I’m starting to get to the point where I’m able to engineer a few things and have picked up some G3 gear to start from … I already have a G4 Maverick Suit with some mods I like (Increased Sprint Duration, Night Vision and Reduced Battery Usage) so it’s onto the Weapons now!
Saving up materials that would allow me to add the Greater Range feature to a couple of weapons so looking for thoughts / opinions on which of the following would folks recommend …
Option 1
AR-50 with Greater Range (75m?)
TK Zenith with Enhanced Reload Speed and Greater Range (50m?)
Option 2
TK Eclipse with Stowed Reloading and Greater Range (38m)
Karma P-15 with Stowed Reloading and Greater Range (38m)
Obviously the ranges are much better on Option 1 but I have the G3 items with Stowed Reloading already on them which makes Option 2 seem kinda appealing …
This would be for a multi-purpose loadout to handle any resistance when taking on Salvage missions and Settlement Raids … I am working on a Dominator loadout separately for CZs, for which I will be using a G3 Executioner, the same G3 AR-50 as above and then probably the TK Zenith for a backup laser weapon.
Everyone will have a different opinion on this, because everyone has different preferences. I'll start with my different opinion and try to explain why I chose what I did .
I would always invest in stowed reloading, not so sure about greater range on anything but the sniper rifle. Big fan of the plasmas, the Tormentor is the best pistol out there once it's G5.
First of all, Stowed Reloading is awesome. I have it on all of the weapons I use regularly. Would not want to miss it. Having said that, pistol-wise I'll say go and upgrade a Tormentor. It's the only pistol you'll ever want, a G5 Tormentor is a beast. It needs stability to reign in the recoil, and I put both silencers on mine, plus said stowed reloading. I can clear any settlement just with that one alone, and even medium / normal on foot CZs. If you learn how to shoot it (leading your shots) it's all you need from a pistol. If I could only have one weapon, it would be a G5 Tormentor.
I'm generally a big fan of the plasma weapons (sans the paintball gun). The first two weapons I upgraded and engineered were the Tormentor and the Intimidator. I'm not too sure, I think I found the Tormentor as G3 with no mods and the Intimidator as G2 with the scope already on it. Apart from the scope - which is essential as it tightens the pellet spread - I put mag size and reload speed on it - mag size gives you three shots instead of two, and reload speed is essential too, as you need to reload that gun often. I also have stowed reloading on it, which may seem redundant, but I like having both options of being able to reload faster or switch weapon to reload it.
These two together are a deadly combination, but I wanted something with range, so I also upgraded the Executioner. I think I again found this one as G3, but I can't remember if it had any mods on it or not. It's got (again) stowed reloading, a scope for sniping, audio masking to be silent outside and mag size for five instead of three shots. I probably would not do that again and maybe choose greater range instead. It's a fun sniping weapon once you learn how to use it. Shot leading is easy as long as targets are running towards you . I've done quite a few assassination missions where I marked my target, climbed on top of my ship and sniped my target halfway across the settlement. It's also great for rooftop sniping, especially in a team where you cover the others running around in the settlement grounds. The Executioner is a very fun weapon.
The last weapon I use somewhat regularly is the AR-50. I was very lucky to find it as G3 with stowed reloading already applied, and I added stability and faster handling. It is G5, but the fourth slot is still empty as I didn't really know what to put there. Greater range didn't really make sense for me, as it's more a medium-closeup weapon for me. No matter what, it's a beast.
My standard suit is a G5 Maverick with sprint, jump, NV and quieter footsteps - I call it my Stealth Suit, but really I do everything but CZs in it (and exobiology, obviously). I have two loadouts with that suit, both have the Tormentor as pistol, and one has the Intimidator and the other the Executioner as rifle. My CZ suit is a G5 Dominator with damage resistance, faster shield regen, NV and extra ammo, and I carry again the Tormentor as pistol plus the Intimidator and AR-50 as rifles.
I don't bother with stowed reloading on any of my weapons.
I have two G5 AR50s, both have stability and range. One has a scope and audio masking, the other has mag size and rapid reload.
I also have a G5 Tormentor with faster handling and range.
I do have an Executioner but haven't really used it since getting the silenced AR50 as that is a more versatile weapon.
