Why do I always miss with missile weapons despite having 23 Agility?

[P0NYSLAYSTATION]

Are there some other stats determining hit chance for missile weapons that the game doesn't explain? The gun I'm using says it has "Very High" accuracy and my character doesnt have any debuffs as far as I can tell, and yet I only seem to hit about 1 in 20 shots at best. Would be nice if the game provided a bit more information, like showing my actual chance to hit and why that is my chance to hit

[glass zebra]

Are you talking about "projectiles flies into target and combat log says 'miss'" or are you talking about "projectile goes wide"? If the 2nd, which ranges are you talking about? The 1st is just your hit boni (which for ranged weapons is usually your agility mod vs enemy DV-5 (or plain DV if they have Swift Reflexes) and pretty similar to melee accuracy mechanics. With 23 agility, you should hit most things. For the 2nd:

AngularVariance = WeaponVariance ± AimVariance

For the aim variance only the player boni matter and you get 2 from the weapon and of course your agility mod (+ possible other boni). The initial roll can get up to 19, so if you want perfect angular accuracy on super high range, you'd need a total bonus of 19 or use "sure fire" from the bow&rifle tree, but you are already at "almost perfect" much before that. 23 agility should be pretty good up to mid range though and even on max range you should get more like 30% hits with an accurate weapon. This[wiki.cavesofqud.com] is the probability for the roll result.

Weapon variance is its own separate roll that adds to the player aim variance roll. Low accuracy on a weapon means that you can never have safely straight shots, regardless of your agility (e.g. with a musket) and "Very high" accuracy on a missile weapon means that the gun itself does not add any variance to your shot and only your own aim variance.

Sprinting also makes it worse, unless you have a bonus for that (like the pistols Sling and Run skill).

If you want to read up on the whole thing, you can read it here[wiki.cavesofqud.com], but for the most part: your weapon is already great for accuracy, but that only means it does not add spread. Improve your agility if you want to reduce your aim variance or shoot on lower ranges.

[Sly-Scale]

Seconded. All of what Glass Zebra said is spot-on.

But sometimes it's easier to control the fight, than it is to shoot from far away. If you want to rig the odds of hitting stuff, positioning is key. Getting melee attackers stuck in webs or asphalt, or hitting them with Suppressive Fire, is a great way to get up close and safely deal with them. Just mind that they might have a way to charge or lunge at you.

There's also all manners of inflicting crowd control on those and ranged enemies: burning, stunning, freezing, dazing, sleeping, scaring, time dilation... all of which can help with keeping ranged attackers from replying.

[P0NYSLAYSTATION]

Thanks for the detailed answer, yeah its the projectile going off at a 45 degree angle from where I shoot thats confusing me, I'm only shooting at about 8 tiles away which doesnt seem very far for a sniper rifle but from what you said it seems like just because it is a sniper rifle doesnt mean it is any better at shooting long distance than anything else? I'll read the wiki

[glass zebra]

The sniper rifle is definitely better (shared best) at delivering straight shots, as it itself adds 0° to your shot, but it is still your character that has to aim well too. Weapon accuracy does not lower your own aim variance. It can only go down to 0°, but not subtract from your own variance roll (except if you put a scope on it).

With 23 agility (and the rifle&Bow opener?) you should definitely hit more often than 1 out of 20 shots on 8 tile distance though. A good third of shots should be flying directly or very close to your enemy and not in a 45° angle, unless you are sprinting while shooting.

[Icedfate]

I dunno if it's a bug or if it's just the way the game mechanics work, but I seem to be way more accurate when shooting orthogonal shots than i am with diagonal.

when i'm lined up orthogonal, I hit 9/10 of my shots, when shooting diagonal, I miss 9/10 shots.
worst is when i'm trying to shoot a qudzu vine in the corner on the wall and 99/100 shots go wide and hit the walls next to it instead, despite me being only 2 spaces away.

edit : for clarity, I have 24 agility and basic pistols skill, firing a chrome revolver.
same thing happens when i use a bow or the issachar rifle, but i expected that since i have no points in bows and rifles.

[glass zebra]

Originally posted by Icedfate:

I dunno if it's a bug or if it's just the way the game mechanics work, but I seem to be way more accurate when shooting orthogonal shots than i am with diagonal.

when i'm lined up orthogonal, I hit 9/10 of my shots, when shooting diagonal, I miss 9/10 shots.
worst is when i'm trying to shoot a qudzu vine in the corner on the wall and 99/100 shots go wide and hit the walls next to it instead, despite me being only 2 spaces away.

edit : for clarity, I have 24 agility and basic pistols skill, firing a chrome revolver.
same thing happens when i use a bow or the issachar rifle, but i expected that since i have no points in bows and rifles.

Unless you have a weapon with perfect accuracy, you will always have some chance for variance even with high agility (though 24 is not super high for ranged combat). Pistols generally have less accuracy than rifles and the chrome revolver has "low", meaning 12 variance for that weapon. I think how projectiles fly diagonally it does mean that small angle variances are more likely to miss the target.

For wall enemies in corners it is a lot worse though, since most shots will hit the corner walls. I basically never even try to shoot at them and risk melee for those or try to run around them. They are not worth the little ammo I have in early game.