Slugger vs. Punisher. I don't get the preference?

[Gargoyle Girl]

They both have single reload.
They both do decent at medium-high range, and better as the target gets closer.
The Slugger has *way* more recoil.
The Punisher does almost twice the damage of the Slugger.

So what makes the Slugger better?

EDIT: I seem to have my answer: The Slugger actually fires slugs, not pellets, and has medium armor penetration as a 'hidden weapon trait'. WTF were the devs thinking with this, I do not know; imagine sending soldiers into war and giving them a gun and going, 'This gun has a really useful ability. Maybe. It's a secret!' then giving them a broad wink. Technology, amirite? Who knows how that stuff works!

[Grimmy]

Slugger fires slugs, Punisher fires buckshot.

[magus_darklighter]

Originally posted by Grimmy:

Slugger fires slugs, Punisher fires buckshot.

^this

Slugger can punch through medium armor even though it has "Light Penetration" The wep descriptions are still pretty bad.

The devs apparently said there are "Hidden" effects on certain weps and that they would update weps later on with "better" descriptions. That's about it.

[Dakota]

Slugger has medium armor pen and is a single shot while punisher has light armor pen and is a spread shotgun. This means the Slugger is able to damage a lot of things the punisher can't, and some things with armor the punisher can damage is having the damage halved so the slugger is still doing more and most of the unarmored things get oneshot by either weapon. The main thing the punisher has going for it is just that it has more stagger against enemies and knocks them back. The recoil also doesn't matter much on either since the rate of fire is so low.

[TeK]

The Slugger doesn't have any spread, as it's a single round, meaning you can actually hit weakpoints at range, instead of only a few pellets from the Punisher hitting.

But as you noted, the Punisher seems to be doing more damage... And it also has waaay more knockback/stagger.

What makes he Slugger better in one scenario is, it can actually penetrate the Hive Guard terminids armor.

[ChequeMate]

Slugger has medium penetration so can take out Hive Guards, Warriors, Bile Spewers in 1-2 hits, has a longer range since it is basically a solid slug compared to buckshot of Punisher. With a Laser drone for small ones and EATs for heavies, you can basically take out everything.

[Vahnkiljoy]

I mean, the slugger fires a damn slug, I kind of assumed going in when I first got it that it would hurt like hell, was saddened when some things I EXPECTED to die in one hit didn't BUT then I saw just about everything under the suns other than heavies flinch and armor get removed so, I don't get the reasoning for hidden stats but that one seemed like an obvious one for that gun.

[John Digger]

Slugger better against medium armor
Punisher better against flesh

[TOAN732]

Given that the Punisher is buckshot, you'd have to be real close to deal full damage. Slugger is way more versatile in its range.

The Slugger basically feel like a better dmr really. You lose the long range scope and get a better sway control. One tapping Rocket Devastators in the face and limbs off of Brood Commanders is good in my books. You also stagger all devastators reliably, so if you can't get a good shot on a Shield Devastator, hit any body part and they'll be wide open for the any follow up shots. You can even easily stagger a rocket devastator prepping to shoot rockets by hitting it ANYWHERE.


Only bad thing is the Slugger punishes you for missing hard. The Punisher has that shotgun spread in certain situations where you can't get a good hit on the enemy (mostly the shriekers for me really).

[VIRUSOID]

Suspecting that slugger have hidden "explosive" treat. It can destroy mushrooms, doors of containers and blow off enemies parts like Dominator

[Shaabhekh]

While the name 'Slugger' implies it shoots a single shot, i do believe it has a very very small spread? i say this because when shooting at something beyond the effective range of the slugger, i can see buckshot spreading out, albeit in a very tight cone compared to Punisher etc.

Edit: Could be wrong, but thats just what ive observed in my own play time.