There's also the L6 I used for Revenants.
I had considered an “all plasma” setup as I have G3 variants (no mods) of the sniper / shotgun / pistol but was more looking at that for CZs. I’ll have to give a couple of ‘em a go on my next mission run to see how they fare on a more multi-purpose Maverick loadout.
The P15 does seem surprisingly good to me. I have one with Greater Range already - and it’s very effective - but I don’t have access to add Stowed Reloading … luckily I have another with that and I just need a few more mats to add the range mod to that one.
Maybe I just need to bite the bullet and try them all out on a few missions as they are currently - to see whether the Stowed Reloading makes as much of a difference as I think it will …
In my opinion, stability is a must for all full auto rifles and useful for all the handguns—it makes handling so much easier when you don't need to wrestle with the barrel rise. And of all the full auto rifles, I stick to Aphelion. It has great range, outstanding accuracy and at grade 5 takes out scavengers without the need to juggle to a kinetic weapon. I put magazine size, stability, scope and audio masking on mine.
As a backup, in closed quarters and as a one-hit stealth gun I use Tormentor for all my loadouts. Magazine size, stability, noise suppressor and audio masking are my mod choice.
I'm the opposite. Greater range is great on eg Eclipse and, of course, Intimidator. But it's wasted on the Executioner—it's projectile speed is so slow I can dodge it in my Krait Phantom! You're not likely to hit anything moving beyond 50 meters, and against unaware stationary targets the 100m stock range is more than good enough. It's easy to sneak up on NPC-s even in broad daylight.
One of the benefits of greater range is that the effective range (damage falls off significantly) is increased. In some circimstances I believe that the extra damage might be useful, however I do not think that it has that much impact on an Executioner as it you are still going to take the same number of hits to take down a target. The toughest targets take 2 hits for the shield and 2 for the body, whilst less protected targets require 1 + 1. Of course if no shields, then those hits are not required.
I had considered an “all plasma” setup as I have G3 variants (no mods) of the sniper / shotgun / pistol but was more looking at that for CZs. I’ll have to give a couple of ‘em a go on my next mission run to see how they fare on a more multi-purpose Maverick loadout.
The P15 does seem surprisingly good to me. I have one with Greater Range already - and it’s very effective - but I don’t have access to add Stowed Reloading … luckily I have another with that and I just need a few more mats to add the range mod to that one.
Maybe I just need to bite the bullet and try them all out on a few missions as they are currently - to see whether the Stowed Reloading makes as much of a difference as I think it will …
FWIW, I have an intimidator with audio masking, noise suppressor, greater range, and magazine size. It's a great weapon for killing silently be that indoors or outdoors even against shielded opponents. My day to day assassination tool, and I wouldn't hesitate bringing it to a high cz. I have a mouse button mapped to reload, so haven't really found stowed reloading necessary.
if I may I present you my own overview on pantsu and gunyas mods: Added Melee Damage-useless.Audio Masking-very useful in unpressurized environments (outside buildings)+stealth. Combat Movement Speed-good for ARs, but mostly useless (removes movement penalties when aiming down sights). Damage Resistance-mostly useless (Dominator suit G5 has good shields already). Enhanced Tracking-mostly useless even for snipers-countered by NightVision mod. Extra Ammo Capacity-useless (always ammo boxes or ship/SRV nearby). Extra Backpack Capacity-useless (ship/SRV almost always nearby). Faster Handling-useless. Faster Shield Regen-useless. Greater Range-must have for all gunyas. Headshot Damage-MAYBE (need to test). Improved Battery Capacity-useless, but good for Dominator for better shields (need to test)? Improved Hip Fire Accuracy- +- good for AR's and Sidearms (instead of CombatMovementSpeed mod??? need to test). Improved Jump Assist-must have for Maverick 100% and Maybe Dominator? Increased Air Reserves-useless (ship/SRV almost always near). Increased Sprint Duration-must have on Maverick and Dominator. Magazine size-mostly useless. Night Vision-must have on all suits. Noise Suppressor-must have for pressurised environments (inside buildings)+stealth. Quieter Footsteps-must have on Maverick +stealth. Reduced Tool Battery Consumption-useless. Reload Speed-useless. Scope-must have for SRs and maybe some situational ARs. Stability-must have on all gunyas. Stowed Reloading-useless.
thank you very much, but it means "test" in field ops. Like: do I really need that in, say, CZ? or strolling around some piraties near irregular markers? or Spire Site's jumping around platforms?
