DRL Wiki - User contributions [en]

Strategy:Phobos Lab

2023-06-24T06:17:45Z

Vid-szhite:

Beware of opening doors, because you will get flooded by a group of demons.

== 0.9.9.7 ==
=== Ultra-Violence ===
Don't even THINK about coming in here on UV unless you can get your movement speed below 0.6s/move through some means that doesn't involve using Berserker, and ideally it should be well below that. Not likely, since this is early game, but still! Builds that aren't using at least Hellrunner 2 might as well not bother, because you need at least Hellrunner 2 ''and'' some speed-increasing items to reach speeds like that, even if you're a Scout. If you came in here by mistake, better have a [[homing phase device]] so you can nope your way out of this with the mods and [[combat shotgun]], or this run is over. You're locked in until you fight your way through and press both switches.

Right away, be ''very'' careful not to destroy the doors when killing the first shotgun guy across the pond. You need those doors to be able to close just in case of emergencies. If one door opens because a guy is coming in, open the other one IMMEDIATELY so the shotgunners don't destroy it. Kill all the Formers before continuing on to the cave, because the formers could be your undoing if they're able to open the doors on you and let the Nightmare Demons in. Once done, clear both the doorways of any debris, and if you can, shoot a rocket straight north from the start and hope you hit a nightmare demon through the open doors up top. If you do, go back inside the start room and shut the doors and Run > Wait until they die in the acid. This could take a while. Whether you do or you don't, this next part is gonna ''suck.''

[[Nightmare demons]] are FAST! They move and attack every 0.6 seconds, which means you'll get bitten 2-3 times a second once they close the gap, and thanks to their innate armor of 3, they take very low damage from shotguns, and knocking them back will be no easy feat! Don't even THINK about reloading in their faces, or you'll be dead even if you had full HP. There's about half a dozen of them holed up in the first tunnel that you MUST clear out to progress, because the doors to the switch that unlocks the exit will not open or be destructible without the switch at the end of the cave being pressed. Further unfortunately, thanks to a glitch in Demon AI, the nightmare demons and their pink cousins will usually get stuck deeper in the cave and will not come out unless they're damaged or they see you, so there's no point in waiting for them to come out until you've let them out yourself. But that's also a bad idea, because you need some space between them, so you actually want to be able to close the doors leading into the cave to the north.

Unless you get ABSURDLY lucky and some of them come running outside, you're going to have to kill them all. If you modded their sounds and you hear any of them grunting in pain, immediately run back to the start and close the doors and wait until you hear the screams of their freed souls.

You're going to need at least two shell boxes and a double shotgun to fight them, and even that will take quite a while and be risky if there's no space between you. If you have a [[rocket launcher]], you can try splashing them from around the corners, but get ready to run and rocket jump, because they'll practically teleport to you once they're hit. Be careful not to give yourself a face-rocket while trying! Press F rather than use the mouse so you can be sure. Nightmare demons are tough enough to survive in acid for a long time even though it damages them, and your only realistic hope of getting away from them if you can't close the doors leading into the cave is running all the way around to the start location and closing ''those'' doors, so if the doors are blocked and unable to be closed (i.e. because a shotgun guy destroyed one while trying to shoot you), or you have to rely on Running to reach speeds that fast, you're probably going to die.

This is extremely dangerous even for very good players with a plan, so it's usually better not to bother with Phobos Lab on UV/N! unless you're REALLY over-prepared.

If you do manage to clear out the cave to the north and press the switch to unlock the doors, shoot the doors open from a safe distance away and get ready to run, because there are more nightmare demons that love to stand right next to those doors, and they will charge through the instant the doors pop open. Your only hope of getting any space between you is once again to run back to the start location and close the doors in their faces. If you can't do that, your run might be over unless you have an envirosuit and wait in the acid, or you can hide in the northern caves and shut those doors.

The other enemies are normal demons and low-tier enemies like imps, and zombiemen, and shotgun guys, which if you're ready for this level, should be trivial to kill. But be careful when walking through the long hallways, and be sure to radar-shoot and corner-shoot to keep them from heaving balls of fire down your throat.

Once you reach the back, grab both of the envirosuits. Don't leave any there because you will need to be ''carrying'' at least one while you're out pressing the switch. You'll see why in a second. There are enemies on the two little islands that you should kill from out of vision with your shotgun. Once the way is clear, load up and get ready to run once again, because once you press the switch, it will lower the bridge and unlock the doors to the exit, but unless you have a Homing Phase Device, there's one last fight for you to clear, and it's nasty and unfair.

You see, no matter how much time you have left on your current envirosuit, the INSTANT you touch the shore in the back again, your envirosuit will wear off and the walls holding back an ambush will lower, flooding you with four [[nightmare demon]]s, four shotgun guys, and four more regular demons. This is why you need to be carrying both envirosuits, as you will NOT have time to use the other one from the ground. You will get surrounded by demons and nightmare demons and will be eaten in seconds if you try. You probably wouldn't even reach the suit.

Now, unless you have a homing phase device, the safest place to run is back out onto the acid on top of one of the Large Health Globes in the corners. The acid should soften the nightmare demons up, but it's going to be a rough fight and you'll probably lose your armor if you don't have a shell box.

If you're still alive by the end of that, congratulations! The worst is over. But now you have to get back over the acid and leave without dying, and there are still imps and formers blocking your way. Radar-shoot to find the shotgunners, but beware not to get surrounded, because they will be coming from both above and below. Best to hug one side for cover rather than approach from the middle. Once you clear out the back, grab any ammo you need and get ready for one more ambush. At least this one isn't so bad, though, it's just four [[imp]]s and a couple of [[former human]]s, but once again they won't be attackable until you're close, and both top and bottom will open at once. Best to kill the group near you with a shotgun, or you can use a rocket launcher if they aren't too close. If you're running a pistol build, two bullets each should bring them down by now. Now deal with the other group by radar-shooting until you see the level give you the all-clear. Now go collect your rewards.

Phew! Was that worth it? Hell no! But good job anyway! That was hard!
[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 05:47, 24 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Phobos Lab

2023-06-24T06:05:23Z

Vid-szhite:

Beware of opening doors, because you will get flooded by a group of demons.

== 0.9.9.7 ==
=== Ultra-Violence ===
Don't even THINK about coming in here on UV unless you can get your movement speed below 0.6s/move through some means that doesn't involve using Berserker, and ideally it should be well below that. Not likely, since this is early game, but still! Builds that aren't using at least Hellrunner 2 might as well not bother, because you need at least Hellrunner 2 ''and'' some speed-increasing items to reach speeds like that, even if you're a Scout. If you came in here by mistake, better have a [[homing phase device]] so you can nope your way out of this with the mods and [[combat shotgun]], or this run is over. You're locked in until you fight your way through and press both switches.

[[Nightmare demons]] are FAST! They move and attack every 0.6 seconds, which means you'll get bitten many times a second once they close the gap, and thanks to their higher innate armor, knocking them back is no easy feat! Don't even THINK about reloading in their faces, or you'll be dead even if you had full HP. There's about half a dozen of them holed up in the first tunnel that you MUST clear out to progress, because the doors to the switch that unlocks the exit will not open or be destructible without the switch at the end of the cave being pressed. Further unfortunately, thanks to a glitch in Demon AI, the nightmare demons and their pink cousins will usually get stuck deeper in the cave and will not come out unless they're damaged or they see you, so there's no point in waiting for them to come out until you've let them out yourself. But that's also a bad idea, because you need some space between them, so you actually want to be able to close the doors leading into the cave to the north.

You're going to need at least two shell boxes and a double shotgun to fight them, and even that will take quite a while and be risky if there's no space between you. If you have a [[rocket launcher]], you can try splashing them from around the corners, but get ready to run and rocket jump, because they'll practically teleport to you once they're hit. Be careful not to give yourself a face-rocket while trying! Press F rather than use the mouse so you can be sure. Nightmare demons are tough enough to survive in acid for a long time even though it damages them, and your only realistic hope of getting away from them if you can't close the doors leading into the cave is running all the way around to the start location and closing ''those'' doors, so if the doors are blocked and unable to be closed (i.e. because a shotgun guy destroyed one while trying to shoot you), or you have to rely on Running to reach speeds that fast, you're probably going to die.

This is extremely dangerous even for very good players with a plan, so it's usually better not to bother with Phobos Lab on UV/N! unless you're REALLY over-prepared.

If you do manage to clear out the cave to the north and press the switch to unlock the doors, shoot the doors open from a safe distance away and get ready to run, because there are more nightmare demons that love to stand right next to those doors, and they will charge through the instant the doors pop open. Your only hope of getting any space between you is once again to run back to the start location and close the doors in their faces. If you can't do that, your run might be over unless you have an envirosuit and wait in the acid, or you can hide in the northern caves and shut those doors.

The other enemies are normal demons and low-tier enemies like imps, and zombiemen, and shotgun guys, which if you're ready for this level, should be trivial to kill. But be careful when walking through the long hallways, and be sure to radar-shoot and corner-shoot to keep them from heaving balls of fire down your throat.

Once you reach the back, grab both of the envirosuits. Don't leave any there because you will need to be ''carrying'' at least one while you're out pressing the switch. You'll see why in a second. There are enemies on the two little islands that you should kill from out of vision with your shotgun. Once the way is clear, load up and get ready to run once again, because once you press the switch, it will lower the bridge and unlock the doors to the exit, but unless you have a Homing Phase Device, there's one last fight for you to clear, and it's nasty and unfair.

You see, no matter how much time you have left on your current envirosuit, the INSTANT you touch the shore in the back again, your envirosuit will wear off and the walls holding back an ambush will lower, flooding you with four [[nightmare demon]]s, four shotgun guys, and four more regular demons. This is why you need to be carrying both envirosuits, as you will NOT have time to use the other one from the ground. You will get surrounded by demons and nightmare demons and will be eaten in seconds if you try. You probably wouldn't even reach the suit.

Now, unless you have a homing phase device, the safest place to run is back out onto the acid on top of one of the Large Health Globes in the corners. The acid should soften the nightmare demons up, but it's going to be a rough fight and you'll probably lose your armor if you don't have a shell box.

If you're still alive by the end of that, congratulations! The worst is over. But now you have to get back over the acid and leave without dying, and there are still imps and formers blocking your way. Radar-shoot to find the shotgunners, but beware not to get surrounded, because they will be coming from both above and below. Best to hug one side for cover rather than approach from the middle. Once you clear out the back, grab any ammo you need and get ready for one more ambush. At least this one isn't so bad, though, it's just four [[imp]]s and a couple of [[former human]]s, but once again they won't be attackable until you're close, and both top and bottom will open at once. Best to kill the group near you with a shotgun, or you can use a rocket launcher if they aren't too close. If you're running a pistol build, two bullets each should bring them down by now. Now deal with the other group by radar-shooting until you see the level give you the all-clear. Now go collect your rewards.

Phew! Was that worth it? Hell no! But good job anyway! That was hard!
[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 05:47, 24 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Phobos Lab

2023-06-24T06:00:49Z

Vid-szhite:

Beware of opening doors, because you will get flooded by a group of demons.

== 0.9.9.7 ==
=== Ultra-Violence ===
Don't even THINK about coming in here on UV unless you can get your movement speed below 0.6s/move through some means that doesn't involve using Berserker, and ideally it should be well below that. Not likely, since this is early game, but still! Builds that aren't using at least Hellrunner 2 might as well not bother, because you need at least Hellrunner 2 ''and'' some speed-increasing items to reach speeds like that, even if you're a Scout. If you came in here by mistake, better have a [[homing phase device]] so you can nope your way out of this with the mods and [[combat shotgun]], or this run is over. You're locked in until you fight your way through and press both switches.

[[Nightmare demons]] are FAST, they move and attack every 0.6 seconds, which means you'll get bitten many times a second once they close the gap, and thanks to their higher innate armor, knocking them back is no easy feat! There's about half a dozen of them holed up in the first tunnel that you MUST clear out to progress, because the doors will not open without the switch being pressed. Further unfortunately, thanks to a glitch in Demon AI, they will usually get stuck deeper in the cave and will not move out unless they're damaged or they see you, so there's no point in waiting for them to come out until you've let them out yourself. But that's also a bad idea, because you need some space between them, so you actually want to be able to close the doors leading into the cave to the north.

You're going to need at least two shell boxes and a double shotgun to fight them, and even that will take quite a while and be risky if there's no space between you. If you have a [[rocket launcher]], you can try splashing them from around the corners, but get ready to run and rocket jump, because they'll practically teleport to you once they're hit. Nightmare Demons are tough enough to survive in acid for a long time even though it damages them, and your only realistic hope of getting away from them if you can't close the doors leading into the cave is running all the way around to the start location and closing ''those'' doors, so if the doors are blocked and unable to be closed (i.e. because a shotgun guy destroyed one while trying to shoot you), or you have to rely on Running to reach speeds that fast, you're probably going to die.

This is extremely dangerous even for very good players with a plan, so it's usually better not to bother with Phobos Lab on UV/N! unless you're REALLY over-prepared.

If you do manage to clear out the cave to the north and press the switch to unlock the doors, shoot the doors open from a safe distance away and get ready to run, because there are more nightmare demons that love to stand right next to those doors, and they will charge through the instant the doors pop open. Your only hope of getting any space between you is once again to run back to the start location and close the doors in their faces. If you can't do that, your run might be over unless you have an envirosuit and wait in the acid, or you can hide in the northern caves and shut those doors.

The other enemies are normal demons and low-tier enemies like imps, and zombiemen, and shotgun guys, which if you're ready for this level, should be trivial to kill. But be careful when walking through the long hallways, and be sure to radar-shoot and corner-shoot to keep them from heaving balls of fire down your throat.

Once you reach the back, grab both of the envirosuits. Don't leave any there because you will need to be ''carrying'' at least one while you're out pressing the switch. You'll see why in a second. There are enemies on the two little islands that you should kill from out of vision with your shotgun. Once the way is clear, load up and get ready to run once again, because once you press the switch, it will lower the bridge and unlock the doors to the exit, but unless you have a Homing Phase Device, there's one last fight for you to clear, and it's nasty and unfair.

You see, no matter how much time you have left on your current envirosuit, the INSTANT you touch the shore in the back again, your envirosuit will wear off and the walls holding back an ambush will lower, flooding you with four [[nightmare demon]]s, four shotgun guys, and four more regular demons. This is why you need to be carrying both envirosuits, as you will NOT have time to use the other one from the ground. You will get surrounded by demons and nightmare demons and will be eaten in seconds if you try. You probably wouldn't even reach the suit.

Now, unless you have a homing phase device, the safest place to run is back out onto the acid on top of one of the Large Health Globes in the corners. The acid should soften the nightmare demons up, but it's going to be a rough fight and you'll probably lose your armor if you don't have a shell box.

If you're still alive by the end of that, congratulations! The worst is over. But now you have to get back over the acid and leave without dying, and there are still imps and formers blocking your way. Radar-shoot to find the shotgunners, but beware not to get surrounded, because they will be coming from both above and below. Best to hug one side for cover rather than approach from the middle. Once you clear out the back, grab any ammo you need and get ready for one more ambush. At least this one isn't so bad, though, it's just four [[imp]]s and a couple of [[former human]]s, but once again they won't be attackable until you're close, and both top and bottom will open at once. Best to kill the group near you with a shotgun, or you can use a rocket launcher if they aren't too close. If you're running a pistol build, two bullets each should bring them down by now. Now deal with the other group by radar-shooting until you see the level give you the all-clear. Now go collect your rewards.

Phew! Was that worth it? Hell no! But good job anyway! That was hard!
[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 05:47, 24 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Phobos Lab

2023-06-24T05:55:42Z

Vid-szhite:

Beware of opening doors, because you will get flooded by a group of demons.

== 0.9.9.7 ==
=== Ultra-Violence ===

Don't even THINK about coming in here on UV unless you can get your movement speed below 0.6s/move through some means that doesn't involve using Berserker, and ideally it should be well below that. Not likely, since this is early game, but still! Builds that aren't using at least Hellrunner 2 might as well not bother, because you need at least Hellrunner 2 ''and'' some speed-increasing items to reach speeds like that, even if you're a Scout. [[Nightmare demons]] are FAST, they move and attack every 0.6 seconds, which means you'll get bitten many times a second once they close the gap, and thanks to their higher innate armor, knocking them back is no easy feat! There's about half a dozen of them holed up in the first tunnel that you MUST clear out to progress, because the doors will not open without the switch being pressed. Further unfortunately, thanks to a glitch in Demon AI, they will usually get stuck deeper in the cave and will not move out unless they're damaged or they see you, so there's no point in waiting for them to come out until you've let them out yourself. But that's also a bad idea, because you need some space between them, so you actually want to be able to close the doors leading into the cave to the north.

You're going to need at least two shell boxes and a double shotgun to fight them, and even that will take quite a while and be risky if there's no space between you. If you have a [[rocket launcher]], you can try splashing them from around the corners, but get ready to run and rocket jump, because they'll practically teleport to you once they're hit. Nightmare Demons are tough enough to survive in acid for a long time even though it damages them, and your only realistic hope of getting away from them if you can't close the doors leading into the cave is running all the way around to the start location and closing ''those'' doors, so if the doors are blocked and unable to be closed (i.e. because a shotgun guy destroyed one while trying to shoot you), or you have to rely on Running to reach speeds that fast, you're probably going to die.

This is extremely dangerous even for very good players with a plan, so it's usually better not to bother with Phobos Lab on UV/N! unless you're REALLY over-prepared.

If you do manage to clear out the cave to the north and press the switch to unlock the doors, shoot the doors open from a safe distance away and get ready to run, because there are more nightmare demons that love to stand right next to those doors, and they will charge through the instant the doors pop open. Your only hope of getting any space between you is once again to run back to the start location and close the doors in their faces. If you can't do that, your run might be over unless you have an envirosuit and wait in the acid, or you can hide in the northern caves and shut those doors.

The other enemies are normal demons and low-tier enemies like imps, and zombiemen, and shotgun guys, which if you're ready for this level, should be trivial to kill. But be careful when walking through the long hallways, and be sure to radar-shoot and corner-shoot to keep them from heaving balls of fire down your throat.

Once you reach the back, grab both of the envirosuits. Don't leave any there because you will need to be ''carrying'' at least one while you're out pressing the switch. You'll see why in a second. There are enemies on the two little islands that you should kill from out of vision with your shotgun. Once the way is clear, load up and get ready to run once again, because once you press the switch, it will lower the bridge and unlock the doors to the exit, but unless you have a Homing Phase Device, there's one last fight for you to clear, and it's nasty and unfair.

You see, no matter how much time you have left on your current envirosuit, the INSTANT you touch the shore in the back again, your envirosuit will wear off and the walls holding back an ambush will lower, flooding you with four [[nightmare demon]]s, four shotgun guys, and four more regular demons. This is why you need to be carrying both envirosuits, as you will NOT have time to use the other one from the ground. You will get surrounded by demons and nightmare demons and will be eaten in seconds if you try. You probably wouldn't even reach the suit.

Now, unless you have a homing phase device, the safest place to run is back out onto the acid on top of one of the Large Health Globes in the corners. The acid should soften the nightmare demons up, but it's going to be a rough fight and you'll probably lose your armor if you don't have a shell box.

If you're still alive by the end of that, congratulations! The worst is over. But now you have to get back over the acid and leave without dying, and there are still imps and formers blocking your way. Radar-shoot to find the shotgunners, but beware not to get surrounded, because they will be coming from both above and below. Best to hug one side for cover rather than approach from the middle. Once you clear out the back, grab any ammo you need and get ready for one more ambush. At least this one isn't so bad, though, it's just four [[imp]]s and a couple of [[former human]]s, but once again they won't be attackable until you're close, and both top and bottom will open at once. Best to kill the group near you with a shotgun, or you can use a rocket launcher if they aren't too close. If you're running a pistol build, two bullets each should bring them down by now. Now deal with the other group by radar-shooting until you see the level give you the all-clear. Now go collect your rewards.

Phew! Was that worth it? Hell no! But good job anyway! That was hard! [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 05:47, 24 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Phobos Lab

2023-06-24T05:54:01Z

Vid-szhite:

Beware of opening doors, because you will get flooded by a group of demons.

== 0.9.9.7 ==
=== Ultra-Violence ===

Don't even THINK about coming in here on UV unless you can get your movement speed below 0.6s/move through some means that doesn't involve using Berserker, and ideally it should be well below that. Not likely, since this is early game, but still! Builds that aren't using at least Hellrunner 2 might as well not bother, because you need at least Hellrunner 2 ''and'' some speed-increasing items to reach speeds like that, even if you're a Scout. [[Nightmare demons]] are FAST, they move and attack every 0.6 seconds, which means you'll get bitten many times a second once they close the gap, and thanks to their higher innate armor, knocking them back is no easy feat! There's about half a dozen of them holed up in the first tunnel that you MUST clear out to progress, because the doors will not open without the switch being pressed. Further unfortunately, thanks to a glitch in Demon AI, they will usually get stuck deeper in the cave and will not move out unless they're damaged or they see you, so there's no point in waiting for them to come out until you've let them out yourself. But that's also a bad idea, because you need some space between them, so you actually want to be able to close the doors leading into the cave to the north.

You're going to need at least two shell boxes and a double shotgun to fight them, and even that will take quite a while and be risky if there's no space between you. If you have a [[rocket launcher]], you can try splashing them from around the corners, but get ready to run and rocket jump, because they'll practically teleport to you once they're hit. Nightmare Demons are tough enough to survive in acid for a long time even though it damages them, and your only realistic hope of getting away from them if you can't close the doors leading into the cave is running all the way around to the start location and closing ''those'' doors, so if the doors are blocked and unable to be closed (i.e. because a shotgun guy destroyed one while trying to shoot you), or you have to rely on Running to reach speeds that fast, you're probably going to die.

This is extremely dangerous even for very good players with a plan, so it's usually better not to bother with Phobos Lab on UV/N! unless you're REALLY over-prepared.

If you do manage to clear out the cave to the north and press the switch to unlock the doors, shoot the doors open from a safe distance away and get ready to run, because there are more nightmare demons that love to stand right next to those doors, and they will charge through the instant the doors pop open. Your only hope of getting any space between you is once again to run back to the start location and close the doors in their faces. If you can't do that, your run might be over unless you have an envirosuit and wait in the acid, or you can hide in the northern caves and shut those doors.

The other enemies are normal demons and low-tier enemies like imps, and zombiemen, and shotgun guys, which if you're ready for this level, should be trivial to kill. But be careful when walking through the long hallways, and be sure to radar-shoot and corner-shoot to keep them from heaving balls of fire down your throat.

Once you reach the back, grab both of the envirosuits. Don't leave any there because you will need to be ''carrying'' at least one while you're out pressing the switch. You'll see why in a second. There are enemies on the two little islands that you should kill from out of vision with your shotgun. Once the way is clear, load up and get ready to run once again, because once you press the switch, it will lower the bridge and unlock the doors to the exit, but unless you have a Homing Phase Device, there's one last fight for you to clear, and it's nasty and unfair.

You see, no matter how much time you have left on your current envirosuit, the INSTANT you touch the shore in the back again, your envirosuit will wear off and the walls holding back an ambush will lower, flooding you with four [[nightmare demon]]s, four shotgun guys, and four more regular demons. This is why you need to be carrying both envirosuits, as you will NOT have time to use the other one from the ground. You will get surrounded by demons and nightmare demons and will be eaten in seconds if you try. You probably wouldn't even reach the suit.

Now, unless you have a homing phase device, the safest place to run is back out onto the acid on top of one of the Large Health Globes in the corners. The acid should soften the nightmare demons up, but it's going to be a rough fight and you'll probably lose your armor if you don't have a shell box.

If you're still alive by the end of that, congratulations! The worst is over. But now you have to get back over the acid and leave without dying, and there are still imps and formers blocking your way. Radar-shoot to find the shotgunners, but beware not to get surrounded, because they will be coming from both above and below. Best to hug one side for cover rather than approach from the middle. Once you clear out the back, grab any ammo you need and get ready for one more ambush. At least this one isn't so bad, though, it's just four [[imp]]s and a couple of [[former human]]s, but once again they won't be attackable until you're close, and both top and bottom will open at once. Best to kill the group near you with a shotgun, or you can use a rocket launcher if they aren't too close. If you're running a pistol build, two shots each should bring them down by now. Now deal with the other group by radar-shooting until you see the level give you the all-clear. Now go collect your rewards.

Phew! Was that worth it? Hell no! But good job anyway! That was hard! [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 05:47, 24 June 2023 (UTC)

Nightmare demons

2023-06-24T05:48:18Z

Vid-szhite: Redirected page to Nightmare demon

#REDIRECT [[Nightmare demon]]

Strategy:Phobos Lab

2023-06-24T05:47:31Z

Vid-szhite:

Beware of opening doors, because you will get flooded by a group of demons.

== 0.9.9.7 ==
=== Ultra-Violence ===

Don't even THINK about coming in here on UV unless you can get your movement speed below 0.6s/move through some means that doesn't involve using Berserker, and ideally it should be well below that. Not likely, since this is early game, but still! Builds that aren't using at least Hellrunner 2 might as well not bother, because you need at least Hellrunner 2 ''and'' some speed-increasing items to reach speeds like that, even if you're a Scout. [[Nightmare demons]] are FAST, they move and attack every 0.6 seconds, which means you'll get bitten many times a second once they close the gap, and thanks to their higher innate armor, knocking them back is no easy feat! There's about half a dozen of them holed up in the first tunnel that you MUST clear out to progress, because the doors will not open without the switch being pressed. Further unfortunately, thanks to a glitch in Demon AI, they will usually get stuck deeper in the cave and will not move out unless they're damaged or they see you, so there's no point in waiting for them to come out until you've let them out yourself. But that's also a bad idea, because you need some space between them, so you actually want to be able to close the doors leading into the cave to the north.

You're going to need at least two shell boxes and a double shotgun to fight them, and even that will take quite a while and be risky if there's no space between you. If you have a [[rocket launcher]], you can try splashing them from around the corners, but get ready to run and rocket jump, because they'll practically teleport to you once they're hit. Nightmare Demons are tough enough to survive in acid for a long time even though it damages them, and your only realistic hope of getting away from them if you can't close the doors leading into the cave is running all the way around to the start location and closing ''those'' doors, so if the doors are blocked and unable to be closed (i.e. because a shotgun guy destroyed one while trying to shoot you), or you have to rely on Running to reach speeds that fast, you're probably going to die.

This is extremely dangerous even for very good players with a plan, so it's usually better not to bother with Phobos Lab on UV/N! unless you're REALLY over-prepared.

If you do manage to clear out the cave to the north and press the switch to unlock the doors, shoot the doors open and get ready to run, because there are more nightmare demons that love to stand right next to those doors, and they will charge through the instant the doors pop open. Your only hope of getting any space between you is once again to run back to the start location and close the doors in their faces. If you can't do that, your run might be over unless you have an envirosuit and wait in the acid, or you can hide in the northern caves and shut those doors.

The other enemies are normal demons and low-tier enemies like imps, and zombiemen, and shotgun guys, which if you're ready for this level, should be trivial to kill. But be careful when walking through the long hallways, and be sure to radar-shoot and corner-shoot to keep them from heaving balls of fire down your throat.

Once you reach the back, grab both of the envirosuits. Don't leave any there because you will need to be ''carrying'' at least one while you're out pressing the switch. You'll see why in a second. There are enemies on the two little islands that you should kill from out of vision with your shotgun. Once the way is clear, load up and get ready to run once again, because once you press the switch, it will lower the bridge and unlock the doors to the exit, but unless you have a Homing Phase Device, there's one last fight for you to clear, and it's nasty and unfair.

You see, no matter how much time you have left on your current envirosuit, the INSTANT you touch the shore in the back again, your envirosuit will wear off and the walls holding back an ambush will lower, flooding you with four [[nightmare demon]]s, four shotgun guys, and four more regular demons. This is why you need to be carrying both envirosuits, as you will NOT have time to use the other one from the ground. You will get surrounded by demons and nightmare demons and will be eaten in seconds if you try. You probably wouldn't even reach the suit.

Now, unless you have a homing phase device, the safest place to run is back out onto the acid on top of one of the Large Health Globes in the corners. The acid should soften the nightmare demons up, but it's going to be a rough fight and you'll probably lose your armor if you don't have a shell box.

If you're still alive by the end of that, congratulations! The worst is over. But now you have to get back over the acid and leave without dying, and there are still imps and formers blocking your way. Radar-shoot to find the shotgunners, but beware not to get surrounded, because they will be coming from both above and below. Best to hug one side for cover rather than approach from the middle. Once you clear out the back, grab any ammo you need and get ready for one more ambush. At least this one isn't so bad, though, it's just four [[imp]]s and a couple of [[former human]]s, but once again they won't be attackable until you're close, and both top and bottom will open at once. Best to kill the group near you with a shotgun, or you can use a rocket launcher if they aren't too close. If you're running a pistol build, two shots each should bring them down by now. Now deal with the other group by radar-shooting until you see the level give you the all-clear. Now go collect your rewards.

Phew! Was that worth it? Hell no! But good job anyway! That was hard! [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 05:47, 24 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Phobos Lab

2023-06-24T05:47:16Z

Vid-szhite:

Beware of opening doors, because you will get flooded by a group of demons.

== 0.9.9.7 ==
=== Ultra-Violence ===

Don't even THINK about coming in here on UV unless you can get your movement speed below 0.6s/move through some means that doesn't involve using Berserker, and ideally it should be well below that. Not likely, since this is early game, but still! Builds that aren't using at least Hellrunner 2 might as well not bother, because you need at least Hellrunner 2 ''and'' some speed-increasing items to reach speeds like that, even if you're a Scout. [[Nightmare demons]] are FAST, they move and attack every 0.6 seconds, which means you'll get bitten many times a second once they close the gap, and thanks to their higher innate armor, knocking them back is no easy feat! There's about half a dozen of them holed up in the first tunnel that you MUST clear out to progress, because the doors will not open without the switch being pressed. Further unfortunately, thanks to a glitch in Demon AI, they will usually get stuck deeper in the cave and will not move out unless they're damaged or they see you, so there's no point in waiting for them to come out until you've let them out yourself. But that's also a bad idea, because you need some space between them, so you actually want to be able to close the doors leading into the cave to the north.

You're going to need at least two shell boxes and a double shotgun to fight them, and even that will take quite a while and be risky if there's no space between you. If you have a [[rocket launcher]], you can try splashing them from around the corners, but get ready to run and rocket jump, because they'll practically teleport to you once they're hit. Nightmare Demons are tough enough to survive in acid for a long time even though it damages them, and your only realistic hope of getting away from them if you can't close the doors leading into the cave is running all the way around to the start location and closing ''those'' doors, so if the doors are blocked and unable to be closed (i.e. because a shotgun guy destroyed one while trying to shoot you), or you have to rely on Running to reach speeds that fast, you're probably going to die.

This is extremely dangerous even for very good players with a plan, so it's usually better not to bother with Phobos Lab on UV/N! unless you're REALLY over-prepared.

If you do manage to clear out the cave to the north and press the switch to unlock the doors, shoot the doors open and get ready to run, because there are more nightmare demons that love to stand right next to those doors, and they will charge through the instant the doors pop open. Your only hope of getting any space between you is once again to run back to the start location and close the doors in their faces. If you can't do that, your run might be over unless you have an envirosuit and wait in the acid, or you can hide in the northern caves and shut those doors.

The other enemies are normal demons and low-tier enemies like imps, and zombiemen, and shotgun guys, which if you're ready for this level, should be trivial to kill. But be careful when walking through the long hallways, and be sure to radar-shoot and corner-shoot to keep them from heaving balls of fire down your throat.

Once you reach the back, grab both of the envirosuits. Don't leave any there because you will need to be ''carrying'' at least one while you're out pressing the switch. You'll see why in a second. There are enemies on the two little islands that you should kill from out of vision with your shotgun. Once the way is clear, load up and get ready to run once again, because once you press the switch, it will lower the bridge and unlock the doors to the exit, but unless you have a Homing Phase Device, there's one last fight for you to clear, and it's nasty and unfair.

You see, no matter how much time you have left on your current envirosuit, the INSTANT you touch the shore in the back again, your envirosuit will wear off and the walls holding back an ambush will lower, flooding you with four [[nightmare demon]]s, four shotgun guys, and four more regular demons. This is why you need to be carrying both envirosuits, as you will NOT have time to use the other one from the ground. You will get surrounded by demons and nightmare demons and will be eaten in seconds if you try. You probably wouldn't even reach the suit.

Now, unless you have a homing phase device, the safest place to run is back out onto the acid on top of one of the Large Health Globes in the corners. The acid should soften the nightmare demons up, but it's going to be a rough fight and you'll probably lose your armor if you don't have a shell box.

If you're still alive by the end of that, congratulations! The worst is over. But now you have to get back over the acid and leave without dying, and there are still imps and formers blocking your way. Radar-shoot to find the shotgunners, but beware not to get surrounded, because they will be coming from both above and below. Best to hug one side for cover rather than approach from the middle. Once you clear out the back, grab any ammo you need and get ready for one more ambush. At least this one isn't so bad, though, it's just four [[imp]]s and a couple of [[former human]]s, but once again they won't be attackable until you're close, and both top and bottom will open at once. Best to kill the group near you with a shotgun, or you can use a rocket launcher if they aren't too close. If you're running a pistol build, two shots each should bring them down by now. Now deal with the other group by radar-shooting until you see the level give you the all-clear. Now go collect your rewards.

Phew! Was that worth it? Hell no! But good job anyway! That was hard!

Strategy:Pistol Types

2023-06-24T03:08:38Z

Vid-szhite: /* Sidearm Pistols */

{{infostrat switch}}

== General ==
Pistols aren't very useful in general games because of their reliance on pistol-specific traits - [[Traits#Son_of_a_Gun|son of a gun]] and [[Traits#Dualgunner|dualgunner]]. If you aren't getting these traits, the pistol will see little use beyond level 1 - the shotgun reloads quickly enough to not need a backup weapon and the pistol is no better at very long range than the shotgun is.

However, if you get these traits and use pistols as your primary weapon outside of an Angel of Marskmanship game then they'll be rather efficient and powerful for general fighting, and you can keep a larger weapon (such as a missile launcher, powerful shotgun or BFG) for larger groups of enemies.

== Angel of Marksmanship/Pistol-based characters ==
Pistols are extremely ammo-efficient and fast once you have a few levels of Son of a Gun. Their weaknesses are frequent reloading and poor accuracy at long range. These problems can be dealt with by getting traits, but generally modding your pistol(s) will be enough.

Fighting things one on one is more important with pistols than any other weapon - you don't have any AoE unless you get a unique pistol or something, and also reloading two pistols in the middle of a fight is a bad idea and it's something you'll have to do if too many enemies chase you down.

The most important mods for pistols depend on your master trait - but agility and bulk are good in general if you're not going for a master trait for some reason.

=== Pistol Marine - [[Traits#Bullet_Dance_-_Marine_Only|Bullet Dance]] ===
Bullet Dance gets your shots out faster, so you spend less time per enemy. Unlike other pistol master traits, it also allows you to take advantage of the damage boost for both Son of a Gun and Son of a Bitch. Reloading after each enemy is still an unfortunate problem, so your pistols should probably be bulk modded to cut down on that.

Bullet Dance is generally considered to be the worst pistol master trait, so it should be avoided unless you want to be a marine for other reasons.

=== Pistol Scout - [[Traits#Gun_Kata_-_Scout_Only|Gun Kata]] ===
Gun Kata makes your next shot instantaneous when you dodge an attack (See [[Dodging]]), and automatically reloads your pistols whenever you kill something.

Gun Kata is probably the stronger choice of the two dual-pistol master traits. With hellrunner 2 and dodgemaster, your dodges are extremely likely to work so as long as there are no always-hit enemies hanging around you can constantly dodge and only stand still when taking free shots.

However, some attacks deal damage even when you dodge them ([[arch-vile|Arch-Vile]] and [[Revenant]] attacks, for instance) so you'll need HP for them, and some attacks cannot be dodged (only shotgun-based attacks).

With Gun Kata, your reloading is no longer an issue (perhaps the best part of the trait) so agility mods may serve you better than bulk mods. 12 shots is generally enough to kill anything that moves already, just make sure they all reach their target.

=== Pistol Technician - [[Traits#Sharpshooter_-_Technician_Only|Sharpshooter]] ===
Sharpshooter is a single-pistol master trait. It guarantees maximum damage on all pistol shots and, because of Eagle Eye 3, might as well guarantee hits too.

Sharpshooter is the most effective Pistol master trait once it gets going. The guaranteed maximum damage will not only keep your DPS on par with Dualgunners when accounting for their varying damage and misses, but it will make your Pistols very ammo efficient, and more importantly, very reliable at being able to knockback enemies; just a single [[Power mod]] to a standard Pistol and it will be able to knockback enemies with a 2 armor value. This guaranteed damage will allow Sharpshooters to reliably kill the elite enemies in a single clip, when other Pistol builds can really struggle to do that without Exotic and Unique Pistols, and the guaranteed knockback makes Sharpshooters just as effective at Corner Shooting as Shotgun builds, while being able to be very effective at fighting enemies in the open when the knockback will push them out of [[vision]] and give you time to safely reposition and/or reload. This guaranteed damage will also allow Sharpshooters to flinch the [[Spider Mastermind]] easily and reliably, giving them a free victory against her if they get a strong enough Pistol, while other Pistol builds will struggle against her.

Another major part of Sharpshooter's strength is since you're a Technician, you can invest in Whizkid without needing 2 levels of [[Finesse]] first, not only making getting Whizkid faster but also allowing you to not need to invest in a mostly superfluous trait for Pistol builds. Since the only standard Pistol is so weak and none of the Exotic/Unique Pistols are ever remotely guaranteed to be found, modding is extremely important for Pistol builds to get stronger weaponry, so being able to get Whizkid 2 levels sooner gives Sharpshooters a serious legup over other Pistol builds. One more perk of Sharpshooters is since you're not dualgunning, you can use your prepared slot on an ammo box, and thus make reloading an almost nonissue, without needing to rely on killing something like Gun Kata does nor wasting any levels on [[Reloader]].

