"Newbie' Questions: Weapon Stats

[Bannor]

GREAT game - just got to Level 16. Questions:

1) Is there some online resource I can go to for weapon stats? How does it work - some low-level weapons do more Damage Per Shot (DPS) than higher-level weapons; some low-level weapons cost more than higher-level weapons; etc. It's quite confusing!

2) Following on from Q1 - what's the deal with shotguns; why are there 2 values given for DPS - 1 in white, 1 in yellow, prefixed by a 'plus' (+) symbol? What do they mean?

3) I sometimes find weapons which require me to be a FAR higher level than I am currently to be able to use them (like, 20 levels higher, in some cases); is there anywhere I can stash them so that I can come back to them MUCH later in the game when I've levelled up? Or are my choices limited to "keep them (even though I can't use them and they're just going to hog space in my backpack), or sell them"? I have the GOTY with all DLC and I'm playing solo.

But yeah - GREAT game! Really enjoying playing!

[hoimingmissile]

Well, first of all, no one uses the acronym DPS to mean "Damage per Shot", it is widely used to mean "Damage per Second" which factors in damage per shot and fire rate. If you keep doing it your way THAT'S what is going to be quite confusing.

To answer your questions:

1) Ignore the levels for the most part. Those are just general indicators of how powerful an item will be, all the actual stats come from the components of the gun itself. Same goes for the rarity. A level 10 Blue gun will still be weaker than a level 30 White gun.

2) The first number in white is the damage per bullet/pellet. The yellow number, prefixed by a multiplication symbol (x) is the number of pellets it fires. Before you do the math and say, "Wow, this shotgun does over 1 million damage!" most shotguns have wide spread and low accuracy so most of the pellets aren't going to hit unless you shoot stuff point-blank.

3) There is no stash in this game, you're just going to have to lug it around in your backpack. People probably complained about having to do this which is why Borderlands 2 introduces a bank vault for you to store your things.

[Bacchus]

Marcus Bank in Underdome.

[Nibbie]

I can back everything Hoimingmissile said (-the bank, but thats in a dlc, so easily forgettable). As for stats, there is a borderlands wiki which has a lot of information on the stats, but the basics:
Damage: amount of damage done per shot. For shotguns that is per pellet, for rocket launchers I believe that is at the center of the explosion. Accuracy is a number out of 100 that says how far off your cursor a shot can go. Shooting causes recoil, which decreases accuracy, so recoil reduction reduces the amount your accuracy is set off by shooting quickly. Fire rate is in shots per second. Note that burst rifles have very high fire rates (18+) but their actual fire rate is much lower due to time between bursts.
I'm pretty sure the stats listed on the item card such as +14% damage is already figured into the stats listed, so a 100 damage weapon with +10% damage is a 91 damage weapon buffed to 100 by its parts, not a 100 damage weapon buffed to 110.
To clarify Bacchus, the Underdome DLC has a bank in it. You can access the dlcs at any time (or any time after fast travel unlock, can't remember)
Glad you enjoy the game, one of my favourites!

[Lux]

As hoimingmissile stated,

While levels and rarity do give some indication of how good a weapon is, the stats are completely random, higher rarity weapons tend to have more bonus stats.

I don't know exactly how Borderlands weapons are created but what i do know is that there are far too many combination for you to even hope to get the specific stats you want all together on one weapon, unless of course you want to mod.

Damage per shot depends on the kind of weapon it is a lot: Shotgun, Snipers and Rocket Launcher generally have a high damage per shot, whereas SMGs, Combat Rifles Repeaters and Pistols usually have a lower damage per shot.

However, this goes hand in hand with accuracy, which determines how well you can hit your target from a further distance, and fire rate.

You might have a very high damage per shot but if your fire rate is very low, the overall output of damage isn't going to do you much good. Same for accuracy, shotguns tend to have low accuracy (exceptions made obviously) but a high damage per shot, and usually multiple shots. so the closer you are the more damage shotguns are going to do.

Some weapons have a weird way of firing too, so for example a three burst of rounds (very common among combat rifles) which I find to be very annoying so I generally avoid those kind of combat rifles.

So now you should know that you should look at all three stats and look at the combination of those (and get a feel for your weapon by actually using it) before deciding which one is the best.

Magazine size is another thing, if you have to reload every 10 shots on SMG or a combat rifle that is quite inconvenient. however 10 per magazine on a sniper or shotgun is really not that bad.

Lastly, weapons, depending on the rarity and level have bonus stats written within the I guess you can call it 'tooltip' this might be + % damage, + % accuracy +% fire rate, magazine, etc. there's a lot of different kind of stats, zoom, burst count, critical hit damage, elemental damage.

So the initial look of a weapon, might be deceiving (for example a shotgun with really bad accuracy with a + 80% accuracy might turn out not to be as bad as you think it is)

Although in the long run levels WILL make a difference, you will often come across lower level weapons that far outdo higher level weapons.

There isn't really a way to "teach" you how to decide the best weapon, it is much preference and just testing the weapon because often different weapons just feel differently when using them.

I hope this has been helpful for you!

[Bannor]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply! :)

[bug]

Bannor, I'll discuss it more technically when I get added, this discussion is too short for technical talk but I'll make my equations simple as possible.