I’m starting to get to the point where I’m able to engineer a few things and have picked up some G3 gear to start from … I already have a G4 Maverick Suit with some mods I like (Increased Sprint Duration, Night Vision and Reduced Battery Usage) so it’s onto the Weapons now!
Saving up materials that would allow me to add the Greater Range feature to a couple of weapons so looking for thoughts / opinions on which of the following would folks recommend …
Option 1
AR-50 with Greater Range (75m?)
TK Zenith with Enhanced Reload Speed and Greater Range (50m?)
Option 2
TK Eclipse with Stowed Reloading and Greater Range (38m)
Karma P-15 with Stowed Reloading and Greater Range (38m)
Obviously the ranges are much better on Option 1 but I have the G3 items with Stowed Reloading already on them which makes Option 2 seem kinda appealing …
This would be for a multi-purpose loadout to handle any resistance when taking on Salvage missions and Settlement Raids … I am working on a Dominator loadout separately for CZs, for which I will be using a G3 Executioner, the same G3 AR-50 as above and then probably the TK Zenith for a backup laser weapon.
I would like to chime in and say that Greater Range is kinda overrated and usually there are much better options than that.
Stowed reloading, Increased Magazine Size, Stability. Headshot damage - not necessarily in this order. And some others
For example, i really love this combo above (basically your option 2) and i find it much better than option one and, as you can see, no extended range.
So why i find Aphelion/P15 better than Ar50/Zentith? Because Imo it's better to have Aphelion as the hitscan longrange weapon than the Ar50 which due to it's projectile speed makes it less suitable than a hitscan. Then the heashot P15 - much easier to fire in a shot by shot controlled mode than all automatic, even at long ranges
But that's just me. It may not necessarily work for you
My other combos look like this
Edit: the tormentor below i got it with audio masking (lucky, yeah), but normally i would have it with stability instead of audio masking.
Edit2: For AR-50 i consider mandatory Stability and Headshot, which means i only have 2 other slots to fit in the other mods i want: faster handling, stowed reloading, mag size. Obviously i had to give up on one of them and i'm not really sure giving up on Mag Size was the right choice.
Sometimes i use an Intimidator, paired with some of the above, or a dual L-6 setup
thank you very much, but it means "test" in field ops. Like: do I really need that in, say, CZ? or strolling around some piraties near irregular markers? or Spire Site's jumping around platforms?
As with all suit mods, it's a "nice-to-have" but hardly essential for any of these activities. It might be more useful for spire sites, but then again, Artemis has 3 charge packs in reserve and this gives you a lot of endurance by itself.
I have the battery mod on all three suits:
On Maverick I find it somewhat useful when fighting scavs in a shut down settlement or when sneaking around sniping off targets during a settlement clear-out. But 2 charge packs in your supplies would do the same job and they're ubiquitous to pick up. All other missions don't take long enough for battery to become limiting. Irregular markers have a charge point and you're never too far from it.
On Artemis it only helps if you don't take an SRV with you and hunt some plants in high mountains where you can't land your ship. It is useful in spire sites where you might actually need to use the shield and not have your ship or SRV at hand for resupply.
On Dominator it helps quite a lot due to the standard battery being so small. Less time in CZ-s spent hunting for charge points or carge packs.
I have enhanced batteries on all but my stealth maverick suit. I seem to spend more time wandering than most and can distracted if I spot another plant to scan winding up a considerable distance from my ship.