[Foxador]

A good way to see the difference is just by looking at this image of a slug:

https://www.remington.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-remington-master-catalog/default/dw4b8c758c/images/large/REM_Slugger%20Rifled%20Slug%2020270.jpg

You can take down spore spewers from across the map with this thing, one shot devastators and even take down scout striders tho they're kinda a hassle with this weapon, but it's possible

[Sokaku]

Against armoured targets that have lightly armoured or unarmoured weakpoints, the Punisher can be a better choice because a hit to those weakpoints by at least one pellet will stagger an enemy, plus do some decent damage. The spread on the weapon isn't huge, rather close to realistic but without the damage fall off for range, so at moderately close range a number of pellets will connect with the weakpoint. Against lighter enemies/targets you can get 60% more damage if all pellets connect. Against a medium armoured target the Punnisher has to rely on some pellets connecting with lighter armoured weakpoint, where a slugger can deliver it's full damage through the medium armour.

So honestly I'd say Slugger is suited to players looking for dealing with armour that have less precise aim, or will be playing on the move and not worrying about lining up weakpoints. If you are going for weaker points then the Punisher could still potentially deliver more damage, and be more forgiving for killing or staggering lighter, more agile targets which you might miss with a slug.

[ImHelping]

People like the slugger because it is a better emergency shotgun when some medium sized ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ is about to unleash one hit kill ranged attack nonsense on you.

Punisher is better for small targets spam, but in spite of having better range than a lot of videogame buckshot it still struggles to actually put down small robo soldiers at range. making the fact slugger can miss them by an inch quite often less of a flaw than it seems in reality. (crouch strafing something into a slugger crosshair is often more accurate than swinging your mouse over to them stationary too because videogaaaaames)

Also, the on paper higher power of the punisher falls short when the slow rate of fire still means multiple stalkers or chainsaw bots already on top of you.

Because the problem is less "Punisher bad" and more "Enemies overtuned" so you are busting your ass for less safety than ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ unloading with the breaker, or buying time with more consistent slugger staggers from longer ranges.

spitter spam is a mother ♥♥♥♥♥♥ beyond all stalkers or hunters in the world anyways. Which is often why my trying to like the punisher more is turned into "I am only using this because I have not had time to collect my auto cannon/grenade launcher again, out of desperation"

[Shaabhekh]

Originally posted by ImHelping:

People like the slugger because it is a better emergency shotgun when some medium sized ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ is about to unleash one hit kill ranged attack nonsense on you.

Punisher is better for small targets spam, but in spite of having better range than a lot of videogame buckshot it still struggles to actually put down small robo soldiers at range. making the fact slugger can miss them by an inch quite often less of a flaw than it seems in reality. (crouch strafing something into a slugger crosshair is often more accurate than swinging your mouse over to them stationary too because videogaaaaames)

Also, the on paper higher power of the punisher falls short when the slow rate of fire still means multiple stalkers or chainsaw bots already on top of you.

Because the problem is less "Punisher bad" and more "Enemies overtuned" so you are busting your ass for less safety than ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ unloading with the breaker, or buying time with more consistent slugger staggers from longer ranges.

spitter spam is a mother ♥♥♥♥♥♥ beyond all stalkers or hunters in the world anyways. Which is often why my trying to like the punisher more is turned into "I am only using this because I have not had time to collect my auto cannon/grenade launcher again, out of desperation"

Yeh, using the Slugger against the spitters (especially headshots on them, preventing them from spitting altogether) guards and commanders is really nice; pretty much any medium sized bug will feel a slugger.
Swapped for the Punisher atm tho since that handles the smaller clientele better and theres always someone with a turret, stratagem or gun that will hurt the mediums from further out than me with a slugger.

[Lesurous]

Punisher for Automatons, Slugger for Terminids. Against troopers the buckshot is superior, the spread lets you stunlock Berserker Devastators, and it's good at killing Devastators too. Against Hiveguards, Bile Spewers, Stalkers, and Brood Commanders are where the Slugger shine. It takes about 3-4 dead center headshots to kill Stalkers with the Slugger.