The big weakness with Sharpshooter is that it's really ''really hard'' to get it off the ground. Pistol builds already have it rough in the early game, but Sharpshooters have it so brutal that they may have the hardest early game of any build, even harder than melee builds have it; on harder difficulties, you're going to have ''many'' Sharpshooters die before you ever get the trait. The first big problem is that since you can't get Dualgunner, you lose the big halfway powerup other Pistol builds get, and SoG3 alone is still pretty damn lacking; you're going to have a really hard time killing anything bigger than a [[Demon]] before it gets to you, and you are not killing bigger enemies in a single clip. The second big problem is the requisite three levels of Eagle Eye. One level in it is really helpful when it'll shore up most of the annoying yet crucial misses Pistols will frequently have, but the second level has seriously diminished returns that won't help you much when you're already hitting over 90% of your shots after the first level, and the third is flatout superfluous, while the trait is useless with Shotguns, your main supplemental weapon you'll be relying a lot on as you build your Pistols up. So in getting Sharpshooter as soon as possible, you'll be wasting about two levels that could have went to getting Whizkid to make your Pistols and other equipment stronger or to getting something like [[Hellrunner]] to help keep you alive until you get Sharpshooter. Once you get Sharpshooter it will get ''a lot easier'' and thus getting it as soon as you can is an upmost priority, but until you get it, those issues combined with the general weakness of Pistols and the inherent weakness of the Technician, will leave you with a pathetically weak character that will die ridiculously often.

== Pistols as a Sidearm ==
=== w/ Rapid Weapons in Angel of 100/666 ===
Many masteries can use rapid weapons primarily and don't block [[Son of a Gun]], and this can enable pistol usage as a sidearm in longer games where ammo can become a serious issue. This is especially a problem for rapid-using masteries other than [[Ammochain]] (which does block [[Son of a Gun]]), because even without [[Triggerhappy]], you'll burn through cells and bullets fast, and while a lot of enemies are worth spending them on, not every enemy is. Thanks to already having [[Son of a Bitch]] when using burst weapons, and likely [[Eagle Eye]] and [[Finesse]] as well, you need fewer Son of a Gun levels for pistols to really come online, so if you find one of the unique pistols--or best of all, a [[Blaster]]--you could let that gun be what you use when facing weak enemies or shooting from out of vision range. This is especially good when paired up with [[Juggler]], so you can switch to a bigger gun when a big nasty pops into view.

If you find a good pistol out in the wild, it can be worthwhile to put a few traits into Son of a Gun to use it. The main advantage of this is that you don't typically need to carry extra ammo, as 10mm ammo is common in the early to midgame. Because pistols really rocket to insanity once they get their final two levels of [[Son of a Gun]], and their damage becomes monstrous when double dipping with [[Son of a Bitch]], you could even gradually replace your 10mm weapon with a 10mm-using pistol, carry only one or two stacks of bullets, and then use more of your inventory for cells without fear of running dry.

If you have Finesse 3, Son of a Gun 4 reduces your pistol fire time to 0.11 seconds, which I'd generally say is "close enough" if you have Son of a Bitch investment. Mod-wise, sidearm pistols are generally better as non-assemblies unless you want an [[energy pistol]] or a [[speedloader pistol]], but pistols are a good place to stick a lot of mods you don't need, since they get really good no matter what you put in them. Obviously, [[storm bolter pistol]]s are excellent for DPS, but they're worse as a sidearm because of their increased ammo usage, so they're not recommended. [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 06:33, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

=== w/ Other Builds ===
Using a pistol sidearm is less useful for a shotgun build, but they can also help during runs that find a lot of Sniper mods and no desire to make more [[plasmatic shrapnel]] shotguns, since even with just S1, a pistol needs no accuracy investment, so you don't need to worry about Eagle Eye, and if you find [[Trigun]], your accuracy is perfectly serviceable with no further modifications. Unfortunately, unless you find a Blaster, you'll need ammo space investment, and unless you find Trigun, you'll need to get accuracy from somewhere. That being said, if you're in Angel of 100 and you have outlived the need for the Agility mods that keep dropping everywhere, you could definitely stick them in a pistol, and a S2 [[pistol]] or [[combat pistol]] is so reliable and powerful with minimal trait investment that you might find yourself using it more than your shotguns at a certain point.

Melee builds typically gain the most from using a shotgun sidearm rather than a pistol sidearm, since shotguns have no accuracy worries and need no levels in Eagle Eye, but a pistol sidearm can help a melee build too in certain scenarios, typically when there's something too far away for melee range to be a possibility but it absolutely needs to die now and a shotgun just won't kill it fast enough or from far enough away. Of course, without at least Son of a Gun 2 or 3, pistols are still pretty crappy. That being said, I did at one point finish an Archangel of 666 game where I went Son of a Gun 4 but found and used [[Dragonslayer]] with Eagle Eye being blocked, and it didn't feel like I was missing anything, so depending on where/when/if you find [[Dragonslayer]], you might find it worthwhile. [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 06:33, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

=== Sidearm Pistols ===
* [[Pistol]]: Free gun! But I wouldn't blame you if you chucked this gun for space a long time ago. If you have Whizkid, pistols can use mods quite effectively since they have two damage dice. Generally, though, there's no reason to keep using this unless you can't bring yourself to toss it, so if you find nothing better, and end up needing a sidearm later on, it's what you'll use. Bulk mods help a lot more than Power mods, since pistol DPS is generally fine until you have to reload. Generally, though, that one extra bag slot might just be better served by more ammo for your bigger guns unless you really like pistols or find yourself in an ammo drought.

* [[Combat pistol]]: A straight upgrade to the pistol and one of the better weapons in the game. They roll 3 dice for damage, so power mods are excellent on them, and they have a large magazine and higher accuracy already, so bulk and agility mods aren't nearly as necessary. The only downside to the combat pistol is the longer reload time and the rarity, being as difficult to find as a Nano pack. If you're lucky enough to find one of these, that's the point I'd definitely consider dipping into Son of a Gun for a sidearm if you weren't going to already. These can get better than the unique pistols with heavy modding, but if Whizkid is blocked for you, then the unique pistols are generally better.

* [[Blaster]]: One of the rarest pistols in the game, as rare as the BFG 9000s and the Unique pistols, but just as implied in the item description, it's one of the best when you're in need of a sidearm because it needs no ammo. Best used in rapid builds, since it has lower accuracy than the [[pistol]] and you'll likely have Eagle Eye investment already. If you find a spare Nano pack, giving it to a Blaster gives it infinite ammo, since it will fire one shot and then immediately regenerate, giving you the equivalent of a fully moddable plasma-damage Nanomachic. Otherwise, it has the exact same stats as the basic pistol but has a slightly shorter fire time.

* [[Anti-Freak Jackal]]: Unlike other pistols and rapid weapons, this gun deals [[Damage_type#Fire|fire]] damage and has a splash radius of 1, which allows it to blow holes in walls, gib corpses, and splash lots of enemies at once. It even has enough damage to knock enemies back without trait investment. Cool! But it has the same accuracy and clip size as a normal pistol, so even though it is powerful, be careful not to shoot an enemy that's already in your face or it'll hurt. You'll definitely want [[Juggler]] if you run with this. Unlike the other unique pistols, it can dualreload, making it usable with [[Dualgunner]] if you're so inclined, but for sidearm usage, I don't recommend that.

* [[Grammaton Cleric Beretta]]: A gun that fits perfectly into a rapid build even without Son of a Gun! Its alternate fire modes benefit from [[triggerhappy]], although even with its 18 clip size, it will require a lot of reloading if used this way, and it has the same 2.0 reload speed as a [[plasma rifle]], so you'll want to run it with an ammo chain if you can while in full auto. Rapid builds can use semi-auto mode the most effectively of any build, but if you have Son of a Gun investment already, it's generally better to leave it on single shot mode for the ammo efficiency. It can bridge the gap quite easily, though, and if you don't have [[Juggler]], switching fire modes is faster than switching weapons. The only problem is it can't be modded, and of the unique pistols, its individual shots are definitely the weakest no matter what mode it's in, and it can't knock enemies back without some damage bonus and/or a max damage roll. There's an [[Medals|achievement]] for killing the [[Spider Mastermind]] with this weapon, so if you need that, that could be reason enough to keep it, though not if your build would have trouble killing her with it.

* [[Trigun]]: Of all the unique pistols, its raw damage per bullet is by far the best, having an excellent 0.7 attack time (as good as two T mods), a massive 3d6 for damage, and a whopping +6 accuracy. It may still only have a clip size of 6 and a long 2.0 reload time, but its sheer damage can drop even [[Arch-vile]]s before it runs out of bullets, especially with [[Son of a Gun]] and/or [[Son of a Bitch]] investment. It can also be your game-ending nuke in a standard playthrough thanks to its Angel Arm ability, which is a great reason to keep it if you're going for a full win. It can knock enemies back even without traits, though, which makes it an excellent pistol to find and use as a serious sidearm even in a shotgun or melee build. Technically, it can still use [[Alternate_fire#Aimed_shot|aimed shot]] if you really need to not miss, but its accuracy is already 91% at the edge of your vision, so there's hardly a need to do so.
[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 06:33, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Pistol Types

2023-06-24T03:03:46Z

Vid-szhite: /* w/ Rapid Weapons in Angel of 100/666 */

{{infostrat switch}}

== General ==
Pistols aren't very useful in general games because of their reliance on pistol-specific traits - [[Traits#Son_of_a_Gun|son of a gun]] and [[Traits#Dualgunner|dualgunner]]. If you aren't getting these traits, the pistol will see little use beyond level 1 - the shotgun reloads quickly enough to not need a backup weapon and the pistol is no better at very long range than the shotgun is.

However, if you get these traits and use pistols as your primary weapon outside of an Angel of Marskmanship game then they'll be rather efficient and powerful for general fighting, and you can keep a larger weapon (such as a missile launcher, powerful shotgun or BFG) for larger groups of enemies.

== Angel of Marksmanship/Pistol-based characters ==
Pistols are extremely ammo-efficient and fast once you have a few levels of Son of a Gun. Their weaknesses are frequent reloading and poor accuracy at long range. These problems can be dealt with by getting traits, but generally modding your pistol(s) will be enough.

Fighting things one on one is more important with pistols than any other weapon - you don't have any AoE unless you get a unique pistol or something, and also reloading two pistols in the middle of a fight is a bad idea and it's something you'll have to do if too many enemies chase you down.

The most important mods for pistols depend on your master trait - but agility and bulk are good in general if you're not going for a master trait for some reason.

=== Pistol Marine - [[Traits#Bullet_Dance_-_Marine_Only|Bullet Dance]] ===
Bullet Dance gets your shots out faster, so you spend less time per enemy. Unlike other pistol master traits, it also allows you to take advantage of the damage boost for both Son of a Gun and Son of a Bitch. Reloading after each enemy is still an unfortunate problem, so your pistols should probably be bulk modded to cut down on that.

Bullet Dance is generally considered to be the worst pistol master trait, so it should be avoided unless you want to be a marine for other reasons.

=== Pistol Scout - [[Traits#Gun_Kata_-_Scout_Only|Gun Kata]] ===
Gun Kata makes your next shot instantaneous when you dodge an attack (See [[Dodging]]), and automatically reloads your pistols whenever you kill something.

Gun Kata is probably the stronger choice of the two dual-pistol master traits. With hellrunner 2 and dodgemaster, your dodges are extremely likely to work so as long as there are no always-hit enemies hanging around you can constantly dodge and only stand still when taking free shots.

However, some attacks deal damage even when you dodge them ([[arch-vile|Arch-Vile]] and [[Revenant]] attacks, for instance) so you'll need HP for them, and some attacks cannot be dodged (only shotgun-based attacks).

With Gun Kata, your reloading is no longer an issue (perhaps the best part of the trait) so agility mods may serve you better than bulk mods. 12 shots is generally enough to kill anything that moves already, just make sure they all reach their target.

=== Pistol Technician - [[Traits#Sharpshooter_-_Technician_Only|Sharpshooter]] ===
Sharpshooter is a single-pistol master trait. It guarantees maximum damage on all pistol shots and, because of Eagle Eye 3, might as well guarantee hits too.

Sharpshooter is the most effective Pistol master trait once it gets going. The guaranteed maximum damage will not only keep your DPS on par with Dualgunners when accounting for their varying damage and misses, but it will make your Pistols very ammo efficient, and more importantly, very reliable at being able to knockback enemies; just a single [[Power mod]] to a standard Pistol and it will be able to knockback enemies with a 2 armor value. This guaranteed damage will allow Sharpshooters to reliably kill the elite enemies in a single clip, when other Pistol builds can really struggle to do that without Exotic and Unique Pistols, and the guaranteed knockback makes Sharpshooters just as effective at Corner Shooting as Shotgun builds, while being able to be very effective at fighting enemies in the open when the knockback will push them out of [[vision]] and give you time to safely reposition and/or reload. This guaranteed damage will also allow Sharpshooters to flinch the [[Spider Mastermind]] easily and reliably, giving them a free victory against her if they get a strong enough Pistol, while other Pistol builds will struggle against her.

Another major part of Sharpshooter's strength is since you're a Technician, you can invest in Whizkid without needing 2 levels of [[Finesse]] first, not only making getting Whizkid faster but also allowing you to not need to invest in a mostly superfluous trait for Pistol builds. Since the only standard Pistol is so weak and none of the Exotic/Unique Pistols are ever remotely guaranteed to be found, modding is extremely important for Pistol builds to get stronger weaponry, so being able to get Whizkid 2 levels sooner gives Sharpshooters a serious legup over other Pistol builds. One more perk of Sharpshooters is since you're not dualgunning, you can use your prepared slot on an ammo box, and thus make reloading an almost nonissue, without needing to rely on killing something like Gun Kata does nor wasting any levels on [[Reloader]].

The big weakness with Sharpshooter is that it's really ''really hard'' to get it off the ground. Pistol builds already have it rough in the early game, but Sharpshooters have it so brutal that they may have the hardest early game of any build, even harder than melee builds have it; on harder difficulties, you're going to have ''many'' Sharpshooters die before you ever get the trait. The first big problem is that since you can't get Dualgunner, you lose the big halfway powerup other Pistol builds get, and SoG3 alone is still pretty damn lacking; you're going to have a really hard time killing anything bigger than a [[Demon]] before it gets to you, and you are not killing bigger enemies in a single clip. The second big problem is the requisite three levels of Eagle Eye. One level in it is really helpful when it'll shore up most of the annoying yet crucial misses Pistols will frequently have, but the second level has seriously diminished returns that won't help you much when you're already hitting over 90% of your shots after the first level, and the third is flatout superfluous, while the trait is useless with Shotguns, your main supplemental weapon you'll be relying a lot on as you build your Pistols up. So in getting Sharpshooter as soon as possible, you'll be wasting about two levels that could have went to getting Whizkid to make your Pistols and other equipment stronger or to getting something like [[Hellrunner]] to help keep you alive until you get Sharpshooter. Once you get Sharpshooter it will get ''a lot easier'' and thus getting it as soon as you can is an upmost priority, but until you get it, those issues combined with the general weakness of Pistols and the inherent weakness of the Technician, will leave you with a pathetically weak character that will die ridiculously often.

== Pistols as a Sidearm ==
=== w/ Rapid Weapons in Angel of 100/666 ===
Many masteries can use rapid weapons primarily and don't block [[Son of a Gun]], and this can enable pistol usage as a sidearm in longer games where ammo can become a serious issue. This is especially a problem for rapid-using masteries other than [[Ammochain]] (which does block [[Son of a Gun]]), because even without [[Triggerhappy]], you'll burn through cells and bullets fast, and while a lot of enemies are worth spending them on, not every enemy is. Thanks to already having [[Son of a Bitch]] when using burst weapons, and likely [[Eagle Eye]] and [[Finesse]] as well, you need fewer Son of a Gun levels for pistols to really come online, so if you find one of the unique pistols--or best of all, a [[Blaster]]--you could let that gun be what you use when facing weak enemies or shooting from out of vision range. This is especially good when paired up with [[Juggler]], so you can switch to a bigger gun when a big nasty pops into view.

If you find a good pistol out in the wild, it can be worthwhile to put a few traits into Son of a Gun to use it. The main advantage of this is that you don't typically need to carry extra ammo, as 10mm ammo is common in the early to midgame. Because pistols really rocket to insanity once they get their final two levels of [[Son of a Gun]], and their damage becomes monstrous when double dipping with [[Son of a Bitch]], you could even gradually replace your 10mm weapon with a 10mm-using pistol, carry only one or two stacks of bullets, and then use more of your inventory for cells without fear of running dry.

If you have Finesse 3, Son of a Gun 4 reduces your pistol fire time to 0.11 seconds, which I'd generally say is "close enough" if you have Son of a Bitch investment. Mod-wise, sidearm pistols are generally better as non-assemblies unless you want an [[energy pistol]] or a [[speedloader pistol]], but pistols are a good place to stick a lot of mods you don't need, since they get really good no matter what you put in them. Obviously, [[storm bolter pistol]]s are excellent for DPS, but they're worse as a sidearm because of their increased ammo usage, so they're not recommended. [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 06:33, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

=== w/ Other Builds ===
Using a pistol sidearm is less useful for a shotgun build, but they can also help during runs that find a lot of Sniper mods and no desire to make more [[plasmatic shrapnel]] shotguns, since even with just S1, a pistol needs no accuracy investment, so you don't need to worry about Eagle Eye, and if you find [[Trigun]], your accuracy is perfectly serviceable with no further modifications. Unfortunately, unless you find a Blaster, you'll need ammo space investment, and unless you find Trigun, you'll need to get accuracy from somewhere. That being said, if you're in Angel of 100 and you have outlived the need for the Agility mods that keep dropping everywhere, you could definitely stick them in a pistol, and a S2 [[pistol]] or [[combat pistol]] is so reliable and powerful with minimal trait investment that you might find yourself using it more than your shotguns at a certain point.

Melee builds typically gain the most from using a shotgun sidearm rather than a pistol sidearm, since shotguns have no accuracy worries and need no levels in Eagle Eye, but a pistol sidearm can help a melee build too in certain scenarios, typically when there's something too far away for melee range to be a possibility but it absolutely needs to die now and a shotgun just won't kill it fast enough or from far enough away. Of course, without at least Son of a Gun 2 or 3, pistols are still pretty crappy. That being said, I did at one point finish an Archangel of 666 game where I went Son of a Gun 4 but found and used [[Dragonslayer]] with Eagle Eye being blocked, and it didn't feel like I was missing anything, so depending on where/when/if you find [[Dragonslayer]], you might find it worthwhile. [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 06:33, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

=== Sidearm Pistols ===
* [[Pistol]]: Free gun! But I wouldn't blame you if you chucked this gun for space a long time ago. If you have Whizkid, pistols can use mods quite effectively since they have two damage dice. Generally, though, there's no reason to keep using this unless you can't bring yourself to toss it, so if you find nothing better, and end up needing a sidearm later on, it's what you'll use. Bulk mods help a lot more than Power mods, since pistol DPS is generally fine until you have to reload. Generally, though, that one extra bag slot might just be better served by more ammo for your bigger guns unless you really like pistols or find yourself in an ammo drought.

* [[Combat pistol]]: A straight upgrade to the pistol and one of the better weapons in the game. They roll 3 dice for damage, so power mods are excellent on them, and they have a large magazine and higher accuracy already, so bulk and agility mods aren't nearly as necessary. The only downside to the combat pistol is the longer reload time and the rarity, being as difficult to find as a Nano pack. If you're lucky enough to find one of these, that's the point I'd definitely consider dipping into Son of a Gun for a sidearm if you weren't going to already. These can get better than the unique pistols with heavy modding, but if Whizkid is blocked for you, then the unique pistols are generally better.

* [[Blaster]]: One of the rarest pistols in the game, as rare as the BFG 9000s and the Unique pistols, but just as implied in the item description, it's one of the best when you're in need of a sidearm because it needs no ammo. Best used in rapid builds, since it has lower accuracy than the [[pistol]] and you'll likely have Eagle Eye investment already. If you find a spare Nano pack, giving it to a Blaster gives it infinite ammo, since it will fire one shot and then immediately regenerate, giving you the equivalent of a fully moddable plasma-damage Nanomachic. Otherwise, it has the exact same stats as the basic pistol but has a slightly shorter fire time.

* [[Anti-Freak Jackal]]: Unlike other pistols and rapid weapons, this gun deals [[Damage_type#Fire|fire]] damage and has a splash radius of 1, which allows it to blow holes in walls, gib corpses, and splash lots of enemies at once. It even has enough damage to knock enemies back without trait investment. Cool! But it has the same accuracy and clip size as a normal pistol, so even though it is powerful, be careful not to shoot an enemy that's already in your face or it'll hurt. You'll definitely want [[Juggler]] if you run with this. Unlike the other unique pistols, it can dualreload, making it usable with [[Dualgunner]] if you're so inclined, but for sidearm usage, I don't recommend that.

* [[Grammaton Cleric Beretta]]: A gun that fits perfectly into a rapid build even without Son of a Gun! Its alternate fire modes benefit from [[triggerhappy]], although even with its 18 clip size, it will require a lot of reloading if used this way, and it has the same 2.0 reload speed as a [[Chaingun]], so you'll want to run it with an ammo chain if you can while in full auto. Rapid builds can use semi-auto mode the most effectively of any build, but if you have Son of a Gun investment already, it's generally better to leave it on single shot mode for the ammo efficiency. It can bridge the gap quite easily, though, and if you don't have [[Juggler]], switching fire modes is faster than switching weapons. The only problem is it can't be modded, and of the unique pistols, its individual shots are definitely the weakest no matter what mode it's in, and it can't knock enemies back without some damage bonus and/or a max damage roll. There's an [[Medals|achievement]] for killing the [[Spider Mastermind]] with this weapon, so if you need that, that could be reason enough to keep it, though not if your build would have trouble killing her with it.

* [[Trigun]]: Of all the unique pistols, its raw damage per bullet is by far the best, having an excellent 0.7 attack time (as good as two T mods), a massive 3d6 for damage, and a whopping +6 accuracy. It may still only have a clip size of 6 and a long 2.0 reload time, but its sheer damage can drop even [[Arch-vile]]s before it runs out of bullets, especially with [[Son of a Gun]] and/or [[Son of a Bitch]] investment. It can also be your game-ending nuke in a standard playthrough thanks to its Angel Arm ability, which is a great reason to keep it if you're going for a full win. It can knock enemies back even without traits, though, which makes it an excellent pistol to find and use as a serious sidearm even in a shotgun or melee build. Technically, it can still use [[Alternate_fire#Aimed_shot|aimed shot]] if you really need to not miss, but its accuracy is already 91% at the edge of your vision, so there's hardly a need to do so.
[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 06:33, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

Level feeling

2023-06-23T08:13:45Z

Vid-szhite: /* Levers */

__NOTOC__
Level feelings are determined at random throughout the game and add features to a particular map. Depending on the level feeling, multiple feelings can exist on the same level.

If you can't find a displayed message here, check the [[level event]] page for other possibilities.

=== [[Room Generation#Lever Rooms|Levers]] ===

* '''You feel that smell? That gasoline smell? Oh hell...'''
** There is a lever that floods every tile with [[Fluids|lava]]. If you see this message then don't pull any of the levers in the level; it will not be worth the risk, even if you have an [[envirosuit pack]]. If you have [[cerberus boots]] or something and don't mind losing all the items on the level, you could use it deliberately to burn all the monsters to death. Just be aware that some are lava-immune.
* '''In the State of Denmark there was the odor of decay...'''
** There is a lever that floods every tile with [[Fluids|acid]]. Just as with the level feeling above, don't pull levers if this shows up. Enough points invested into [[Traits#Intuition|Intuition]] will make this manageable, however.
* '''The air is really humid here...'''
** There is a lever that floods every tile with [[Fluids|water]]. Same as the last two, except not deadly at all and can actually be useful in preventing corpses.
* '''The smell of a massacre... '''
** This indicates the presence of a 'kills creatures' lever that affects all creatures on the map. This is particularly useful early on, as it is capable of destroying most early-game enemies completely. Beware, however, that it will gib all formers and prevent you from looting any of their ammo, armor, phase devices, and med-packs, and any barons and hell knights that survive are sure to use their med-packs.
* '''You hear the trumpets of Jericho echoing in the distance...'''
** There is a lever that will destroy all walls on the map when pulled. Does not include border walls. Generally a big problem for the player, considering that they make use of the cover more than enemies do.

=== [[Room Generation#Vaults|Vaults]] ===

Each of these feelings indicate that there is a [[Room Generation#Vault room|vault]] somewhere on the level. Multiple instances of these feelings indicate multiple vaults, as well.

* '''There's something special here...'''
* '''There's the smell of blood in the air!'''
* '''You feel excited!'''

===[[Level type|Level Type]]===

If this level feeling occurs, it means you get a level type very different in style. In addition, Levers and Vaults feelings cannot occur.

* '''Suddenly monsters come from everywhere!'''
** Indicates that you have spawned in an [[Level type#Arena|Arena]].
* '''Twisted passages carry the smell of death...'''
** Indicates that you have spawned in a [[Level type#Cave|Cave]].
* '''Where the hell is the way out of here!?!''' (followed by '''...Oh, there it is. D'oh.''' if you enter the level with vision of the stairs)
** Indicates that you have spawned in a [[Level type#Maze|Maze]].
* The following messages indicate a [[Level type#Single Monster|single monster]] level type:
**'''You hear many marching feet.''' (equal distribution of all former-type enemies)
**'''The walls are scratched and flame-scorched!''' (all [[imp|imps]])
**'''A battle cry chants in the distance!''' (equal distribution of [[hell knight|hell knights]] and [[baron of hell|barons of hell]])
**'''You hear deep, guttural noises!''' (all [[mancubus|mancubi]])
**'''Bones clatter all around you!''' (all [[revenant|revenants]])
**'''You hear crackling flames!''' (all [[arch-vile|arch-viles]])
**'''Hellish magic haunts air!''' (half archviles, half formers)
**'''You hear loud wails that cannot mean anything good!''' (all [[bruiser brother|bruiser brothers]])
**'''The air is crackling with electricity!''' (all [[shambler|shamblers]])
**'''Suddenly you have a great urge to turn back! You scream in TERROR!''' (all [[Cyberdemon|Cyberdemons]])

===[[Levels#Special Levels|Special Levels]]===

If this level feeling occurs, it means there will be a separate set of stairs (colored red) that allows access to one of the special levels.

* '''You feel a breeze of morbid air...'''
* '''You sense a passage to a place beyond...'''
* '''You shiver from cold...'''

=== Other ===

* '''You feel there is something really valuable here!'''
** Somewhere on the level one of the [[specials|uniques]] was generated.
* '''Khe, he, he. This will be a mess...'''
** The level is generated chock-full of [[Barrel|barrels]]. Barrel type depends on depth rather than being random.
* '''As you enter, some weird alarm starts howling!'''
** All monsters are set to actively hunt the player.
* '''The air seems deadly here, you better leave quick!'''
** Every X seconds ((0.1s × (100 - 5 × difficulty)), the player and enemies will lose a few HP. Envirosuit prevents those damages.
* '''You hear sounds of hellish mortars!'''
** Every few seconds of game time, an explosion occurs somewhere on the level. This explosion can damage you or enemies and destroy items or barrels.
* '''They rolled out BIG guns!'''
** Always paired with You hear the sounds of hellish mortars!. Same as above, but napalm explosions occur, covering the area with lava.
* '''You feel you're being targeted!'''
** A random monster in the level will teleport to the player's location every few seconds. This will not stop until all the monsters in the level are dead. Additionally, all monsters are set to actively hunt the player. It is worth noting that it wont teleport enemies in if there are no squares free of items in sight. So locking yourself in a small enough room and dropping your loot allows you to stop the onslaught for a while.

Strategy:Halls of Carnage

2023-06-23T08:05:29Z

Vid-szhite:

{{infostrat switch}}
== 0.9.9.7 ==

=== Hurt Me Plenty / Ultra-Violence ===
Keep a [[homing phase device]] in case this level appears. If it does, grab the mods near the start, kill all the lost souls in the middle section, and then immediately use the homing phase device to teleport straight to the stairs and grab the [[BFG 9000]]. Once the BFG is secure, you can either test it out on the Barons outside, or wait on the stairs while the other monsters die in the lava. The doors on this level are locked and can only be broken open with attacks.

Beware once the lava starts reaching you, since the Barons will not immediately die and may get to attack you unless you shoot them.

If you don't mind not getting 100% kills, you can leave right away. Otherwise, be sure you killed the lost souls, as they will not die in the lava. If you missed any, you'll have to have at least two [[envirosuit pack]]s to go back and get them if you don't have some form of lava-proof boots, and since the lava destroys everything but the stairs, they'll scatter about all over the map. Unless you want their ammo, you can run past any formers that aren't directly in your way, since they'll die in the lava very quickly.

Note that this does not necessarily work on HNTR, ITYTD, or N!, as on those difficulty levels there are cacodemons that are also immune to lava.

Strategy:Halls of Carnage

2023-06-23T08:04:15Z

Vid-szhite: /* Hurt Me Plenty / Ultra-Violence */

== 0.9.9.7 ==

=== Hurt Me Plenty / Ultra-Violence ===
Keep a [[homing phase device]] in case this level appears. If it does, grab the mods near the start, kill all the lost souls in the middle section, and then immediately use the homing phase device to teleport straight to the stairs and grab the [[BFG 9000]]. Once the BFG is secure, you can either test it out on the Barons outside, or wait on the stairs while the other monsters die in the lava. The doors on this level are locked and can only be broken open with attacks.

Beware once the lava starts reaching you, since the Barons will not immediately die and may get to attack you unless you shoot them.

If you don't mind not getting 100% kills, you can leave right away. Otherwise, be sure you killed the lost souls, as they will not die in the lava. If you missed any, you'll have to have at least two [[envirosuit pack]]s to go back and get them if you don't have some form of lava-proof boots, and since the lava destroys everything but the stairs, they'll scatter about all over the map. Unless you want their ammo, you can run past any formers that aren't directly in your way, since they'll die in the lava very quickly.

Note that this does not necessarily work on HNTR, ITYTD, or N!, as on those difficulty levels there are cacodemons that are also immune to lava.

Strategy:Halls of Carnage

2023-06-23T07:58:47Z

Vid-szhite: /* Hurt Me Plenty / Ultra-Violence */

== 0.9.9.7 ==

=== Hurt Me Plenty / Ultra-Violence ===
Keep a [[homing phase device]] in case this level appears. If it does, grab the mods near the start, kill all the lost souls in the middle section, and then immediately use the homing phase device to teleport straight to the stairs and the [[BFG 9000]]. Once secure, wait on the stairs while the other monsters die in the lava. The doors are locked and can only be broken open with attacks.

If you don't mind not getting 100% kills, you can leave right away. Otherwise, be sure you killed the lost souls, as they will not die in the lava. If you missed any, you'll have to have at least two [[envirosuit pack]]s to go back and get them if you don't have some form of lava-proof boots, and since the lava destroys everything but the stairs, they'll scatter about all over the map. Unless you want their ammo, you can run past any formers that aren't directly in your way, since they'll die in the lava very quickly.

Note that this does not necessarily work on HNTR, ITYTD, or N!, as on those difficulty levels there are cacodemons that are also immune to lava.

Strategy:Halls of Carnage

2023-06-23T07:50:10Z

Vid-szhite: /* Hurt Me Plenty / Ultra-Violence */

== 0.9.9.7 ==

=== Hurt Me Plenty / Ultra-Violence ===
Keep a [[homing phase device]] in case this level appears. If it does, grab the mods near the start, kill all the lost souls in the middle section, and then immediately use the homing phase device to teleport straight to the stairs and the [[BFG 9000]]. Once secure, wait by the stairs while the other monsters die in the lava. The doors are locked and can only be broken open with attacks.

If you don't mind not getting 100% kills, you can leave right away. Otherwise, be sure you killed the lost souls, as they will not die in the lava. If you missed any, you'll have to have at least two [[envirosuit pack]]s to go back and get them if you don't have some form of lava-proof boots, and since the lava destroys everything but the stairs, they'll scatter about all over the map. Unless you want their ammo, you can run past any formers that aren't directly in your way, since they'll die in the lava very quickly.

Note that this does not necessarily work on HNTR, ITYTD, or N!, as on those difficulty levels there are cacodemons that are also immune to lava.

Strategy:Halls of Carnage

2023-06-23T07:47:34Z

Vid-szhite: Created page with "== 0.9.9.7 == === Hurt Me Plenty / Ultra-Violence === Keep a homing phase device in case this level appears. If it does, grab the mods near the start, kill all the lost s..."

== 0.9.9.7 ==

=== Hurt Me Plenty / Ultra-Violence ===
Keep a [[homing phase device]] in case this level appears. If it does, grab the mods near the start, kill all the lost souls, and then immediately use the homing phase device to teleport straight to the stairs and the [[BFG 9000]]. Once secure, wait by the stairs while the other monsters die in the lava. The doors are locked and can only be broken open with attacks.

If you don't mind not getting 100% kills, you can leave right away. Otherwise, be sure you killed the lost souls, as they will not die in the lava. If you missed any, you'll have to have at least two [[envirosuit pack]]s to go back and get them if you don't have some form of lava-proof boots, and since the lava destroys everything but the stairs, they'll scatter about all over the map.

Note that this does not necessarily work on HNTR, ITYTD, or N!, as on those difficulty levels there are cacodemons that are also immune to lava.

Levels

2023-06-23T07:25:56Z

Vid-szhite: /* Basic Objects */ - barrels have visibly different explosion radii

__NOTOC__
Levels are the heart of DoomRL, and without them there would be no game. It is where the player explores, where enemies roam, where special items lie in wait. They are filled with either fortune or your own personal doom.

==Basic Objects==
All levels are made of basic objects like floors, walls, and doors.
*'''HP''': This is one of the parameters that governs how difficulty the object is to destroy. Whenever an object takes damage, it's HP is decreased. Once its HP falls to 0, it changes to a floor tile. Some objects cannot be destroyed; these are indicated as "none". Also, some objects have two versions: one that can be destroyed and one that can't.
*'''Armor''': This also makes objects harder to destroy. Whenever an object takes damage, the object's armor is subtracted from the damage before the damage is subtracted from HP. Unlike the armor of the player and his enemies, objects' armor may reduce damage to 0.
*'''Fragile''': Objects can usually only be damaged by [[Damage type#plasma|plasma]], [[Damage type#fire|fire]], or [[Damage type#acid|acid]] damage. Fragile objects can be damaged by any damage type.

{| style="rules: cols; border: 2px solid darkred; border-spacing: 0; font-size: 90%; margin: 0.25em 0.5em;"
|colspan=11 style="background: darkred; color: yellow; font-size: 120%; text-align: center"|'''Basic Objects'''
|-
|style="text-align: center; padding: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 1px 0" width=100|'''Name'''
|style="text-align: center; padding: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 1px 1px" width=50|'''Appearance'''
|style="text-align: center; padding: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 1px 1px" width=50|'''HP'''
|style="text-align: center; padding: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 1px 1px" width=50|'''Armor'''
|style="text-align: center; padding: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 1px 1px" width=50|'''Fragile'''
|style="text-align: center; padding: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 1px 1px"|'''Special'''
|- style="background: #333;"
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 1px 1px 0 0"|floor
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 1px 1px 0 1px"|'''·'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 1px 1px 0 1px"|none
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 1px 1px 0 1px"|N/A
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 1px 1px 0 1px"|N/A
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 1px 0 0 1px"|N/A
|-
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|blood
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''·'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|none
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|N/A
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|N/A
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|N/A
|- style="background: #333;"
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|pool of blood
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''•'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|none
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|N/A
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|N/A
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|N/A
|-
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|Phobos rock
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''.'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|none
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|N/A
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|N/A
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|N/A
|- style="background: #333;"
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|wall, blooded wall
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''#''', '''#'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|10
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|10
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|no
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|N/A
|-
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|bloodstone, blooded wall
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''#''', '''#'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|15
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|10
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|no
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|N/A
|- style="background: #333;"
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|green wall
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''#'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|15
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|10
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|no
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|N/A
|-
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|crate, blooded crate
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''#''', '''#''', '''#'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|5
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|5
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|no
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|N/A
|- style="background: #333;"
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|ammo crate, armor crate, blooded crate
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''#''', '''#''', '''#'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|5
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|5
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|yes
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|When destroyed, sometimes leaves behind ammo, armor, boots or medpacks depending on the crate type and seed. Note that walls have HP, a wall's hp can be downgraded to 1HP and still be standing.
|-
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|closed door
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''+'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|6
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|4
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|yes
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|Can be opened.
|-style="background: #333;"
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|locked door
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''+'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|6
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|6
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|yes
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|N/A
|-
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|open door
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''/'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|none
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|N/A
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|N/A
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|Can be closed.
|- style="background: #333;"
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|[[lever]]
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''&'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|10
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|0
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|no
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|see link in name for details
|-
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|barrel of fuel
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''0'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|2
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|3
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|yes
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|Can be pushed. When destroyed, creates a radius 4 [[explosions|explosion]] dealing 5d5 [[Damage type#fire|fire damage]].
|- style="background: #333;"
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|barrel of acid
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''0'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|2
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|4
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|yes
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|Can be pushed. When destroyed, creates a radius 3 [[explosions|explosion]] dealing 6d6 [[Damage type#acid|acid damage]], sometimes leaving behind acid tiles.
|-
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|barrel of napalm
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''0'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|2
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|5
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|yes
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|Can be pushed. When destroyed, creates a radius 2 [[explosions|explosion]] dealing 7d7 [[Damage type#fire|fire damage]], sometimes (often) leaving behind lava tiles.
|}

==Random levels==
The archetypical level in DoomRL is a randomly-generated one. It is produced in such a way that no two games are particularly alike. There are many special considerations within the game engine, although many of these are technical and unimportant from a gameplay perspective.

