the best loadouts for PvP

[kestrel]

here's a thought experiment for you. what would be the best loadout for PvP?

obviously i don't want PvP added to the game in any official capacity, that would be a terrible idea. but if someone made a sandbox mod for it, which put the dwarves in a quake-style deathmatch arena where players can respawn on being killed or something similar, i think that could be fun. especially with the mod that adds more players to a lobby

it's interesting because building for PvP is very different from PvE. most obviously it leaves us free of the concerns of ammo efficiency and lets us build weapons for as much damage as possible. there are also few status effects which players can inflict on one another, so those aren't really a concern. several builds which are best-in-class for PvE become outright useless when turned against other players, and the opposite is true as well. several weapons and items become outright unusable, such as the LOK1, since it can't lock onto players

so, here's my attempt at making the best possible loadout for PvP matches.
note that "X" in the mod tree selection indicates a mod tier which has no viable option for PvP and is thus left blank. also note that these builds assume that there is no friendly fire reduction, thus leaving them to do maximum damage vs players

for driller:
CRSPR BAAXX face melter
CWC ABXBX super focus lens OR mega power supply
this loadout is capable of doing extremely high damage but runs out of steam quick. face melter will damage players and set them on fire but the small mag size will limit DPS output. you really need every bit of range you can get on the CRSPR too, since other players will be able to easily outrange you
the CWC's high fire rate and unlimited range make it a great compliment to driller's short range on his primaries. i opted to go with mega power supply, as the %50 damage boost for being within close range of players will let you absolutely shred them to pieces, but obviously being within 4m of an enemy player is a risky venture. so as an alternative, mega power supply is also viable with its increased RoF bonus

for engineer:
stubby ACAXA EM refire booster
PGL CBCXB hyper propellant
whilst the stubby can't electrocute players, it does boast incredibly high DPS. the stubby has low accuracy but also not much spread when firing on the move, making it great for evasive maneuvers. i was going to use warthog with cycle overload, but the short range and high spread would make it hard to use in a fast-paced PVP environment
hyperprop goes without saying. yeah fat boy is the other obvious choice, but there's a high risk you'll blow yourself up in the process if you use it at too close of range

for gunner:
minigun CBCBC lead storm OR hurricane BABBC jet fuel homebrew
bulldog BAABA elephant rounds
this was a tricky one, because whilst gunner is capable of doing incredible damage, being slowed down whilst firing is gonna make you a sitting duck for any remotely competent player. bhopping can only get you so far, too
the autocannon is obviously out for PvP given its woeful inaccuracy, but the minigun and GRS both have solid options. LSLS is the natural choice given its high damage, insane RoF and hitscan nature, but i think there's an argument for jet fuel homebrew to be useful as well given how much damage it can do
with gunner's secondaries, there's really only one choice. max damage elephant rounds for one-tapping distant players and annoying flying scouts. what could be better?

for scout:
M1000 BBBAX minimal clips OR GK2 BABXB overclocked firing mechanism
zhukovs BBBAB gas recycling OR boltshark CCABA specialist
it won't surprise you to know scout has a lot of good options for PvP. even in his current watered-down and neutered state, he's still the best class for single target damage, and that gives him a lot of flexibility
M1K with max mag size will destroy players, giving scout a long range hitscan weapon with high damage and lots of shots per mag. i opted for T2B on this build to reduce spread and recoil as much as possible, letting scout fire perfect accuracy shots more often. whether you prefer focus or hipfire on this build is up to you
max fire rate GK2 is also a good pick with higher DPS but less accuracy. this build would require much more active use of the hook to be successful, but i'm sure that's what most of you would want to do anyway
gas recycling zhukovs are the highest damage secondary scout has since embedded detonators don't work on teammates. they're not very accurate, but they'll shred anything that gets too close to you
alternatively, taser boltshark. tasers are one of the few status effects that work on players when two or more tasers link together to create electric beams between them. as such this would give scout incredible area denial potential, as well as hitting players with a whopping %80 slowdown to make them easy targets. not only that, you'd get regular bolts as well for an extremely high damage sidearm option (albeit in projectile form). as such, a build that gives scout the maximum amount of tasers with the longest lifetime possible is best for this role. i opted for faster reloading, but if you wanted to be more aggressive you could use T3B with the quick-fire OC for more power in stock bolt spam

what are some loadouts you think would work best for PvP? comment below, i'm interested in your opinions

[Shebby]

Miner, I think you have too much free time on your hands if you're making posts like this.
Grab your pickaxe and get the ♥♥♥♥ in the droppod.

