Rifleman Archive
Thread: (n00b voice) What's a power up?
MSP0 wrote:
In short, they are like ammo. You buy them and drag and drop them onto your weapons to increase their effectiveness. They last for 100 shots each.
My favorite ones give 33% to max damage, and 16% mind cost reduction.
Buy them in crates!
Technically, they are an attachment you put on your weapon to boost its stats. But as MSPO says, they have a limited number of uses (100), so his ammo analogy is a good picture.Also asMSPO said, one of the best ones to get is one that adds 33% to max damage and reduces mind costs by about 16%.
A Powerup (often referred to as a PU) can actuallyhave up to 5 stats on it. Each additional stat will do about half the boost of a previous one. So you could, for instance, see one that was 33% max damage / 16% speed / 8% ideal range. A fourth stat would only do a 4% boost and a fifth stat would only about 2% boost.
There are certain common powerups you will be interested in. And generally, you will look for powerups based on the first two stats, and if there are additional stats, so much the better. If you are not at the speed cap (which you will not likely be until you reach Master and get some speed tapes as well), your best bet is to go for a Speed/Mind Cost powerup. This is because a 33% speed powerup will boost your average DPS (damage per second) by a full 33%. A 33% Max damage power up will boost your average DPS by only about 28%, and even a 33% max damage + 16% min damage powerup will only boost your average DPS by 30%. Once you get at or near the speed cap, damage increases become more important, but until then speed is your friend.
I generally keep:
33% Speed/16% Mind powerups for my T21 or any weapon I am not firing at the Speed cap.
33% Max Damage/16% Mindpowerups for any weapon I am firing at the speed cap which has high mind costs.
33% Max Damage /16% Min damage powerups for weapons I am firing at the speed cap, but have low HAM csts already.
If your weapon has high mind costs, you will want at least one stat reducing mind. So if you cannot find some of the above, 33% Mind/16% speed, or 33% Mind/16% max damage is a good alternative.
Finally, there are some combinations that cannot be made. You will not see a Speed/Max Damage or a Max Damage/Speed powerup. Although I recently found a melee powerup (and ranged and melee weapons use different powerups) that had, if I recall correctly, 33% speed/16% action (or the other way around) + 8% max damage plus some additional stats. I will have to see If I can get a ranged version with mind instead of action on that one.
In short, they are like ammo. You buy them and drag and drop them onto your weapons to increase their effectiveness. They last for 100 shots each.
My favorite ones give 33% to max damage, and 16% mind cost reduction.
Buy them in crates!