* [[Level type]]
* [[Level feeling]]
* [[Level event]]
* [[Monster Generation]]
* [[Item Generation]]
* [[Room Generation]]
* [[Fluids]]

== Special levels ==
In stark contrast to random levels, special levels are constant and many of them appear every game. As you gain more experience playing DoomRL, these become stepping stones used as a grip against the turbulent flow of random levels.

For obvious reasons, all of these pages are considered spoilers if you wish to learn how to beat them yourself. Some are particularly spoiler-heavy, though, and are indicated as such here.

* [[Phobos Base Entry]]
* [[Hell's Arena]]
* [[The Chained Court]]
* [[Military Base]]
* [[Phobos Lab]]
* [[Phobos Anomaly]]
* [[Hell's Armory]]
* [[Deimos Lab]]
* [[The Wall]]
* [[Containment Area]]
* [[Abyssal Plains]]
* [[City of Skulls]]
* [[Halls of Carnage]]
* [[Spider's Lair]]
* [[Tower of Babel]]
* [[Unholy Cathedral]] (Spoilers!)
* [[The Vaults]]
* [[The Mortuary]] (Spoilers!)
* [[Limbo]] (Spoilers!)
* [[The Lava Pits]]
* [[Mt. Erebus]]
* [[Dis]] (Spoilers!)
* [[Hell Fortress]] (MAJOR SPOILERS!)

===Special level placement===
Some levels don't spawn on I'm Too Young To Die: Hell's Armory and Deimos Lab, Unholy Cathedral, The Vaults, The Mortuary and Limbo.

Special stairs are always placed on a random empty tile.

Special level pairs are chosen randomly - exactly one from each pair appears per game.

{|
|'''Level'''
|'''Depth'''
|-
|Hell's Arena
|2 (Phobos 2)
|-
|The Chained Court
|5 (Phobos 5)
|-
|Phobos Lab/Military Base
|7 (Phobos 7)
|-
|Hell's Armory/Deimos Lab
|9 (Deimos 1)
|-
|The Wall/Containment Area
|11 (Deimos 3)
|-
|City of Skulls/Abyssal Plains
|12 (Deimos 4)
|-
|Spider's Lair/Halls of Carnage
|14 (Deimos 6)
|-
|Unholy Cathedral
|17 (Hell 1)
|-
|The Vaults
|19 (Hell 3)
|-
|The Mortuary/Limbo
|20 (Hell 4)
|-
|The Lava Pits/Mt. Erebus
|22 (Hell 6)
|}

Strategy:Butcher's Cleaver

2023-06-23T07:23:48Z

Vid-szhite:

===0.9.9.6===

Same as 0.9.9.7, but with a 5d7 damage die.

===0.9.9.7===

The Butcher's Cleaver is a really great weapon. If you find one, drop your chainsaw or knife or whatever because the Butcher's Cleaver is going to be the BEST melee weapon you'll see for a long time.

At 5d6 damage, really fast attacks, good accuracy, and the ability to kill enemies with NO time lost, you can use this blade to carve out a nice hole in a lost soul pack or two.

Even crazier, it's possible for this weapon to appear on the first randomly generated level of the game.

Butcher's Cleaver

2023-06-23T07:20:39Z

Vid-szhite:

{{infostrat switch}}
{{melee weapon|
weapon_name=Butcher's Cleaver - [[Melee_Types|Melee Family]]|
weapon_dmg=5d6/5-30|
weapon_avgdmg=17.5|
weapon_dmgtype=[[Damage type#Melee|Melee]]|
weapon_accuracy=+0|
weapon_afire=None|
weapon_get=Random (1+)|
weapon_quote=''Aah, fresh meat!''|
weapon_looks=\|
weapon_description=''Now that is a big cleaver. Butcher them!''|
weapon_other=While wielded as the primary weapon, this weapon halves knockback dealt to you, and when it deals the killing blow, it grants the use of the [[Traits#Blademaster|Blademaster]] trait. The Butcher's Cleaver is a blade, so it can be used with the [[Traits#Malicious Blades|Malicious Blades]] trait.|
weapon_source={{Wiki|Diablo_(video_game)|Diablo}} (computer game)}}

Strategy:Phobos Base Entry

2023-06-23T01:32:10Z

Vid-szhite:

{{infostrat switch}}
== 0.9.9.7 ==

=== Ultra-Violence ===
The layout of the first level can be luck-based in spite of being generated, with some timelines offering you no time at all before the Formers start finding you, where you have no time to get to cover and they're able to shoot you more accurately than you can shoot them unless you went Eagle Eye first, but sometimes they wander inside to grab the med-packs instead, where their AI can be more easily exploited. You can either restart repeatedly until you get the one you want or roll with it.

Unfortunately, no matter what, you'd have to have RNGsus' most sacred blessing for the two small med-packs and armor to not be taken right away. That means your first order of business is to try to rescue them from the hands of the enemy. This can be done, but only if you get to cover that breaks Line of Sight! Whatever you do, don't stand out in the open against multiple enemies, you'll lose about half your health before they start to die.

First thing's first, you'll need to lure enemies in close to you WITHOUT damaging them or sticking your head out and getting shot. Damaging them makes them likely to USE those med-packs before they walk over to you, and getting shot at is likely to make you need to use one of yours. You need to conserve med-packs as much as possible right now. Luckily, the solution to this involves an alternate use of a med-pack! Giftdropping! Find some cover and drop a small med-pack near an opening. Back up two spaces away so you can still see it, and run > wait (comma > period) until you see a guy show up. If none of them shows up, lucky you! They're inside. Go knock on the front door and do this again, but be sure the door is closed while you're setting it there. If a guy does show up, run into melee range with him ''immediately.'' He will resort to weakly punching you over all else rather than pick up your med-pack or shooting you, and you'll be close enough to hit him with your pistol reliably without needing to aim. If you get REALLY lucky, the first guy you lure in will be a shotgun guy.

If all goes well, you should be able to kill at least one guy before he has a chance to use a med-pack, especially if you took [[Son of a Gun]] at first level. If you didn't, you'll have to hope to pull a Shotgun Guy who doesn't have a med-pack, kill him, and take his shotgun and ammo. Now you can reliably kill all the next enemies you lure in one shot except the one wearing the armor. Don't poke your head out yet, go back to waiting two spaces away from your med-pack and wait until they get close so you guarantee a one-shot kill.

It's entirely possible to lure all the enemies to your one med-pack in quick succession and kill them all before you go inside, while also liberating both med-packs from them. Unfortunately, it's also very possible that the turn you walk up to the guy you lured in, two shotgun guys spot you and blast you before you have a chance. This can be good for you, however, if it kills someone right beside you holding a medpack or a shotgun. Saves you the RNG.

Strategy:Ultra-violence

2023-06-22T08:57:48Z

Vid-szhite:

{{infostrat switch}}

== Welcome to Hell ==
The name does not lie. Ultra-Violence is ultra-hard. Enemies get a +2 bonus to their accuracy, making it almost certain that even weak enemies will hit you if you're not dodging, and [[hell knight]]s can start spawning on level ''3,'' which means you get one level after [[Phobos Base Entry]], maybe [[Hell's Arena]], before you have to fight them. [[Demon]]s will be appearing right from the start. Barons of Hell will appear on level 6. [[Revenant]]s and [[Former commando]]s can start spawning while you're still in ''Phobos,'' and of course [[Mancubi]] and [[Arch-vile]]s will become common enemies early in Deimos.

Fooling-around builds have no place on Ultra-Violence unless you're really, '''''really''''' good. You have no time to arm up or get stronger, and it's possible to get an unlucky spawn location such that the only door leading out of your starting room will put you face-to-face with a hell knight and six demons, so you'll die and die very early on unless you have a plan and know exactly what you're doing. Never let yourself drop below 40% health, since you can get killed by a great many things in one attack at that health. Get good at corner shooting, giftdropping, and radar-shooting, because you're gonna need them. It's time to really start skipping special levels if you don't have a plan to beat it, because they will just kill you more often than not. [[Phobos Lab]] contains over a dozen [[nightmare demon]]s, which are very likely to kill you even if you're prepared because they'll get stuck in narrow halls you need to enter to progress, and they won't come out until they see you. Without two levels of [[Hellrunner]], even running is too slow to get away from them.

On the bright side, though, there's now a guaranteed green armor in [[Phobos Base Entry]]! It'll almost certainly be used, but it's something!

Since you have no time to prepare before the going gets ridiculously tough, you have to be familiar with the game's base mechanics and know what to do for every little situation that crops up. Doom veterans may be tempted to start here, but really, do not. You'll lose so fast that it won't teach you anything. You may also want to skip going for 100% kills every time until you're familiar with the difficulty level. It may level you up faster, but you'll also put yourself in more of the already-increased danger.

== Starting ==
Even the first level of the game will be a huge challenge if you don't know how to handle it. With no plan, it can kill you, or at best make you use one of your starting med-packs while leaving you no way to rescue the others. There is a better way, though. (see [[Strategy:Phobos Base Entry]])

Once you're in, there are a few ways of surviving the first few levels with little issue, even with 100% kills barring a challenge run.

=== Fast DPS ===
This is a risky but oftentimes rewarding strategy. Essentially what this entails is going for your DPS-increasing traits first, before any investment in survivability. For Rapid builds, that's [[Eagle Eye]] and [[Son of a Bitch]]. For Pistols, that's [[Son of a Gun]]. For shotgunners, that's [[Reloader]] and [[Finesse]]. Don't just go for your favorite DPS method, though, you need to have a plan, so it's better if this investment leads to something that also helps you survive.

* If you get [[Eagle Eye]], go for 2 levels of that and then get [[Intuition]] 2. Use Rapid weapons over pistols, even if you're going for a pistol build. Being able to see huge clusters of enemies before you open that door and aggro them all is going to save your life. Even good players can't reliably make plans without more information.

* If you get [[Finesse]], get [[Juggler]] next. Pick up every single [[shotgun]] you see. Now instead of reloading, press 2 to switch to your pistol and 3 to switch back to a shotgun. It will pick a shotgun that's already loaded every time, and this gives shotguns excellent DPS early-game at the cost of inventory slots. If you tossed your pistol, fear not, you can just use the mouse wheel (if you have one) to select fists then switch back to a shotgun.

* If you get [[Son of a Gun]], good luck, because while this can and does definitely work, you're playing on an extra layer of hard mode now, and you're more likely to die by getting unlucky. With at least two levels of SoG, if you hit a Former once, use an aimed shot to finish it off. If you get Dualgunner, aimed shots will take out formers in one attack semi-reliably. Get all 3 levels of Son of a Gun before anything else if you go this route. This is realistically your only option in Angel of Marksmanship.

* If you get [[Brute]], get [[Berserker]]. Being able to go berserk can save your life even if you need to run because of the resistances and action speed it grants you.

=== Fast Movespeed ===
This is by far the most safe and reliable strategy: get two levels of Hellrunner first and use a shotgun for DPS. Obviously, your damage will be lower out the gate, but Hellrunner gives you so much safety over the long run it's not even funny. By far the biggest hurdle to reaching the rest of the game is survival, and Hellrunner will allow you to outrun Demons without switching tactics to Running as long as you're wearing green armor or lighter, especially as a Scout, and if you do start Running, outrunning them will be trivial. In addition, two levels of Hellrunner gives you an extra 30% chance to dodge attacks while sidestepping. This works independently of enemy Accuracy, but only if you're sidestepping as you move - basically, don't run directly at an enemy's line of fire or directly away from it and you'll roll a chance to dodge. This does basically nothing against formers, who can't really be dodged unless you have [[Dodgemaster]], but against [[imp]]s, [[hell knight]]s, [[cacodemon]]s, and [[Barons of Hell]]? You will dodge against those enemies 80% of the time at ''minimum.'' Your dodge chance is then capped if you start Running.

Combined together, those stats mean you can now play ring around the rosie using columns and clusters of boxes. Without Hellrunner, if you take a step around a corner of a box cluster while an enemy is at the other corner, you'll take a step and that enemy will take a step forward and still be able to see you. They may even get to attack afterward, and you will NOT get to dodge because the last thing you did from that enemy's PoV was stand perfectly still. With Hellrunner 2, however, you're basically always moving at Running speed. Eventually, you will be able to move and move and move, and then on one of those moves you'll be out of the enemy's vision, which can give you time to reload your weapon, and possibly even enough time to take a step toward that enemy, which gives you a successful dodge roll, which causes them to hit themselves with their own attack as it collides with the wall you were just behind. Risky, but hilarious! It's even more reliable if you're Running.

Because of this trick, you can play Bugs Bunny with the barons of hell, hell knights, and cacodemons. You can even use this trick to make pinkies forget they ever saw you and go running off somewhere else!

Because of how good Hellrunner 2 is, you don't even really need Dodgemaster unless your build calls for it specifically. Once you get Hellrunner 2, it's better to start up your DPS path right away rather than delay it another level. Otherwise, you won't have enough DPS to kill the enemies this ''doesn't'' work against.

=== Fast Intuition ===
This is mainly an option for Scouts, but can also be used by other classes as a hybrid of Fast DPS by taking Eagle Eye 1/2 first, then taking Intuition 1/2 next. Scouts, however, are the creme de la creme of this option, since they can just go Intuition at level 1 and 2. Now that you always know if there's something around every corner, you never have to take any risks you can't afford to handle right now, and you can also avoid blindly shooting into the fog if there's a powerup over there. Being able to sense powerups and know which levers to avoid is such an immense benefit in the first few levels that it can save a run. For that reason, this is an incredible option that can work even through Nightmare! runs.

Once you get Intuition 2, start up a DPS level or two before you dive straight into Hellrunner (if you're allowed).

== Good Luck ==

From there, it's up to you to know your build and how strong it gets and how fast for what to take next! UV is going to test your fundamentals like no other and some builds may sadly stop being viable here unless you theorycraft something amazing. In which case, share your findings! It's always exciting to have more ways to play the game.

Strategy:Phobos Base Entry

2023-06-22T08:55:19Z

Vid-szhite: Created page with "{{infostrat switch}} == 0.9.9.7 == === Ultra-Violence === The layout of the first level can still be luck-based, with some layouts offering you no time at all before the Form..."

{{infostrat switch}}
== 0.9.9.7 ==

=== Ultra-Violence ===
The layout of the first level can still be luck-based, with some layouts offering you no time at all before the Formers start finding you, where they're able to shoot you more accurately than you can shoot them unless you went Eagle Eye first, but sometimes they wander inside to grab the med-packs instead, where their AI can be more easily exploited. You can either restart repeatedly until you get the one you want or roll with it.

Unfortunately, no matter what, you'd have to have RNGsus' most sacred blessing for the two small med-packs and armor to not be taken right away. That means your first order of business is to try to rescue them from the hands of the enemy. This can be done, but only if you get to cover that breaks Line of Sight! Whatever you do, don't stand out in the open against multiple enemies, you'll lose about half your health before they start to die.

First thing's first, you'll need to lure enemies in close to you WITHOUT damaging them or sticking your head out and getting shot. Damaging them makes them likely to USE those med-packs before they walk over to you, and getting shot at is likely to make you need to use one of yours. You need to conserve med-packs as much as possible right now. Luckily, the solution to this involves an alternate use of a med-pack! Giftdropping! Find some cover and drop a small med-pack near an opening. Back up two spaces away so you can still see it, and run > wait (comma > period) until you see a guy show up. If none of them shows up, lucky you! They're inside. Go knock on the front door and do this again, but be sure the door is closed while you're setting it there. If a guy does show up, run into melee range with him ''immediately.'' He will resort to weakly punching you over all else rather than pick up your med-pack or shooting you, and you'll be close enough to hit him with your pistol reliably without needing to aim. If you get REALLY lucky, the first guy you lure in will be a shotgun guy.

If all goes well, you should be able to kill at least one guy before he has a chance to use a med-pack, especially if you took [[Son of a Gun]] at first level. If you didn't, you'll have to hope to pull a Shotgun Guy who doesn't have a med-pack, kill him, and take his shotgun and ammo. Now you can reliably kill all the next enemies you lure in one shot except the one wearing the armor. Don't poke your head out yet, go back to waiting two spaces away from your med-pack and wait until they get close so you guarantee a one-shot kill.

It's entirely possible to lure all the enemies to your one med-pack in quick succession and kill them all before you go inside, while also liberating both med-packs from them. Unfortunately, it's also very possible that the turn you walk up to the guy you lured in, two shotgun guys spot you and blast you before you have a chance. This can be good for you, however, if it kills someone right beside you holding a medpack or a shotgun. Saves you the RNG.

Strategy:Ultra-violence

2023-06-22T08:55:02Z

Vid-szhite: Created page with "{{infostrat switch}} == Welcome to Hell == The name does not lie. Ultra-Violence is ultra-hard. Enemies get a +2 bonus to their accuracy, making it almost certain that even w..."

{{infostrat switch}}

== Welcome to Hell ==
The name does not lie. Ultra-Violence is ultra-hard. Enemies get a +2 bonus to their accuracy, making it almost certain that even weak enemies will hit you if you're not dodging, and [[hell knight]]s can start spawning on level ''3,'' which means you get one level after [[Phobos Base Entry]], maybe [[Hell's Arena]], before you have to fight them. [[Demon]]s will be appearing right from the start. Barons of Hell will appear on level 6. [[Revenant]]s and [[Former commando]]s can start spawning while you're still in ''Phobos,'' and of course [[Mancubi]] and [[Arch-vile]]s will become common enemies early in Deimos.

Fooling-around builds have no place on Ultra-Violence unless you're really, '''''really''''' good. You have no time to arm up or get stronger, and it's possible to get an unlucky spawn location such that the only door leading out of your starting room will put you face-to-face with a hell knight and six demons, so you'll die and die very early on unless you have a plan and know exactly what you're doing. Never let yourself drop below 40% health, since you can get killed by a great many things in one attack at that health. Get good at corner shooting, giftdropping, and radar-shooting, because you're gonna need them. It's time to really start skipping special levels if you don't have a plan to beat it, because they will just kill you more often than not. [[Phobos Lab]] contains over a dozen [[nightmare demon]]s, which are very likely to kill you even if you're prepared because they'll get stuck in narrow halls you need to enter to progress, and they won't come out until they see you. Without two levels of [[Hellrunner]], even running is too slow to get away from them.

On the bright side, though, there's now a guaranteed green armor in [[Phobos Base Entry]]! It'll almost certainly be used, but it's something!

Since you have no time to prepare before the going gets ridiculously tough, you have to be familiar with the game's base mechanics and know what to do for every little situation that crops up. Doom veterans may be tempted to start here, but really, do not. You'll lose so fast that it won't teach you anything. You may also want to skip going for 100% kills every time until you're familiar with the difficulty level. It may level you up faster, but you'll also put yourself in more of the already-increased danger.

== Starting ==
Even the first level of the game will be a huge challenge if you don't know how to handle it. With no plan, it can kill you, or at best make you use one of your starting med-packs while leaving you no way to rescue the others. There is a better way, though. (see [[Strategy:Phobos Base Entry]])

Once you're in, there are a few ways of surviving the first few levels with little issue, even with 100% kills barring a challenge run.

=== Fast DPS ===
This is a risky but oftentimes rewarding strategy. Essentially what this entails is going for your DPS-increasing traits first, before any investment in survivability. For Rapid builds, that's [[Eagle Eye]] and [[Son of a Bitch]]. For Pistols, that's [[Son of a Gun]]. For shotgunners, that's [[Reloader]] and [[Finesse]]. Don't just go for your favorite DPS method, though, you need to have a plan, so it's better if this investment leads to something that also helps you survive.

* If you get [[Eagle Eye]], go for 2 levels of that and then get [[Intuition]] 2. Use Rapid weapons over pistols, even if you're going for a pistol build. Being able to see huge clusters of enemies before you open that door and aggro them all is going to save your life. Even good players can't reliably make plans without more information.

* If you get [[Finesse]], get [[Juggler]] next. Pick up every single [[shotgun]] you see. Now instead of reloading, press 2 to switch to your pistol and 3 to switch back to a shotgun. It will pick a shotgun that's already loaded every time, and this gives shotguns excellent DPS early-game at the cost of inventory slots. If you tossed your pistol, fear not, you can just use the mouse wheel (if you have one) to select fists then switch back to a shotgun.

* If you get [[Son of a Gun]], good luck, because while this can and does definitely work, you're playing on an extra layer of hard mode now, and you're more likely to die by getting unlucky. With at least two levels of SoG, if you hit a Former once, use an aimed shot to finish it off. If you get Dualgunner, aimed shots will take out formers in one attack semi-reliably. Get all 3 levels of Son of a Gun before anything else if you go this route. This is realistically your only option in Angel of Marksmanship.

=== Fast Movespeed ===
This is by far the most safe and reliable strategy: get two levels of Hellrunner first and use a shotgun for DPS. Obviously, your damage will be lower out the gate, but Hellrunner gives you so much safety over the long run it's not even funny. By far the biggest hurdle to reaching the rest of the game is survival, and Hellrunner will allow you to outrun Demons without switching tactics to Running as long as you're wearing green armor or lighter, especially as a Scout, and if you do start Running, outrunning them will be trivial. In addition, two levels of Hellrunner gives you an extra 30% chance to dodge attacks while sidestepping. This works independently of enemy Accuracy, but only if you're sidestepping as you move - basically, don't run directly at an enemy's line of fire or directly away from it and you'll roll a chance to dodge. This does basically nothing against formers, who can't really be dodged unless you have [[Dodgemaster]], but against [[imp]]s, [[hell knight]]s, [[cacodemon]]s, and [[Barons of Hell]]? You will dodge against those enemies 80% of the time at ''minimum.'' Your dodge chance is then capped if you start Running.

Combined together, those stats mean you can now play ring around the rosie using columns and clusters of boxes. Without Hellrunner, if you take a step around a corner of a box cluster while an enemy is at the other corner, you'll take a step and that enemy will take a step forward and still be able to see you. They may even get to attack afterward, and you will NOT get to dodge because the last thing you did from that enemy's PoV was stand perfectly still. With Hellrunner 2, however, you're basically always moving at Running speed. Eventually, you will be able to move and move and move, and then on one of those moves you'll be out of the enemy's vision, which can give you time to reload your weapon, and possibly even enough time to take a step toward that enemy, which gives you a successful dodge roll, which causes them to hit themselves with their own attack as it collides with the wall you were just behind. Risky, but hilarious! It's even more reliable if you're Running.

Because of this trick, you can play Bugs Bunny with the barons of hell, hell knights, and cacodemons. You can even use this trick to make pinkies forget they ever saw you and go running off somewhere else!

Because of how good Hellrunner 2 is, you don't even really need Dodgemaster unless your build calls for it specifically. Once you get Hellrunner 2, it's better to start up your DPS path right away rather than delay it another level. Otherwise, you won't have enough DPS to kill the enemies this ''doesn't'' work against.

=== Fast Intuition ===
This is mainly an option for Scouts, but can also be used by other classes as a hybrid of Fast DPS by taking Eagle Eye 1/2 first, then taking Intuition 1/2 next. Scouts, however, are the creme de la creme of this option, since they can just go Intuition at level 1 and 2. Now that you always know if there's something around every corner, you never have to take any risks you can't afford to handle right now, and you can also avoid blindly shooting into the fog if there's a powerup over there. Being able to sense powerups and know which levers to avoid is such an immense benefit in the first few levels that it can save a run. For that reason, this is an incredible option that can work even through Nightmare! runs.

Once you get Intuition 2, start up a DPS level or two before you dive straight into Hellrunner (if you're allowed).

== Good Luck ==

From there, it's up to you to know your build and how strong it gets and how fast for what to take next! UV is going to test your fundamentals like no other and some builds may sadly stop being viable here unless you theorycraft something amazing. In which case, share your findings! It's always exciting to have more ways to play the game.

Barons of hell

2023-06-22T08:53:47Z

Vid-szhite: Redirected page to Baron of hell

#REDIRECT [[Baron_of_hell]]

Strategy:Pistol Types

2023-06-22T06:33:35Z

Vid-szhite:

{{infostrat switch}}

== General ==
Pistols aren't very useful in general games because of their reliance on pistol-specific traits - [[Traits#Son_of_a_Gun|son of a gun]] and [[Traits#Dualgunner|dualgunner]]. If you aren't getting these traits, the pistol will see little use beyond level 1 - the shotgun reloads quickly enough to not need a backup weapon and the pistol is no better at very long range than the shotgun is.

However, if you get these traits and use pistols as your primary weapon outside of an Angel of Marskmanship game then they'll be rather efficient and powerful for general fighting, and you can keep a larger weapon (such as a missile launcher, powerful shotgun or BFG) for larger groups of enemies.

== Angel of Marksmanship/Pistol-based characters ==
Pistols are extremely ammo-efficient and fast once you have a few levels of Son of a Gun. Their weaknesses are frequent reloading and poor accuracy at long range. These problems can be dealt with by getting traits, but generally modding your pistol(s) will be enough.

Fighting things one on one is more important with pistols than any other weapon - you don't have any AoE unless you get a unique pistol or something, and also reloading two pistols in the middle of a fight is a bad idea and it's something you'll have to do if too many enemies chase you down.

The most important mods for pistols depend on your master trait - but agility and bulk are good in general if you're not going for a master trait for some reason.

=== Pistol Marine - [[Traits#Bullet_Dance_-_Marine_Only|Bullet Dance]] ===
Bullet Dance gets your shots out faster, so you spend less time per enemy. Unlike other pistol master traits, it also allows you to take advantage of the damage boost for both Son of a Gun and Son of a Bitch. Reloading after each enemy is still an unfortunate problem, so your pistols should probably be bulk modded to cut down on that.

Bullet Dance is generally considered to be the worst pistol master trait, so it should be avoided unless you want to be a marine for other reasons.

=== Pistol Scout - [[Traits#Gun_Kata_-_Scout_Only|Gun Kata]] ===
Gun Kata makes your next shot instantaneous when you dodge an attack (See [[Dodging]]), and automatically reloads your pistols whenever you kill something.

Gun Kata is probably the stronger choice of the two dual-pistol master traits. With hellrunner 2 and dodgemaster, your dodges are extremely likely to work so as long as there are no always-hit enemies hanging around you can constantly dodge and only stand still when taking free shots.

However, some attacks deal damage even when you dodge them ([[arch-vile|Arch-Vile]] and [[Revenant]] attacks, for instance) so you'll need HP for them, and some attacks cannot be dodged (only shotgun-based attacks).

With Gun Kata, your reloading is no longer an issue (perhaps the best part of the trait) so agility mods may serve you better than bulk mods. 12 shots is generally enough to kill anything that moves already, just make sure they all reach their target.

=== Pistol Technician - [[Traits#Sharpshooter_-_Technician_Only|Sharpshooter]] ===
Sharpshooter is a single-pistol master trait. It guarantees maximum damage on all pistol shots and, because of Eagle Eye 3, might as well guarantee hits too.

Sharpshooter is the most effective Pistol master trait once it gets going. The guaranteed maximum damage will not only keep your DPS on par with Dualgunners when accounting for their varying damage and misses, but it will make your Pistols very ammo efficient, and more importantly, very reliable at being able to knockback enemies; just a single [[Power mod]] to a standard Pistol and it will be able to knockback enemies with a 2 armor value. This guaranteed damage will allow Sharpshooters to reliably kill the elite enemies in a single clip, when other Pistol builds can really struggle to do that without Exotic and Unique Pistols, and the guaranteed knockback makes Sharpshooters just as effective at Corner Shooting as Shotgun builds, while being able to be very effective at fighting enemies in the open when the knockback will push them out of [[vision]] and give you time to safely reposition and/or reload. This guaranteed damage will also allow Sharpshooters to flinch the [[Spider Mastermind]] easily and reliably, giving them a free victory against her if they get a strong enough Pistol, while other Pistol builds will struggle against her.

Another major part of Sharpshooter's strength is since you're a Technician, you can invest in Whizkid without needing 2 levels of [[Finesse]] first, not only making getting Whizkid faster but also allowing you to not need to invest in a mostly superfluous trait for Pistol builds. Since the only standard Pistol is so weak and none of the Exotic/Unique Pistols are ever remotely guaranteed to be found, modding is extremely important for Pistol builds to get stronger weaponry, so being able to get Whizkid 2 levels sooner gives Sharpshooters a serious legup over other Pistol builds. One more perk of Sharpshooters is since you're not dualgunning, you can use your prepared slot on an ammo box, and thus make reloading an almost nonissue, without needing to rely on killing something like Gun Kata does nor wasting any levels on [[Reloader]].

The big weakness with Sharpshooter is that it's really ''really hard'' to get it off the ground. Pistol builds already have it rough in the early game, but Sharpshooters have it so brutal that they may have the hardest early game of any build, even harder than melee builds have it; on harder difficulties, you're going to have ''many'' Sharpshooters die before you ever get the trait. The first big problem is that since you can't get Dualgunner, you lose the big halfway powerup other Pistol builds get, and SoG3 alone is still pretty damn lacking; you're going to have a really hard time killing anything bigger than a [[Demon]] before it gets to you, and you are not killing bigger enemies in a single clip. The second big problem is the requisite three levels of Eagle Eye. One level in it is really helpful when it'll shore up most of the annoying yet crucial misses Pistols will frequently have, but the second level has seriously diminished returns that won't help you much when you're already hitting over 90% of your shots after the first level, and the third is flatout superfluous, while the trait is useless with Shotguns, your main supplemental weapon you'll be relying a lot on as you build your Pistols up. So in getting Sharpshooter as soon as possible, you'll be wasting about two levels that could have went to getting Whizkid to make your Pistols and other equipment stronger or to getting something like [[Hellrunner]] to help keep you alive until you get Sharpshooter. Once you get Sharpshooter it will get ''a lot easier'' and thus getting it as soon as you can is an upmost priority, but until you get it, those issues combined with the general weakness of Pistols and the inherent weakness of the Technician, will leave you with a pathetically weak character that will die ridiculously often.

== Pistols as a Sidearm ==
=== w/ Rapid Weapons in Angel of 100/666 ===
Many masteries can use rapid weapons primarily and don't block [[Son of a Gun]], and this can enable pistol usage as a sidearm in longer games where ammo can become a serious issue. This is especially a problem for rapid-using masteries other than [[Ammochain]] (which does block [[Son of a Gun]]), because even without [[Triggerhappy]], you'll burn through cells and bullets fast, and while a lot of enemies are worth spending them on, not every enemy is. Thanks to already having [[Son of a Bitch]] when using burst weapons, and likely [[Eagle Eye]] and [[Finesse]] as well, you need fewer Son of a Gun levels for pistols to really come online, so if you find one of the unique pistols--or best of all, a [[Blaster]]--you could let that gun be what you use when facing weak enemies or shooting from out of vision range. This is especially good when paired up with [[Juggler]], so you can switch to a bigger gun when a big nasty pops into view.

If you find a good pistol out in the wild, it can be worthwhile to put a few traits into Son of a Gun to use it. The main advantage of this is that you don't typically need to carry extra ammo, as 10mm ammo is common in the early to midgame. Because pistols really rocket to insanity once they get their final two levels of [[Son of a Gun]], and their damage becomes monstrous when double dipping with [[Son of a Bitch]], you could even gradually replace your 10mm weapon with a 10mm-using pistol, carry only one or two stacks of bullets, and then use more of your inventory for cells without fear of running dry.

If you have Finesse 3, Son of a Gun 4 reduces your pistol fire time to 0.11 seconds, which I'd generally say is "close enough" if you have Son of a Bitch investment. Mod-wise, sidearm pistols are generally better as non-assemblies unless you want an [[energy pistol]] or a [[speedloader pistol]], but pistols are a good place to stick a lot of mods you don't need, since they get really good no matter what you put in them. [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 06:33, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

=== w/ Other Builds ===
Using a pistol sidearm is less useful for a shotgun build, but they can also help during runs that find a lot of Sniper mods and no desire to make more [[plasmatic shrapnel]] shotguns, since even with just S1, a pistol needs no accuracy investment, so you don't need to worry about Eagle Eye, and if you find [[Trigun]], your accuracy is perfectly serviceable with no further modifications. Unfortunately, unless you find a Blaster, you'll need ammo space investment, and unless you find Trigun, you'll need to get accuracy from somewhere. That being said, if you're in Angel of 100 and you have outlived the need for the Agility mods that keep dropping everywhere, you could definitely stick them in a pistol, and a S2 [[pistol]] or [[combat pistol]] is so reliable and powerful with minimal trait investment that you might find yourself using it more than your shotguns at a certain point.

Melee builds typically gain the most from using a shotgun sidearm rather than a pistol sidearm, since shotguns have no accuracy worries and need no levels in Eagle Eye, but a pistol sidearm can help a melee build too in certain scenarios, typically when there's something too far away for melee range to be a possibility but it absolutely needs to die now and a shotgun just won't kill it fast enough or from far enough away. Of course, without at least Son of a Gun 2 or 3, pistols are still pretty crappy. That being said, I did at one point finish an Archangel of 666 game where I went Son of a Gun 4 but found and used [[Dragonslayer]] with Eagle Eye being blocked, and it didn't feel like I was missing anything, so depending on where/when/if you find [[Dragonslayer]], you might find it worthwhile. [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 06:33, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

=== Sidearm Pistols ===
* [[Pistol]]: Free gun! But I wouldn't blame you if you chucked this gun for space a long time ago. If you have Whizkid, pistols can use mods quite effectively since they have two damage dice. Generally, though, there's no reason to keep using this unless you can't bring yourself to toss it, so if you find nothing better, and end up needing a sidearm later on, it's what you'll use. Bulk mods help a lot more than Power mods, since pistol DPS is generally fine until you have to reload. Generally, though, that one extra bag slot might just be better served by more ammo for your bigger guns unless you really like pistols or find yourself in an ammo drought.

* [[Combat pistol]]: A straight upgrade to the pistol and one of the better weapons in the game. They roll 3 dice for damage, so power mods are excellent on them, and they have a large magazine and higher accuracy already, so bulk and agility mods aren't nearly as necessary. The only downside to the combat pistol is the longer reload time and the rarity, being as difficult to find as a Nano pack. If you're lucky enough to find one of these, that's the point I'd definitely consider dipping into Son of a Gun for a sidearm if you weren't going to already. These can get better than the unique pistols with heavy modding, but if Whizkid is blocked for you, then the unique pistols are generally better.

* [[Blaster]]: One of the rarest pistols in the game, as rare as the BFG 9000s and the Unique pistols, but just as implied in the item description, it's one of the best when you're in need of a sidearm because it needs no ammo. Best used in rapid builds, since it has lower accuracy than the [[pistol]] and you'll likely have Eagle Eye investment already. If you find a spare Nano pack, giving it to a Blaster gives it infinite ammo, since it will fire one shot and then immediately regenerate, giving you the equivalent of a fully moddable plasma-damage Nanomachic. Otherwise, it has the exact same stats as the basic pistol but has a slightly shorter fire time.

* [[Anti-Freak Jackal]]: Unlike other pistols and rapid weapons, this gun deals [[Damage_type#Fire|fire]] damage and has a splash radius of 1, which allows it to blow holes in walls, gib corpses, and splash lots of enemies at once. It even has enough damage to knock enemies back without trait investment. Cool! But it has the same accuracy and clip size as a normal pistol, so even though it is powerful, be careful not to shoot an enemy that's already in your face or it'll hurt. You'll definitely want [[Juggler]] if you run with this. Unlike the other unique pistols, it can dualreload, making it usable with [[Dualgunner]] if you're so inclined, but for sidearm usage, I don't recommend that.

* [[Grammaton Cleric Beretta]]: A gun that fits perfectly into a rapid build even without Son of a Gun! Its alternate fire modes benefit from [[triggerhappy]], although even with its 18 clip size, it will require a lot of reloading if used this way, and it has the same 2.0 reload speed as a [[Chaingun]], so you'll want to run it with an ammo chain if you can while in full auto. Rapid builds can use semi-auto mode the most effectively of any build, but if you have Son of a Gun investment already, it's generally better to leave it on single shot mode for the ammo efficiency. It can bridge the gap quite easily, though, and if you don't have [[Juggler]], switching fire modes is faster than switching weapons. The only problem is it can't be modded, and of the unique pistols, its individual shots are definitely the weakest no matter what mode it's in, and it can't knock enemies back without some damage bonus and/or a max damage roll. There's an [[Medals|achievement]] for killing the [[Spider Mastermind]] with this weapon, so if you need that, that could be reason enough to keep it, though not if your build would have trouble killing her with it.

* [[Trigun]]: Of all the unique pistols, its raw damage per bullet is by far the best, having an excellent 0.7 attack time (as good as two T mods), a massive 3d6 for damage, and a whopping +6 accuracy. It may still only have a clip size of 6 and a long 2.0 reload time, but its sheer damage can drop even [[Arch-vile]]s before it runs out of bullets, especially with [[Son of a Gun]] and/or [[Son of a Bitch]] investment. It can also be your game-ending nuke in a standard playthrough thanks to its Angel Arm ability, which is a great reason to keep it if you're going for a full win. It can knock enemies back even without traits, though, which makes it an excellent pistol to find and use as a serious sidearm even in a shotgun or melee build. Technically, it can still use [[Alternate_fire#Aimed_shot|aimed shot]] if you really need to not miss, but its accuracy is already 91% at the edge of your vision, so there's hardly a need to do so.
[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 06:33, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Pistol

2023-06-22T03:21:23Z

Vid-szhite:

''This article is about strategy for the [[pistol]] itself as a [[weapons|weapon]], not the category of [[weapons]] colloquially known as [[Pistol_Types|"pistols"]]. For specific strategies for the individual [[weapons]], please see the associated entries under their [[Pistol_Types|names]]. For [[Pistol_Types|"pistols"]] in general, please see [[Strategy:Pistol_Types|Strategy:Pistol Types]].''