[Maximum stupidity]

cryo grenades for scout would be a must-have, Also I think Icestorm for driller could work reasonably well and maybe tcf would work pretty good

[Bookslayer10]

Yeah, Cryo would actually be really good for Driller. It's a much better status effect against dwarves than setting them on fire.

[Aimee]

Driller would get the short end of the stick, since in pvp hitting enemies from range is the most important thing. Any weapon thats not hitscan or near hitscan will be horrible to pvp with, without camping in holes non stop. Even if you take the drills into consideration, they make a lot of noise and players will just stay away from walls. Not to mention having to swap to your weapons after drilling.

Any weapon that deals shield+HP in damage quickly, would excell.

For Engineer;
Shotgun (Warthog) max damage for closer range primairy.
Deepcore PLG with Hyper Propellant will oneshot anyone at any range.
Breachcutter can work for cheeky kills through walls, but probl wont be that common.
Shredder Swarm because autotarget that you dont have to aim is OP.
Also turrets if they were allowed would be OP.

Gunner;
This playstyle would literaly just be throwing down shields, then fireing the minigun to get max rof and accuracy. And then walk out while aiming and holding the trigger. Amazing gameplay there.
Hurricane can work, but you will be oneshot by Engineers in return.
Bulldog max damage build with Elephant Rounds OC and hope you hit and 2 tap someone.
Coil Gun would be used for harassment shooting through terrain.
All grenades are just to push enemies away from your shield bubble, not to kill anyone.

Scout;
M1000 with Minimal Clips OC for max damage build, or Hipster for spam fire. T5.3 Killing Machine for quick reloading after kills.
Deepcore GK2 can oneclip most players with most builds, Electrifying reload will one shot most players after the first few hits and reloading. It will be a hit and run tactic, where the other player dies 5-6 sec later.
Secondairy would be boomstick, to one shot players at close range.
Voltaic Stun Sweeper (boomerang) because its autotarget, slow and deals a lot of damage. Or Cryogrenade for close range panic button.

Alright what about the driller then?
You are kind of out of luck with most weapons. For primairies you cant exactly use them to kill players outright, so its just going to be pushing players away from you with the Goopcannon.
CWC will deal the actual hitscan ranged damage.
Neurotoxin Grenade because it will one shot anyone who runs into the toxin cloud, and although throwing axes work, you have the tools to prevent players from pushing you.


Also yeah i agree, PvP in this game would be terrible. Even with weapon rebalances.

[Smetrix]

The mole OC with the coil gun would probably be the most ♥♥♥♥-y for PVP lol.

[kestrel]

Originally posted by Maximum stupidity:

cryo grenades for scout would be a must-have, Also I think Icestorm for driller could work reasonably well and maybe tcf would work pretty good

Originally posted by Bookslayer10:

Yeah, Cryo would actually be really good for Driller. It's a much better status effect against dwarves than setting them on fire.

something to note is that all players have an innate resistance to freezing as well as a natural warming rate that can't be interrupted. it's why scout's cryo nade got changed to require 3 hits on a player, because double-tapping the likes of oppressors and dreadnoughts would often flash-freeze any teammates caught in the crossfire
like yeah freezing is potentially better but it's much harder to pull off, even before you consider the cryo cannon's own limitations (low damage, low sustain, charge-up time etc)
the afterburn from the on fire debuff will at least count for a little bit of extra damage

Originally posted by Aimee:

snip

i should've clarified that anything that doesn't work against players in live won't work in a deliberate PvP environment. for example, auto-targeting weapons. it's why i didn't mention the LOK1 for example since you can't lock onto allied players, even though if you could it would be absolutely busted for PvP
i like some of your ideas, but a lot of them just wouldn't work because they aren't coded to attack players. though that's probably my fault for not clarifying as such