Maya: aiming with the slow hand

[harf4ng]

Hi,

I have read as recommended weapons for Maya, the slowhand (incendiary or corrosive).
I have for now an electrical one.

But how do you aim with it? With other shotguns I just fire and it spreads and it hit a few enemies, no real need to aim, but I have to be close enough.

But the slow hand... A single projectile. Often the time the bullet travels, the enemy has moved, and I miss. And if I miss, the projectile will continue far away and do no damage, of course...

I have a level 30 slow hand, my maya is just 33.

Moreover when the enemy is close, I can't use it, as if I use it I explode with the enemies ;)

So why is the slow hand that good, and how do you play with?

For now I mostly use my hail instead (I have an incendiary and an electrical version, both level 26 weapons), but even with the hail I wonder if some other assault rifle will not do more damage. My hail base damage is 300 and I have found assault rifles with 1700 damage and an explosive effect.

Thanks

[Wayward]

Those Torgue assault rifles uses more than one ammo per shot, so instead of thinking about only the damage per mouseclick, think about damage per bullet spent instead. I haven't found a slow hand myself, so I can't say anything about it. For learning how to aim with the slow hand I'd recommend going to one of the starting areas just to get some shooting practice, you'll figure it out just like you've done with Hail :-) You might also want to try fireing up in the air and at tall walls a few times, both at short and long distances, just to get an idea about how it fires. The Kitten for example sprays a smiling face, Lyuda, Pitchfork and Harold fires multiple bullets in a wide spread.

[harf4ng]

In fact the slow hand I got fires just one single bullet, but the splash area is significant. According to what I saw people usually aim at the ground near the enemies, not at the enemies themselves...
Guess I have to get used to this...

The slow hand is easy to come by, I got mine from Piston, the last quest of this addon area, don't know the name in english.

Edit: oh ok I understand you talk about the number of bullet spent... there is a version of the slow hand that throws three projectiles, I'll try to get this one...

[Wayward]

It's never dropped for me........

[Waste_of_skin]

Originally posted by HighDarkTemplar:

Those Torgue assault rifles uses more than one ammo per shot, ...

Actually, any regular Torgue AR (eg. Rifle, Lance or Spitter) uses 1 round per shot. Now, the explosive AR's by other manufacturers (that shoot rockets or grenades) do tend to use more ammo (2 - 4 rounds per shot, as I recall).

[harf4ng]

The slow hand is an eTech weapon. Dunno if this makes a difference...

[Waste_of_skin]

Originally posted by harf4ng:

The slow hand is an eTech weapon. Dunno if this makes a difference...

What kind of difference? Sure, the fact that it's E-tech is significant, but I'm not sure what you're talking about.

One nice thing about the Slow Hand is that it shoots in a straight line. Regular E-tech shotguns fire a projectile that travels in a slight arc and falls to the ground, so they're generally harder to aim, and the range is more limited. Of course the other basic plus to the Slow Hand is that, like all Moxxi guns (including the Hail that you mentioned), it heals you.

FWIW, if you haven't already seen this:

http://borderlands.wikia.com/wiki/Slow_Hand

[harf4ng]

To me, the fact that it shoots in a straight line is both an advantage and a drawback. Easier to aim, sure, but it also means if you miss your target, your bullet will end up very far away and will not damage anybody, whereas with a curved weapon like the hail, you can be not that precise and your bullet will hit the ground near the target and still hurt them.

As, to hit with the slow hand, means you either have your target to not move at all (as the bullet takes forever to go to your opponent) or you have to hit a wall, or the ground, so the enemy is taken into the splash damage. Not that easy to hit the ground far enough from you (except maybe by jumping ^^) Easier inside when you can hit the walls as well...

[Mihryazd]

Since you're playing Maya, Accelerate can help with the slow projectile speed.

[harf4ng]

I think I have it at 5. Though I'm still only level 33...

[Minor Poobah Shu]

I can see why they'd reccomend the slowhand for Maya, but reading its effect, use it only as a secondary weapon for when the enemies are in the phaselock. It's not affected by gravity, and heals you for some of the damage inflicted, so it'd heal you easily.