{{infostrat switch}}
== '''Overview''' ==
=== '''Brief Summary''' ===
The Pistol is (usually) your starting weapon and, thus, many people assume that it should be discarded for something "better" when it comes along. However, the Pistol (or two Pistols) is not only feasible as a weapon, but quite capable of being used as the ONLY weapon during a game.

It is a basic weapon, which can hold up to 5 mods if the player has access to Whizkid 2.

As a member of the Pistol Type family, the Pistol is a standard weapon that is also capable of being turned into several [[assemblies]] : the [[speedloader pistol]], the [[high power pistol]], the [[storm bolter pistol]], the [[energy pistol]], the [[nanomanufacture pistol]], and the [[demolition pistol]]. This page will only address the base [[Pistol]] and the [[Pistol]] with mods applied that do not change it into a separate assembly.

== '''Examination''' ==

At first the weapon may not seem like much: 2d4 damage, only six shots in a clip. However, the raw damage-per-second (DPS) drastically increases as you add points into pistol-based traits. Consider the following:

*'''No traits''': 5DPS
*'''[[Son of a Gun|SoG]](x1)''': 7.5DPS
*'''[[Son of a Gun|SoG]](x2)''': 11.67DPS
*'''[[Son of a Gun|SoG]](x2)+[[Dualgunner|DG]]''': 19.44DPS
*'''[[Son of a Gun|SoG]](x3)''': 20DPS
*'''[[Son of a Gun|SoG]](x3)+[[Dualgunner|DG]]''': 33.33DPS
*'''[[Son of a Gun|SoG]](x3)+[[Sharpshooter|MSs]]''': 27.5 DPS
*'''[[Son of a Gun|SoG]](x4)''': 45 DPS
*'''[[Son of a Gun|SoG]](x4)+[[Dualgunner|DG]]''': 75 DPS
*'''[[Son of a Gun|SoG]](x4)+[[Sharpshooter|MSs]]''': 60 DPS
*'''[[Son of a Gun|SoG]](x5)''': 100 DPS
*'''[[Son of a Gun|SoG]](x5)+[[Dualgunner|DG]]''': 166
*'''[[Son of a Gun|SoG]](x5)+[[Sharpshooter|MSs]]''': 130 DPS

Over the course of just four levels (achievable just after Hell's Arena on Ultra-violence) the damage output has increased over six-fold. If we compare to a chaingun with [[Son of a Bitch|SoB]]x2 and [[Finesse|Fin]]x2 (similar trait boosts) the maximum theoretical DPS is only 31.43, which it's never going to reach because of its lower accuracy. While the plasma rifle is obviously superior at 51.43DPS, the Plasma Rifle is almost never available at such a low level, has the same accuracy problems, and it also requires nearly twice as much ammo for an ammo type that's much harder to carry (and often rarer to boot). In addition, the first level of Dualgunner allows aimed shots to reliably one-shot formers, and SoG3 allows Dualgunner aimed shots to one-shot imps. For a starter weapon, maining the pistol is certainly a powerful choice.

Pistols are also fairly unique as being a single-target, non-explosive weapon that has a high potential for [[knockback]]. Combined with very fast firing speed, it is possible to keep an enemy out of your [[vision|field of vision]] by knocking them back every time they come into it. In order to build toward pistols that reliably knockback, consider investing in [[Son of a Bitch]] and adding power mods to your pistols. (Although knocking back is frequently done with shotgun-type weapons, it also requires you to be closer, and so the possibility of knocking them out of vision on each hit is significantly lower than with the pistol).

However, Son of a Gun and Dualgunner are traits that only improve pistols, but traits like [[Eagle Eye]] and [[Son of a Bitch]] affect all weapons, even shotguns, rocket launchers, BFGs, and melee weapons, although obviously they benefit rapid weapons the most. Further unfortunately, if you want to use a different pistol, you're going to need some luck to find any. Combat Pistols and Blasters are Exotic weapons, and it's common to finish games without seeing either. The three Unique pistols are even more rare.

However, if you are using a Pistol build and do manage to find even a [[Combat pistol]], the huge increase in power is likely to be what lets you win the game, especially if you manage to finish Son of a Gun 5.

Son of a Gun 5 puts all pistols at the firing speed cap of 0.1 seconds, or just barely below the cap with Dualgunner at .12 seconds. At that speed, even a pair of basic pistols skyrocket to an unbelievable 166 DPS, more than double what it was at SoG4, which itself is more than double what it was at SoG3. This maximum DPS is higher than a chaingun that is fully chainfiring with Son of a Bitch 5, Finesse 3, and Triggerhappy 2 (139.1 DPS) and costs far less ammo and far fewer trait picks. Even a plasma rifle with the same trait investment would only reach 130.1 DPS, and would need to be fully chainfiring to surpass SoG5 Dualgunner and reach a DPS of 196, but for all those cells and all those traits, you better be the king of DPS!

=== '''Advantages to using the Pistol as a Main Weapon''' ===
* Free gun! (In all but very specific challenges, you will start with a Pistol)
* Easy to find and stockpile ammo
* Dualgunner enables reliable one-hit kills on weaker enemies at maximum vision range
* Accurate without modding (or Eagle Eye if you don't mind using Aimed Shot)
* Fast reload time
* Firing speed can reach the cap at level 13, which offers both high DPS and flexibility in combat.

=== '''Disadvantages to using the Pistol as a Main Weapon''' ===
* Requires Pistol traits to become good, which are useless with other weapons
* Unlikely to find a better pistol
* Reliant on mods to maintain mid-game viability
* Bullet type damage is commonly resisted
* Need to reload frequently
* Cannot use [[10mm ammo chain|10mm Ammo Chains]] and [[Dualgunner]] at the same time
* [[Juggler]] can't switch to dual pistols, since if you have a pistol prepared, pressing the pistol's quickkey will switch to your prepared pistol instead of the one in your bag.

Strategy:Bullet Dance

2023-06-19T01:02:55Z

Vid-szhite: /* 0.9.9.7 */

== 0.9.9.7 ==

On Angel of Max Carnage, all of Bullet Dance's problems with inconsistency disappear and it gets to abuse its upsides gratuitously. You're effectively Sharpshooter but with rapid fire pistols. In this scenario, you should probably consider Bullet Dance, as it becomes one of the better options. With one level of Son of a Bitch and Son of a Gun 3, it knocks back on every hit. You can even use rapid weapons alongside your pistols, and that means [[Triggerhappy]] is no longer a dead level.

But real talk? If you're on any difficulty higher than Hey Not Too Rough, or playing anything other than Angel of Max Carnage, don't take Bullet Dance. That's the winning strategy. Just don't do it. Take literally anything else. Hell, play it the same but take Eagle Eye and Hellrunner and don't use a Mastery. Before I tried to make it work, it was already infamous for being the weakest of the pistol masteries by a landslide, and oh my god, it's worse than I thought. Once I actually got the darn thing working in a game, it felt worse than if I'd just not taken a mastery at all. You have to make so many concessions in every direction just to get there, and the "payoff" is actually worse than just staying masterless.

Let's go over why.

You're locked out of [[Strategy:Hellrunner|Hellrunner]]. You're going to be slow and you can't really dodge! Okay, but that can work in some builds. Not this, though! You usually compensate that with Intuition so you don't need to run away, you just see the battles coming before they surprise you, and even without that, you could definitely still do this if you could compensate for that with pure, raw, consistent DPS!

But wait! No Eagle Eye! No [[Eagle Eye]] means no [[Intuition]] AND inconsistent DPS! Bad bad bad bad bad. So what are you supposed to survive with, anyway? [[Tough as Nails]]? The one that's ineffective against plasma damage? That one? [[Badass]] sure doesn't do it, you need to be overhealed for that to have any effect aside from making rocket jumps go nowhere, which is really bad in a build that can't run! If you dip into Ironman enough times, you might as well just go [[Survivalist]] so you can take [[Eagle Eye]].

Ah, wouldn't you know it. The one pistol mastery that lets you double-dip into Son of a Bitch and Son of a Gun, and you're locked out of Eagle Eye, the one thing that would make that worth it. You only really need one level for pistol DPS is the saddest part. This locks your pistols at an inconsistent 75% accuracy at max range. You're only 50% likely to hit any [[Strategy:Dualgunner|dualgunner]] shots at the same time, and you could miss 5 shots in a row entirely unless you aim them. I thought firing fast was supposed to be the name of your game! No, it just necessitates an annoying playstyle of always aiming your shots at enemies that are outside of the 3-square point blank range.

Not being able to take Eagle Eye alongside SoG/SoB hurts against one specific enemy that will kill you and kill you from it: the [[former commando]]. On a Scavenger build with SoG/SoB, you can take a shot or two at them from long range before it becomes too risky to stand your ground against them and you have to retreat and let them enter melee range with you, and you fire fast enough to take them out even with a knockback proc. Or you can just switch to a plasma rifle and kill them safely. With Bullet Dance, firing at long range requires Aimed Shots, which is too slow and will invite a counterattack almost certainly, so you have to lure them into melee range... but if you have any levels of SoB, which you need, you'll knock them back with a max pistol damage roll, and they're at face-melting distance! So you better bring a plasma rifle just for them and Revenants, but thanks to your accuracy being shit, you might need a few turns of getting decked in the face.

Sad! One of the advantages of SoB/SoG stacking, being able to knock enemies back, is so unreliable at long range with Bullet Dance that it never really comes into play for you unless it would foil your plans of survival.

You can BARELY make this stop happening by adding 2 Agility mods to each of your pistols, but those only add +1 to the pistol you add it to, so you're going to need four of them (!!!!!!). Hope you find a Combat Pistol, which needs one less! You need to get lucky and will also be sucking those down like no tomorrow, and of course that means you're going to need Finesse 2 to get Whizkid 2. Well, at least now you can aim your shots faster.

and then once you get your two [[Son of a Bitch]] levels, you have to take a dead level to get [[Triggerhappy]], which does nothing for you until you get your capstone! [[Grammaton Cleric Beretta]] can use it, but you can't dualreload with that gun, and your accuracy isn't really good enough to use that feature anyway.

So because of that long detour, you'll be about halfway through Hell before Bullet Dance even comes online, just for getting what you need to survive, and by then, it doesn't kill nearly fast enough to justify what it does. Even if you managed to add Agility mods to your pistols, it feels like they miss even more, which is really bad because now you empty your pistols in three shots if all you have is one level of Triggerhappy. You empty them in TWO shots if you have two levels! If you try to get Reloader before you get the capstone, you'll beat a standard game before you get it, and you can't even aim your multi-shots, aimed shots is unaffected by Bullet Dance. Christ on a cracker! Where is the DPS supposed to come from?

Oh, and it gets worse. You don't just get to fire multiple bullets in your shots, either, it actually takes 50% longer ''per pistol'' to shoot now. So essentially it costs twice as long to fire as it did last level. So no matter what, you're firing at Aimed Shots speed. Wow! The annoying playstyle you tried to get rid of turned out to be the intended playstyle all along, and now it's here to stay forever! The one advantage of Pistol builds - easy target switching, fast firing speed, and ammo efficiency from lack of overkill - all gone! So now you're just worse [[Ammochain]]! You can't even use Ammo Chains to make the reloading less painful or annoying unless you go single pistol! Nor can you use [[speedloader pistol]]s because you need those Agility mods for the accuracy, and even with Whizkid 2, you can only add one each to an assembly! You have a build with all downsides and no upsides! It feels ''terrible.'' There is no "DPS" to be found here. You don't even save any firing time unless you have ''two levels'' of [[Triggerhappy]] first, so you're essentially just forced to fire twice every time you shoot! You'll spend more time Dualreloading than you will firing your guns, so it's not even fun, and you better not click too many times by accident, or you'll single-reload and you're a ''dead'' motherfucker.

But let's be real! You'll be a dead motherfucker long before you get the capstone if you try to go for this, and if you ever manage to get that far, my condolences. If you really want to take a pistol with Son of a Bitch, Eagle Eye, and Son of a Gun, and still have a Mastery, I recommend [[Strategy:Scavenger|Scavenger]], which doesn't have any of these issues! You can't take [[Strategy:Dualgunner|Dualgunner]] with it, but at least you can make your one pistol real good, and you don't need to throw away four agility mods that you desperately need for your armor!

[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 08:25, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Bullet Dance

2023-06-19T01:02:01Z

Vid-szhite:

== 0.9.9.7 ==

On Angel of Max Carnage, all of Bullet Dance's problems with including disappear and it gets to abuse its upsides gratuitously. You're effectively Sharpshooter but with rapid fire pistols. In this scenario, you should probably consider Bullet Dance, as it becomes one of the better options. With one level of Son of a Bitch and Son of a Gun 3, it knocks back on every hit. You can even use rapid weapons alongside your pistols, and that means [[Triggerhappy]] is no longer a dead level.

But real talk? If you're on any difficulty higher than Hey Not Too Rough, or playing anything other than Angel of Max Carnage, don't take Bullet Dance. That's the winning strategy. Just don't do it. Take literally anything else. Hell, play it the same but take Eagle Eye and Hellrunner and don't use a Mastery. Before I tried to make it work, it was already infamous for being the weakest of the pistol masteries by a landslide, and oh my god, it's worse than I thought. Once I actually got the darn thing working in a game, it felt worse than if I'd just not taken a mastery at all. You have to make so many concessions in every direction just to get there, and the "payoff" is actually worse than just staying masterless.

Let's go over why.

You're locked out of [[Strategy:Hellrunner|Hellrunner]]. You're going to be slow and you can't really dodge! Okay, but that can work in some builds. Not this, though! You usually compensate that with Intuition so you don't need to run away, you just see the battles coming before they surprise you, and even without that, you could definitely still do this if you could compensate for that with pure, raw, consistent DPS!

But wait! No Eagle Eye! No [[Eagle Eye]] means no [[Intuition]] AND inconsistent DPS! Bad bad bad bad bad. So what are you supposed to survive with, anyway? [[Tough as Nails]]? The one that's ineffective against plasma damage? That one? [[Badass]] sure doesn't do it, you need to be overhealed for that to have any effect aside from making rocket jumps go nowhere, which is really bad in a build that can't run! If you dip into Ironman enough times, you might as well just go [[Survivalist]] so you can take [[Eagle Eye]].

Ah, wouldn't you know it. The one pistol mastery that lets you double-dip into Son of a Bitch and Son of a Gun, and you're locked out of Eagle Eye, the one thing that would make that worth it. You only really need one level for pistol DPS is the saddest part. This locks your pistols at an inconsistent 75% accuracy at max range. You're only 50% likely to hit any [[Strategy:Dualgunner|dualgunner]] shots at the same time, and you could miss 5 shots in a row entirely unless you aim them. I thought firing fast was supposed to be the name of your game! No, it just necessitates an annoying playstyle of always aiming your shots at enemies that are outside of the 3-square point blank range.

Not being able to take Eagle Eye alongside SoG/SoB hurts against one specific enemy that will kill you and kill you from it: the [[former commando]]. On a Scavenger build with SoG/SoB, you can take a shot or two at them from long range before it becomes too risky to stand your ground against them and you have to retreat and let them enter melee range with you, and you fire fast enough to take them out even with a knockback proc. Or you can just switch to a plasma rifle and kill them safely. With Bullet Dance, firing at long range requires Aimed Shots, which is too slow and will invite a counterattack almost certainly, so you have to lure them into melee range... but if you have any levels of SoB, which you need, you'll knock them back with a max pistol damage roll, and they're at face-melting distance! So you better bring a plasma rifle just for them and Revenants, but thanks to your accuracy being shit, you might need a few turns of getting decked in the face.

Sad! One of the advantages of SoB/SoG stacking, being able to knock enemies back, is so unreliable at long range with Bullet Dance that it never really comes into play for you unless it would foil your plans of survival.

You can BARELY make this stop happening by adding 2 Agility mods to each of your pistols, but those only add +1 to the pistol you add it to, so you're going to need four of them (!!!!!!). Hope you find a Combat Pistol, which needs one less! You need to get lucky and will also be sucking those down like no tomorrow, and of course that means you're going to need Finesse 2 to get Whizkid 2. Well, at least now you can aim your shots faster.

and then once you get your two [[Son of a Bitch]] levels, you have to take a dead level to get [[Triggerhappy]], which does nothing for you until you get your capstone! [[Grammaton Cleric Beretta]] can use it, but you can't dualreload with that gun, and your accuracy isn't really good enough to use that feature anyway.

So because of that long detour, you'll be about halfway through Hell before Bullet Dance even comes online, just for getting what you need to survive, and by then, it doesn't kill nearly fast enough to justify what it does. Even if you managed to add Agility mods to your pistols, it feels like they miss even more, which is really bad because now you empty your pistols in three shots if all you have is one level of Triggerhappy. You empty them in TWO shots if you have two levels! If you try to get Reloader before you get the capstone, you'll beat a standard game before you get it, and you can't even aim your multi-shots, aimed shots is unaffected by Bullet Dance. Christ on a cracker! Where is the DPS supposed to come from?

Oh, and it gets worse. You don't just get to fire multiple bullets in your shots, either, it actually takes 50% longer ''per pistol'' to shoot now. So essentially it costs twice as long to fire as it did last level. So no matter what, you're firing at Aimed Shots speed. Wow! The annoying playstyle you tried to get rid of turned out to be the intended playstyle all along, and now it's here to stay forever! The one advantage of Pistol builds - easy target switching, fast firing speed, and ammo efficiency from lack of overkill - all gone! So now you're just worse [[Ammochain]]! You can't even use Ammo Chains to make the reloading less painful or annoying unless you go single pistol! Nor can you use [[speedloader pistol]]s because you need those Agility mods for the accuracy, and even with Whizkid 2, you can only add one each to an assembly! You have a build with all downsides and no upsides! It feels ''terrible.'' There is no "DPS" to be found here. You don't even save any firing time unless you have ''two levels'' of [[Triggerhappy]] first, so you're essentially just forced to fire twice every time you shoot! You'll spend more time Dualreloading than you will firing your guns, so it's not even fun, and you better not click too many times by accident, or you'll single-reload and you're a ''dead'' motherfucker.

But let's be real! You'll be a dead motherfucker long before you get the capstone if you try to go for this, and if you ever manage to get that far, my condolences. If you really want to take a pistol with Son of a Bitch, Eagle Eye, and Son of a Gun, and still have a Mastery, I recommend [[Strategy:Scavenger|Scavenger]], which doesn't have any of these issues! You can't take [[Strategy:Dualgunner|Dualgunner]] with it, but at least you can make your one pistol real good, and you don't need to throw away four agility mods that you desperately need for your armor!

[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 08:25, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Bullet Dance

2023-06-19T00:41:58Z

Vid-szhite:

== 0.9.9.7 ==

Real talk? If you're on any difficulty higher than Hey Not Too Rough, or playing anything other than Angel of Max Carnage, don't take Bullet Dance. That's the winning strategy. Just don't do it. Take literally anything else. Hell, play it the same but take Eagle Eye and Hellrunner and don't use a Mastery. Before I tried to make it work, it was already infamous for being the weakest of the pistol masteries by a landslide, and oh my god, it's worse than I thought. Once I actually got the darn thing working in a game, it felt worse than if I'd just not taken a mastery at all. You have to make so many concessions in every direction just to get there, and the "payoff" is actually worse than just staying masterless.

Let's go over why.

You're locked out of [[Strategy:Hellrunner|Hellrunner]]. You're going to be slow and you can't really dodge! Okay, but that can work in some builds. Not this, though! You usually compensate that with Intuition so you don't need to run away, you just see the battles coming before they surprise you, and even without that, you could definitely still do this if you could compensate for that with pure, raw, consistent DPS!

But wait! No Eagle Eye! No [[Eagle Eye]] means no [[Intuition]] AND inconsistent DPS! Bad bad bad bad bad. So what are you supposed to survive with, anyway? [[Tough as Nails]]? The one that's ineffective against plasma damage? That one? [[Badass]] sure doesn't do it, you need to be overhealed for that to have any effect aside from making rocket jumps go nowhere, which is really bad in a build that can't run! If you dip into Ironman enough times, you might as well just go [[Survivalist]] so you can take [[Eagle Eye]].

Ah, wouldn't you know it. The one pistol mastery that lets you double-dip into Son of a Bitch and Son of a Gun, and you're locked out of Eagle Eye, the one thing that would make that worth it. You only really need one level for pistol DPS is the saddest part. This locks your pistols at an inconsistent 75% accuracy at max range. You're only 50% likely to hit any [[Strategy:Dualgunner|dualgunner]] shots at the same time, and you could miss 5 shots in a row entirely unless you aim them. I thought firing fast was supposed to be the name of your game! No, it just necessitates an annoying playstyle of always aiming your shots at enemies that are outside of the 3-square point blank range.

Not being able to take Eagle Eye alongside SoG/SoB hurts against one specific enemy that will kill you and kill you from it: the [[former commando]]. On a Scavenger build with SoG/SoB, you can take a shot or two at them from long range before it becomes too risky to stand your ground against them and you have to retreat and let them enter melee range with you, and you fire fast enough to take them out even with a knockback proc. Or you can just switch to a plasma rifle and kill them safely. With Bullet Dance, firing at long range requires Aimed Shots, which is too slow and will invite a counterattack almost certainly, so you have to lure them into melee range... but if you have any levels of SoB, which you need, you'll knock them back with a max pistol damage roll, and they're at face-melting distance! So you better bring a plasma rifle just for them and Revenants, but thanks to your accuracy being shit, you might need a few turns of getting decked in the face.

Sad! One of the advantages of SoB/SoG stacking, being able to knock enemies back, is so unreliable at long range with Bullet Dance that it never really comes into play for you unless it would foil your plans of survival.

You can BARELY make this stop happening by adding 2 Agility mods to each of your pistols, but those only add +1 to the pistol you add it to, so you're going to need four of them (!!!!!!). Hope you find a Combat Pistol, which needs one less! You need to get lucky and will also be sucking those down like no tomorrow, and of course that means you're going to need Finesse 2 to get Whizkid 2. Well, at least now you can aim your shots faster.

and then once you get your two [[Son of a Bitch]] levels, you have to take a dead level to get [[Triggerhappy]], which does nothing for you until you get your capstone! [[Grammaton Cleric Beretta]] can use it, but you can't dualreload with that gun, and your accuracy isn't really good enough to use that feature anyway.

So because of that long detour, you'll be about halfway through Hell before Bullet Dance even comes online, just for getting what you need to survive, and by then, it doesn't kill nearly fast enough to justify what it does. Even if you managed to add Agility mods to your pistols, it feels like they miss even more, which is really bad because now you empty your pistols in three shots if all you have is one level of Triggerhappy. You empty them in TWO shots if you have two levels! If you try to get Reloader before you get the capstone, you'll beat a standard game before you get it, and you can't even aim your multi-shots, aimed shots is unaffected by Bullet Dance. Christ on a cracker! Where is the DPS supposed to come from?

Oh, and it gets worse. You don't just get to fire multiple bullets in your shots, either, it actually takes 50% longer ''per pistol'' to shoot now. So essentially it costs twice as long to fire as it did last level. So no matter what, you're firing at Aimed Shots speed. Wow! The annoying playstyle you tried to get rid of turned out to be the intended playstyle all along, and now it's here to stay forever! The one advantage of Pistol builds - easy target switching, fast firing speed, and ammo efficiency from lack of overkill - all gone! So now you're just worse [[Ammochain]]! You can't even use Ammo Chains to make the reloading less painful or annoying unless you go single pistol! Nor can you use [[speedloader pistol]]s because you need those Agility mods for the accuracy, and even with Whizkid 2, you can only add one each to an assembly! You have a build with all downsides and no upsides! It feels ''terrible.'' There is no "DPS" to be found here. You don't even save any firing time unless you have ''two levels'' of [[Triggerhappy]] first, so you're essentially just forced to fire twice every time you shoot! You'll spend more time Dualreloading than you will firing your guns, so it's not even fun, and you better not click too many times by accident, or you'll single-reload and you're a ''dead'' motherfucker.

But let's be real! You'll be a dead motherfucker long before you get the capstone if you try to go for this, and if you ever manage to get that far, my condolences. If you really want to take a pistol with Son of a Bitch, Eagle Eye, and Son of a Gun, and still have a Mastery, I recommend [[Strategy:Scavenger|Scavenger]], which doesn't have any of these issues! You can't take [[Strategy:Dualgunner|Dualgunner]] with it, but at least you can make your one pistol real good, and you don't need to throw away four agility mods that you desperately need for your armor!

[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 08:25, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Bullet Dance

2023-06-19T00:31:07Z

Vid-szhite: /* 0.9.9.7 */

== 0.9.9.7 ==

Real talk? If you're on any difficulty higher than Hey Not Too Rough, don't take Bullet Dance. That's the winning strategy. Just don't do it. Take literally anything else. Hell, play it the same but take Eagle Eye and Hellrunner and don't use a Mastery. Before I tried to make it work, it was already infamous for being the weakest of the pistol masteries by a landslide, and oh my god, it's worse than I thought. Once I actually got the darn thing working in a game, it felt worse than if I'd just not taken a mastery at all. You have to make so many concessions in every direction just to get there, and the "payoff" is actually worse than just staying masterless.

Let's go over why.

You're locked out of [[Strategy:Hellrunner|Hellrunner]]. You're going to be slow and you can't really dodge! Okay, but that can work in some builds. Not this, though! You usually compensate that with Intuition so you don't need to run away, you just see the battles coming before they surprise you, and even without that, you could definitely still do this if you could compensate for that with pure, raw, consistent DPS!

But wait! No Eagle Eye! No [[Eagle Eye]] means no [[Intuition]] AND inconsistent DPS! Bad bad bad bad bad. So what are you supposed to survive with, anyway? [[Tough as Nails]]? The one that's ineffective against plasma damage? That one? [[Badass]] sure doesn't do it, you need to be overhealed for that to have any effect aside from making rocket jumps go nowhere, which is really bad in a build that can't run! If you dip into Ironman enough times, you might as well just go [[Survivalist]] so you can take [[Eagle Eye]].

Ah, wouldn't you know it. The one pistol mastery that lets you double-dip into Son of a Bitch and Son of a Gun, and you're locked out of Eagle Eye, the one thing that would make that worth it. You only really need one level for pistol DPS is the saddest part. This locks your pistols at an inconsistent 75% accuracy at max range. You're only 50% likely to hit any [[Strategy:Dualgunner|dualgunner]] shots at the same time, and you could miss 5 shots in a row entirely unless you aim them. I thought firing fast was supposed to be the name of your game! No, it just necessitates an annoying playstyle of always aiming your shots at enemies that are outside of the 3-square point blank range.

Not being able to take Eagle Eye alongside SoG/SoB hurts against one specific enemy that will kill you and kill you from it: the [[former commando]]. On a Scavenger build with SoG/SoB, you can take a shot or two at them from long range before it becomes too risky to stand your ground against them and you have to retreat and let them enter melee range with you, and you fire fast enough to take them out even with a knockback proc. Or you can just switch to a plasma rifle and kill them safely. With Bullet Dance, firing at long range requires Aimed Shots, which is too slow and will invite a counterattack almost certainly, so you have to lure them into melee range... but if you have any levels of SoB, which you need, you'll knock them back with a max pistol damage roll, and they're at face-melting distance! So you better bring a plasma rifle just for them and Revenants, but thanks to your accuracy being shit, you might need a few turns of getting decked in the face.

Sad! One of the advantages of SoB/SoG stacking, being able to knock enemies back, is so unreliable at long range with Bullet Dance that it never really comes into play for you unless it would foil your plans of survival.

You can BARELY make this stop happening by adding 2 Agility mods to each of your pistols, but those only add +1 to the pistol you add it to, so you're going to need four of them (!!!!!!). Hope you find a Combat Pistol, which needs one less! You need to get lucky and will also be sucking those down like no tomorrow, and of course that means you're going to need Finesse 2 to get Whizkid 2. Well, at least now you can aim your shots faster.

and then once you get your two [[Son of a Bitch]] levels, you have to take a dead level to get [[Triggerhappy]], which does nothing for you until you get your capstone! [[Grammaton Cleric Beretta]] can use it, but you can't dualreload with that gun, and your accuracy isn't really good enough to use that feature anyway.

So because of that long detour, you'll be about halfway through Hell before Bullet Dance even comes online, just for getting what you need to survive, and by then, it doesn't kill nearly fast enough to justify what it does. Even if you managed to add Agility mods to your pistols, it feels like they miss even more, which is really bad because now you empty your pistols in three shots if all you have is one level of Triggerhappy. You empty them in TWO shots if you have two levels! If you try to get Reloader before you get the capstone, you'll beat a standard game before you get it, and you can't even aim your multi-shots, aimed shots is unaffected by Bullet Dance. Christ on a cracker! Where is the DPS supposed to come from?

Oh, and it gets worse. You don't just get to fire multiple bullets in your shots, either, it actually takes 50% longer ''per pistol'' to shoot now. So essentially it costs twice as long to fire as it did last level. So no matter what, you're firing at Aimed Shots speed. Wow! The annoying playstyle you tried to get rid of turned out to be the intended playstyle all along, and now it's here to stay forever! The one advantage of Pistol builds - easy target switching, fast firing speed, and ammo efficiency from lack of overkill - all gone! So now you're just worse [[Ammochain]]! You can't even use Ammo Chains to make the reloading less painful or annoying unless you go single pistol! Nor can you use [[speedloader pistol]]s because you need those Agility mods for the accuracy, and even with Whizkid 2, you can only add one each to an assembly! You have a build with all downsides and no upsides! It feels ''terrible.'' There is no "DPS" to be found here. You don't even save any firing time unless you have ''two levels'' of [[Triggerhappy]] first, so you're essentially just forced to fire twice every time you shoot! You'll spend more time Dualreloading than you will firing your guns, so it's not even fun, and you better not click too many times by accident, or you'll single-reload and you're a ''dead'' motherfucker.

But let's be real! You'll be a dead motherfucker long before you get the capstone if you try to go for this, and if you ever manage to get that far, my condolences. If you really want to take a pistol with Son of a Bitch, Eagle Eye, and Son of a Gun, and still have a Mastery, I recommend [[Strategy:Scavenger|Scavenger]], which doesn't have any of these issues! You can't take [[Strategy:Dualgunner|Dualgunner]] with it, but at least you can make your one pistol real good, and you don't need to throw away four agility mods that you desperately need for your armor!

[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 08:25, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Bullet Dance

2023-06-19T00:29:08Z

Vid-szhite: /* 0.9.9.7 */

== 0.9.9.7 ==

Real talk? If you're on any difficulty higher than Hey Not Too Rough, don't take Bullet Dance. That's the winning strategy. Just don't do it. Take literally anything else. Hell, play it the same but take Eagle Eye and Hellrunner and don't use a Mastery. Before I tried to make it work, it was already infamous for being the weakest of the pistol masteries by a landslide, and oh my god, it's worse than I thought. Once I actually got the darn thing working in a game, it felt worse than if I'd just not taken a mastery at all. You have to make so many concessions in every direction just to get there, and the "payoff" is actually worse than just staying masterless.

Let's go over why.

You're locked out of [[Strategy:Hellrunner|Hellrunner]]. You're going to be slow and you can't really dodge! Okay, but that can work in some builds. Not this, though! You usually compensate that with Intuition so you don't need to run away, you just see the battles coming before they surprise you, and even without that, you could definitely still do this if you could compensate for that with pure, raw, consistent DPS!

But wait! No Eagle Eye! No [[Eagle Eye]] means no [[Intuition]] AND inconsistent DPS! Bad bad bad bad bad. So what are you supposed to survive with, anyway? [[Tough as Nails]]? The one that's ineffective against plasma damage? That one? [[Badass]] sure doesn't do it, you need to be overhealed for that to have any effect aside from making rocket jumps go nowhere, which is really bad in a build that can't run! If you dip into Ironman enough times, you might as well just go [[Survivalist]] so you can take [[Eagle Eye]].

Ah, wouldn't you know it. The one pistol mastery that lets you double-dip into Son of a Bitch and Son of a Gun, and you're locked out of Eagle Eye, the one thing that would make that worth it. You only really need one level for pistol DPS is the saddest part. This locks your pistols at an inconsistent 75% accuracy at max range. You're only 50% likely to hit any [[Strategy:Dualgunner|dualgunner]] shots at the same time, and you could miss 5 shots in a row entirely unless you aim them. I thought firing fast was supposed to be the name of your game! No, it just necessitates an annoying playstyle of always aiming your shots at enemies that are outside of the 3-square point blank range. You see, not being able to take Eagle Eye alongside SoG/SoB hurts against one specific enemy that will kill you and kill you from it: the [[former commando]]. On a Scavenger build with SoG/SoB, you can take a shot or two at them from long range before it becomes too risky to stand your ground against them and you have to retreat and let them enter melee range with you, and you fire fast enough to take them out even with a knockback proc. Or you can just switch to a plasma rifle and kill them safely. With Bullet Dance, firing at long range requires Aimed Shots, which is too slow and will invite a counterattack almost certainly, so you have to lure them into melee range... but if you have any levels of SoB, which you need, you'll knock them back with a max pistol damage roll, and they're at face-melting distance! So you better bring a plasma rifle just for them and Revenants, but thanks to your accuracy being shit, you might need a few turns of getting decked in the face.

Sad! One of the advantages of SoB/SoG stacking, being able to knock enemies back, is so unreliable at long range fire Bullet Dance that it never really comes into play for you unless it would foil your plans of survival.

You can BARELY make this stop happening by adding 2 Agility mods to each of your pistols, but those only add +1 to the pistol you add it to, so you're going to need four of them (!!!!!!). Hope you find a Combat Pistol, which needs one less! You need to get lucky and will also be sucking those down like no tomorrow, and of course that means you're going to need Finesse 2 to get Whizkid 2. Well, at least now you can aim your shots faster.

and then once you get your two [[Son of a Bitch]] levels, you have to take a dead level to get [[Triggerhappy]], which does nothing for you until you get your capstone! [[Grammaton Cleric Beretta]] can use it, but you can't dualreload with that gun, and your accuracy isn't really good enough to use that feature anyway.

So because of that long detour, you'll be about halfway through Hell before Bullet Dance even comes online, just for getting what you need to survive, and by then, it doesn't kill nearly fast enough to justify what it does. Even if you managed to add Agility mods to your pistols, it feels like they miss even more, which is really bad because now you empty your pistols in three shots if all you have is one level of Triggerhappy. You empty them in TWO shots if you have two levels! If you try to get Reloader before you get the capstone, you'll beat a standard game before you get it, and you can't even aim your multi-shots, aimed shots is unaffected by Bullet Dance. Christ on a cracker! Where is the DPS supposed to come from?

Oh, and it gets worse. You don't just get to fire multiple bullets in your shots, either, it actually takes 50% longer ''per pistol'' to shoot now. So essentially it costs twice as long to fire as it did last level. So no matter what, you're firing at Aimed Shots speed. Wow! The annoying playstyle you tried to get rid of turned out to be the intended playstyle all along, and now it's here to stay forever! The one advantage of Pistol builds - easy target switching, fast firing speed, and ammo efficiency from lack of overkill - all gone! So now you're just worse [[Ammochain]]! You can't even use Ammo Chains to make the reloading less painful or annoying unless you go single pistol! Nor can you use [[speedloader pistol]]s because you need those Agility mods for the accuracy, and even with Whizkid 2, you can only add one each to an assembly! You have a build with all downsides and no upsides! It feels ''terrible.'' There is no "DPS" to be found here. You don't even save any firing time unless you have ''two levels'' of [[Triggerhappy]] first, so you're essentially just forced to fire twice every time you shoot! You'll spend more time Dualreloading than you will firing your guns, so it's not even fun, and you better not click too many times by accident, or you'll single-reload and you're a ''dead'' motherfucker.

But let's be real! You'll be a dead motherfucker long before you get the capstone if you try to go for this, and if you ever manage to get that far, my condolences. If you really want to take a pistol with Son of a Bitch, Eagle Eye, and Son of a Gun, and still have a Mastery, I recommend [[Strategy:Scavenger|Scavenger]], which doesn't have any of these issues! You can't take [[Strategy:Dualgunner|Dualgunner]] with it, but at least you can make your one pistol real good, and you don't need to throw away four agility mods that you desperately need for your armor!

[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 08:25, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Barrel

2023-06-17T07:34:12Z

Vid-szhite: Barrels of acid and napalm have visibly smaller explosions that deal more damage.

{| style="rules: cols; border: 2px solid darkred; border-spacing: 0; font-size: 90%; margin: 0.25em 0.5em;"
|colspan=11 style="background: darkred; color: yellow; font-size: 120%; text-align: center"|'''Barrels O'Fun'''
|-
|style="text-align: center; padding: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 1px 0" width=100|'''Name'''
|style="text-align: center; padding: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 1px 1px" width=50|'''Appearance'''
|style="text-align: center; padding: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 1px 1px" width=50|'''HP'''
|style="text-align: center; padding: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 1px 1px" width=50|'''Armor'''
|style="text-align: center; padding: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 1px 1px" width=50|'''Fragile'''
|style="text-align: center; padding: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 1px 1px"|'''Special'''
|- style="background: #333;"
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|barrel of fuel
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''0'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|2
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|3
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|yes
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|Can be pushed. When destroyed, creates a radius 4 [[explosions|explosion]] dealing 5d5 [[Damage type#fire|fire damage]].
|- style="background: #333;"
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|barrel of acid
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''0'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|2
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|4
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|yes
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|Can be pushed. When destroyed, creates a radius 3 [[explosions|explosion]] dealing 6d6 [[Damage type#acid|acid damage]], sometimes leaving behind acid tiles.
|-
|style="text-align: left; padding-right: 1ex; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 0"|barrel of napalm
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|'''0'''
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|2
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|5
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 1px 0 1px"|yes
|style="text-align: center; border: solid darkred; border-width: 0 0 0 1px"|Can be pushed. When destroyed, creates a radius 2 [[explosions|explosion]] dealing 7d7 [[Damage type#fire|fire damage]], sometimes (often) leaving behind lava tiles.
|}

Strategy:Scavenger

2023-06-13T21:54:17Z

Vid-szhite: /* Rapid Start -> Pistol Endgame */

{{infostrat switch}}

The real power of Scavenger comes in what it doesn't lock you out of. [[Hellrunner]]'s open season, so you already know it's gonna be good, but imagine a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] build that can also take 5 levels of [[Son of a Bitch]] while also turning every shitty unique you don't need into a rare mod that you do. In this example, that's what we'll be doing. Since this is a General Master build, you can technically do whatever you want, so go ahead and try something else too, but Son of a Gun has by far the best endgame of all the ranged weapon traits, pistols don't need accuracy that urgently, and it uses your starting weapon and your starting mod. Taking a pistol build as a Scavenger also maximizes the chance the special guns you get are guns you won't need, which means more mods for you, which is great when it also builds you into a gun that benefits greatly from being modded to the gills, and if you do manage to find one of the rare pistols, jackpot! For these reasons, this is a high-difficulty [[Angel of 100]] and [[Archangel of 666]] machine. It can be very effective in a standard game as well, but it really shows its full power in very long games where it can get all the Son of a Bitch levels it wants.