(My stealth suit is G3 with quieter footsteps and enhanced tracking for getting into live settlements without raising alarms or other inconveniences)
if I may I present you my own overview on pantsu and gunyas mods: Added Melee Damage-useless.Audio Masking-very useful in unpressurized environments (outside buildings)+stealth. Combat Movement Speed-good for ARs, but mostly useless (removes movement penalties when aiming down sights). Damage Resistance-mostly useless (Dominator suit G5 has good shields already). Enhanced Tracking-mostly useless even for snipers-countered by NightVision mod. Extra Ammo Capacity-useless (always ammo boxes or ship/SRV nearby). Extra Backpack Capacity-useless (ship/SRV almost always nearby). Faster Handling-useless. Faster Shield Regen-useless. Greater Range-must have for all gunyas. Headshot Damage-MAYBE (need to test). Improved Battery Capacity-useless, but good for Dominator for better shields (need to test)? Improved Hip Fire Accuracy- +- good for AR's and Sidearms (instead of CombatMovementSpeed mod??? need to test). Improved Jump Assist-must have for Maverick 100% and Maybe Dominator? Increased Air Reserves-useless (ship/SRV almost always near). Increased Sprint Duration-must have on Maverick and Dominator. Magazine size-mostly useless. Night Vision-must have on all suits. Noise Suppressor-must have for pressurised environments (inside buildings)+stealth. Quieter Footsteps-must have on Maverick +stealth. Reduced Tool Battery Consumption-useless. Reload Speed-useless. Scope-must have for SRs and maybe some situational ARs. Stability-must have on all gunyas. Stowed Reloading-useless.
Well, the utility of various mods really depends on scenario they're used.
Extra ammo capacity is nice in a CZ when using a dual L6 setup (each L6 with increased mag size and stowed reloading) - makes it for 4 full salvoes from each L6 and less dependency of staying glued to an ammo box
Combat movement speed is mandatory when running heavy weapons (in CZ but not only)
Extra Backpack capacity - mandatory for materials raids during power restore missions where i pick everything that's not bolted on to be traded later on for the stuff i need
Faster handling - very good, especially for large/heavy weapons since it make for faster ready/stow transitions and also it makes for faster ADS transitions
Greater range? nope, not really. Not even my puny 7m range Intimidator has it... and that intimidator mod setup mentioned above is really deadly, even without the single slug bug.
Headshot damage? mandatory on kinetics, but useful on everything else, including the L6. A G5 P15 with headshot is really deadly on unshielded targets even at 100m range, assuming you can aim with it.
Improved battery capacity - useful on my stealth maverick (along with quieter footsteps, increased sprint duration and nightvision) for those runs where you spend a lot of time watching the patrol patterns, but not only
Improved Hip fire accuracy - i usually dont hip fire.. only ADS, so i dont have it on my weapons hence why i value faster handling much much more.
magazine size - mandatory on L6, Executioner, Intimidator and extremely useful on everything else.
improved jump assist - mandatory on Artemis, nice to have on some Dominator builds (i have one Dom with jump, sprint, combat movement speed and night vision and it's a blast - a really dynamic setup)
reduced tool battery consumption - very good (almost mandatory) on mavericks for restore missions (lots of cutting and charging/overcharging). For heavy tool usage basically doubles the battery life compared to increased battery capacity which only increases it for 50%
stowed reloading is really really good on any setup that relies on weapon swapping, and it's a nice QoL mod even for Exec/Tormentor combos
reload speed is really nice on L6 and even on Ar-50, while it doesnt work for stowed reloading, i had many opportunities when i had to unload both my L6 really fast so i had to rely on faster-reload instead of just swapping to the other weapon.
I use greater range on my settlement murder executioner for killing targets on the other side of the station and it's about the only use I can think for it. So, very useful when you want to make sure you can hit everything you can see but that's it.
To be honest though, outside of CZs just give me a G2 tormentor with noise suppression and I'm good for whatever. Improved sprint on a suit isn't a must, but it's a really big want (complete a few missions in a flight suit every now and again and it's surprising what you can actually live without).
As my opinions having done a few missions and CZs- mag size unless I have a good reason not to, stability and faster handling are never bad upgrades either. Headshot is really useful for making sure things drop quickly.
For stealth you probably want to have an indoor and outdoor weapon (although I have sacrificed mag capacity on my tormentor to do both). The AR-50 with audio masking, stability, faster handling and headshot is scarily good at clearing settlements. The executioner is probably the go to though where I use greater range, faster handling, scope and audio masking. Don't ignore an audio masked L-6 either. Obviously NPCs hear the boom (so make sure targets are far away from where you're shooting), but it is both ridiculous and fun.
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