Hawkeye vs. skullmasher

[chickenchaser97]

It seems like bunch of people like the skullmasher, it's neat, but you have to be short-medium range to land all of the projectiles. On the other hand, the Hawkeye deals a whopping 500% crit damage, a scope that can (emphasis on can, depending on the prefix) surpass the fremingtins edge. I never hear anyone talking about it, nor have I heard of a comparison, is it because I am comparing apples to oranges? Bc the Hawkeye sounds like one of, if not the best sniper rifle in the game.

[dontu_worry]

Poop vs doo doo? Neither.

[Shadowdrake]

I mean if you're using the community patch then they're probably about equal. Otherwise skullmasher

[Shadowdrake]

They both suck compared to the lyuda

[Mister Torgue Flexington]

Originally posted by Shadowdrake:

They both suck compared to the lyuda

but yet, in the UCP, the Hawkeye is replaced with the Jakobs Bessie (yep, the same sniper from the original "Borderlands")

[Shadowdrake]

Originally posted by Mister Torgue Flexington:

Originally posted by Shadowdrake:

They both suck compared to the lyuda

but yet, in the UCP, the Hawkeye is replaced with the Jakobs Bessie (yep, the same sniper from the original "Borderlands")

I'm not running the community patch anymore so I wouldn't know(remember) that. I just remember it buffed bolt actions. Sorry for my wrong answer OP!

[Маэстро]

I would prefer Skullmasher over Hawkeye.

[Lord Cyphre]

Both are good but far from the best.
They can't match up with the Lyuda or the Pimpernel but hardly any weapons in this game can to be honest.

The Skullmasher and Hawkeye may not have the stopping power to put down raids they are still good for mobbing.

As you've noticed the Skullmasher is pretty much a shotgun in disguise with limited range compared to other Snipers.
This isn't necessarily bad because you very often engage combat at close to medium ranges.
Zer0 and Maya can make good use of the Skullmasher and work around its shortcomings with "Precisi0n" and "Vel0city" or "Accelerate" and "Phaselock".
It's a fun gun to mob with, not outstanding but by no means terrible.

The Hawkeye is based on a purple Muckamuck and if you compare these two you'll notice it has a much lower base damage for the benefit of an insane critical hit modifier.
If you stack critical hit bonusses with Zer0, a purple Muckamuck will outperform the Hawkeye quickly because of the higher base damage.
It's solid on most other characters.

Both the Hawkeye and Skullmasher are a pain to farm and usually not worth the effort if you consider how easy it is to get a Lyuda.

[Fredericks of Cursewood]

I have never used the Hawkeye and only have used the Skullmasher enough to be unimpressed. Honestly, I would take a Purple Muckamuck or Diaub over either one of these if asked right now. Its sad given how good Jakob's non unique snipers are that their uniques are either meh or trash tier.

[SunDrippedDevil]

If you are Zer0, don't use a hawkeye for any reason. It has low base damage, and will be outperformed by most snipers after some stacks of Critical Ascension due to all of Zer0's ciritical damage multipliers.

The Skullmasher can outdo it, but you will need to spec into precision and velocity to get to most out of it. (Precision will tighten the 5 pellet spread so you can hit crit spots with them more consistently).

P.S. Basically what Lord Cyphre said, but the Skullmasher is far better option than the Hawkeye if you spec for it, and use it at a shorter range.