Think of this build as [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]]'s early-blooming sibling. It blooms faster than [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] because it's not forced into 3 levels of Eagle Eye before it's allowed to get good, and also forces you to take things you'd want to take as a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] anyway, like Intuition and Whizkid 2, and since the capstone isn't useful until you start finding useless rare guns anyway, it doesn't hurt you at all to delay it until you get all the other goodies you want first. Once you get past the early levels, it starts to snowball out of control, and since the plan is to take Son of a Bitch too, your other weapons also get better, but your rapid weapons will get even better than the rest, so you don't necessarily have to sigh and discard all the cool rapid weapons you find. You could even dip into Brute later on if you find the cleaver! You can't take Dualgunner or Triggerhappy or Berserker, but you really won't need them. You'll feel OP enough as it is.

== Standard Game UV ==
At level 1, take Son of a Gun and use your starting T-mod on your pistol. Unless you're feeling bold or get really good RNG in level 2, you're going to be skipping Hell's Arena and going for diminished Chained Court for the mods and cells it gives you. This will allow you to assemble an Energy Pistol in time for Revenants to be showing up. Unfortunately, this means that you'll be reliant on RNG for a Rocket Launcher, but it's typically uncommon to go the entirety of Phobos without one. In one of my full-win games, though, I didn't get a rocket launcher until Deimos 1.

Ironically, despite not getting as many rare guns in standard games, you will actually be getting a lot more mods, which you can use on your starting guns with impunity because their opportunity cost is effectively zero once you get your capstone. You can get the mods all back later when you need them, so you can basically carry individual mods inside each of your guns where they're useful.

Since you're going fast-DPS rather than any defensive route, you need to either max out Son of a Gun first or take SoG 2 > Eagle Eye > SoG 3. By level 5, you should be at Chained Court, and here's where the build can diverge a bit. If you find enough mods to make an assembly you want, particularly the [[energy pistol]], you can go for Whizkid 2 right away. P-mod your starting T-modded pistol but don't assemble it until WK2. If you don't get the mods you need in the amounts you need, go for Intuition first. Feel free to take Intuition 2 anytime you like, but modded weapons are where this build really takes off, and pistols are probably the most useful modded weapons because of how fast they fire and how reliant they are on mods and assemblies in standard play.

By the time you reach Deimos Lab/Hell's Armory, you should be ready to take your capstone. Feel free to hold off on it until you find a special weapon you don't need or your older guns outlive their usefulness. From here on out, start leveling [[Son of a Bitch]] and rely on your gear to let you run fast and facetank things rather than take [[Hellrunner]] to dodge. To this end, you should have at least one [[Fireproof armor|Fireproof Red Armor]]+P by the time you reach the Cyberdemon, but it helps to have two. In one run, I found two Sniper packs in Deimos Lab, and the P3S2 pistol I created carried me to a full win alongside Intuition 2.

Adapt to what you get. Anytime it's been many levels since you considered whipping a modded/special gun out, disassemble it and get a mod for the gear you're actually using. You probably won't get past SoB 3 by the time you get to the Mastermind, but after you see the crazy shit you can do with just one basic modded pistol double-dipping Son of a Gun ''and'' Son of a Bitch, you certainly won't regret not being a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]]. You may even regret you didn't play this instead of a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]]. They feel very similar. [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] probably does pull ahead in overall DPS with fewer traits required, but by pigeonholing you into Eagle Eye 3 and pressuring you to get to the capstone ASAP, it pushes you away from taking Intuition and Whizkid, both of which greatly diminishes the chances you'll actually get to your capstone, and since Scavenger can get more mods out of everything on top of being forced into Whizkid 2 and Intuition, you're actually steered in a more helpful direction for going the distance.

The advantage Scavenger has over [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] is that Scavenger can not only go for Whizkid 2 and Intuition 2 as part of its capstone build order, it isn't totally locked out of going for Son of a Bitch to get more DPS along the way. [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] is totally reliant on its capstone for all its DPS, and it's forced to take Eagle Eye 3 before it can do that, so any detours you take HAVE to be planned out and worth it as a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]], but for a Scavenger, detours are all part of the plan in the first place. Even if you end up never scavenging anything... oh well! Don't take the capstone! Take one more level of Son of a Bitch! You have a gun that kills everything, a set of armor for every occasion, more shoes than your girlfriend, and you're winning the game. What's to complain about?

== Angel of 100 ==

: TL;DR: SoG1 > SoG2 > SoG3 > EE1 > SoB1 > SoB2 > SoB3 > [EE2/WK1] > [EE2/Int1/WK1/WK2] > [EE2/Int1/WK1/WK2] > [Int1/WK2] > MSc > Int2 > SoG4 > SoG5 > SoB4 > SoB5 > UP TO YOU LOL

For UV/Nightmare Ao100, take Son of a Gun and immediately use the Technical mod on your pistol, because you are guaranteed to start with a pistol, and since there is no Entryway it's entirely possible for you to spawn on level 1 right next to a Demon with no Shotguns or Shotgun Guys on the level and no armor in sight for 6 floors (and any that does spawn gets stolen by the Barons of Hell anyway). You can start taking Eagle Eye and go for Intuition right away, but I recommend you max out SoG first, because the most reliable way to reduce incoming damage is to kill fast, and on high difficulty, you could be fighting Barons as early as level 2. The biggest threat to your life on high difficulty is a horde of powerful enemies that overwhelm your cover. Even Rapid builds struggle to get strong enough fast enough, and they suffer greatly from being surrounded. They overkill smaller enemies who die after the second bullet and can't knock back that Baron of Hell that'll slash you a new vagina if he rounds the corner, so when faced with a horde, rapid builds have to eat chips at every meal, which is bad for your life expectancy. You need to become good at killing things fast, and SoG3 with that T-modded Pistol does that. If you want that mod back, you can disassemble the gun with Scavenger later.

Anyway, take [[Son of a Gun]] on levels 1, 2, and 3. At level 4, take one level of Eagle Eye. You do need some accuracy, but thankfully a pistol really only needs one level for now.

From 5-7, max out Son of a Bitch. You need to be able to knock things back with your starting pistol, because if you're on UV you've been facing Barons for a while now and are unlikely to come across a Combat Pistol because those are more rare than the Uniques for some reason.

With just one level of SoB, you can knock things back with a max damage roll, which is already something a Sharpshooter can't do by itself until level 12, and with each level of SoB it gets more reliable. You shoot 3 times a second by now, so you have many chances to knock enemies back for each of their actions, and right here is where this build starts to overtake Sharpshooter. What Sharpshooter builds struggle with the most is surviving to level 7 after their power plateaus at level 4, and right from level 5 it can do something a Sharpshooter isn't even guaranteed to be able to do with their level 7 Mastery. You don't even have yours yet!

Sharpshooter can't actually knock things back without at least a P-modded pistol or SoG4, which is why level 12 is what Sharpshooter has to wait for if they get unlucky. Being able to do this can keep Barons from even fighting you, not to mention you're doing more damage so you kill faster and can push things into lava and acid. You can also more easily one-shot zombies, so you take less chip damage when one walks into vision as you're fighting something else, and they won't get the chance to use up those Health Packs and Phase Devices, instead popping like a piñata as they deliver them right to your feet. The amount of resources you'll save from that alone will start to make a big difference, and this is something Rapid builds can't match because enemies cheat and can use these items in the middle of your burst, even though that would be impossible for you.

By the time you get SoB3, you'll FEEL like a Sharpshooter. You will arguably be better than one, actually, because while sharpshooters always do 11 damage per hit, your average damage is 11 but you can hit a maximum of 14, both at level 7.

And oh right, you need to actually finish your way to [[Scavenger]], but this build benefits from the freedom to delay its own Mastery until you need it, so what you dip into first on the way there is up to you. If you've got a burning need to make a Cerberus [[Duelist Armor]] and half your bag is mods you're waiting to use, you can take [[Whizkid]] at 8 and 9, and don't worry if you made any [[assemblies]] that become useless later, Scavenger gets to turn those into mods too anyway.

If you're not there yet, though, take a second level of [[Eagle Eye]] at level 8 and get [[Intuition]] at level 9. I'd get both levels of Intuition eventually even though the second is technically optional. Being able to sense enemies is obviously incredibly useful, but even just being able to sense powerups means you can sense the computer maps, and since you're a Technician, you can see all the enemies with any computer map. Not to mention, you get to play around knowing what levers do.

Whichever of the two paths you took first, take the second one at level 10 and 11.

Now you're level 12, and as stated, you can still delay the capstone until you need it, and if you don't need it, you can veer off into a masterless run and take literally whatever else you want! The rest of the way is up to you. I'd max out Son of a Gun and Son of a Bitch first, though, because right there is where it's clearly far and away just inarguably better than Sharpshooter, because a Sharpshooter with SoG5 would always be doing 13 damage a shot with a basic pistol, but once you get SoB5, you do almost that much damage on a minimum roll now, and you both fire just as fast. You'll be doing 12-18 damage with just a basic unmodded pistol, and you'll be at the firing speed cap to boot, so you'll just be deleting enemies with one click before they can even react. You'll even use the unique pistols better, especially the Grammaton Cleric Beretta on full auto, which for you deals a minimum of 66 damage if all bullets connect but roll a 1, or as much as 102 damage if you get extra lucky and all bullets roll max too. Meanwhile a Sharpshooter would be doing a maximum of 72 damage if all bullets connect. Crazy. This is why you can't take Triggerhappy, because you'd be doing almost double their damage with it if you could take that too.

From there, I'd take [[Hellrunner]] so that you can move as fast as you shoot, as well as [[Dodgemaster]] since you're dipping there anyway. You need to run fast in case your cover gets overwhelmed or you need to space to reload. Dip into melee combat with Brute if you want! You'll benefit from Son of a Bitch there too. I wouldn't bother with Finesse or Juggler, since you hit the pistol firing speed cap without Finesse, and Pistols are clearly your bread and butter. But heck, maybe you don't want to go all the way with pistols! Maybe you want [[Shottyman]] so you can use every gun! Just watch that bag space.

And of course, with your capstone, anytime you find a weapon you don't need, you can turn it into a mod, which means you're going to always be geared to the sky all the way from down in hell. Make any assembly you want, but from experience, pistols benefit way more from not having an assembly and just being modded to hell, so ahead and just throw mods on things! If you only used a single mod on a weapon and you'd like that mod back, you can disassemble the weapon and just get it back. You'll even get Nano packs and Onyx packs from Uniques sometimes!

Honestly, the power level of this build might embolden you enough to consider doing a masterless build if you didn't veer off into one already. It's so good, and I never would have thought to try it if I wasn't frustrated with all the luck you need for Sharpshooter to take off! Ironically, it presents a strong case for allowing Sharpshooter to take Son of a Bitch, since it basically does what Sharpshooter does without forcing it to take too many levels of Eagle Eye, and then it gets even better and gets to do crazy things with mods.

[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 03:40, 21 May 2023 (UTC)

== Rapid Start -> Pistol Endgame Ao100 ==

There is another way that may perhaps be more consistent for some players. While going outright Pistols first can be effective, it also takes a heavy amount of investment before it gets truly good. A safer way to play involves going for Eagle Eye 2 > Son of a Bitch 1 > Intuition 2 first, which naturally means leaning into rapid weapons at the start of the game. At that point, you really need all the firepower you can get on UV and up, and bullets are so everywhere that you'll probably have 9 stacks of bullets even if you fully chainfire multiple times in literally every encounter.

Because Rapids are your go-to for the first 25 or so levels, you should lean into them as hard as you can, and take at least Eagle Eye 2/Son of a Bitch 3. Don't worry about Son of a Gun just yet, finish Scavenger and then get [[Hellrunner]] 2, and once you get to level 12, get [[Hellrunner]] 3 and [[Son of a Bitch]] 4 and 5.

However! You do eventually need to go Pistols in this build, because where going pure rapids fails in this build is mid-to-late game. Right around floor 50, you hit an ammo drought where Formers mostly stop spawning for a bit, and so does the ammo for your guns. Every few levels you'll be hit with one of these, so it becomes necessary to transition into Pistols in order to survive multiple levels with limited ammo supply. You may have found a Minigun and gotten too excited to use it, only to realize that it drains ammo twice as fast as the Chaingun you've long since disassembled. But even if you didn't find a minigun, even a simple chaingun will become too hard on your ammo eventually, and even if you get a nanomachic, pistols do fill an important niche in this build, so here is where you start taking Son of a Gun.

The kind of pistol you should make is what I call a sniper pistol, which is a normally-modded pistol with 2 sniper mods attached to it and whatever else you want (I recommend bulk mods over power). Sniper mods happen to be something Scavenger is good at finding with its ability being what it is, so this build is perhaps the best suited to wielding it. This gun hits offscreen enemies so reliably it's better than having a nanomachic in some cases. Definitely better than any and all of the pistol uniques, so unless you want one for funsies, disassemble them to try to get yourself some sniper mods. Use a Combat Pistol as your sniper pistol base if at all possible, but any pistol will do. Even just a basic one becomes so overpowered with 2 sniper mods that you'll wonder why you never tried this before.

You see, you already have Son of a Bitch 5, and now you're double dipping those damage bonuses, and by the time you hit son of a gun 3, you'll be knocking back enemies just about every shot. At that point, it becomes straight up inefficient to use anything but a sniper pistol. You knock enemies back so much they never spend any time in your vision range, and you have Intuition 2 besides, so if you don't have a sniper pistol, it's up to RNG if you finish off the enemy you knocked into the fog or if you have to reload and they get to walk into view and throw a blob of acid at you. The same happens with a nanomachic plasma rifle. Good as it is, sometimes you really just have to find out which purple X is the arch-vile and kill it before all its friends start swarming you. This is what a sniper pistol excels at.

But why not use two sniper mods on a rapid weapon? Because ammo, that's why! Thanks to Son of a Gun + Son of a Bitch stacking, pistols are the most ammo-efficient firearms in the game. With SoB5+SoG5, you'll one-shot every former in sight with just a single bullet and 0.1 second of fire time apiece. You'll be killing barons and cacodemons in less bullets than it takes a chaingun and in less time too. Bulk mods should be used over power mods if you don't have a combat pistol because reloading is the slowest part of your game by now, and you need to be able to shoot lots of small things rather than just have more power for big things. The big things will die fast too, but having to reload every 6 bullets will make your DPS unreliable, you should try to have at least 10. You can't mod a nanomachic with 2 sniper mods, and you should be aiming for a nanomachic plasma rifle too at the very least. Even after you get your nanomachic plasma gun, you really will have good reason to keep on using your sniper pistol, but now you can disassemble the old chaingun and only keep 1-2 stacks of bullets and 0 stacks of cells, leaving the rest of your bag free for hoardi-ahem, for carrying emergency supplies. Yeah. [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 21:53, 13 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Scavenger

2023-06-13T21:53:39Z

Vid-szhite:

{{infostrat switch}}

The real power of Scavenger comes in what it doesn't lock you out of. [[Hellrunner]]'s open season, so you already know it's gonna be good, but imagine a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] build that can also take 5 levels of [[Son of a Bitch]] while also turning every shitty unique you don't need into a rare mod that you do. In this example, that's what we'll be doing. Since this is a General Master build, you can technically do whatever you want, so go ahead and try something else too, but Son of a Gun has by far the best endgame of all the ranged weapon traits, pistols don't need accuracy that urgently, and it uses your starting weapon and your starting mod. Taking a pistol build as a Scavenger also maximizes the chance the special guns you get are guns you won't need, which means more mods for you, which is great when it also builds you into a gun that benefits greatly from being modded to the gills, and if you do manage to find one of the rare pistols, jackpot! For these reasons, this is a high-difficulty [[Angel of 100]] and [[Archangel of 666]] machine. It can be very effective in a standard game as well, but it really shows its full power in very long games where it can get all the Son of a Bitch levels it wants.

Think of this build as [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]]'s early-blooming sibling. It blooms faster than [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] because it's not forced into 3 levels of Eagle Eye before it's allowed to get good, and also forces you to take things you'd want to take as a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] anyway, like Intuition and Whizkid 2, and since the capstone isn't useful until you start finding useless rare guns anyway, it doesn't hurt you at all to delay it until you get all the other goodies you want first. Once you get past the early levels, it starts to snowball out of control, and since the plan is to take Son of a Bitch too, your other weapons also get better, but your rapid weapons will get even better than the rest, so you don't necessarily have to sigh and discard all the cool rapid weapons you find. You could even dip into Brute later on if you find the cleaver! You can't take Dualgunner or Triggerhappy or Berserker, but you really won't need them. You'll feel OP enough as it is.

== Standard Game UV ==
At level 1, take Son of a Gun and use your starting T-mod on your pistol. Unless you're feeling bold or get really good RNG in level 2, you're going to be skipping Hell's Arena and going for diminished Chained Court for the mods and cells it gives you. This will allow you to assemble an Energy Pistol in time for Revenants to be showing up. Unfortunately, this means that you'll be reliant on RNG for a Rocket Launcher, but it's typically uncommon to go the entirety of Phobos without one. In one of my full-win games, though, I didn't get a rocket launcher until Deimos 1.

Ironically, despite not getting as many rare guns in standard games, you will actually be getting a lot more mods, which you can use on your starting guns with impunity because their opportunity cost is effectively zero once you get your capstone. You can get the mods all back later when you need them, so you can basically carry individual mods inside each of your guns where they're useful.

Since you're going fast-DPS rather than any defensive route, you need to either max out Son of a Gun first or take SoG 2 > Eagle Eye > SoG 3. By level 5, you should be at Chained Court, and here's where the build can diverge a bit. If you find enough mods to make an assembly you want, particularly the [[energy pistol]], you can go for Whizkid 2 right away. P-mod your starting T-modded pistol but don't assemble it until WK2. If you don't get the mods you need in the amounts you need, go for Intuition first. Feel free to take Intuition 2 anytime you like, but modded weapons are where this build really takes off, and pistols are probably the most useful modded weapons because of how fast they fire and how reliant they are on mods and assemblies in standard play.

By the time you reach Deimos Lab/Hell's Armory, you should be ready to take your capstone. Feel free to hold off on it until you find a special weapon you don't need or your older guns outlive their usefulness. From here on out, start leveling [[Son of a Bitch]] and rely on your gear to let you run fast and facetank things rather than take [[Hellrunner]] to dodge. To this end, you should have at least one [[Fireproof armor|Fireproof Red Armor]]+P by the time you reach the Cyberdemon, but it helps to have two. In one run, I found two Sniper packs in Deimos Lab, and the P3S2 pistol I created carried me to a full win alongside Intuition 2.

Adapt to what you get. Anytime it's been many levels since you considered whipping a modded/special gun out, disassemble it and get a mod for the gear you're actually using. You probably won't get past SoB 3 by the time you get to the Mastermind, but after you see the crazy shit you can do with just one basic modded pistol double-dipping Son of a Gun ''and'' Son of a Bitch, you certainly won't regret not being a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]]. You may even regret you didn't play this instead of a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]]. They feel very similar. [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] probably does pull ahead in overall DPS with fewer traits required, but by pigeonholing you into Eagle Eye 3 and pressuring you to get to the capstone ASAP, it pushes you away from taking Intuition and Whizkid, both of which greatly diminishes the chances you'll actually get to your capstone, and since Scavenger can get more mods out of everything on top of being forced into Whizkid 2 and Intuition, you're actually steered in a more helpful direction for going the distance.

The advantage Scavenger has over [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] is that Scavenger can not only go for Whizkid 2 and Intuition 2 as part of its capstone build order, it isn't totally locked out of going for Son of a Bitch to get more DPS along the way. [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] is totally reliant on its capstone for all its DPS, and it's forced to take Eagle Eye 3 before it can do that, so any detours you take HAVE to be planned out and worth it as a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]], but for a Scavenger, detours are all part of the plan in the first place. Even if you end up never scavenging anything... oh well! Don't take the capstone! Take one more level of Son of a Bitch! You have a gun that kills everything, a set of armor for every occasion, more shoes than your girlfriend, and you're winning the game. What's to complain about?

== Angel of 100 ==

: TL;DR: SoG1 > SoG2 > SoG3 > EE1 > SoB1 > SoB2 > SoB3 > [EE2/WK1] > [EE2/Int1/WK1/WK2] > [EE2/Int1/WK1/WK2] > [Int1/WK2] > MSc > Int2 > SoG4 > SoG5 > SoB4 > SoB5 > UP TO YOU LOL

For UV/Nightmare Ao100, take Son of a Gun and immediately use the Technical mod on your pistol, because you are guaranteed to start with a pistol, and since there is no Entryway it's entirely possible for you to spawn on level 1 right next to a Demon with no Shotguns or Shotgun Guys on the level and no armor in sight for 6 floors (and any that does spawn gets stolen by the Barons of Hell anyway). You can start taking Eagle Eye and go for Intuition right away, but I recommend you max out SoG first, because the most reliable way to reduce incoming damage is to kill fast, and on high difficulty, you could be fighting Barons as early as level 2. The biggest threat to your life on high difficulty is a horde of powerful enemies that overwhelm your cover. Even Rapid builds struggle to get strong enough fast enough, and they suffer greatly from being surrounded. They overkill smaller enemies who die after the second bullet and can't knock back that Baron of Hell that'll slash you a new vagina if he rounds the corner, so when faced with a horde, rapid builds have to eat chips at every meal, which is bad for your life expectancy. You need to become good at killing things fast, and SoG3 with that T-modded Pistol does that. If you want that mod back, you can disassemble the gun with Scavenger later.

Anyway, take [[Son of a Gun]] on levels 1, 2, and 3. At level 4, take one level of Eagle Eye. You do need some accuracy, but thankfully a pistol really only needs one level for now.

From 5-7, max out Son of a Bitch. You need to be able to knock things back with your starting pistol, because if you're on UV you've been facing Barons for a while now and are unlikely to come across a Combat Pistol because those are more rare than the Uniques for some reason.

With just one level of SoB, you can knock things back with a max damage roll, which is already something a Sharpshooter can't do by itself until level 12, and with each level of SoB it gets more reliable. You shoot 3 times a second by now, so you have many chances to knock enemies back for each of their actions, and right here is where this build starts to overtake Sharpshooter. What Sharpshooter builds struggle with the most is surviving to level 7 after their power plateaus at level 4, and right from level 5 it can do something a Sharpshooter isn't even guaranteed to be able to do with their level 7 Mastery. You don't even have yours yet!

Sharpshooter can't actually knock things back without at least a P-modded pistol or SoG4, which is why level 12 is what Sharpshooter has to wait for if they get unlucky. Being able to do this can keep Barons from even fighting you, not to mention you're doing more damage so you kill faster and can push things into lava and acid. You can also more easily one-shot zombies, so you take less chip damage when one walks into vision as you're fighting something else, and they won't get the chance to use up those Health Packs and Phase Devices, instead popping like a piñata as they deliver them right to your feet. The amount of resources you'll save from that alone will start to make a big difference, and this is something Rapid builds can't match because enemies cheat and can use these items in the middle of your burst, even though that would be impossible for you.

By the time you get SoB3, you'll FEEL like a Sharpshooter. You will arguably be better than one, actually, because while sharpshooters always do 11 damage per hit, your average damage is 11 but you can hit a maximum of 14, both at level 7.

And oh right, you need to actually finish your way to [[Scavenger]], but this build benefits from the freedom to delay its own Mastery until you need it, so what you dip into first on the way there is up to you. If you've got a burning need to make a Cerberus [[Duelist Armor]] and half your bag is mods you're waiting to use, you can take [[Whizkid]] at 8 and 9, and don't worry if you made any [[assemblies]] that become useless later, Scavenger gets to turn those into mods too anyway.

If you're not there yet, though, take a second level of [[Eagle Eye]] at level 8 and get [[Intuition]] at level 9. I'd get both levels of Intuition eventually even though the second is technically optional. Being able to sense enemies is obviously incredibly useful, but even just being able to sense powerups means you can sense the computer maps, and since you're a Technician, you can see all the enemies with any computer map. Not to mention, you get to play around knowing what levers do.

Whichever of the two paths you took first, take the second one at level 10 and 11.

Now you're level 12, and as stated, you can still delay the capstone until you need it, and if you don't need it, you can veer off into a masterless run and take literally whatever else you want! The rest of the way is up to you. I'd max out Son of a Gun and Son of a Bitch first, though, because right there is where it's clearly far and away just inarguably better than Sharpshooter, because a Sharpshooter with SoG5 would always be doing 13 damage a shot with a basic pistol, but once you get SoB5, you do almost that much damage on a minimum roll now, and you both fire just as fast. You'll be doing 12-18 damage with just a basic unmodded pistol, and you'll be at the firing speed cap to boot, so you'll just be deleting enemies with one click before they can even react. You'll even use the unique pistols better, especially the Grammaton Cleric Beretta on full auto, which for you deals a minimum of 66 damage if all bullets connect but roll a 1, or as much as 102 damage if you get extra lucky and all bullets roll max too. Meanwhile a Sharpshooter would be doing a maximum of 72 damage if all bullets connect. Crazy. This is why you can't take Triggerhappy, because you'd be doing almost double their damage with it if you could take that too.

From there, I'd take [[Hellrunner]] so that you can move as fast as you shoot, as well as [[Dodgemaster]] since you're dipping there anyway. You need to run fast in case your cover gets overwhelmed or you need to space to reload. Dip into melee combat with Brute if you want! You'll benefit from Son of a Bitch there too. I wouldn't bother with Finesse or Juggler, since you hit the pistol firing speed cap without Finesse, and Pistols are clearly your bread and butter. But heck, maybe you don't want to go all the way with pistols! Maybe you want [[Shottyman]] so you can use every gun! Just watch that bag space.

And of course, with your capstone, anytime you find a weapon you don't need, you can turn it into a mod, which means you're going to always be geared to the sky all the way from down in hell. Make any assembly you want, but from experience, pistols benefit way more from not having an assembly and just being modded to hell, so ahead and just throw mods on things! If you only used a single mod on a weapon and you'd like that mod back, you can disassemble the weapon and just get it back. You'll even get Nano packs and Onyx packs from Uniques sometimes!

Honestly, the power level of this build might embolden you enough to consider doing a masterless build if you didn't veer off into one already. It's so good, and I never would have thought to try it if I wasn't frustrated with all the luck you need for Sharpshooter to take off! Ironically, it presents a strong case for allowing Sharpshooter to take Son of a Bitch, since it basically does what Sharpshooter does without forcing it to take too many levels of Eagle Eye, and then it gets even better and gets to do crazy things with mods.

[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 03:40, 21 May 2023 (UTC)

== Rapid Start -> Pistol Endgame ==

There is another way that may perhaps be more consistent for some players. While going outright Pistols first can be effective, it also takes a heavy amount of investment before it gets truly good. A safer way to play involves going for Eagle Eye 2 > Son of a Bitch 1 > Intuition 2 first, which naturally means leaning into rapid weapons at the start of the game. At that point, you really need all the firepower you can get on UV and up, and bullets are so everywhere that you'll probably have 9 stacks of bullets even if you fully chainfire multiple times in literally every encounter.

Because Rapids are your go-to for the first 25 or so levels, you should lean into them as hard as you can, and take at least Eagle Eye 2/Son of a Bitch 3. Don't worry about Son of a Gun just yet, finish Scavenger and then get [[Hellrunner]] 2, and once you get to level 12, get [[Hellrunner]] 3 and [[Son of a Bitch]] 4 and 5.

However! You do eventually need to go Pistols in this build, because where going pure rapids fails in this build is mid-to-late game. Right around floor 50, you hit an ammo drought where Formers mostly stop spawning for a bit, and so does the ammo for your guns. Every few levels you'll be hit with one of these, so it becomes necessary to transition into Pistols in order to survive multiple levels with limited ammo supply. You may have found a Minigun and gotten too excited to use it, only to realize that it drains ammo twice as fast as the Chaingun you've long since disassembled. But even if you didn't find a minigun, even a simple chaingun will become too hard on your ammo eventually, and even if you get a nanomachic, pistols do fill an important niche in this build, so here is where you start taking Son of a Gun.

The kind of pistol you should make is what I call a sniper pistol, which is a normally-modded pistol with 2 sniper mods attached to it and whatever else you want (I recommend bulk mods over power). Sniper mods happen to be something Scavenger is good at finding with its ability being what it is, so this build is perhaps the best suited to wielding it. This gun hits offscreen enemies so reliably it's better than having a nanomachic in some cases. Definitely better than any and all of the pistol uniques, so unless you want one for funsies, disassemble them to try to get yourself some sniper mods. Use a Combat Pistol as your sniper pistol base if at all possible, but any pistol will do. Even just a basic one becomes so overpowered with 2 sniper mods that you'll wonder why you never tried this before.

You see, you already have Son of a Bitch 5, and now you're double dipping those damage bonuses, and by the time you hit son of a gun 3, you'll be knocking back enemies just about every shot. At that point, it becomes straight up inefficient to use anything but a sniper pistol. You knock enemies back so much they never spend any time in your vision range, and you have Intuition 2 besides, so if you don't have a sniper pistol, it's up to RNG if you finish off the enemy you knocked into the fog or if you have to reload and they get to walk into view and throw a blob of acid at you. The same happens with a nanomachic plasma rifle. Good as it is, sometimes you really just have to find out which purple X is the arch-vile and kill it before all its friends start swarming you. This is what a sniper pistol excels at.

But why not use two sniper mods on a rapid weapon? Because ammo, that's why! Thanks to Son of a Gun + Son of a Bitch stacking, pistols are the most ammo-efficient firearms in the game. With SoB5+SoG5, you'll one-shot every former in sight with just a single bullet and 0.1 second of fire time apiece. You'll be killing barons and cacodemons in less bullets than it takes a chaingun and in less time too. Bulk mods should be used over power mods if you don't have a combat pistol because reloading is the slowest part of your game by now, and you need to be able to shoot lots of small things rather than just have more power for big things. The big things will die fast too, but having to reload every 6 bullets will make your DPS unreliable, you should try to have at least 10. You can't mod a nanomachic with 2 sniper mods, and you should be aiming for a nanomachic plasma rifle too at the very least. Even after you get your nanomachic plasma gun, you really will have good reason to keep on using your sniper pistol, but now you can disassemble the old chaingun and only keep 1-2 stacks of bullets and 0 stacks of cells, leaving the rest of your bag free for hoardi-ahem, for carrying emergency supplies. Yeah. [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 21:53, 13 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Bullet Dance

2023-06-08T08:39:56Z

Vid-szhite:

== 0.9.9.7 ==

Real talk? If you're on any difficulty higher than Hey Not Too Rough, don't take Bullet Dance. That's the winning strategy. Just don't do it. Take literally anything else. Hell, play it the same but take Eagle Eye and Hellrunner and don't use a Mastery. Before I tried to make it work, it was already infamous for being the weakest of the pistol masteries by a landslide, and oh my god, it's worse than I thought. Once I actually got the darn thing working in a game, it felt worse than if I'd just not taken a mastery at all. You have to make so many concessions in every direction just to get there, and the "payoff" is actually worse than just staying masterless.

Let's go over why.

You're locked out of [[Strategy:Hellrunner|Hellrunner]]. You're going to be slow and you can't really dodge! Okay, but that can work in some builds. Not this, though! You usually compensate that with Intuition so you don't need to run away, you just see the battles coming before they surprise you, and even without that, you could definitely still do this if you could compensate for that with pure, raw, consistent DPS!

But wait! No Eagle Eye! No [[Eagle Eye]] means no [[Intuition]] AND inconsistent DPS! Bad bad bad bad bad. So what are you supposed to survive with, anyway? [[Tough as Nails]]? The one that's ineffective against plasma damage? That one? [[Badass]] sure doesn't do it, you need to be overhealed for that to have any effect aside from making rocket jumps go nowhere, which is really bad in a build that can't run! If you dip into Ironman enough times, you might as well just go [[Survivalist]] so you can take [[Eagle Eye]].

Ah, wouldn't you know it. The one pistol mastery that lets you double-dip into Son of a Bitch and Son of a Gun, and you're locked out of Eagle Eye, the one thing that would make that worth it. You only really need one level for pistol DPS is the saddest part. This locks your pistols at an inconsistent 75% accuracy at max range. You're only 50% likely to hit any [[Strategy:Dualgunner|dualgunner]] shots at the same time, and you could miss 5 shots in a row entirely unless you aim them. I thought firing fast was supposed to be the name of your game! No, it just necessitates an annoying playstyle of always aiming your shots at enemies that are outside of the 3-square point blank range. You can BARELY make this stop happening by adding 2 Agility mods to each of your pistols, but those only add +1 to the pistol you add it to, so you're going to need four of them (!!!!!!). You need to get lucky and will also be sucking those down like no tomorrow, and of course that means you're going to need Finesse 2 to get Whizkid 2. Well, at least now you can aim your shots faster.

and then once you get your two [[Son of a Bitch]] levels, you have to take a dead level to get [[Triggerhappy]], which does nothing for you until you get your capstone, even if you have a [[Grammaton Cleric Beretta]]! There's a pistol exception hardcoded into Triggerhappy! If that wasn't bad enough, you can't even Dualreload with that gun.

So because of that long detour, you'll be about halfway through Hell before it even comes online just to get what you need to survive, and by then, it doesn't kill nearly fast enough to justify what it does. Even if you managed to add Agility mods to your pistols, it feels like they miss even more, which is really bad because now you empty your pistols in three shots if all you have is one level of Triggerhappy. You empty them in TWO shots if you have two levels! If you try to get Reloader before you get the capstone, you'll beat a standard game before you get it, and you can't even aim your multi-shots, aimed shots is unaffected by Bullet Dance. Christ on a cracker! Where is the DPS supposed to come from?

Oh, and it gets worse. You don't just get to fire multiple bullets in your shots, either, it actually takes 50% longer ''per pistol'' to shoot now. So essentially it costs twice as long to fire as it did last level. So no matter what, you're firing at Aimed Shots speed. Wow! The annoying playstyle you tried to get rid of turned out to be the intended playstyle all along, and now it's here to stay forever! The one advantage of Pistol builds - easy target switching, fast firing speed, and ammo efficiency from lack of overkill - all gone! So now you're just worse [[Ammochain]]! You can't even use Ammo Chains to make the reloading less painful or annoying! Nor can you use [[speedloader pistol]]s because you need those Agility mods for the accuracy, and even with Whizkid 2, you can only add one each! You have a build with all downsides and no upsides! It feels ''terrible.'' There is no "DPS" to be found here. You don't even save any firing time unless you have ''two levels'' of [[Triggerhappy]] first, so you're essentially just forced to fire twice every time you shoot! You'll spend more time Dualreloading than you will firing your guns, so it's not even fun, and you better not click too many times by accident, or you'll single-reload and you're a ''dead'' motherfucker.

But let's be real! You'll be a dead motherfucker long before you get the capstone if you try to go for this, and if you ever manage to get that far, my condolences. If you really want to take a pistol with Son of a Bitch, Eagle Eye, and Son of a Gun, and still have a Mastery, I recommend [[Strategy:Scavenger|Scavenger]], which doesn't have any of these issues! You can't take [[Strategy:Dualgunner|Dualgunner]] with it, but at least you can make your one pistol real good, and you don't need to throw away four agility mods that you desperately need for your armor!

[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 08:25, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Bullet Dance

2023-06-08T08:39:11Z

Vid-szhite:

== 0.9.9.7 ==

Real talk? If you're on any difficulty higher than Hey Not Too Rough, don't take Bullet Dance. That's the winning strategy. Just don't do it. Take literally anything else. Hell, play it the same but take Eagle Eye and Hellrunner and don't use a Mastery. Before I tried to make it work, it was already infamous for being the weakest of the pistol masteries by a landslide, and oh my god, it's worse than I thought. Once I actually got the darn thing working in a game, it felt worse than if I'd just not taken a mastery at all. You have to make so many concessions in every direction just to get there, and the "payoff" is actually worse than just staying masterless.

Let's go over why.

You're locked out of [[Strategy:Hellrunner|Hellrunner]]. You're going to be slow and you can't really dodge! Okay, but that can work in some builds. Not this, though! You usually compensate that with Intuition so you don't need to run away, you just see the battles coming before they surprise you, and even without that, you could definitely still do this if you could compensate for that with pure, raw, consistent DPS!

But wait! No Eagle Eye! No [[Eagle Eye]] means no [[Intuition]] AND inconsistent DPS! Bad bad bad bad bad. So what are you supposed to survive with, anyway? [[Tough as Nails]]? The one that's ineffective against plasma damage? That one? [[Badass]] sure doesn't do it, you need to be overhealed for that to have any effect aside from making rocket jumps go nowhere, which is really bad in a build that can't run! If you dip into Ironman enough times, you might as well just go [[Survivalist]] so you can take [[Eagle Eye]].

