Weapon Charts and Recoil Plots

Where applicable, each weapon class in the game has been given a series of charts and recoil plots in this chapter to help you get a feel for the characteristics of each weapon. The following are explanations of some of the terms and concepts that appear in this chapter’s charts.

Ammo Charts

MAG is the magazine size, STARTING is your initial ammunition load, and MAX is the most you can possibly carry, typically from using the Scavenger Perk.

Rate of Fire

The Rate of Fire chart simply shows the rates of fire for each weapon in rounds per minute (RPM), as well as any modifications from the Rapid Fire attachment, if the weapon can use it.

Reload Times

Reloading has an ADD time for when the ammo enters the magazine and you can sprint or weapon switch to cancel the remaining animation.

RELOAD is the normal reload time, if you still have some ammunition in the chamber.

EMPTY is the reload time on an empty magazine, when you must pull the charging handle, rack the slide, etc. The additional animation causes empty reloads to be a bit slower for most weapons.

Remember that you can cancel both Reload and Empty animations. The only exception is if you’re using the Fast Hands Perk, which allows you to reload while sprinting. This has the side effect of preventing you from using sprints to cancel reload animations. You can, however, still double-tap the Weapon Switch button to cancel the remaining animation.

Where appropriate, Dual Mag attachment and Speed Reload times are shown.

Shots to Kill (STK)

This is a simple measure of how many bullets it takes to kill a target at a given range (assuming a torso hit). You can use these charts to get a comparative feel for how different weapons with different attachments stack up, as Suppressor and Advanced Rifling are both shown. Suppressor reduces effective range, while Advanced Rifling increases it.

Headshots deal bonus damage, and as a general rule of thumb, scoring a headshot shaves one shot off the number of shots needed to down a target. When you score a headshot, your crosshairs flash in a double hatch pattern.

Note that the shotguns show pellets to kill, which isn’t the same as shots. You can potentially kill a target in a single shot with a shotgun, but the greater the distance, the more likely one or more pellet will miss. This increases the number of pellets (and eventually, the number of shots) it takes to kill a target.

Sniper rifles depend on damage multipliers to kill in one shot, generally for scoring hits to the upper body (typically, the chest, neck, and head). Headshots are generally lethal, with the stronger snipers capable of kill shots anywhere in the upper torso.

Weapons with low shots to kill are more damaging, but keep in mind that they are often balanced with lower rates of fire, greater recoil, slower handling, slower reloads, and so on. Use the Shots to Kill tables to get a rough idea of the effective range of each weapon.

Recoil Plots

The recoil plots in this chapter are a simulation of thousands of rounds fired, designed to give you an idea of the direction and intensity of a weapon’s recoil forces. Keep in mind that good trigger control can help mitigate the effects of a weapon with heavy recoil. In general, though, a weapon with low recoil or straight vertical recoil is easier to handle.