Pistoleer Archive

[this is a first crack at a more complete answer to a common question -- what special should I use? Comments are requested]

Introduction

One of the most commonly asked questions on the Pistoleer board is "What special attack should I use?"

The answer usually given is something like, "BodyShot2 if you be pre-Master, FanShot or BodyShot3 if a Master, Stopping Shot if you have a really fast gun or the Expert Bounty Hunter line." While mostly correct, a more precise answer can be offered. What follows is an attempt to determine the best Pistoleer special at various combinations of Pistol Speed and weapon speed (considering damage over time; obviously for a one-hit or finishing shot, just go with the highest damage regardless of delay). Only Pistoleer specials and Pistol Speed modifiers reachable by the Pistoleer are here considered (at this writing), and PvE is the focus.

Additional caveat: this analysis only tries to consider the single target case; as of this writing, FanShot is still AOE, which makes it easily the best group enemy special in most cases --but it is to be nerfed.

Methodology

There are in fact only four Pistoleer specials worth spamming (data taken from the FAQ except correction to Stopping Shot damage):

BodyShot2 Damage 2.1x, Delay 1.8x

BodyShot3 Damage 2.5x, Delay 2.4x

Stopping Shot Damage 5.0x, Delay 4.0x

Fan Shot Damage 4.0x, Delay 2.4x

(feel free to correct these if more recent data be available)

But the above is not the entire story, for the two BodyShots target Health, while the others hit random HAM pools. And for PvE, Health is usually all that matters. Four-sevenths or 57% of random HAM attacks hit a Health pool body part (chest, left arm, right arm, hands); because some small percent of a random pool shot's damage drains from the two pools other than that hit, the percentage of Health damage over time from random HAM attacks is usually reckoned at 55%. (Can anyone supply the exact number?)

Adjusted, the "Health damage multiplier" and Delay for the four shots is this:

BodyShot2 Damage 2.1x, Delay 1.8x

BodyShot3 Damage 2.5x, Delay 2.4x

Stopping Shot Damage 2.75x, Delay 4.0x

Fan Shot Damage 2.2x, Delay 2.4x

Were there no speed cap, BodyShot2 would be the best shot in every singlecircumstance, at least every PvE encounter. But there is a speed cap, and so as his Pistol Speed skill and weapon speed improve, the Pistoleer needs to switch to other specials as BodyShot2 (and later, FanShot and BodyShot3) run into the cap.

There is yet another wrinkle here -- BodyShot3 has a higher HAM cost than FanShot; therefore, some players may choose to useFanShot despite the fact that BodyShot3 will always outperform it in Health damage over time (as the two shots have the same delay). Therefore, the data below is split in calculations with FanShot and calculations with BodyShot3. (Stopping Shot also has a high HAM cost -- those in the speed range in which Stopping Shot is the best Health DPS special but who cannot manage the HAM drain could fall back to Fan Shot).

Data

(rounded to tenths)

Master Pistoleer + Master Marksman, Pistol Speed +79

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Fan Shot case

Weapon Speed above 2.1, use BS2

1.5 to 2.1, FS

0 to 1.5, SS

BodyShot3 case

WeaponSpeed above 2.4, use BS2

1.3 to 2.4, BS3

0 to 1.3, SS

Master Pistoleer, Pistol Speed +74

-----------------------------

Fan Shot case

Weapon Speed above 1.7, use BS2

1.2 to 1.7, FS

0 to 1.2, SS

BodyShot3 case

Weapon Speed above 1.9, use BS2

1.1 to 1.9, BS3

0 to 1.1, SS

Quickdraw, Pistol Speed +54

---------------------------

Fan Shot case

Weapon Speed above 1.0, use BS2

0.7to 1.0, FS

0 to 0.7, SS

BodyShot3 case

Weapon Speed above 1.2, use BS2

0.6to 1.2, BS3

0 to 0.6, SS

Quickdraw, Tier 3, Pistol Speed +48

---------------------------

Fan Shot case

Weapon Speed above 0.8, use BS2

0.6to 0.8, FS

0 to 0.6, SS

BodyShot3 case

Weapon Speed above 1.0, use BS2

0.5to 1.0, BS3

0 to 0.5, SS

Only those with Krayt weapons would want the data much beyond this point -- suffice it to say that you are pretty much stuck with BodyShot2 at +42 Pistol Speed or slower.

To Do

Perhaps put in the data for +42 Pistol Speed and lower

Perhaps put in a few other cases (such as combinations with +3 speed gloves)

Better formatting

Explain how these numbers were calculated

Comments Requested.

This is great ... fantastic effort! Once you get the final version of this completed, I'll sticky it. A really neat idea for a Guide. Maybe you can help me with other numbers and tests.

Sadly I have to run, or else I'd write a longer reply. But it looked great to me at a quick glance.

By the way I just glanced at this again and I wouldn't add any more levels of speed -- it would just confuse people more. The Master Marksman scenario already threw me off because I was speed skimming.

Great job, again. Formatting is the biggest issue.

I thought that I should also post this morning the formula for calculating the above numbers, that is, the formula for determining the weapon speed at which a slower, lower raw DPS shot becomes better than a capped faster shot. That is:

X = [Slow Special Dmg Multiplier] / [ (Fast Special Dmg Multiplier) * (1 - (Pistol Speed Skill)) * (Slow Special Delay) ]

This is derived froma DPS ratio:

(Fast Special Dmg Multiplier) / (Total Fast Special Delay inc. Weapon/Skill) = (Slow Special Dmg Multiplier) / (Total Slow Special Delay inc. Weapon/Skill)

where (Total Fast Special Delay inc. Weapon/Skill) = 1 because it is capped, and

(Total Slow Special Delay inc. Weapon/Skill) = (1 - (Pistol Speed Skill)) * (Slow Special Delay) * (Weapon Speed)

where (Weapon Speed) is the unknown for which we are solving.

(for "Pistol Speed Skill" in the above read "Pistol Speed Skill * 0.01", actually)

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I do know how to format HTML, so I'll post a formatted version when I have the chance to do so.

Wow! Congrats. This is a helpful and extremely informative post. Thanks.