Ah, wouldn't you know it. The one pistol mastery that lets you double-dip into Son of a Bitch and Son of a Gun, and you're locked out of Eagle Eye, the one thing that would make that worth it. You only really need one level for pistol DPS is the saddest part. This locks your pistols at an inconsistent 75% accuracy at max range. You're only 50% likely to hit any [[Strategy:Dualgunner|dualgunner]] shots at the same time, and you could miss 5 shots in a row entirely unless you aim them. I thought firing fast was supposed to be the name of your game! No, it just necessitates an annoying playstyle of always aiming your shots at enemies that are outside of the 3-square point blank range. You can BARELY make this stop happening by adding 2 Agility mods to each of your pistols, but those only add +1 to the pistol you add it to, so you're going to need four of them (!!!!!!). You need to get lucky and will also be sucking those down like no tomorrow, and of course that means you're going to need Finesse 2 to get Whizkid 2. Well, at least now you can aim your shots faster.

and then once you get your two [[Son of a Bitch]] levels, you have to take a dead level to get [[Triggerhappy]], which does nothing for you until you get your capstone, even if you have a [[Grammaton Cleric Beretta]]! There's a pistol exception hardcoded into Triggerhappy! If that wasn't bad enough, you can't even Dualreload with that gun.

So because of that long detour, you'll be about halfway through Hell before it even comes online just to get what you need to survive, and by then, it doesn't kill nearly fast enough to justify what it does. Even if you managed to add Agility mods to your pistols, it feels like they miss even more, which is really bad because now you empty your pistols in three shots if all you have is one level of Triggerhappy. You empty them in TWO shots if you have two levels! If you try to get Reloader before you get the capstone, you'll beat a standard game before you get it, and you can't even aim your multi-shots, aimed shots is unaffected by Bullet Dance. Christ on a cracker! Where is the DPS supposed to come from?

Oh, and it gets worse. You don't just get to fire multiple bullets in your shots, either, it actually takes 50% longer ''per pistol'' to shoot now. So essentially it costs twice as long to fire as it did last level. So no matter what, you're firing at Aimed Shots speed. Wow! The annoying playstyle you tried to get rid of turned out to be the intended playstyle all along, and now it's here to stay forever! The one advantage of Pistol builds - easy target switching, fast firing speed, and ammo efficiency from lack of overkill - all gone! So now you're just worse [[Ammochain]]! You can't even use Ammo Chains to make the reloading less painful or annoying! Nor can you use [[Speedloader Pistol]]s because you need those Agility mods for the accuracy, and even with Whizkid 2, you can only add one each! You have a build with all downsides and no upsides! It feels ''terrible.'' There is no "DPS" to be found here. You don't even save any firing time unless you have ''two levels'' of [[Triggerhappy]] first, so you're essentially just forced to fire twice every time you shoot! You'll spend more time Dualreloading than you will firing your guns, so it's not even fun, and you better not click too many times by accident, or you'll single-reload and you're a ''dead'' motherfucker.

But let's be real! You'll be a dead motherfucker long before you get the capstone if you try to go for this, and if you ever manage to get that far, my condolences. If you really want to take a pistol with Son of a Bitch, Eagle Eye, and Son of a Gun, and still have a Mastery, I recommend [[Strategy:Scavenger|Scavenger]], which doesn't have any of these issues! You can't take [[Strategy:Dualgunner|Dualgunner]] with it, but at least you can make your one pistol real good, and you don't need to throw away four agility mods that you desperately need for your armor!

[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 08:25, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Bullet Dance

2023-06-08T08:38:39Z

Vid-szhite: /* 0.9.9.7 */

== 0.9.9.7 ==

Real talk? If you're on any difficulty higher than Hey Not Too Rough, don't take Bullet Dance. That's the winning strategy. Just don't do it. Take literally anything else. Hell, play it the same but take Eagle Eye and Hellrunner and don't use a Mastery. Before I tried to make it work, it was already infamous for being the weakest of the pistol masteries by a landslide, and oh my god, it's worse than I thought. Once I actually got the darn thing working in a game, it felt worse than if I'd just not taken a mastery at all. You have to make so many concessions in every direction just to get there, and the "payoff" is actually worse than just staying masterless.

Let's go over why.

You're locked out of [[Strategy:Hellrunner|Hellrunner]]. You're going to be slow and you can't really dodge! Okay, but that can work in some builds. Not this, though! You usually compensate that with Intuition so you don't need to run away, you just see the battles coming before they surprise you, and even without that, you could definitely still do this if you could compensate for that with pure, raw, consistent DPS!

But wait! No Eagle Eye! No [[Eagle Eye]] means no [[Intuition]] AND inconsistent DPS! Bad bad bad bad bad. So what are you supposed to survive with, anyway? [[Strategy:Tough as Nails|Tough as Nails]]? The one that's ineffective against plasma damage? That one? [[Badass]] sure doesn't do it, you need to be overhealed for that to have any effect aside from making rocket jumps go nowhere, which is really bad in a build that can't run! If you dip into Ironman enough times, you might as well just go [[Survivalist]] so you can take [[Eagle Eye]].

Ah, wouldn't you know it. The one pistol mastery that lets you double-dip into Son of a Bitch and Son of a Gun, and you're locked out of Eagle Eye, the one thing that would make that worth it. You only really need one level for pistol DPS is the saddest part. This locks your pistols at an inconsistent 75% accuracy at max range. You're only 50% likely to hit any [[Strategy:Dualgunner|dualgunner]] shots at the same time, and you could miss 5 shots in a row entirely unless you aim them. I thought firing fast was supposed to be the name of your game! No, it just necessitates an annoying playstyle of always aiming your shots at enemies that are outside of the 3-square point blank range. You can BARELY make this stop happening by adding 2 Agility mods to each of your pistols, but those only add +1 to the pistol you add it to, so you're going to need four of them (!!!!!!). You need to get lucky and will also be sucking those down like no tomorrow, and of course that means you're going to need Finesse 2 to get Whizkid 2. Well, at least now you can aim your shots faster.

and then once you get your two [[Son of a Bitch]] levels, you have to take a dead level to get [[Triggerhappy]], which does nothing for you until you get your capstone, even if you have a [[Grammaton Cleric Beretta]]! There's a pistol exception hardcoded into Triggerhappy! If that wasn't bad enough, you can't even Dualreload with that gun.

So because of that long detour, you'll be about halfway through Hell before it even comes online just to get what you need to survive, and by then, it doesn't kill nearly fast enough to justify what it does. Even if you managed to add Agility mods to your pistols, it feels like they miss even more, which is really bad because now you empty your pistols in three shots if all you have is one level of Triggerhappy. You empty them in TWO shots if you have two levels! If you try to get Reloader before you get the capstone, you'll beat a standard game before you get it, and you can't even aim your multi-shots, aimed shots is unaffected by Bullet Dance. Christ on a cracker! Where is the DPS supposed to come from?

Oh, and it gets worse. You don't just get to fire multiple bullets in your shots, either, it actually takes 50% longer ''per pistol'' to shoot now. So essentially it costs twice as long to fire as it did last level. So no matter what, you're firing at Aimed Shots speed. Wow! The annoying playstyle you tried to get rid of turned out to be the intended playstyle all along, and now it's here to stay forever! The one advantage of Pistol builds - easy target switching, fast firing speed, and ammo efficiency from lack of overkill - all gone! So now you're just worse [[Ammochain]]! You can't even use Ammo Chains to make the reloading less painful or annoying! Nor can you use [[Speedloader Pistol]]s because you need those Agility mods for the accuracy, and even with Whizkid 2, you can only add one each! You have a build with all downsides and no upsides! It feels ''terrible.'' There is no "DPS" to be found here. You don't even save any firing time unless you have ''two levels'' of [[Triggerhappy]] first, so you're essentially just forced to fire twice every time you shoot! You'll spend more time Dualreloading than you will firing your guns, so it's not even fun, and you better not click too many times by accident, or you'll single-reload and you're a ''dead'' motherfucker.

But let's be real! You'll be a dead motherfucker long before you get the capstone if you try to go for this, and if you ever manage to get that far, my condolences. If you really want to take a pistol with Son of a Bitch, Eagle Eye, and Son of a Gun, and still have a Mastery, I recommend [[Strategy:Scavenger|Scavenger]], which doesn't have any of these issues! You can't take [[Strategy:Dualgunner|Dualgunner]] with it, but at least you can make your one pistol real good, and you don't need to throw away four agility mods that you desperately need for your armor!

[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 08:25, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Bullet Dance

2023-06-08T08:25:27Z

Vid-szhite: Created page with "== 0.9.9.7 == Real talk? If you're on any difficulty higher than Hey Not Too Rough, don't take Bullet Dance. That's the winning strategy. Just don't do it. Take literally any..."

== 0.9.9.7 ==

Real talk? If you're on any difficulty higher than Hey Not Too Rough, don't take Bullet Dance. That's the winning strategy. Just don't do it. Take literally anything else. Hell, play it the same but take Eagle Eye and Hellrunner and don't use a Mastery. Before I tried to make it work, it was already infamous for being the weakest of the pistol masteries by a landslide, and oh my god, it's worse than I thought. Once I actually got the darn thing working in a game, it felt worse than if I'd just not taken a mastery at all. You have to make so many concessions in every direction just to get there, and the "payoff" is actually worse than just staying masterless.

Let's go over why.

You're locked out of [[Hellrunner]]. You're going to be slow and you can't really dodge! Okay, but that can work in some builds. Not this, though! You usually compensate that with Intuition so you don't need to run away, you just see the battles coming before they surprise you, and even without that, you could definitely still do this if you could compensate for that with pure, raw, consistent DPS!

But wait! No Eagle Eye! No [[Eagle Eye]] means no [[Intuition]] AND inconsistent DPS! Bad bad bad bad bad. So what are you supposed to survive with, anyway? Tough as Nails? The one that's ineffective against plasma damage, that one? [[Badass]] sure doesn't do it, you need to be overhealed that to have any real effect aside from making rocket jumps useless, which is really bad in a build that can't run! If you dip into Ironman enough times, you might as well just go [[Survivalist]] so you can take [[Eagle Eye]].

Ah, wouldn't you know it. The one pistol mastery that lets you double-dip into Son of a Bitch and Son of a Gun, and you're locked out of Eagle Eye, the one thing that would make that worth it. You only really need one level for pistol DPS is the saddest part. This locks your pistols at an inconsistent 75% accuracy at max range. You're only 50% likely to hit any dualgunner shots at the same time, and you could miss 5 shots in a row entirely unless you aim them. If firing fast is supposed to be the name of your game, that just necessitates an annoying playstyle of always aiming your shots at enemies that are outside of the 3-square point blank range. You can BARELY make this work by adding 2 Agility mods to each of your pistols, but those only add +1 to the pistol you add it to, so you're going to need four of them. You need to get lucky and will also be sucking those down like no tomorrow, and of course that means you're going to need Finesse 2 to get Whizkid 2. Well, at least now you can aim your shots faster.

and then you have to take a dead level to get Triggerhappy, which does nothing until you get your capstone, even if you have a [[Grammaton Cleric Beretta!]] There's a pistol exception hardcoded into Triggerhappy!

So because of that long detour, You'll be about halfway through Hell before it even comes online just to get what you need to survive, and by then, it doesn't kill nearly fast enough to justify what it does. Even if you managed to add Agility mods to your pistols, it feels like they miss even more, which is really bad because now you empty your pistols in three shots if all you have is one level of Triggerhappy. If you try to get two levels of Reloader before you get the capstone, you'll beat a standard game before you get it, and you can't even aim your multi-shots, aimed shots is unaffected by Bullet Dance.

Oh, and it gets worse. You don't just get to fire multiple bullets in your shots, either, it actually takes 50% longer ''per pistol'' to shoot, now. So essentially it costs twice as long to fire as it did last level. So no matter what, you're firing at Aimed Shots speed. The one advantage of Pistol builds - easy target switching, fast firing speed, and ammo efficiency from lack of overkill - all gone! So now you're just worse Ammochain! You can't even use Ammo Chains to make the reloading less painful or annoying! You have a build with all downsides and no upsides! It feels ''terrible.'' There is no "DPS" to be found here. You don't even save any firing time unless you have ''two levels'' of Triggerhappy first, you're essentially just forced to fire twice every time you shoot! You'll spend more time Dualreloading than you will firing your guns, so it's not even fun, and you better not click too many times by accident, or you'll single-reload and you're a ''dead'' motherfucker.

But let's be real! You'll be a dead motherfucker long before you get the capstone if you try to go for this, and if you ever manage to get that far, my condolences. If you really want to take a pistol with Son of a Bitch, Eagle Eye, and Son of a Gun, and still have a Mastery, I recommend [[Strategy:Scavenger|Scavenger]], which doesn't have any of these issues! You can't take Dualgunner with it, but at least you can make your one pistol real good and don't need to throw away four agility mods that you desperately need!

[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 08:25, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Pain elemental

2023-06-06T07:09:41Z

Vid-szhite:

__NOTOC__
{{infostrat switch}}
== (0.9.9.7) ==
Care should be taken not to stay in melee range with a pain elemental as if it's a safe location, as in this version, their melee attack is just as damaging as a [[hell knight]]'s and more damaging than an individual [[lost soul]]'s, just with less accuracy. This won't help on Ultra-Violence, however, as it does have enough accuracy to always hit on UV. The main threat they pose is from the sheer number of Lost Souls they spawn, however, since these can quickly overwhelm any build that doesn't have or can't use a shotgun. They deal melee damage, so using [[tactics]] can help mitigate the damage if you can't dodge out of the way.

Additionally, in this version of the game, pain elementals can spawn lost souls after they've been attacked even if they can't see the player, but they will stop if the attacks also stop, so while it is advisable to run away and come back later if using a pistol build, staying out of vision no longer guarantees your safety.

The best way to deal with them is still a shotgun, as they're slow and tend to get knocked back easily, and the lost souls won't start attacking for a few seconds, giving you ample time to clear the entire horde away.

== Main Guide (v0.9.9.5) ==

=== General Tactics ===
Basic strategy posted by [[User:Tormuse|Tormuse]] 11:32, January 16 2012 (GMT).

Pain Elementals have no ranged attack and their melee attack does very little damage. They also move slowly and are easy to evade, so the only significant threat they pose comes from the [[lost soul|Lost Souls]] that they spawn. How dangerous they are depends on what kind of build you are using and also the surrounding terrain.

It's easiest to deal with them with any kind of [[shotgun]]. The spread from the shotgun will kill any Lost Souls around the Pain Elemental immediately and simultaneously and the Pain Elemental will fall fairly shortly after that. Back up, if necessary, to keep all the Lost Souls coming at you from one direction so that each shotgun blast takes out a group of them.

On the other hand, if you're using a [[pistol]] build, you may have some difficulty because Lost Souls are bullet resistant and you'll only be able to kill one at a time, which means the Pain Elemental will likely be spawning them faster than you can kill them! In this case, it's best to keep the Pain Elemental out of view, since it only spawns Lost Souls when it can see you, pick off the Lost Souls one at a time, and then use corner-shooting to finish off the Pain Elemental once all the Lost Souls are gone.

The [[rocket launcher]] is potentially hazardous to use because the Lost Souls will charge you as soon as they're spawned, which will cause a rocket explosion to damage you if it's too close, but if you happen to catch the Pain Elemental at the right moment when it's distant enough and Lost Souls are surrounding it, you can wipe out all the Lost Souls instantly and do substantial damage to the Pain Elemental.

The other thing to be mindful about is the terrain; different surroundings can present different challenges. If you are in open terrain, then it might be advisable to keep the Pain Elemental at the edge or out of your visual range to keep it from spawning too many Lost Souls, since they will fill the available space. The new AI in this version causes the Lost Souls to tend to scatter around which can make them a nuisance in open surroundings. On the other hand, if the Pain Elemental is in tight maze-like surroundings, then you need to be wary of Lost Souls that will be spawned on the other side of the wall, thus potentially allowing them to sneak up on you and approach you from a direction you're not expecting. (This last bit goes for when you kill the Pain Elemental too, since it spawns three last Lost Souls when it dies.)

=== Trait Usage ===
If you're using a melee build that uses [[Berserker]] trait, Pain Elementals become a valuable resource, because the abundant Lost Souls they produce will die from one hit each and can be used to keep your berserk status going. [[Blademaster]] master trait is helpful, in this case, to control the rate at which Lost Souls approach you and stops you from being overwhelmed, since, if the Lost Souls ever surround you, you can kill them all simultaneously.

If you're using a [[Vampyre]] build and you find a Pain Elemental, then Christmas has just come early! For a Vampyre, if handled properly, Pain Elementals pretty much guarantee that you'll be able to clear a level without too much trouble and come out with 200% health and start the next level berserk. The strategy is to hang around the Pain Elemental, letting it spawn Lost Souls and killing them as they come. Each kill heals you, so it won't take long to max out your health and get into a berserk state. If too many Lost Souls are spawned in a short time and you're getting overwhelmed, then back away from the Pain Elemental so they can only approach you one or two at a time. Once you get up to 200% health and have some berserk power going, use it to go on a rampage and clear the rest of the monsters on the level. You can return to the Pain Elemental to heal and recharge your berserk as many times as you need to. Once you're ready to leave the level, lure the Pain Elemental over to the stairs, heal yourself up, kill it, and then continue on to the next level, fully healed and berserk.

Strategy:Scavenger

2023-06-05T12:20:31Z

Vid-szhite: /* Standard Game UV */

Strategy:Scavenger

2023-06-05T12:19:06Z

Vid-szhite:

{{infostrat switch}}

The real power of Scavenger comes in what it doesn't lock you out of. [[Hellrunner]]'s open season, so you already know it's gonna be good, but imagine a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] build that can also take 5 levels of [[Son of a Bitch]] while also turning every shitty unique you don't need into a rare mod that you do. In this example, that's what we'll be doing. Since this is a General Master build, you can technically do whatever you want, so go ahead and try something else too, but Son of a Gun has by far the best endgame of all the ranged weapon traits, pistols don't need accuracy that urgently, and it uses your starting weapon and your starting mod. Taking a pistol build as a Scavenger also maximizes the chance the special guns you get are guns you won't need, which means more mods for you, which is great when it also builds you into a gun that benefits greatly from being modded to the gills, and if you do manage to find one of the rare pistols, jackpot! For these reasons, this is a high-difficulty [[Angel of 100]] and [[Archangel of 666]] machine. It can be very effective in a standard game as well, but it really shows its full power in very long games where it can get all the Son of a Bitch levels it wants.

Think of this build as [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]]'s early-blooming sibling. It blooms faster than [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] because it's not forced into 3 levels of Eagle Eye before it's allowed to get good, and also forces you to take things you'd want to take as a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] anyway, like Intuition and Whizkid 2, and since the capstone isn't useful until you start finding useless rare guns anyway, it doesn't hurt you at all to delay it until you get all the other goodies you want first. Once you get past the early levels, it starts to snowball out of control, and since the plan is to take Son of a Bitch too, your other weapons also get better, but your rapid weapons will get even better than the rest, so you don't necessarily have to sigh and discard all the cool rapid weapons you find. You could even dip into Brute later on if you find the cleaver! You can't take Dualgunner or Triggerhappy or Berserker, but you really won't need them. You'll feel OP enough as it is.

== Standard Game UV ==
At level 1, take Son of a Gun and use your starting T-mod on your pistol. Unless you're feeling bold or get really good RNG in level 2, you're going to be skipping Hell's Arena and going for diminished Chained Court for the mods and cells it gives you. This will allow you to assemble an Energy Pistol in time for Revenants to be showing up. Unfortunately, this means that you'll be reliant on RNG for a Rocket Launcher, but it's typically uncommon to go the entirety of Phobos without one. In one of my full-win games, though, I didn't get a rocket launcher until Deimos 1.

Ironically, despite not getting as many rare guns in standard games, you will actually be getting a lot more mods, which you can use on your starting guns with impunity because their opportunity cost is effectively zero once you get your capstone. You can get the mods all back later when you need them, so you can basically carry individual mods inside each of your guns where they're useful.

Since you're going fast-DPS rather than any defensive route, you need to either max out Son of a Gun first or take SoG 2 > Eagle Eye > SoG 3. By level 5, you should be at Chained Court, and here's where the build can diverge a bit. If you find enough mods to make an assembly you want, particularly the [[energy pistol]], you can go for Whizkid 2 right away. P-mod your starting T-modded pistol but don't assemble it until WK2. If you don't get the mods you need in the amounts you need, go for Intuition first. Feel free to take Intuition 2 anytime you like, but modded weapons are where this build really takes off, and pistols are probably the most useful modded weapons because of how fast they fire and how reliant they are on mods and assemblies in standard play.

By the time you reach Deimos Lab/Hell's Armory, you should be ready to take your capstone. Feel free to hold off on it until you find a special weapon you don't need or your older guns outlive their usefulness. From here on out, start leveling [[Son of a Bitch]] and rely on your gear to let you run fast and facetank things rather than take [[Hellrunner]] to dodge. To this end, you should have at least one [[fireproof red armor]]+P by the time you reach the Cyberdemon, but it helps to have two. In one run, I found two Sniper packs in Deimos Lab, and the P3S2 pistol I created carried me to a full win alongside Intuition 2.

Adapt to what you get. Anytime it's been many levels since you considered whipping a modded/special gun out, disassemble it and get a mod for the gear you're actually using. You probably won't get past SoB 3 by the time you get to the Mastermind, but after you see the crazy shit you can do with just one basic modded pistol double-dipping Son of a Gun ''and'' Son of a Bitch, you certainly won't regret not being a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]]. You may even regret you didn't play this instead of a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]]. They feel very similar. [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] probably does pull ahead in overall DPS with fewer traits required, but by pigeonholing you into Eagle Eye 3 and pressuring you to get to the capstone ASAP, it pushes you away from taking Intuition and Whizkid, both of which greatly diminishes the chances you'll actually get to your capstone, and since Scavenger can get more mods out of everything on top of being forced into Whizkid 2 and Intuition, you're actually steered in a more helpful direction for going the distance.

The advantage Scavenger has over [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] is that Scavenger can not only go for Whizkid 2 and Intuition 2 as part of its capstone build order, it isn't totally locked out of going for Son of a Bitch to get more DPS along the way. [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]] is totally reliant on its capstone for all its DPS, and it's forced to take Eagle Eye 3 before it can do that, so any detours you take HAVE to be planned out and worth it as a [[Strategy:Sharpshooter|Sharpshooter]], but for a Scavenger, detours are all part of the plan in the first place. Even if you end up never scavenging anything... oh well! Don't take the capstone! Take one more level of Son of a Bitch! You have a gun that kills everything, a set of armor for every occasion, more shoes than your girlfriend, and you're winning the game. What's to complain about?

== Angel of 100 ==

: TL;DR: SoG1 > SoG2 > SoG3 > EE1 > SoB1 > SoB2 > SoB3 > [EE2/WK1] > [EE2/Int1/WK1/WK2] > [EE2/Int1/WK1/WK2] > [Int1/WK2] > MSc > Int2 > SoG4 > SoG5 > SoB4 > SoB5 > UP TO YOU LOL

For UV/Nightmare Ao100, take Son of a Gun and immediately use the Technical mod on your pistol, because you are guaranteed to start with a pistol, and since there is no Entryway it's entirely possible for you to spawn on level 1 right next to a Demon with no Shotguns or Shotgun Guys on the level and no armor in sight for 6 floors (and any that does spawn gets stolen by the Barons of Hell anyway). You can start taking Eagle Eye and go for Intuition right away, but I recommend you max out SoG first, because the most reliable way to reduce incoming damage is to kill fast, and on high difficulty, you could be fighting Barons as early as level 2. The biggest threat to your life on high difficulty is a horde of powerful enemies that overwhelm your cover. Even Rapid builds struggle to get strong enough fast enough, and they suffer greatly from being surrounded. They overkill smaller enemies who die after the second bullet and can't knock back that Baron of Hell that'll slash you a new vagina if he rounds the corner, so when faced with a horde, rapid builds have to eat chips at every meal, which is bad for your life expectancy. You need to become good at killing things fast, and SoG3 with that T-modded Pistol does that. If you want that mod back, you can disassemble the gun with Scavenger later.

Anyway, take [[Son of a Gun]] on levels 1, 2, and 3. At level 4, take one level of Eagle Eye. You do need some accuracy, but thankfully a pistol really only needs one level for now.

From 5-7, max out Son of a Bitch. You need to be able to knock things back with your starting pistol, because if you're on UV you've been facing Barons for a while now and are unlikely to come across a Combat Pistol because those are more rare than the Uniques for some reason.

With just one level of SoB, you can knock things back with a max damage roll, which is already something a Sharpshooter can't do by itself until level 12, and with each level of SoB it gets more reliable. You shoot 3 times a second by now, so you have many chances to knock enemies back for each of their actions, and right here is where this build starts to overtake Sharpshooter. What Sharpshooter builds struggle with the most is surviving to level 7 after their power plateaus at level 4, and right from level 5 it can do something a Sharpshooter isn't even guaranteed to be able to do with their level 7 Mastery. You don't even have yours yet!

Sharpshooter can't actually knock things back without at least a P-modded pistol or SoG4, which is why level 12 is what Sharpshooter has to wait for if they get unlucky. Being able to do this can keep Barons from even fighting you, not to mention you're doing more damage so you kill faster and can push things into lava and acid. You can also more easily one-shot zombies, so you take less chip damage when one walks into vision as you're fighting something else, and they won't get the chance to use up those Health Packs and Phase Devices, instead popping like a piñata as they deliver them right to your feet. The amount of resources you'll save from that alone will start to make a big difference, and this is something Rapid builds can't match because enemies cheat and can use these items in the middle of your burst, even though that would be impossible for you.

By the time you get SoB3, you'll FEEL like a Sharpshooter. You will arguably be better than one, actually, because while sharpshooters always do 11 damage per hit, your average damage is 11 but you can hit a maximum of 14, both at level 7.

And oh right, you need to actually finish your way to [[Scavenger]], but this build benefits from the freedom to delay its own Mastery until you need it, so what you dip into first on the way there is up to you. If you've got a burning need to make a Cerberus [[Duelist Armor]] and half your bag is mods you're waiting to use, you can take [[Whizkid]] at 8 and 9, and don't worry if you made any [[assemblies]] that become useless later, Scavenger gets to turn those into mods too anyway.

If you're not there yet, though, take a second level of [[Eagle Eye]] at level 8 and get [[Intuition]] at level 9. I'd get both levels of Intuition eventually even though the second is technically optional. Being able to sense enemies is obviously incredibly useful, but even just being able to sense powerups means you can sense the computer maps, and since you're a Technician, you can see all the enemies with any computer map. Not to mention, you get to play around knowing what levers do.

Whichever of the two paths you took first, take the second one at level 10 and 11.

Now you're level 12, and as stated, you can still delay the capstone until you need it, and if you don't need it, you can veer off into a masterless run and take literally whatever else you want! The rest of the way is up to you. I'd max out Son of a Gun and Son of a Bitch first, though, because right there is where it's clearly far and away just inarguably better than Sharpshooter, because a Sharpshooter with SoG5 would always be doing 13 damage a shot with a basic pistol, but once you get SoB5, you do almost that much damage on a minimum roll now, and you both fire just as fast. You'll be doing 12-18 damage with just a basic unmodded pistol, and you'll be at the firing speed cap to boot, so you'll just be deleting enemies with one click before they can even react. You'll even use the unique pistols better, especially the Grammaton Cleric Beretta on full auto, which for you deals a minimum of 66 damage if all bullets connect but roll a 1, or as much as 102 damage if you get extra lucky and all bullets roll max too. Meanwhile a Sharpshooter would be doing a maximum of 72 damage if all bullets connect. Crazy. This is why you can't take Triggerhappy, because you'd be doing almost double their damage with it if you could take that too.

From there, I'd take [[Hellrunner]] so that you can move as fast as you shoot, as well as [[Dodgemaster]] since you're dipping there anyway. You need to run fast in case your cover gets overwhelmed or you need to space to reload. Dip into melee combat with Brute if you want! You'll benefit from Son of a Bitch there too. I wouldn't bother with Finesse or Juggler, since you hit the pistol firing speed cap without Finesse, and Pistols are clearly your bread and butter. But heck, maybe you don't want to go all the way with pistols! Maybe you want [[Shottyman]] so you can use every gun! Just watch that bag space.

And of course, with your capstone, anytime you find a weapon you don't need, you can turn it into a mod, which means you're going to always be geared to the sky all the way from down in hell. Make any assembly you want, but from experience, pistols benefit way more from not having an assembly and just being modded to hell, so ahead and just throw mods on things! If you only used a single mod on a weapon and you'd like that mod back, you can disassemble the weapon and just get it back. You'll even get Nano packs and Onyx packs from Uniques sometimes!

Honestly, the power level of this build might embolden you enough to consider doing a masterless build if you didn't veer off into one already. It's so good, and I never would have thought to try it if I wasn't frustrated with all the luck you need for Sharpshooter to take off! Ironically, it presents a strong case for allowing Sharpshooter to take Son of a Bitch, since it basically does what Sharpshooter does without forcing it to take too many levels of Eagle Eye, and then it gets even better and gets to do crazy things with mods.

[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 03:40, 21 May 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Assault rifle

2023-06-05T11:08:56Z

Vid-szhite:

==0.9.9.7==

[[Agility mod]]s are typically at a premium, since they're frequently used in [[tactical boots]], [[tactical armor]] and [[cerberus armor]], so anything that uses three of them better be worth it. Well it's good news then that the Assault Rifle is remarkably powerful, though it doesn't look like it at first. You fire half as many shots, but each shot costs double the ammo, so it doesn't even conserve any. What gives! How could this be worth it?

[[Ammochain]].

An Assault Chaingun has as much base accuracy as a pistol and fires shots that deal 2d5 damage. A level of Triggerhappy lets it fire three bullets, and two lets it fire four. Each bullet deals 6 damage on average before Son of a Bitch, but you probably already have that maxed, so 9 damage compared to the base Chaingun's 6.5, with half the reload time. This essentially means it's doing the Chaingun's theoretical max damage per bullet on ''average,'' and can punch even higher, hitting a max damage of 13 per bullet with SoB 3.

Firing four bullets that do ~9 damage vs six that do ~6.5 is actually a slight ''decrease'' in average damage, assuming all shots connect, which holds true with pretty much any weapon this assembly is applied to. However, having more accuracy comes in handy in a build that blocks Eagle Eye, like Ammochain, where its ammo cost increase is almost irrelevant but its increase in accuracy, damage per shot, and reload speed are all things the build sorely needs.

A build with [[Eagle Eye]] access would probably be better suited with a [[burst cannon]], which would better leverage [[Son of a Bitch]] and uses [[Bulk mod]]s, which are usually not needed for much aside from [[fireproof red armor]] and [[tactical rocket launcher]], assuming you're not in possession of enough Firestorm or Nano mods for a [[biggest fucking gun]] or a [[nanomanufacture ammo]] assembly.

Any build that isn't Ammochain that doesn't want to dip into so many levels of Eagle Eye might want to consider turning their plasma rifle into a [[Hyperblaster]] instead, which deals about the same DPS but uses less ammo at a time, allowing for less overkill.[[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 11:08, 5 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Assault rifle

2023-06-05T11:08:32Z

Vid-szhite: Created page with "Agility mods are typically at a premium, since they're frequently used in tactical boots, tactical armor and cerberus armor, so anything that uses three of the..."

[[Agility mod]]s are typically at a premium, since they're frequently used in [[tactical boots]], [[tactical armor]] and [[cerberus armor]], so anything that uses three of them better be worth it. Well it's good news then that the Assault Rifle is remarkably powerful, though it doesn't look like it at first. You fire half as many shots, but each shot costs double the ammo, so it doesn't even conserve any. What gives! How could this be worth it?

[[Ammochain]].

An Assault Chaingun has as much base accuracy as a pistol and fires shots that deal 2d5 damage. A level of Triggerhappy lets it fire three bullets, and two lets it fire four. Each bullet deals 6 damage on average before Son of a Bitch, but you probably already have that maxed, so 9 damage compared to the base Chaingun's 6.5, with half the reload time. This essentially means it's doing the Chaingun's theoretical max damage per bullet on ''average,'' and can punch even higher, hitting a max damage of 13 per bullet with SoB 3.

Firing four bullets that do ~9 damage vs six that do ~6.5 is actually a slight ''decrease'' in average damage, assuming all shots connect, which holds true with pretty much any weapon this assembly is applied to. However, having more accuracy comes in handy in a build that blocks Eagle Eye, like Ammochain, where its ammo cost increase is almost irrelevant but its increase in accuracy, damage per shot, and reload speed are all things the build sorely needs.

A build with [[Eagle Eye]] access would probably be better suited with a [[burst cannon]], which would better leverage [[Son of a Bitch]] and uses [[Bulk mod]]s, which are usually not needed for much aside from [[fireproof red armor]] and [[tactical rocket launcher]], assuming you're not in possession of enough Firestorm or Nano mods for a [[biggest fucking gun]] or a [[nanomanufacture ammo]] assembly.

Any build that isn't Ammochain that doesn't want to dip into so many levels of Eagle Eye might want to consider turning their plasma rifle into a [[Hyperblaster]] instead, which deals about the same DPS but uses less ammo at a time, allowing for less overkill.

Strategy:Sharpshooter

2023-06-05T00:42:02Z

Vid-szhite: /* Getting off the ground */

===0.9.9.7===

Sharpshooter is a build that blooms much later than other pistol builds and deals less overall DPS besides since you're blocked from taking [[Dualgunner]], but on the plus side, you can make use of [[10mm ammo chain]]s all throughout the game, and any (pistol) uniques you find will make you a wrecking ball. More than anything, though, this build gives you the pinnacle of reliability, since you will always know whether or not you will knock an enemy back, and you will always know how many shots it will take to kill something. It also means modding just one of your pistols to a ridiculous level will pay off in spades.

Unfortunately, you are barred from taking [[Dualgunner]], which is a really good trait, not just for DPS but for early-game survivability. Dualgunner allows you to fire two aimed shots in a single attack and reliably kill imps and formers that wander into vision before they can react, as well as kill Demons before they get close and before you have to reload--and if they get close anyway, you would no longer need to aim and would able to kill them with much faster normal shots. Without this excellent ability, your one pistol may be better than anybody else's one pistol, but your whole build is probably never going to be as good as [[Gun Kata]].

So unlike all the other classes, ''you'' have to wait until at least level 7 to reliably one-shot formers with your starting pistol, and you can never one-shot imps without at least a P-modded pistol--and that's assuming you didn't grab any traits that don't lead to your capstone. Even worse, you have to rely on your one pistol's worth of ammo and constantly be reloading it even ''after'' your capstone. So sure, you can use ammo chains, but you also kinda need them.

So thanks to the Dualgunner lockout, you are utterly dependent on your capstone or good loot to start doing acceptable damage fast enough. Even afterwards, Sharpshooter's ability to actually win games is still highly loot-dependent. Still, Sharpshooter probably gains the most from finding the better pistols, though it probably gains less from finding two of them. Finding a single P mod or even a 10mm ammo chain early enough can completely change the build's viability, and finding a [[Combat pistol]] is basically one of your win conditions. With mods, the combat pistol is even better than finding one of the unique pistols, but if the game is stingy with P mods and you never find any better pistols, the latter of which is very likely, you might not even reach the capstone.

If you are fine with that and don't mind the challenge, go for it.

== Getting off the ground ==

You are a Technician, so you start with a Technical mod, which you should immediately use on your starting pistol. It makes you fire your pistol as if you had a level in [[Finesse]], an insanely good boost. It's almost as good as having SoG2 from level 1. Once you get SoG3, you're firing a shot every 0.32 seconds with your T-modded Pistol instead of every 0.4 seconds, and this T-mod is guaranteed from the moment you land in Entryway. This actually does quite a bit to catch up to the DPS of Dualgunner, so this build isn't without some upsides. It can even allow you to use your pistol as a reliable source of damage right from Son of a Gun 2 instead of having to wait one more level like the others tend to. Yes, once you get Son of a Gun 5, this T-mod won't do you any good, but you have to get there first, and this is free and helps you do that.

Alternatively, if you're not going Son of a Gun first, you could always save the T-mod for the first shotgun you find, which will help you get off the ground, although this will also make your pistol less effective, so it could leave you dependent on your shotguns for proper damage output unless you find a better pistol early. That T-mod is really important for your pistol DPS, so understand that not using it on your pistol could make your mid-game really suck, especially since that T-mod is part of all the good mid-game WK1 assemblies.

Depending on difficulty or challenges, you can go one of a few routes:

On lower difficulty, it is often best to max out Son of a Gun ASAP. The firing speed boost, combined with the T mod, combined with the damage boost, makes pistols get really good, really fast. The power jump from SoG2 to SoG3 is night and day. If you're doing [[Angel of Marksmanship]], this is the best choice by far. If you don't go this route in AoMr, especially on UV, being locked into only pistols will mean you die incredibly quickly because you can't kill anything, so taking Hellrunner will just mean you can't reach level 3. If you go Son of a Gun first, be sure to smartly use [[Tactics]] in places where Hellrunner would otherwise save you. For this reason, it's important to know the "feel" for when Hellrunner is doing its job.

On higher difficulty (which I will assume from here on out) as long as you're not doing AoMr, it's better to take two levels of [[Hellrunner]] first and use a Shotgun until you have at least [[Son of a Gun]] 2 and [[Eagle Eye]] 1. Never reload in a spot where an enemy can see you or is about to melee you (except formers), you can outrun them all at base speed in [[green armor]] or no armor. Once you have Hellrunner 2, clear [[Hell's Arena]] for the Rocket Launcher and the goodies, then immediately switch focus to finishing your capstone at all costs. Get Son of a Gun to at least level 2 before you start to bother with Eagle Eye 1, but if you do get a level of Eagle Eye before Son of a Gun 3, finish Son of a Gun before going for the next two, since the DPS boost is massive.

