed, has better reload speed, has more capacity, costs far less to fully upgrade, and it's exclusive is even offered much earlier in the game.

The only case where the Red9 actually seems excel over the handgun late game is steadiness and recoil if you possess a stock. Which leads the gun too taking up basically twice the space. That and easy mode, but that is only partially contributed to the fact that the Red9 got a damage buff on it's exclusive since the gamecube version of the game.

The Red9 may also have more damage early game, but players can get the majority of their damage from action commands early game while enemies mostly use melee attacks, making the damage from pistols less useful then one might conceive early on. Suplex anyone? Late game, when enemies have guns, is a much harder environment to pull off action commands. Making damage from a pistol itself more crucial at that point.

In short, I feel as though the Red9 is a good balanced pistol for people new to the game who need to conserve ammo, but don't know how to. People who go for body shots against their enemies because that's an easier to hit target. But the Handgun is superior gun if you have the skill to handle it. To veterans or naturals at the game who find headshots easy and use action commands more often then not.

It's possible I just use the Red9 because of really arbiterary reasons including it being the gun I've used for the most amount of time... so I'm so familiar with its strengths and weaknesses. I love the look of the gun as well. Early on in the game the Red 9 is definetly a good choice though.

But I agree: the default handgun's not bad late-game -- I've never used it much late-game though. Ultimately, I think we can all agree that the Punisher sucks lol.

[Soren]

Originally posted by -3xA'Lu©κy:

It's possible I just use the Red9 because of really arbiterary reasons including it being the gun I've used for the most amount of time... so I'm so familiar with its strengths and weaknesses. I love the look of the gun as well. Early on in the game the Red 9 is definetly a good choice though.

But I agree: the default handgun's not bad late-game -- I've never used it much late-game though. Ultimately, I think we can all agree that the Punisher sucks lol.

Well, to be fair to the Red9, it seems certain enemies are immune to, or just have a lower critical chance in general. I was playing not too long ago and noticed that my crit chance actually seems a lot lower against some ganados in the castle (the guys who have hoods and maces). The crit chance is normally way too high for me not to be wrong about this. I don't fully understand how it all works, but these complications make it more of a hassle to use the Handgun then it ought to be.

[-3xA'Lu©κy the disappearing act]

Originally posted by Soren the Impaler:

Originally posted by -3xA'Lu©κy:

It's possible I just use the Red9 because of really arbiterary reasons including it being the gun I've used for the most amount of time... so I'm so familiar with its strengths and weaknesses. I love the look of the gun as well. Early on in the game the Red 9 is definetly a good choice though.

But I agree: the default handgun's not bad late-game -- I've never used it much late-game though. Ultimately, I think we can all agree that the Punisher sucks lol.

Well, to be fair to the Red9, it seems certain enemies are immune to, or just have a lower critical chance in general. I was playing not too long ago and noticed that my crit chance actually seems a lot lower against some ganados in the castle (the guys who have hoods and maces). The crit chance is normally way too high for me not to be wrong about this. I don't fully understand how it all works, but these complications make it more of a hassle to use the Handgun then it ought to be.

As long as you have enough ammo and backpack space: you can't go wrong with any of the handguns really (except for the Punisher). I'm sure the Punisher was never intended to be a viable option in the game.

[Soren]

Originally posted by -3xA'Lu©κy:

As long as you have enough ammo and backpack space: you can't go wrong with any of the handguns really (except for the Punisher). I'm sure the Punisher was never intended to be a viable option in the game.

The Punisher isn't actually that bad. I've done an entire run using it as my main pistol. It's just really bad late game.

[-3xA'Lu©κy the disappearing act]

Originally posted by Soren the Impaler:

Originally posted by -3xA'Lu©κy:

As long as you have enough ammo and backpack space: you can't go wrong with any of the handguns really (except for the Punisher). I'm sure the Punisher was never intended to be a viable option in the game.

The Punisher isn't actually that bad. I've done an entire run using it as my main pistol. It's just really bad late game.

Fair enough. Again, it's a pistol I've hardly used but I've rarely felt any use for it altogether.

[CidDaBird]

The Hand Cannon is the best overall to me.

[PJ]

Originally posted by Paxer Neo:

The Hand Cannon is the best overall to me.

That's not a pistol that's a revolver.


I like the Red9 because it's not always convenient to carefully aim for the head. It has the ability to drop dudes pretty quick with chest shots. The handgun's head popping is great in an "everything is fine" scenario; Red9 can still be used in an "okay things are getting sketchy" scenario, enabling you to save your other weapons for "okay now it's bad" scenarios. In terms of practicality and versatility, it's the top. Handgun is specialized for taking care of basic jerks in non-emergency situations, which if used right can prevent those situations from becoming emergencies, but I prefer to be prepared for those times when you get Nintendo'd.

For shield guys, I always pop their head with my sniper rifle anyway, so blacktail doesn't do much for me. It can be great for just firing wildly into a crowd of ganados, but I never go nuts like that cause Leon is a coolguy.

[Avarice_Lynx]

Red9 more because I love the look of it, the damage, and the fact that its Luis's gun of choice as well. Other pistols aren't terrible, but I've never really had any trouble beating the game on any difficulty so it appearance plays a bigger factor for it.