Rifleman Archive

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SordDaPlaya wrote:

What would you guys say is more important.

For both grinding (which gets you more XP) and PvP (which does most damage to enemy)

I am jus a noob rifle guy with just rifles 4 atm, i hope to master rifles before the end of July

*hopes*

-sord

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Since, atleast for a while,you are not going to be anywherenear the speed cap (one shot per second). There are only a couple of things to consider. Once you get to the speed cap (at around +97 to speed, which is +7 more than Master Rifleman), damage will always be the most important thing because, since you cannot fire faster than the cap,additional speed will not help. At Master, it will be a little tricky since some weapons and specials can hit the cap, but others will not. In that case, for some weapons, damage will be better and for others speed may be better. But for now, here is what to consider.

There are two ways to improve a weapon, slices and powerups. For slicing, a 35%damage slice makes the weapon look more impressive because it raises both the minimum damage and the maximum damage that amount. This slice, therefore, raises the average damage by 35%, so your average DPS (damage per second) will increase by 35%. However, a 35% speed slice will raise the speed of the weapon (i.e., make it faster) by 35%, meaning you will be firing for your average damage 35% more often, so it, too, will raise the average DPS by 35%. This tells us that, for slicing, the same percentagespeedor damage slice will raise the average DPS by exactly the same amount. Therefore, with regard to slicing, it is really a matter of taste. Do you want to hit harder with each shot, or do you want to hit more times over the same time frame?

Since rifles are slow by nature and since, at non-Master speeds, you are firing painfully slow, it is the opinion of many including me, that it is better to go for speed until you get to the speed cap. You may not hit for as big of hits, but the damage over a given time frame will work out the same, and it does give you more chances to hit them with a status effect like Stun or Dizzy. So while the DPS will be exactly the same with either slice, speed slices are best until you get to the speed cap.

Powerups are a different matter. The three most sought after powerups for rifles are 33% Max Damage + 16% Mind Reduction, 33% Max Damage + 16% Minimum Damage, and 33% Speed + 16% Mind Reduction. Because, unlike a damage slice, the first two do not affect the minimum damage the same as the maximum damage, they do not raise the average damage by 33%. For the Max/Mind powerup, the average damage is only raised by 25% and for the Min/Max powerup, it is only raised by 28%. Thus, the DPS for those two powerups goes up only 25% and 28%, respectively. By contrast, the speed powerup affects the speed by the full 33%; therefore, a speed powerup will raise the DPS by the full 33% while, at the same time, having the added bonus of leaving the other stat free to do something else, such as reduce mind costs.

Thus, for powerups, a speed powerup is the preferred choice for people who are not near the speed cap because it will raise your DPS by 5% - 8% over the other two.

Again, when you reach the speed cap, damage will always be more important.Also when you get near the speed cap, you will have to determine whether or not a particular weapon will hit the cap with the specials you are firing to determine which option is better. For instance at Master Rifleman, you can fire Headshot3 at the speed cap with a 5.1 speed weapon. You cannot, however, fire Flushingshot2 or Strafeshot2 at the speed cap with that weapon. Adding a 33% speed powerup will allow you to fire Flushingshot2 at the cap, but not Strafeshot2, and since Headshot2 is already at the cap, the additional speed will not help it at all. Therefore, itgets a little tricky as to which way to go. A speed powerup will help both Flushingshot2 and Strafeshot2, but not Headshot3, so go with a speed to bring Flushing2 to the cap and Strafe2 closer, or go with a damage powerup to increase the damage for all three?This will be a judgement call. However, foryour 7.5 speed T21, Headshot3 is not firing at the speed cap eitehr, so a speed powerup is still more important.