Get a feel for when it would be safe to peek out again after reloading, and for when it would be better to play ring around the rosie while cornershooting. If you peek out and dodge a fireball that is aimed at your previous location, and you were deep around a corner last turn, the monster will usually hit the wall next to them and take splash damage without harming you, which helps push them back as well. If they're too close and would hit you too, play ring around the rosie and run around the next corner while you wait for them to catch up.

You don't need [[Dodgemaster]] and should probably not take it until after your capstone, as while it does offer complete consistency in your dodging, it would delay your capstone too much, and you can probably survive a failed dodge or two, especially if you start Running. You still have about an 80-90% to dodge fireball-throwing enemies just with Hellrunner 2, and the speed is really more important anyway. Being able to dodge fireballs and run away from [[Demon]]s without needing [[tactics]] will can carry you really hard for the good majority of the early to midgame. Even [[Baron of hell|Barons]] are not so threatening when you know you can always dodge your way to safety and run fast enough to LoS them even in a long hallway. However, getting either your capstone or an [[energy pistol]] in time for Revenants is imperative, so if you delay the capstone for any reason, only do so to finish an Energy Pistol.

If you successfully managed to survive without [[Hellrunner]] all the way to SoG 3 and Eagle Eye 1, you might actually be better off diving for your capstone or taking [[Whizkid]] than taking [[Hellrunner]], but keep in mind Hellrunner is useful all game and can still save you in a Demon cave. A good thing to remember though is that with Eagle Eye 3, you pretty much have capped accuracy at all ranges even while Running, so you can start Running with no downside, although if you got that far without [[Hellrunner]], you didn't need me to tell you that, and I should probably be taking advice from you.

If you find two power mods early, I would take [[Whizkid]] 1 before your capstone to construct an [[Energy pistol]]. You don't necessarily need WK2 before assembling it, and I wouldn't wait unless you managed to get this far while skipping Hellrunner. The ability to mod your gun later is less important than getting your Energy Pistol in time for Revenants.

If you don't find the power mods you need, don't bother with Whizkid yet and grab your capstone first, then build an Energy pistol with the first two P-mods you find. This will allow you to use any of the cells you find, as well as just having an overall better damage type against the most dangerous enemies in the midgame. You really don't need to keep a normal pistol anymore by now, especially if you got the [[Backpack]]. You're so ammo efficient that you could probably win the game with 4 stacks of cells and never run out. [[Arachnotron]]s and [[Former commando]]s will easily be enough to replenish your supply.

By now you've definitely hit Deimos, and on UV you've been up against VMR for a while now. The energy pistol is recommended to kill Revenants. If you don't have one yet, carry a Plasma Rifle to deal with them quickly. While [[Mancubus|Mancubi]] are by far the most dangerous if you get caught out in the open, and [[Arch-vile]]s are the worst things on two legs if they're behind the things you have to kill, by far the most consistently dangerous enemy to you as a bullet-locked Pistol build will be [[Revenant]]s. Before you have your capstone, you could unload an entire [[Combat pistol]] clip into one and it'll only be at half HP, and you can sort of corner-shoot the others, but Revenants are too fast to run from, can't be dodged, and take too many actions too quickly for you to gun them down with your pistol before they shoot you, so unless you can build yourself an [[Energy pistol]], you'll often be at the mercy of your sub-weapons with them. They just barely don't go down in one clip from a base-power bullet-firing pistol with your capstone.

For sharpshooters in particular, you need a power mod on your pistol--and the [[Energy pistol]] has enough base damage to count--since a pistol that previously never knocks back under any circumstances suddenly becomes 100% guaranteed knockback to all enemies with your capstone. In an environment where you get to fire 3-4 times for every 1 tile a demon can move, having guaranteed knockback offers incredible safety, and a P mod additionally allows you to one-shot imps. If you find one of the unique pistols, you can either build the energy pistol anyway or save them for your armor.

Since Pistols don't need that much ammo, you can keep a decently flexible arsenal and feel confident in all your guns thanks to Eagle Eye 3. You don't need to keep more than two stacks of bullets, and if you have an Energy Pistol, ditch all bullets and the weapons that use them for cells. You can probably even drop your shotguns and their shells and just keep emergency items and a Rocket Launcher and/or a BFG. I would keep the rocket launcher no matter what so you can rocket jump. This is useful both when jumping to safety as well as when you need to travel fast to conserve power-up timers between levels. If you assemble the Rocket Launcher into something, I would make a [[tactical rocket launcher]], it's worth it for the invulnerable multi-rocket-jumps alone.

Before you get your capstone and energy pistol, though, if you aren't blocked by your challenge, it can be a good idea to carry at least one shotgun, a rocket launcher, and a plasma gun as backup weapons. Pistols have big problems with some enemies, and while the capstone can make this irrelevant, you have to get there first.

Shotguns are great for radar-shooting and dealing with Souls and Revenants. Rocket Launchers can destroy corpses to keep Arch-Viles from resurrecting them, as well as give you the ability to Rocket Jump, blow holes in walls, and deal knockback to keep a group of nasty enemies at bay. A Plasma Gun ignores half armor and deals enough damage to kill Revenants in 1-2 bursts. Of these weapons, your shotguns will be the most useful early-game, and the Plasma Gun can tide you over until you get a better pistol, but the Rocket Launcher is your most useful sub-weapon by far. It will save your bacon in the worst of situations, as well as allow you to rocket jump to carry power-ups from across the map to the stairs. If you spawn in a room surrounded by Demons or something even nastier, it's better to rocket jump away and lose a little bit of health than try to run and get ripped in half when you get cornered. If you rocket jump out of the demons' view, they eventually de-aggro, and you can take them on in more manageable numbers. Being able to crack walls can also give you safer routes into the rooms you need to enter, especially if you're blocked by a river of acid or lava.

== Supporting Traits ==

Good traits to take alongside this build are:

[[Hellrunner]] - As stated, you should probably grab these first before anything else. The flexibility they offer you increases how far you can reliably go so much, which in turn increases the likelihood you'll make it far enough to find a rare pistol. If you take them first, though, don't use your pistol until after you get Son of a Gun 3/Son of a Gun 2 and Eagle Eye 1. Taking 2 levels of Hellrunner guarantees that you'll be able to easily beat the Cyberdemon, probably even damageless. If you skip Hellrunner, be sure you have enough medpacks, health, and armor with fire resist to facetank the Cyberdemon's rockets, or else he'll out-DPS you.

[[Whizkid]] - You are a Technician, so you can grab Whizkid at any time. In many cases, it can actually be a better idea to grab 1-2 levels in WK before finishing Sharpshooter, since modded gear can be a lifesaver, and carrying around a bunch of crap that you plan on using in the future does you no good if you get killed because your gear wasn't good enough (or you had to drop important items to carry it). In general, though, assembled pistols are inferior to heavily modded pistols, the [[Energy pistol]] being a notable exception. 3P2T Pistols are ridiculously good, but once you get SoG5, 3P2B is better, since you will be at the firing speed cap with all pistols at that point and the T-mods are useless.

[[Intuition]] - Incredibly useful, and unlocked by the EE levels you needed. Int2 lets you see enemies outside your FoV, but even just Int1 giving you the ability to sense powerups means you know where to retreat to if things go south. It also removes the guesswork from levers. One of the best supporting options to take.

[[Ironman]] - Your only source of bulk, and not a bad one either. Increases the power of healthkits. Maybe not as "fun" as some of the others, but you'll swear by it once you try it out a few times. More useful in Ao100 than a standard game or AoMr. Take it after you finish WK2 and MSs.

[[Juggler]] - Finesse itself is useless to your pistols once you get SoG5, but Juggler can be a lifesaver if you suddenly need to rocket jump away or blast a bunch of bad dudes with a Double Shotgun. Juggler also makes carrying a second pistol a very practical solution to the pistol's low capacity, but this second pistol trick by itself is probably not enough to justify taking finesse and juggler in an Angel of Marksmanship game, especially on UV/N!, because you need way more stopping power for [[Demon]]s, and right after you'd be finishing Juggler, [[Hell knight]]s can start appearing.

[[Reloader]]/[[Shottyman]] - Reloader is not that useful if you're finding Ammo Chains everywhere, but in a long game, it and Shottyman can make any shotguns and rocket launchers in your arsenal that much more effective. Overall, it is a much better investment if you find yourself using your whole arsenal more than your pistols, but a very situational one, because its benefits are eclipsed by relatively common items. Although if you're dipping into Shottyman/Hellrunner and rely mainly on shotguns and rocket launchers anyway, you might as well just go [[Fireangel]] and admit you're not really playing a Sharpshooter.

Despite everything, Sharpshooter ''is'' still a satisfying and effective build that can be great fun, but it requires a great deal of patience and planning, and of course, you might need to improvise based on your current circumstances. Now if only the rare pistols weren't so abysmally hard to find...

[[User:Ya Girl Juniper|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Ya Girl Juniper|talk]]) 07:48, 3 February 2017 (UTC)
Updated: [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 02:46, 1 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Sharpshooter

2023-06-05T00:39:19Z

Vid-szhite: /* Getting off the ground */

===0.9.9.7===

Sharpshooter is a build that blooms much later than other pistol builds and deals less overall DPS besides since you're blocked from taking [[Dualgunner]], but on the plus side, you can make use of [[10mm ammo chain]]s all throughout the game, and any (pistol) uniques you find will make you a wrecking ball. More than anything, though, this build gives you the pinnacle of reliability, since you will always know whether or not you will knock an enemy back, and you will always know how many shots it will take to kill something. It also means modding just one of your pistols to a ridiculous level will pay off in spades.

Unfortunately, you are barred from taking [[Dualgunner]], which is a really good trait, not just for DPS but for early-game survivability. Dualgunner allows you to fire two aimed shots in a single attack and reliably kill imps and formers that wander into vision before they can react, as well as kill Demons before they get close and before you have to reload--and if they get close anyway, you would no longer need to aim and would able to kill them with much faster normal shots. Without this excellent ability, your one pistol may be better than anybody else's one pistol, but your whole build is probably never going to be as good as [[Gun Kata]].

So unlike all the other classes, ''you'' have to wait until at least level 7 to reliably one-shot formers with your starting pistol, and you can never one-shot imps without at least a P-modded pistol--and that's assuming you didn't grab any traits that don't lead to your capstone. Even worse, you have to rely on your one pistol's worth of ammo and constantly be reloading it even ''after'' your capstone. So sure, you can use ammo chains, but you also kinda need them.

So thanks to the Dualgunner lockout, you are utterly dependent on your capstone or good loot to start doing acceptable damage fast enough. Even afterwards, Sharpshooter's ability to actually win games is still highly loot-dependent. Still, Sharpshooter probably gains the most from finding the better pistols, though it probably gains less from finding two of them. Finding a single P mod or even a 10mm ammo chain early enough can completely change the build's viability, and finding a [[Combat pistol]] is basically one of your win conditions. With mods, the combat pistol is even better than finding one of the unique pistols, but if the game is stingy with P mods and you never find any better pistols, the latter of which is very likely, you might not even reach the capstone.

If you are fine with that and don't mind the challenge, go for it.

== Getting off the ground ==

You are a Technician, so you start with a Technical mod, which you should immediately use on your starting pistol. It makes you fire your pistol as if you had a level in [[Finesse]], an insanely good boost. It's almost as good as having SoG2 from level 1. Once you get SoG3, you're firing a shot every 0.32 seconds with your T-modded Pistol instead of every 0.4 seconds, and this T-mod is guaranteed from the moment you land in Entryway. This actually does quite a bit to catch up to the DPS of Dualgunner, so this build isn't without some upsides. It can even allow you to use your pistol as a reliable source of damage right from Son of a Gun 2 instead of having to wait one more level like the others tend to. Yes, once you get Son of a Gun 5, this T-mod won't do you any good, but you have to get there first, and this is free and helps you do that.

Alternatively, if you're not going Son of a Gun first, you could always save the T-mod for the first shotgun you find, which will help you get off the ground, although this will also make your pistol less effective, so it could leave you dependent on your shotguns for proper damage output unless you find a better pistol early. That T-mod is really important for your pistol DPS, so understand that not using it on your pistol could make your mid-game really suck, especially since that T-mod is part of all the good mid-game WK1 assemblies.

Depending on difficulty or challenges, you can go one of a few routes:

On lower difficulty, it is often best to max out Son of a Gun ASAP. The firing speed boost, combined with the T mod, combined with the damage boost, makes pistols get really good, really fast. The power jump from SoG2 to SoG3 is night and day. If you're doing [[Angel of Marksmanship]], this is the best choice by far. If you don't go this route in AoMr, especially on UV, being locked into only pistols will mean you die incredibly quickly because you can't kill anything, so taking Hellrunner will just mean you can't reach level 3. If you go Son of a Gun first, be sure to smartly use [[Tactics]] in places where Hellrunner would otherwise save you. For this reason, it's important to know the "feel" for when Hellrunner is doing its job.

On higher difficulty (which I will assume from here on out) as long as you're not doing AoMr, it's better to take two levels of [[Hellrunner]] first and use a Shotgun until you have at least [[Son of a Gun]] 2 and [[Eagle Eye]] 1. Never reload in a spot where an enemy can see you or is about to melee you (except formers), you can outrun them all at base speed in [[green armor]] or no armor. Once you have Hellrunner 2, clear [[Hell's Arena]] for the Rocket Launcher and the goodies, then immediately switch focus to finishing your capstone at all costs. Get Son of a Gun to at least level 2 before you start to bother with Eagle Eye 1, but if you do get a level of Eagle Eye before Son of a Gun 3, finish Son of a Gun before going for the next two, since the DPS boost is massive.

Get a feel for when it would be safe to peek out again after reloading, and for when it would be better to play ring around the rosie while cornershooting. If you peek out and dodge a fireball that is aimed at your previous location, and you were deep around a corner last turn, the monster will usually hit the wall next to them and take splash damage without harming you, which helps push them back as well. If they're too close and would hit you too, play ring around the rosie and run around the next corner while you wait for them to catch up.

You don't need [[Dodgemaster]] and should probably not take it until after your capstone, as while it does offer complete consistency in your dodging, it would delay your capstone too much, and you can probably survive a failed dodge or two, especially if you start Running. You still have about an 80-90% to dodge fireball-throwing enemies just with Hellrunner 2, and the speed is really more important anyway. Being able to dodge fireballs and run away from [[Demon]]s without needing [[tactics]] will can carry you really hard for the good majority of the early to midgame. Even [[Baron of hell|Barons]] are not so threatening when you know you can always dodge your way to safety and run fast enough to LoS them even in a long hallway. However, getting either your capstone or an [[energy pistol]] in time for Revenants is imperative, so if you delay the capstone for any reason, only do so to finish an Energy Pistol.

If you successfully managed to survive without [[Hellrunner]] all the way to SoG 3 and Eagle Eye 1, you might actually be better off diving for your capstone or taking [[Whizkid]] than taking [[Hellrunner]], but keep in mind Hellrunner is useful all game and can still save you in a Demon cave. A good thing to remember though is that with Eagle Eye 3, you pretty much have capped accuracy at all ranges even while Running, so you can start Running with no downside, although if you got that far without [[Hellrunner]], you didn't need me to tell you that, and I should probably be taking advice from you.

If you find two power mods early, I would take [[Whizkid]] 1 before your capstone to construct an [[Energy pistol]]. You don't necessarily need WK2 before assembling it, and I wouldn't wait unless you managed to get this far while skipping Hellrunner. The ability to mod your gun later is less important than getting your Energy Pistol in time for Revenants.

If you don't find the power mods you need, don't bother with Whizkid yet and grab your capstone first, then build an Energy pistol with the first two P-mods you find. This will allow you to use any of the cells you find, as well as just having an overall better damage type against the most dangerous enemies in the midgame. You really don't need to keep a normal pistol anymore by now, especially if you got the [[Backpack]]. You're so ammo efficient that you could probably win the game with 4 stacks of cells and never run out. [[Arachnotron]]s and [[Former commando]]s will easily be enough to replenish your supply.

By now you've definitely hit Deimos, and on UV you've been up against VMR for a while now. The energy pistol is recommended to kill Revenants. If you don't have one yet, carry a Plasma Rifle to deal with them quickly. While [[Mancubus|Mancubi]] are by far the most dangerous if you get caught out in the open, and [[Arch-vile]]s are the worst things on two legs if they're behind the things you have to kill, by far the most consistently dangerous enemy to you as a bullet-locked Pistol build will be [[Revenant]]s. Before you have your capstone, you could unload an entire [[Combat pistol]] clip into one and it'll only be at half HP, and you can sort of corner-shoot the others, but Revenants are too fast to run from, can't be dodged, and take too many actions too quickly for you to gun them down with your pistol before they shoot you, so unless you can build yourself an [[Energy pistol]], you'll often be at the mercy of your sub-weapons with them. They just barely don't go down in one clip from a base-power bullet-firing pistol with your capstone.

For sharpshooters in particular, you need a power mod on your pistol--and the [[Energy pistol]] has enough base damage to count--since a pistol that previously never knocks back under any circumstances suddenly becomes 100% guaranteed knockback to all enemies with your capstone. In an environment where you get to fire 3-4 times for every 1 tile a demon can move, having guaranteed knockback offers incredible safety, and a P mod additionally allows you to one-shot imps. If you find one of the unique pistols, you can either build the energy pistol anyway or save them for your armor.

Since Pistols don't need that much ammo, you can keep a decently flexible arsenal and feel confident in all your guns thanks to Eagle Eye 3. You don't need to keep more than two stacks of bullets, and if you have an Energy Pistol, ditch all bullets and the weapons that use them for cells. You can probably even drop your shotguns and their shells and just keep emergency items and a Rocket Launcher and/or a BFG. I would keep the rocket launcher no matter what so you can rocket jump. This is useful both when jumping to safety as well as when you need to travel fast to conserve power-up timers between levels. If you assemble the Rocket Launcher into something, I would make a [[Tactical Rocket Launcher]], it's worth it for the invulnerable multi-rocket-jumps alone.

Before you get your capstone and energy pistol, though, if you aren't blocked by your challenge, it can be a good idea to carry at least one shotgun, a rocket launcher, and a plasma gun as backup weapons. Pistols have big problems with some enemies, and while the capstone can make this irrelevant, you have to get there first.

Shotguns are great for radar-shooting and dealing with Souls and Revenants. Rocket Launchers can destroy corpses to keep Arch-Viles from resurrecting them, as well as give you the ability to Rocket Jump, blow holes in walls, and deal knockback to keep a group of nasty enemies at bay. A Plasma Gun ignores half armor and deals enough damage to kill Revenants in 1-2 bursts. Of these weapons, your shotguns will be the most useful early-game, and the Plasma Gun can tide you over until you get a better pistol, but the Rocket Launcher is your most useful sub-weapon by far. It will save your bacon in the worst of situations, as well as allow you to rocket jump to carry power-ups from across the map to the stairs. If you spawn in a room surrounded by Demons or something even nastier, it's better to rocket jump away and lose a little bit of health than try to run and get ripped in half when you get cornered. If you rocket jump out of the demons' view, they eventually de-aggro, and you can take them on in more manageable numbers. Being able to crack walls can also give you safer routes into the rooms you need to enter, especially if you're blocked by a river of acid or lava.

== Supporting Traits ==

Good traits to take alongside this build are:

[[Hellrunner]] - As stated, you should probably grab these first before anything else. The flexibility they offer you increases how far you can reliably go so much, which in turn increases the likelihood you'll make it far enough to find a rare pistol. If you take them first, though, don't use your pistol until after you get Son of a Gun 3/Son of a Gun 2 and Eagle Eye 1. Taking 2 levels of Hellrunner guarantees that you'll be able to easily beat the Cyberdemon, probably even damageless. If you skip Hellrunner, be sure you have enough medpacks, health, and armor with fire resist to facetank the Cyberdemon's rockets, or else he'll out-DPS you.

[[Whizkid]] - You are a Technician, so you can grab Whizkid at any time. In many cases, it can actually be a better idea to grab 1-2 levels in WK before finishing Sharpshooter, since modded gear can be a lifesaver, and carrying around a bunch of crap that you plan on using in the future does you no good if you get killed because your gear wasn't good enough (or you had to drop important items to carry it). In general, though, assembled pistols are inferior to heavily modded pistols, the [[Energy pistol]] being a notable exception. 3P2T Pistols are ridiculously good, but once you get SoG5, 3P2B is better, since you will be at the firing speed cap with all pistols at that point and the T-mods are useless.

[[Intuition]] - Incredibly useful, and unlocked by the EE levels you needed. Int2 lets you see enemies outside your FoV, but even just Int1 giving you the ability to sense powerups means you know where to retreat to if things go south. It also removes the guesswork from levers. One of the best supporting options to take.

[[Ironman]] - Your only source of bulk, and not a bad one either. Increases the power of healthkits. Maybe not as "fun" as some of the others, but you'll swear by it once you try it out a few times. More useful in Ao100 than a standard game or AoMr. Take it after you finish WK2 and MSs.

[[Juggler]] - Finesse itself is useless to your pistols once you get SoG5, but Juggler can be a lifesaver if you suddenly need to rocket jump away or blast a bunch of bad dudes with a Double Shotgun. Juggler also makes carrying a second pistol a very practical solution to the pistol's low capacity, but this second pistol trick by itself is probably not enough to justify taking finesse and juggler in an Angel of Marksmanship game, especially on UV/N!, because you need way more stopping power for [[Demon]]s, and right after you'd be finishing Juggler, [[Hell knight]]s can start appearing.

[[Reloader]]/[[Shottyman]] - Reloader is not that useful if you're finding Ammo Chains everywhere, but in a long game, it and Shottyman can make any shotguns and rocket launchers in your arsenal that much more effective. Overall, it is a much better investment if you find yourself using your whole arsenal more than your pistols, but a very situational one, because its benefits are eclipsed by relatively common items. Although if you're dipping into Shottyman/Hellrunner and rely mainly on shotguns and rocket launchers anyway, you might as well just go [[Fireangel]] and admit you're not really playing a Sharpshooter.

Despite everything, Sharpshooter ''is'' still a satisfying and effective build that can be great fun, but it requires a great deal of patience and planning, and of course, you might need to improvise based on your current circumstances. Now if only the rare pistols weren't so abysmally hard to find...

[[User:Ya Girl Juniper|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Ya Girl Juniper|talk]]) 07:48, 3 February 2017 (UTC)
Updated: [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 02:46, 1 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Sharpshooter

2023-06-05T00:38:33Z

Vid-szhite: /* Getting off the ground */

===0.9.9.7===

Sharpshooter is a build that blooms much later than other pistol builds and deals less overall DPS besides since you're blocked from taking [[Dualgunner]], but on the plus side, you can make use of [[10mm ammo chain]]s all throughout the game, and any (pistol) uniques you find will make you a wrecking ball. More than anything, though, this build gives you the pinnacle of reliability, since you will always know whether or not you will knock an enemy back, and you will always know how many shots it will take to kill something. It also means modding just one of your pistols to a ridiculous level will pay off in spades.

Unfortunately, you are barred from taking [[Dualgunner]], which is a really good trait, not just for DPS but for early-game survivability. Dualgunner allows you to fire two aimed shots in a single attack and reliably kill imps and formers that wander into vision before they can react, as well as kill Demons before they get close and before you have to reload--and if they get close anyway, you would no longer need to aim and would able to kill them with much faster normal shots. Without this excellent ability, your one pistol may be better than anybody else's one pistol, but your whole build is probably never going to be as good as [[Gun Kata]].

So unlike all the other classes, ''you'' have to wait until at least level 7 to reliably one-shot formers with your starting pistol, and you can never one-shot imps without at least a P-modded pistol--and that's assuming you didn't grab any traits that don't lead to your capstone. Even worse, you have to rely on your one pistol's worth of ammo and constantly be reloading it even ''after'' your capstone. So sure, you can use ammo chains, but you also kinda need them.

So thanks to the Dualgunner lockout, you are utterly dependent on your capstone or good loot to start doing acceptable damage fast enough. Even afterwards, Sharpshooter's ability to actually win games is still highly loot-dependent. Still, Sharpshooter probably gains the most from finding the better pistols, though it probably gains less from finding two of them. Finding a single P mod or even a 10mm ammo chain early enough can completely change the build's viability, and finding a [[Combat pistol]] is basically one of your win conditions. With mods, the combat pistol is even better than finding one of the unique pistols, but if the game is stingy with P mods and you never find any better pistols, the latter of which is very likely, you might not even reach the capstone.

If you are fine with that and don't mind the challenge, go for it.

== Getting off the ground ==

You are a Technician, so you start with a Technical mod, which you should immediately use on your starting pistol. It makes you fire your pistol as if you had a level in [[Finesse]], an insanely good boost. It's almost as good as having SoG2 from level 1. Once you get SoG3, you're firing a shot every 0.32 seconds with your T-modded Pistol instead of every 0.4 seconds, and this T-mod is guaranteed from the moment you land in Entryway. This actually does quite a bit to catch up to the DPS of Dualgunner, so this build isn't without some upsides. It can even allow you to use your pistol as a reliable source of damage right from Son of a Gun 2 instead of having to wait one more level like the others tend to. Yes, once you get Son of a Gun 5, this T-mod won't do you any good, but you have to get there first, and this is free and helps you do that.

Alternatively, if you're not going Son of a Gun first, you could always save the T-mod for the first shotgun you find, which will help you get off the ground, although this will also make your pistol less effective, so it could leave you dependent on your shotguns for proper damage output unless you find a better pistol early. That T-mod is really important for your pistol DPS, so understand that not using it on your pistol could make your mid-game really suck, especially since that T-mod is part of all the good mid-game WK1 assemblies.

Depending on difficulty or challenges, you can go one of a few routes:

On lower difficulty, it is often best to max out Son of a Gun ASAP. The firing speed boost, combined with the T mod, combined with the damage boost, makes pistols get really good, really fast. The power jump from SoG2 to SoG3 is night and day. If you're doing [[Angel of Marksmanship]], this is the best choice by far. If you don't go this route in AoMr, especially on UV, being locked into only pistols will mean you die incredibly quickly because you can't kill anything, so taking Hellrunner will just mean you can't reach level 3. If you go Son of a Gun first, be sure to smartly use [[Tactics]] in places where Hellrunner would otherwise save you. For this reason, it's important to know the "feel" for when Hellrunner is doing its job.

On higher difficulty (which I will assume from here on out) as long as you're not doing AoMr, it's better to take two levels of [[Hellrunner]] first and use a Shotgun until you have at least [[Son of a Gun]] 2 and [[Eagle Eye]] 1. Never reload in a spot where an enemy can see you or is about to melee you (except formers), you can outrun them all at base speed in [[green armor]] or no armor. Once you have Hellrunner 2, clear [[Hell's Arena]] for the Rocket Launcher and the goodies, then immediately switch focus to finishing your capstone at all costs. Get Son of a Gun to at least level 2 before you start to bother with Eagle Eye 1, but if you do get a level of Eagle Eye before Son of a Gun 3, finish Son of a Gun before going for the next two, since the DPS boost is massive.

Get a feel for when it would be safe to peek out again after reloading, and for when it would be better to play ring around the rosie while cornershooting. If you peek out and dodge a fireball that is aimed at your previous location, and you were deep around a corner last turn, the monster will usually hit the wall next to them and take splash damage without harming you, which helps push them back as well. If they're too close and would hit you too, play ring around the rosie and run around the next corner while you wait for them to catch up.

You don't need [[Dodgemaster]] and should probably not take it until after your capstone, as while it does offer complete consistency in your dodging, it would delay your capstone too much, and you can probably survive a failed dodge or two, especially if you start Running. You still have about an 80-90% to dodge fireball-throwing enemies just with Hellrunner 2, and the speed is really more important anyway. Being able to dodge fireballs and run away from [[Demon]]s without needing [[tactics]] will can carry you really hard for the good majority of the early to midgame. Even [[Baron of hell|Barons]] are not so threatening when you know you can always dodge your way to safety and run fast enough to LoS them even in a long hallway. However, getting either your capstone or an [[energy pistol]] in time for Revenants is imperative, so if you delay the capstone for any reason, only do so to finish an Energy Pistol.

If you successfully managed to survive without [[Hellrunner]] all the way to SoG 3 and Eagle Eye 1, you might actually be better off diving for your capstone or taking [[Whizkid]] than taking [[Hellrunner]], but keep in mind Hellrunner is useful all game and can still save you in a Demon cave. A good thing to remember though is that with Eagle Eye 3, you pretty much have capped accuracy at all ranges even while Running, so you can start Running with no downside, although if you got that far without [[Hellrunner]], I should probably be taking advice from you.

If you find two power mods early, I would take [[Whizkid]] 1 before your capstone to construct an [[Energy pistol]]. You don't necessarily need WK2 before assembling it, and I wouldn't wait unless you managed to get this far while skipping Hellrunner. The ability to mod your gun later is less important than getting your Energy Pistol in time for Revenants.

If you don't find the power mods you need, don't bother with Whizkid yet and grab your capstone first, then build an Energy pistol with the first two P-mods you find. This will allow you to use any of the cells you find, as well as just having an overall better damage type against the most dangerous enemies in the midgame. You really don't need to keep a normal pistol anymore by now, especially if you got the [[Backpack]]. You're so ammo efficient that you could probably win the game with 4 stacks of cells and never run out. [[Arachnotron]]s and [[Former commando]]s will easily be enough to replenish your supply.

By now you've definitely hit Deimos, and on UV you've been up against VMR for a while now. The energy pistol is recommended to kill Revenants. If you don't have one yet, carry a Plasma Rifle to deal with them quickly. While [[Mancubus|Mancubi]] are by far the most dangerous if you get caught out in the open, and [[Arch-vile]]s are the worst things on two legs if they're behind the things you have to kill, by far the most consistently dangerous enemy to you as a bullet-locked Pistol build will be [[Revenant]]s. Before you have your capstone, you could unload an entire [[Combat pistol]] clip into one and it'll only be at half HP, and you can sort of corner-shoot the others, but Revenants are too fast to run from, can't be dodged, and take too many actions too quickly for you to gun them down with your pistol before they shoot you, so unless you can build yourself an [[Energy pistol]], you'll often be at the mercy of your sub-weapons with them. They just barely don't go down in one clip from a base-power bullet-firing pistol with your capstone.

For sharpshooters in particular, you need a power mod on your pistol--and the [[Energy pistol]] has enough base damage to count--since a pistol that previously never knocks back under any circumstances suddenly becomes 100% guaranteed knockback to all enemies with your capstone. In an environment where you get to fire 3-4 times for every 1 tile a demon can move, having guaranteed knockback offers incredible safety, and a P mod additionally allows you to one-shot imps. If you find one of the unique pistols, you can either build the energy pistol anyway or save them for your armor.

Since Pistols don't need that much ammo, you can keep a decently flexible arsenal and feel confident in all your guns thanks to Eagle Eye 3. You don't need to keep more than two stacks of bullets, and if you have an Energy Pistol, ditch all bullets and the weapons that use them for cells. You can probably even drop your shotguns and their shells and just keep emergency items and a Rocket Launcher and/or a BFG. I would keep the rocket launcher no matter what so you can rocket jump. This is useful both when jumping to safety as well as when you need to travel fast to conserve power-up timers between levels. If you assemble the Rocket Launcher into something, I would make a [[Tactical Rocket Launcher]], it's worth it for the invulnerable multi-rocket-jumps alone.

Before you get your capstone and energy pistol, though, if you aren't blocked by your challenge, it can be a good idea to carry at least one shotgun, a rocket launcher, and a plasma gun as backup weapons. Pistols have big problems with some enemies, and while the capstone can make this irrelevant, you have to get there first.

Shotguns are great for radar-shooting and dealing with Souls and Revenants. Rocket Launchers can destroy corpses to keep Arch-Viles from resurrecting them, as well as give you the ability to Rocket Jump, blow holes in walls, and deal knockback to keep a group of nasty enemies at bay. A Plasma Gun ignores half armor and deals enough damage to kill Revenants in 1-2 bursts. Of these weapons, your shotguns will be the most useful early-game, and the Plasma Gun can tide you over until you get a better pistol, but the Rocket Launcher is your most useful sub-weapon by far. It will save your bacon in the worst of situations, as well as allow you to rocket jump to carry power-ups from across the map to the stairs. If you spawn in a room surrounded by Demons or something even nastier, it's better to rocket jump away and lose a little bit of health than try to run and get ripped in half when you get cornered. If you rocket jump out of the demons' view, they eventually de-aggro, and you can take them on in more manageable numbers. Being able to crack walls can also give you safer routes into the rooms you need to enter, especially if you're blocked by a river of acid or lava.

== Supporting Traits ==

Good traits to take alongside this build are:

[[Hellrunner]] - As stated, you should probably grab these first before anything else. The flexibility they offer you increases how far you can reliably go so much, which in turn increases the likelihood you'll make it far enough to find a rare pistol. If you take them first, though, don't use your pistol until after you get Son of a Gun 3/Son of a Gun 2 and Eagle Eye 1. Taking 2 levels of Hellrunner guarantees that you'll be able to easily beat the Cyberdemon, probably even damageless. If you skip Hellrunner, be sure you have enough medpacks, health, and armor with fire resist to facetank the Cyberdemon's rockets, or else he'll out-DPS you.

[[Whizkid]] - You are a Technician, so you can grab Whizkid at any time. In many cases, it can actually be a better idea to grab 1-2 levels in WK before finishing Sharpshooter, since modded gear can be a lifesaver, and carrying around a bunch of crap that you plan on using in the future does you no good if you get killed because your gear wasn't good enough (or you had to drop important items to carry it). In general, though, assembled pistols are inferior to heavily modded pistols, the [[Energy pistol]] being a notable exception. 3P2T Pistols are ridiculously good, but once you get SoG5, 3P2B is better, since you will be at the firing speed cap with all pistols at that point and the T-mods are useless.

[[Intuition]] - Incredibly useful, and unlocked by the EE levels you needed. Int2 lets you see enemies outside your FoV, but even just Int1 giving you the ability to sense powerups means you know where to retreat to if things go south. It also removes the guesswork from levers. One of the best supporting options to take.

[[Ironman]] - Your only source of bulk, and not a bad one either. Increases the power of healthkits. Maybe not as "fun" as some of the others, but you'll swear by it once you try it out a few times. More useful in Ao100 than a standard game or AoMr. Take it after you finish WK2 and MSs.

[[Juggler]] - Finesse itself is useless to your pistols once you get SoG5, but Juggler can be a lifesaver if you suddenly need to rocket jump away or blast a bunch of bad dudes with a Double Shotgun. Juggler also makes carrying a second pistol a very practical solution to the pistol's low capacity, but this second pistol trick by itself is probably not enough to justify taking finesse and juggler in an Angel of Marksmanship game, especially on UV/N!, because you need way more stopping power for [[Demon]]s, and right after you'd be finishing Juggler, [[Hell knight]]s can start appearing.

[[Reloader]]/[[Shottyman]] - Reloader is not that useful if you're finding Ammo Chains everywhere, but in a long game, it and Shottyman can make any shotguns and rocket launchers in your arsenal that much more effective. Overall, it is a much better investment if you find yourself using your whole arsenal more than your pistols, but a very situational one, because its benefits are eclipsed by relatively common items. Although if you're dipping into Shottyman/Hellrunner and rely mainly on shotguns and rocket launchers anyway, you might as well just go [[Fireangel]] and admit you're not really playing a Sharpshooter.

Despite everything, Sharpshooter ''is'' still a satisfying and effective build that can be great fun, but it requires a great deal of patience and planning, and of course, you might need to improvise based on your current circumstances. Now if only the rare pistols weren't so abysmally hard to find...

[[User:Ya Girl Juniper|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Ya Girl Juniper|talk]]) 07:48, 3 February 2017 (UTC)
Updated: [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 02:46, 1 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Sharpshooter

2023-06-05T00:37:06Z

Vid-szhite: /* Getting off the ground */

===0.9.9.7===

Sharpshooter is a build that blooms much later than other pistol builds and deals less overall DPS besides since you're blocked from taking [[Dualgunner]], but on the plus side, you can make use of [[10mm ammo chain]]s all throughout the game, and any (pistol) uniques you find will make you a wrecking ball. More than anything, though, this build gives you the pinnacle of reliability, since you will always know whether or not you will knock an enemy back, and you will always know how many shots it will take to kill something. It also means modding just one of your pistols to a ridiculous level will pay off in spades.

Unfortunately, you are barred from taking [[Dualgunner]], which is a really good trait, not just for DPS but for early-game survivability. Dualgunner allows you to fire two aimed shots in a single attack and reliably kill imps and formers that wander into vision before they can react, as well as kill Demons before they get close and before you have to reload--and if they get close anyway, you would no longer need to aim and would able to kill them with much faster normal shots. Without this excellent ability, your one pistol may be better than anybody else's one pistol, but your whole build is probably never going to be as good as [[Gun Kata]].

So unlike all the other classes, ''you'' have to wait until at least level 7 to reliably one-shot formers with your starting pistol, and you can never one-shot imps without at least a P-modded pistol--and that's assuming you didn't grab any traits that don't lead to your capstone. Even worse, you have to rely on your one pistol's worth of ammo and constantly be reloading it even ''after'' your capstone. So sure, you can use ammo chains, but you also kinda need them.

So thanks to the Dualgunner lockout, you are utterly dependent on your capstone or good loot to start doing acceptable damage fast enough. Even afterwards, Sharpshooter's ability to actually win games is still highly loot-dependent. Still, Sharpshooter probably gains the most from finding the better pistols, though it probably gains less from finding two of them. Finding a single P mod or even a 10mm ammo chain early enough can completely change the build's viability, and finding a [[Combat pistol]] is basically one of your win conditions. With mods, the combat pistol is even better than finding one of the unique pistols, but if the game is stingy with P mods and you never find any better pistols, the latter of which is very likely, you might not even reach the capstone.

If you are fine with that and don't mind the challenge, go for it.

