When to use ranged weapons on certain classes?

[Kleinyre]

For example, what weapon do you recommend I use on something like Mercenary Kruber? He doesn't have much ammo, so should I just take something like the rifle or spin rifle just to help take out specials? The blunderbuss seems *really* slow.

[Zerschmetterling]

For both Mercenary and Footknight Kruber, it depends on your aim. If you're good at landing headshots, go for Handgun. If you need 1 or 2 shots more, repeater gun is the way to go.
The Blunderbuss is just sad. You can make it work if you go for breakpoints, but it's still just a niche weapon at best.
The only thing the Blunderbuss does better than Krubers other ranged options is kill Berserkers and Plague Monks. I don't count clearing trash mobs, since you have your melee weapon for that.
If you play Huntsman Kruber, you can also use the Longbow, wich might be his best all round ranged weapon. High damage, good piercing strength, but steep learning curve. The zoom mechanic might throw you off at first, because it takes a second of holding mouse 2 before the zoom-in starts.

[Horse Gang of Bailie]

unless you have a method to replenish ammo consistently you should probably save for all special types and maybe certain elite types like berserkers or monks.

Krubers handgun/rifle is a effective sniper for specials and i commonly use that for that character.

[reevestone]

Depends on the character and career. But, for the most part, the best ranged weapons in V2 are used for sniping specials, and so for Mercenary Kruber it is indeed pretty much always best to give him either a handgun or Repeater Handgun and mostly use it to snipe specials (Handgun is generally better if your aim is really good, especially if you can consistently land headshots, while the Repeater is much more forgiving if you miss shots). The Blunderbuss is really just... trash without a role, even as a horde-clearer it's terrible.

Generally speaking, as said, the ranged weapon of a character in V2 is best given over to some kind of sniping weapon that will primarily be used to kill specials and sometimes elites. Ranged Careers that have efficient ways of regenerating ammo might be freer than most about what they shoot, but will rarely go so far as to mag-dump into trash or take ranged weapons specifically focused on that. There are only a handful of exceptions (like Sienna's Coruscation Staff or the Ironbreaker's/OE's Drakegun) that a weapon primarily oriented around annihilating trash mobs can be so effective at what it does that it's worth considering.

[Sasha Pines (no brain)]

yeah you only use ranged weapons for something you hate the most which is just specials and elites unless you are range focus class , every non range class tho melee

[Slayer Slayerson]

Play slayer, dont buy dlc.
Buy grail knight dlc.
Buy Priest dlc.

[Cipher Esteria]

Handgun is the most reliable.
Your ranged weapon on Merc as well as Foot Knight, is in 90% of cases only there to take Specials out.
Practice aiming a bit and it should work like a charm.

[Dou B Jin]

Generally if you're playing on any class that can't reliably replenish more ammo you want to reserve them for specials.

Personally I'd take the repeater (spin rifle) since you aren't being punished nearly as hard for missing a shot. Handgun is solid for downing specials but its also more punishing when you do miss.

Blunderbuss is a meme weapon because in a game where all classes by default can deal with horde you got a range weapon that functionally is meant to also deal with horde while taking your ability to deal with specials.

[RNG_Wizard]

It depends. You usually want to use ranged weapons sparingly to offset the fairly low ammo pools, and you often want to bring a ranged weapon that offsets your melee weapon's weaknesses. Mercenary is excellent in melee range against hordes and elites, so a ranged weapon that excels at killing specials such as the Handgun or Repeater would be good.

You usually only want to use such a weapon to kill specials, but there are also scenarios outside of that when you'd use it which are more contextual. Thinning a group of elites before they get too close, killing a shield stormvermin before it gets alerted, killing a distant Berserker/Plague Monk that's pinning down an ally, etc.

As for the Blunderbuss & honestly every other shotgun, they're niche weapons, and because they don't do well against special enemies they're less useful to your team and yourself. They specialize against hordes and unarmored elites. Most melee weapons can already kill hordes easily, plus killing hordes with ranged weapons denies temporary health for your team, which is bad. Outside of niche builds which are arguably detrimental to your team, Shotguns are most useful to kill unarmored elites - Plague Monks, Berserkers and Maulers.

[Ghoul Hunter]

Ranged weapons should be used on specials, like grabbers and shooters. If the ranged weapon is good against bosses, you can use it on them too. Sometimes they also work well on groups of elites, like berserkers or patrols.

I go for the repeater rifle, because it's very flexible. It's good damage against a boss. It can wipe out groups. It's fine on specials. It also has a good ammo economy, when paired with ammo refill on crit. Merc has a naturally high crit rate, remember.

[BIG E.]

For merc you have 2 options realisticly.

Handgun which is the BiS choice. You can make it oneshot body shot all specials and you only use it to kill specials up to cata, you can also use it to headshot SV if you want.

Second option is Repeater handgun. Repeater can be better under pressure, however it has way worse breakpoints than handgun.

I used both for ungodly amounts of time and they both work quite well. Its up to your preference. The only time handgun is your only choice is if you are playing modded difficulties.

Another thing, if you are running out of ammo with Merc, you shouldn't if you are only shooting specials, but if you are running out its not a bad idea to take extra ammo talent. I generally take stand clear for level 25 because i use low mobility weapons on Merc however max ammo is not bad at all. I generally avoid Blade barrier simply because i adopt the "just don't get hit lol" mentality.

[DaTank]

Use your ranged weapon in situations where you constantly find yourself saying “damnit I wish I had a gun right now”.

[KTVindicare]

Depends on your weapon and whether or not there's a Ranger Veteran in your party feeding you ammo. If I'm using a Handgun it's pretty much just for specials, but I'll use it to knock out a Stormvermin with a Shield if it's in a pack to thin them out easily. If I have a Repeater I'll use my shots more often against Stormvermin but also against Plague Monks and Berzerkers especially if they're in a pack. If I'm using the Blunderbuss (this gun sucks) I'm not using it vs armor, and I'm using it often against Plague Monks because that's why I even brought it in the first place.

[veracsthane]

most of the replies here are why you take advice with a grain of salt.

most people playing ranger/bardin whill take pistol because it lets them kill specials and monsters reliably.

most good krubers will take handgun unless huntsmen where they take bow for a laundry list of reason for both bow and handgun.

most people consider the drakegun bad but dont mind the drake pistol as much

the only class that requires more effort for the pick is seinna because it is effected by which class and talents. the only reason to optimze past that is if you are doing a map that you know spawns a certian unit.

things like the shotguns while useful require more knowledge and effort for effective use. id argue right now ignoring how handguns one shot everyhting they hit minos chaos warriors and monsters are the strongest ranged weapon is shotguns.

as for krellion they nerfed them all because they where too good and good players could offset trolls to reliably

as for bardin there are to many rules pending which one we are talking about.