== Getting off the ground ==

You are a Technician, so you start with a Technical mod, which you should immediately use on your starting pistol. It makes you fire your pistol as if you had a level in [[Finesse]], an insanely good boost. It's almost as good as having SoG2 from level 1. Once you get SoG3, you're firing a shot every 0.32 seconds with your T-modded Pistol instead of every 0.4 seconds, and this T-mod is guaranteed from the moment you land in Entryway. This actually does quite a bit to catch up to the DPS of Dualgunner, so this build isn't without some upsides. It can even allow you to use your pistol as a reliable source of damage right from Son of a Gun 2 instead of having to wait one more level like the others tend to. Yes, once you get Son of a Gun 5, this T-mod won't do you any good, but you have to get there first, and this is free and helps you do that.

Alternatively, if you're not going Son of a Gun first, you could always save the T-mod for the first shotgun you find, which will help you get off the ground, although this will also make your pistol less effective, so it could leave you dependent on your shotguns for proper damage output unless you find a better pistol early. That T-mod is really important for your pistol DPS, so understand that not using it on your pistol could make your mid-game really suck, especially since that T-mod is part of all the good mid-game WK1 assemblies.

Depending on difficulty or challenges, you can go one of a few routes:

On lower difficulty, it is often best to max out Son of a Gun ASAP. The firing speed boost, combined with the T mod, combined with the damage boost, makes pistols get really good, really fast. The power jump from SoG2 to SoG3 is night and day. If you're doing [[Angel of Marksmanship]], this is the best choice by far. If you don't go this route in AoMr, especially on UV, being locked into only pistols will mean you die incredibly quickly because you can't kill anything, so taking Hellrunner will just mean you can't reach level 3. If you go Son of a Gun first, be sure to smartly use [[Tactics]] in places where Hellrunner would otherwise save you. For this reason, it's important to know the "feel" for when Hellrunner is doing its job.

On higher difficulty (which I will assume from here on out) as long as you're not doing AoMr, it's better to take two levels of [[Hellrunner]] first and use a Shotgun until you have at least [[Son of a Gun]] 2 and [[Eagle Eye]] 1. Never reload in a spot where an enemy can see you or is about to melee you (except formers), you can outrun them all at base speed in [[green armor]] or no armor. Once you have Hellrunner 2, clear [[Hell's Arena]] for the Rocket Launcher and the goodies, then immediately switch focus to finishing your capstone at all costs. Get Son of a Gun to at least level 2 before you start to bother with Eagle Eye 1, but if you do get a level of Eagle Eye before Son of a Gun 3, finish Son of a Gun before going for the next two, since the DPS boost is massive.

Get a feel for when it would be safe to peek out again after reloading, and for when it would be better to play ring around the rosie while cornershooting. If you peek out and dodge a fireball that is aimed at your previous location, and you were deep around a corner last turn, the monster will usually hit the wall next to them and take splash damage without harming you, which helps push them back as well. If they're too close and would hit you too, play ring around the rosie and run around the next corner while you wait for them to catch up.

You don't need [[Dodgemaster]] and should probably not take it until after your capstone, as while it does offer complete consistency in your dodging, it would delay your capstone too much, and you can probably survive a failed dodge or two, especially if you start Running. You still have about an 80-90% to dodge fireball-throwing enemies just with Hellrunner 2, and the speed is really more important anyway. Being able to dodge fireballs and run away from [[Demon]]s without needing [[tactics]] will can carry you really hard for the good majority of the early to midgame. Even [[Baron of hell|Barons]] are not so threatening when you know you can always dodge your way to safety and run fast enough to LoS them even in a long hallway. However, getting either your capstone or an [[energy pistol]] in time for Revenants is imperative, so if you delay the capstone for any reason, only do so to finish an Energy Pistol.

If you successfully managed to survive without [[Hellrunner]] all the way to SoG 3 and Eagle Eye 1, you might actually be better off diving for your capstone or taking [[Whizkid]] than taking [[Hellrunner]], but keep in mind Hellrunner is useful all game and can still save you in a Demon cave. A good thing to remember though is that with Eagle Eye 3, you pretty much have capped accuracy at all ranges even while Running, so you can start Running with no downside.

If you find two power mods early, I would take [[Whizkid]] 1 before your capstone to construct an [[Energy pistol]]. You don't necessarily need WK2 before assembling it, and I wouldn't wait unless you managed to get this far while skipping Hellrunner. The ability to mod your gun later is less important than getting your Energy Pistol in time for Revenants.

If you don't find the power mods you need, don't bother with Whizkid yet and grab your capstone first, then build an Energy pistol with the first two P-mods you find. This will allow you to use any of the cells you find, as well as just having an overall better damage type against the most dangerous enemies in the midgame. You really don't need to keep a normal pistol anymore by now, especially if you got the [[Backpack]]. You're so ammo efficient that you could probably win the game with 4 stacks of cells and never run out. [[Arachnotron]]s and [[Former commando]]s will easily be enough to replenish your supply.

By now you've definitely hit Deimos, and on UV you've been up against VMR for a while now. The energy pistol is recommended to kill Revenants. If you don't have one yet, carry a Plasma Rifle to deal with them quickly. While [[Mancubus|Mancubi]] are by far the most dangerous if you get caught out in the open, and [[Arch-vile]]s are the worst things on two legs if they're behind the things you have to kill, by far the most consistently dangerous enemy to you as a bullet-locked Pistol build will be [[Revenant]]s. Before you have your capstone, you could unload an entire [[Combat pistol]] clip into one and it'll only be at half HP, and you can sort of corner-shoot the others, but Revenants are too fast to run from, can't be dodged, and take too many actions too quickly for you to gun them down with your pistol before they shoot you, so unless you can build yourself an [[Energy pistol]], you'll often be at the mercy of your sub-weapons with them. They just barely don't go down in one clip from a base-power bullet-firing pistol with your capstone.

For sharpshooters in particular, you need a power mod on your pistol--and the [[Energy pistol]] has enough base damage to count--since a pistol that previously never knocks back under any circumstances suddenly becomes 100% guaranteed knockback to all enemies with your capstone. In an environment where you get to fire 3-4 times for every 1 tile a demon can move, having guaranteed knockback offers incredible safety, and a P mod additionally allows you to one-shot imps. If you find one of the unique pistols, you can either build the energy pistol anyway or save them for your armor.

Since Pistols don't need that much ammo, you can keep a decently flexible arsenal and feel confident in all your guns thanks to Eagle Eye 3. You don't need to keep more than two stacks of bullets, and if you have an Energy Pistol, ditch all bullets and the weapons that use them for cells. You can probably even drop your shotguns and their shells and just keep emergency items and a Rocket Launcher and/or a BFG. I would keep the rocket launcher no matter what so you can rocket jump. This is useful both when jumping to safety as well as when you need to travel fast to conserve power-up timers between levels. If you assemble the Rocket Launcher into something, I would make a [[Tactical Rocket Launcher]], it's worth it for the invulnerable multi-rocket-jumps alone.

Before you get your capstone and energy pistol, though, if you aren't blocked by your challenge, it can be a good idea to carry at least one shotgun, a rocket launcher, and a plasma gun as backup weapons. Pistols have big problems with some enemies, and while the capstone can make this irrelevant, you have to get there first.

Shotguns are great for radar-shooting and dealing with Souls and Revenants. Rocket Launchers can destroy corpses to keep Arch-Viles from resurrecting them, as well as give you the ability to Rocket Jump, blow holes in walls, and deal knockback to keep a group of nasty enemies at bay. A Plasma Gun ignores half armor and deals enough damage to kill Revenants in 1-2 bursts. Of these weapons, your shotguns will be the most useful early-game, and the Plasma Gun can tide you over until you get a better pistol, but the Rocket Launcher is your most useful sub-weapon by far. It will save your bacon in the worst of situations, as well as allow you to rocket jump to carry power-ups from across the map to the stairs. If you spawn in a room surrounded by Demons or something even nastier, it's better to rocket jump away and lose a little bit of health than try to run and get ripped in half when you get cornered. If you rocket jump out of the demons' view, they eventually de-aggro, and you can take them on in more manageable numbers. Being able to crack walls can also give you safer routes into the rooms you need to enter, especially if you're blocked by a river of acid or lava.

== Supporting Traits ==

Good traits to take alongside this build are:

[[Hellrunner]] - As stated, you should probably grab these first before anything else. The flexibility they offer you increases how far you can reliably go so much, which in turn increases the likelihood you'll make it far enough to find a rare pistol. If you take them first, though, don't use your pistol until after you get Son of a Gun 3/Son of a Gun 2 and Eagle Eye 1. Taking 2 levels of Hellrunner guarantees that you'll be able to easily beat the Cyberdemon, probably even damageless. If you skip Hellrunner, be sure you have enough medpacks, health, and armor with fire resist to facetank the Cyberdemon's rockets, or else he'll out-DPS you.

[[Whizkid]] - You are a Technician, so you can grab Whizkid at any time. In many cases, it can actually be a better idea to grab 1-2 levels in WK before finishing Sharpshooter, since modded gear can be a lifesaver, and carrying around a bunch of crap that you plan on using in the future does you no good if you get killed because your gear wasn't good enough (or you had to drop important items to carry it). In general, though, assembled pistols are inferior to heavily modded pistols, the [[Energy pistol]] being a notable exception. 3P2T Pistols are ridiculously good, but once you get SoG5, 3P2B is better, since you will be at the firing speed cap with all pistols at that point and the T-mods are useless.

[[Intuition]] - Incredibly useful, and unlocked by the EE levels you needed. Int2 lets you see enemies outside your FoV, but even just Int1 giving you the ability to sense powerups means you know where to retreat to if things go south. It also removes the guesswork from levers. One of the best supporting options to take.

[[Ironman]] - Your only source of bulk, and not a bad one either. Increases the power of healthkits. Maybe not as "fun" as some of the others, but you'll swear by it once you try it out a few times. More useful in Ao100 than a standard game or AoMr. Take it after you finish WK2 and MSs.

[[Juggler]] - Finesse itself is useless to your pistols once you get SoG5, but Juggler can be a lifesaver if you suddenly need to rocket jump away or blast a bunch of bad dudes with a Double Shotgun. Juggler also makes carrying a second pistol a very practical solution to the pistol's low capacity, but this second pistol trick by itself is probably not enough to justify taking finesse and juggler in an Angel of Marksmanship game, especially on UV/N!, because you need way more stopping power for [[Demon]]s, and right after you'd be finishing Juggler, [[Hell knight]]s can start appearing.

[[Reloader]]/[[Shottyman]] - Reloader is not that useful if you're finding Ammo Chains everywhere, but in a long game, it and Shottyman can make any shotguns and rocket launchers in your arsenal that much more effective. Overall, it is a much better investment if you find yourself using your whole arsenal more than your pistols, but a very situational one, because its benefits are eclipsed by relatively common items. Although if you're dipping into Shottyman/Hellrunner and rely mainly on shotguns and rocket launchers anyway, you might as well just go [[Fireangel]] and admit you're not really playing a Sharpshooter.

Despite everything, Sharpshooter ''is'' still a satisfying and effective build that can be great fun, but it requires a great deal of patience and planning, and of course, you might need to improvise based on your current circumstances. Now if only the rare pistols weren't so abysmally hard to find...

[[User:Ya Girl Juniper|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Ya Girl Juniper|talk]]) 07:48, 3 February 2017 (UTC)
Updated: [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 02:46, 1 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Sharpshooter

2023-06-05T00:32:08Z

Vid-szhite: /* Supporting Traits */

===0.9.9.7===

Sharpshooter is a build that blooms much later than other pistol builds and deals less overall DPS besides since you're blocked from taking [[Dualgunner]], but on the plus side, you can make use of [[10mm ammo chain]]s all throughout the game, and any (pistol) uniques you find will make you a wrecking ball. More than anything, though, this build gives you the pinnacle of reliability, since you will always know whether or not you will knock an enemy back, and you will always know how many shots it will take to kill something. It also means modding just one of your pistols to a ridiculous level will pay off in spades.

Unfortunately, you are barred from taking [[Dualgunner]], which is a really good trait, not just for DPS but for early-game survivability. Dualgunner allows you to fire two aimed shots in a single attack and reliably kill imps and formers that wander into vision before they can react, as well as kill Demons before they get close and before you have to reload--and if they get close anyway, you would no longer need to aim and would able to kill them with much faster normal shots. Without this excellent ability, your one pistol may be better than anybody else's one pistol, but your whole build is probably never going to be as good as [[Gun Kata]].

So unlike all the other classes, ''you'' have to wait until at least level 7 to reliably one-shot formers with your starting pistol, and you can never one-shot imps without at least a P-modded pistol--and that's assuming you didn't grab any traits that don't lead to your capstone. Even worse, you have to rely on your one pistol's worth of ammo and constantly be reloading it even ''after'' your capstone. So sure, you can use ammo chains, but you also kinda need them.

So thanks to the Dualgunner lockout, you are utterly dependent on your capstone or good loot to start doing acceptable damage fast enough. Even afterwards, Sharpshooter's ability to actually win games is still highly loot-dependent. Still, Sharpshooter probably gains the most from finding the better pistols, though it probably gains less from finding two of them. Finding a single P mod or even a 10mm ammo chain early enough can completely change the build's viability, and finding a [[Combat pistol]] is basically one of your win conditions. With mods, the combat pistol is even better than finding one of the unique pistols, but if the game is stingy with P mods and you never find any better pistols, the latter of which is very likely, you might not even reach the capstone.

If you are fine with that and don't mind the challenge, go for it.

== Getting off the ground ==

You are a Technician, so you start with a Technical mod, which you should immediately use on your starting pistol. It makes you fire your pistol as if you had a level in [[Finesse]], an insanely good boost. It's almost as good as having SoG2 from level 1. Once you get SoG3, you're firing a shot every 0.32 seconds with your T-modded Pistol instead of every 0.4 seconds, and this T-mod is guaranteed from the moment you land in Entryway. This actually does quite a bit to catch up to the DPS of Dualgunner, so this build isn't without some upsides. It can even allow you to use your pistol as a reliable source of damage right from Son of a Gun 2 instead of having to wait one more level like the others tend to. Yes, once you get Son of a Gun 5, this T-mod won't do you any good, but you have to get there first, and this is free and helps you do that.

Alternatively, if you're not going Son of a Gun first, you could always save the T-mod for the first shotgun you find, which will help you get off the ground, although this will also make your pistol less effective, so it could leave you dependent on your shotguns for proper damage output unless you find a better pistol early. That T-mod is really important for your pistol DPS, so understand that not using it on your pistol could make your mid-game really suck, especially since that T-mod is part of all the good mid-game WK1 assemblies.

Depending on difficulty or challenges, you can go one of a few routes:

On lower difficulty, it is often best to max out Son of a Gun ASAP. The firing speed boost, combined with the T mod, combined with the damage boost, makes pistols get really good, really fast. The power jump from SoG2 to SoG3 is night and day. If you're doing [[Angel of Marksmanship]], this is the best choice by far. If you don't go this route in AoMr, especially on UV, being locked into only pistols will mean you die incredibly quickly because you can't kill anything, so taking Hellrunner will just mean you can't reach level 3. If you go Son of a Gun first, be sure to smartly use [[Tactics]] in places where Hellrunner would otherwise save you. For this reason, it's important to know the "feel" for when Hellrunner is doing its job.

On higher difficulty (which I will assume from here on out) as long as you're not doing AoMr, it's better to take two levels of [[Hellrunner]] first and use a Shotgun until you have at least [[Son of a Gun]] 2 and [[Eagle Eye]] 1. Never reload in a spot where an enemy can see you or is adjacent to you, you can outrun them all at base speed in [[green armor]] or no armor. Once you have Hellrunner 2, clear [[Hell's Arena]] for the Rocket Launcher and the goodies, then immediately switch focus to finishing your capstone at all costs. Get Son of a Gun to at least level 2 before you start to bother with Eagle Eye 1, but if you do get a level of Eagle Eye before Son of a Gun 3, finish Son of a Gun before going for the next two, since the DPS boost is massive.

Get a feel for when it would be safe to peek out again after reloading, and for when it would be better to play ring around the rosie while cornershooting. If you peek out and dodge a fireball that is aimed at your previous location, and you were deep around a corner last turn, the monster will usually hit the wall next to them and take splash damage without harming you, which helps push them back as well. If they're too close and would hit you too, play ring around the rosie and run around the next corner while you wait for them to catch up.

You don't need [[Dodgemaster]] and should probably not take it until after your capstone, as while it does offer complete consistency in your dodging, it would delay your capstone too much, and you can probably survive a stray hit or two, especially if you start Running. You still have about an 80-90% to dodge fireball-throwing enemies just with Hellrunner 2, and the speed is really more important anyway. Being able to dodge fireballs and run away from [[Demon]]s without needing [[tactics]] will can carry you really hard for the good majority of the early to midgame. Even [[Baron of hell|Barons]] are not so threatening when you know you can always dodge your way to safety and run fast enough to LoS them even in a long hallway. However, getting either your capstone or an [[energy pistol]] in time for Revenants is imperative, so if you delay the capstone for any reason, only do so to finish an Energy Pistol.

If you successfully managed to survive without Hellrunner all the way to SoG 3 and Eagle Eye 1, you might actually be better off diving for your capstone or taking Whizkid than taking Hellrunner, but keep in mind Hellrunner is useful all game and can still save you in a Demon cave. A good thing to remember though is that with Eagle Eye 3, you pretty much have capped accuracy at all ranges even while Running, so you can start Running with no downside.

If you find two power mods early, I would take [[Whizkid]] 1 before your capstone to construct an [[Energy pistol]]. You don't necessarily need WK2, but I wouldn't unless you managed to skip Hellrunner. The ability to mod your gun later is less important than getting your Energy Pistol in time for Revenants.

If you don't find the power mods you need, don't bother with Whizkid yet and grab your capstone first, then build an Energy pistol with the first two P-mods you find. This will allow you to use any of the cells you find, as well as just having an overall better damage type against the most dangerous enemies in the midgame. You really don't need to keep a normal pistol anymore by now, especially if you got the [[Backpack]]. You're so ammo efficient that you could probably win the game with 4 stacks of cells and never run out. [[Arachnotron]]s and [[Former commando]]s will easily be enough to replenish your supply.

By now you've definitely hit Deimos, and on UV you've been up against VMR for a while now. The energy pistol is recommended to kill Revenants. If you don't have one yet, carry a Plasma Rifle to deal with them quickly. While [[Mancubus|Mancubi]] are by far the most dangerous if you get caught out in the open, and [[Arch-vile]]s are the worst things on two legs if they're behind the things you have to kill, by far the most consistently dangerous enemy to you as a bullet-locked Pistol build will be [[Revenant]]s. Before you have your capstone, you could unload an entire [[Combat pistol]] clip into one and it'll only be at half HP, and you can sort of corner-shoot the others, but Revenants are too fast to run from, can't be dodged, and take too many actions too quickly for you to gun them down with your pistol before they shoot you, so unless you can build yourself an [[Energy pistol]], you'll often be at the mercy of your sub-weapons with them. They just barely don't go down in one clip from a base-power bullet-firing pistol with your capstone.

For sharpshooters in particular, you need a power mod on your pistol--and the [[Energy pistol]] has enough base damage to count--since a pistol that previously never knocks back under any circumstances suddenly becomes 100% guaranteed knockback to all enemies with your capstone. In an environment where you get to fire 3-4 times for every 1 tile a demon can move, having guaranteed knockback offers incredible safety, and a P mod additionally allows you to one-shot imps. If you find one of the unique pistols, you can either build the energy pistol anyway or save them for your armor.

Since Pistols don't need that much ammo, you can keep a decently flexible arsenal and feel confident in all your guns thanks to Eagle Eye 3. You don't need to keep more than two stacks of bullets, and if you have an Energy Pistol, ditch all bullets and the weapons that use them for cells. You can probably even drop your shotguns and their shells and just keep emergency items and a Rocket Launcher and/or a BFG. I would keep the rocket launcher no matter what so you can rocket jump. This is useful both when jumping to safety as well as when you need to travel fast to conserve power-up timers between levels. If you assemble the Rocket Launcher into something, I would make a [[Tactical Rocket Launcher]], it's worth it for the invulnerable multi-rocket-jumps alone.

Before you get your capstone and energy pistol, though, if you aren't blocked by your challenge, it can be a good idea to carry at least one shotgun, a rocket launcher, and a plasma gun as backup weapons. Pistols have big problems with some enemies, and while the capstone can make this irrelevant, you have to get there first.

Shotguns are great for radar-shooting and dealing with Souls and Revenants. Rocket Launchers can destroy corpses to keep Arch-Viles from resurrecting them, as well as give you the ability to Rocket Jump, blow holes in walls, and deal knockback to keep a group of nasty enemies at bay. A Plasma Gun ignores half armor and deals enough damage to kill Revenants in 1-2 bursts. Of these weapons, your shotguns will be the most useful early-game, and the Plasma Gun can tide you over until you get a better pistol, but the Rocket Launcher is your most useful sub-weapon by far. It will save your bacon in the worst of situations, as well as allow you to rocket jump to carry power-ups from across the map to the stairs. If you spawn in a room surrounded by Demons or something even nastier, it's better to rocket jump away and lose a little bit of health than try to run and get ripped in half when you get cornered. If you rocket jump out of the demons' view, they eventually de-aggro, and you can take them on in more manageable numbers. Being able to crack walls can also give you safer routes into the rooms you need to enter, especially if you're blocked by a river of acid or lava.

== Supporting Traits ==

Good traits to take alongside this build are:

[[Hellrunner]] - As stated, you should probably grab these first before anything else. The flexibility they offer you increases how far you can reliably go so much, which in turn increases the likelihood you'll make it far enough to find a rare pistol. If you take them first, though, don't use your pistol until after you get Son of a Gun 3/Son of a Gun 2 and Eagle Eye 1. Taking 2 levels of Hellrunner guarantees that you'll be able to easily beat the Cyberdemon, probably even damageless. If you skip Hellrunner, be sure you have enough medpacks, health, and armor with fire resist to facetank the Cyberdemon's rockets, or else he'll out-DPS you.

[[Whizkid]] - You are a Technician, so you can grab Whizkid at any time. In many cases, it can actually be a better idea to grab 1-2 levels in WK before finishing Sharpshooter, since modded gear can be a lifesaver, and carrying around a bunch of crap that you plan on using in the future does you no good if you get killed because your gear wasn't good enough (or you had to drop important items to carry it). In general, though, assembled pistols are inferior to heavily modded pistols, the [[Energy pistol]] being a notable exception. 3P2T Pistols are ridiculously good, but once you get SoG5, 3P2B is better, since you will be at the firing speed cap with all pistols at that point and the T-mods are useless.

[[Intuition]] - Incredibly useful, and unlocked by the EE levels you needed. Int2 lets you see enemies outside your FoV, but even just Int1 giving you the ability to sense powerups means you know where to retreat to if things go south. It also removes the guesswork from levers. One of the best supporting options to take.

[[Ironman]] - Your only source of bulk, and not a bad one either. Increases the power of healthkits. Maybe not as "fun" as some of the others, but you'll swear by it once you try it out a few times. More useful in Ao100 than a standard game or AoMr. Take it after you finish WK2 and MSs.

[[Juggler]] - Finesse itself is useless to your pistols once you get SoG5, but Juggler can be a lifesaver if you suddenly need to rocket jump away or blast a bunch of bad dudes with a Double Shotgun. Juggler also makes carrying a second pistol a very practical solution to the pistol's low capacity, but this second pistol trick by itself is probably not enough to justify taking finesse and juggler in an Angel of Marksmanship game, especially on UV/N!, because you need way more stopping power for [[Demon]]s, and right after you'd be finishing Juggler, [[Hell knight]]s can start appearing.

[[Reloader]]/[[Shottyman]] - Reloader is not that useful if you're finding Ammo Chains everywhere, but in a long game, it and Shottyman can make any shotguns and rocket launchers in your arsenal that much more effective. Overall, it is a much better investment if you find yourself using your whole arsenal more than your pistols, but a very situational one, because its benefits are eclipsed by relatively common items. Although if you're dipping into Shottyman/Hellrunner and rely mainly on shotguns and rocket launchers anyway, you might as well just go [[Fireangel]] and admit you're not really playing a Sharpshooter.

Despite everything, Sharpshooter ''is'' still a satisfying and effective build that can be great fun, but it requires a great deal of patience and planning, and of course, you might need to improvise based on your current circumstances. Now if only the rare pistols weren't so abysmally hard to find...

[[User:Ya Girl Juniper|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Ya Girl Juniper|talk]]) 07:48, 3 February 2017 (UTC)
Updated: [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 02:46, 1 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Sharpshooter

2023-06-05T00:30:40Z

Vid-szhite: /* Supporting Traits */

===0.9.9.7===

Sharpshooter is a build that blooms much later than other pistol builds and deals less overall DPS besides since you're blocked from taking [[Dualgunner]], but on the plus side, you can make use of [[10mm ammo chain]]s all throughout the game, and any (pistol) uniques you find will make you a wrecking ball. More than anything, though, this build gives you the pinnacle of reliability, since you will always know whether or not you will knock an enemy back, and you will always know how many shots it will take to kill something. It also means modding just one of your pistols to a ridiculous level will pay off in spades.

Unfortunately, you are barred from taking [[Dualgunner]], which is a really good trait, not just for DPS but for early-game survivability. Dualgunner allows you to fire two aimed shots in a single attack and reliably kill imps and formers that wander into vision before they can react, as well as kill Demons before they get close and before you have to reload--and if they get close anyway, you would no longer need to aim and would able to kill them with much faster normal shots. Without this excellent ability, your one pistol may be better than anybody else's one pistol, but your whole build is probably never going to be as good as [[Gun Kata]].

So unlike all the other classes, ''you'' have to wait until at least level 7 to reliably one-shot formers with your starting pistol, and you can never one-shot imps without at least a P-modded pistol--and that's assuming you didn't grab any traits that don't lead to your capstone. Even worse, you have to rely on your one pistol's worth of ammo and constantly be reloading it even ''after'' your capstone. So sure, you can use ammo chains, but you also kinda need them.

So thanks to the Dualgunner lockout, you are utterly dependent on your capstone or good loot to start doing acceptable damage fast enough. Even afterwards, Sharpshooter's ability to actually win games is still highly loot-dependent. Still, Sharpshooter probably gains the most from finding the better pistols, though it probably gains less from finding two of them. Finding a single P mod or even a 10mm ammo chain early enough can completely change the build's viability, and finding a [[Combat pistol]] is basically one of your win conditions. With mods, the combat pistol is even better than finding one of the unique pistols, but if the game is stingy with P mods and you never find any better pistols, the latter of which is very likely, you might not even reach the capstone.

If you are fine with that and don't mind the challenge, go for it.

== Getting off the ground ==

You are a Technician, so you start with a Technical mod, which you should immediately use on your starting pistol. It makes you fire your pistol as if you had a level in [[Finesse]], an insanely good boost. It's almost as good as having SoG2 from level 1. Once you get SoG3, you're firing a shot every 0.32 seconds with your T-modded Pistol instead of every 0.4 seconds, and this T-mod is guaranteed from the moment you land in Entryway. This actually does quite a bit to catch up to the DPS of Dualgunner, so this build isn't without some upsides. It can even allow you to use your pistol as a reliable source of damage right from Son of a Gun 2 instead of having to wait one more level like the others tend to. Yes, once you get Son of a Gun 5, this T-mod won't do you any good, but you have to get there first, and this is free and helps you do that.

Alternatively, if you're not going Son of a Gun first, you could always save the T-mod for the first shotgun you find, which will help you get off the ground, although this will also make your pistol less effective, so it could leave you dependent on your shotguns for proper damage output unless you find a better pistol early. That T-mod is really important for your pistol DPS, so understand that not using it on your pistol could make your mid-game really suck, especially since that T-mod is part of all the good mid-game WK1 assemblies.

Depending on difficulty or challenges, you can go one of a few routes:

On lower difficulty, it is often best to max out Son of a Gun ASAP. The firing speed boost, combined with the T mod, combined with the damage boost, makes pistols get really good, really fast. The power jump from SoG2 to SoG3 is night and day. If you're doing [[Angel of Marksmanship]], this is the best choice by far. If you don't go this route in AoMr, especially on UV, being locked into only pistols will mean you die incredibly quickly because you can't kill anything, so taking Hellrunner will just mean you can't reach level 3. If you go Son of a Gun first, be sure to smartly use [[Tactics]] in places where Hellrunner would otherwise save you. For this reason, it's important to know the "feel" for when Hellrunner is doing its job.

On higher difficulty (which I will assume from here on out) as long as you're not doing AoMr, it's better to take two levels of [[Hellrunner]] first and use a Shotgun until you have at least [[Son of a Gun]] 2 and [[Eagle Eye]] 1. Never reload in a spot where an enemy can see you or is adjacent to you, you can outrun them all at base speed in [[green armor]] or no armor. Once you have Hellrunner 2, clear [[Hell's Arena]] for the Rocket Launcher and the goodies, then immediately switch focus to finishing your capstone at all costs. Get Son of a Gun to at least level 2 before you start to bother with Eagle Eye 1, but if you do get a level of Eagle Eye before Son of a Gun 3, finish Son of a Gun before going for the next two, since the DPS boost is massive.

Get a feel for when it would be safe to peek out again after reloading, and for when it would be better to play ring around the rosie while cornershooting. If you peek out and dodge a fireball that is aimed at your previous location, and you were deep around a corner last turn, the monster will usually hit the wall next to them and take splash damage without harming you, which helps push them back as well. If they're too close and would hit you too, play ring around the rosie and run around the next corner while you wait for them to catch up.

You don't need [[Dodgemaster]] and should probably not take it until after your capstone, as while it does offer complete consistency in your dodging, it would delay your capstone too much, and you can probably survive a stray hit or two, especially if you start Running. You still have about an 80-90% to dodge fireball-throwing enemies just with Hellrunner 2, and the speed is really more important anyway. Being able to dodge fireballs and run away from [[Demon]]s without needing [[tactics]] will can carry you really hard for the good majority of the early to midgame. Even [[Baron of hell|Barons]] are not so threatening when you know you can always dodge your way to safety and run fast enough to LoS them even in a long hallway. However, getting either your capstone or an [[energy pistol]] in time for Revenants is imperative, so if you delay the capstone for any reason, only do so to finish an Energy Pistol.

If you successfully managed to survive without Hellrunner all the way to SoG 3 and Eagle Eye 1, you might actually be better off diving for your capstone or taking Whizkid than taking Hellrunner, but keep in mind Hellrunner is useful all game and can still save you in a Demon cave. A good thing to remember though is that with Eagle Eye 3, you pretty much have capped accuracy at all ranges even while Running, so you can start Running with no downside.

If you find two power mods early, I would take [[Whizkid]] 1 before your capstone to construct an [[Energy pistol]]. You don't necessarily need WK2, but I wouldn't unless you managed to skip Hellrunner. The ability to mod your gun later is less important than getting your Energy Pistol in time for Revenants.

If you don't find the power mods you need, don't bother with Whizkid yet and grab your capstone first, then build an Energy pistol with the first two P-mods you find. This will allow you to use any of the cells you find, as well as just having an overall better damage type against the most dangerous enemies in the midgame. You really don't need to keep a normal pistol anymore by now, especially if you got the [[Backpack]]. You're so ammo efficient that you could probably win the game with 4 stacks of cells and never run out. [[Arachnotron]]s and [[Former commando]]s will easily be enough to replenish your supply.

By now you've definitely hit Deimos, and on UV you've been up against VMR for a while now. The energy pistol is recommended to kill Revenants. If you don't have one yet, carry a Plasma Rifle to deal with them quickly. While [[Mancubus|Mancubi]] are by far the most dangerous if you get caught out in the open, and [[Arch-vile]]s are the worst things on two legs if they're behind the things you have to kill, by far the most consistently dangerous enemy to you as a bullet-locked Pistol build will be [[Revenant]]s. Before you have your capstone, you could unload an entire [[Combat pistol]] clip into one and it'll only be at half HP, and you can sort of corner-shoot the others, but Revenants are too fast to run from, can't be dodged, and take too many actions too quickly for you to gun them down with your pistol before they shoot you, so unless you can build yourself an [[Energy pistol]], you'll often be at the mercy of your sub-weapons with them. They just barely don't go down in one clip from a base-power bullet-firing pistol with your capstone.

For sharpshooters in particular, you need a power mod on your pistol--and the [[Energy pistol]] has enough base damage to count--since a pistol that previously never knocks back under any circumstances suddenly becomes 100% guaranteed knockback to all enemies with your capstone. In an environment where you get to fire 3-4 times for every 1 tile a demon can move, having guaranteed knockback offers incredible safety, and a P mod additionally allows you to one-shot imps. If you find one of the unique pistols, you can either build the energy pistol anyway or save them for your armor.

Since Pistols don't need that much ammo, you can keep a decently flexible arsenal and feel confident in all your guns thanks to Eagle Eye 3. You don't need to keep more than two stacks of bullets, and if you have an Energy Pistol, ditch all bullets and the weapons that use them for cells. You can probably even drop your shotguns and their shells and just keep emergency items and a Rocket Launcher and/or a BFG. I would keep the rocket launcher no matter what so you can rocket jump. This is useful both when jumping to safety as well as when you need to travel fast to conserve power-up timers between levels. If you assemble the Rocket Launcher into something, I would make a [[Tactical Rocket Launcher]], it's worth it for the invulnerable multi-rocket-jumps alone.

Before you get your capstone and energy pistol, though, if you aren't blocked by your challenge, it can be a good idea to carry at least one shotgun, a rocket launcher, and a plasma gun as backup weapons. Pistols have big problems with some enemies, and while the capstone can make this irrelevant, you have to get there first.

Shotguns are great for radar-shooting and dealing with Souls and Revenants. Rocket Launchers can destroy corpses to keep Arch-Viles from resurrecting them, as well as give you the ability to Rocket Jump, blow holes in walls, and deal knockback to keep a group of nasty enemies at bay. A Plasma Gun ignores half armor and deals enough damage to kill Revenants in 1-2 bursts. Of these weapons, your shotguns will be the most useful early-game, and the Plasma Gun can tide you over until you get a better pistol, but the Rocket Launcher is your most useful sub-weapon by far. It will save your bacon in the worst of situations, as well as allow you to rocket jump to carry power-ups from across the map to the stairs. If you spawn in a room surrounded by Demons or something even nastier, it's better to rocket jump away and lose a little bit of health than try to run and get ripped in half when you get cornered. If you rocket jump out of the demons' view, they eventually de-aggro, and you can take them on in more manageable numbers. Being able to crack walls can also give you safer routes into the rooms you need to enter, especially if you're blocked by a river of acid or lava.

== Supporting Traits ==

Good traits to take alongside this build are:

[[Hellrunner]] - As stated, you should probably grab these first before anything else. The flexibility they offer you increases how far you can reliably go so much, which in turn increases the likelihood you'll make it far enough to find a rare pistol. If you take them first, though, don't use your pistol until after you get Son of a Gun 3/Son of a Gun 2 and Eagle Eye 1. Taking 2 levels of Hellrunner guarantees that you'll be able to easily beat the Cyberdemon, probably even damageless. If you skip Hellrunner, be sure you have enough medpacks, health, and armor with fire resist to facetank the Cyberdemon's rockets, or else he'll out-DPS you.

[[Whizkid]] - You are a Technician, so you can grab Whizkid at any time. In many cases, it can actually be a better idea to grab 1-2 levels in WK before finishing Sharpshooter, since modded gear can be a lifesaver, and carrying around a bunch of crap that you plan on using in the future does you no good if you get killed because your gear wasn't good enough (or you had to drop important items to carry it). In general, though, assembled pistols are inferior to heavily modded pistols, the [[Energy pistol]] being a notable exception. 3P2T Pistols are ridiculously good, but once you get SoG5, 3P2B is better, since you will be at the firing speed cap with all pistols at that point and the T-mods are useless.

[[Intuition]] - Incredibly useful, and unlocked by the EE levels you needed. Int2 lets you see enemies outside your FoV, but even just Int1 giving you the ability to sense powerups means you know where to retreat to if things go south. It also removes the guesswork from levers. One of the best supporting options to take.

[[Ironman]] - Your only source of bulk, and not a bad one either. Increases the power of healthkits. Maybe not as "fun" as some of the others, but you'll swear by it once you try it out a few times. More useful in Ao100 than a standard game or AoMr. Take it after you finish WK2 and MSs.

[[Juggler]] - Finesse itself is useless to your pistols once you get SoG5, but Juggler can be a lifesaver if you suddenly need to rocket jump away or blast a bunch of bad dudes with a Double Shotgun. Juggler also makes carrying a second pistol a very practical solution to the pistol's low capacity, but this second pistol trick by itself is probably not enough to justify taking finesse and juggler in an Angel of Marksmanship game, especially on UV/N!, because you need way more stopping power for [[Demon]]s, and right after you'd be finishing Juggler, [[Hell knight]]s can start appearing.

[[Reloader]]/[[Shottyman]] - Reloader is not that useful if you're finding Ammo Chains everywhere, but in a long game, it and Shottyman can make any shotguns and rocket launchers in your arsenal that much more effective. Overall, it is a much better investment if you find yourself using your whole arsenal more than your pistols, but a very situational one, because its benefits are eclipsed by relatively common items. Although if you're dipping into Shottyman and rely mainly on shotguns and rocket launchers anyway, you might as well just go [[Fireangel]] and admit you're not really playing a Sharpshooter.

Despite everything, Sharpshooter ''is'' still a satisfying and effective build that can be great fun, but it requires a great deal of patience and planning, and of course, you might need to improvise based on your current circumstances. Now if only the rare pistols weren't so abysmally hard to find...

[[User:Ya Girl Juniper|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Ya Girl Juniper|talk]]) 07:48, 3 February 2017 (UTC)
Updated: [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 02:46, 1 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Sharpshooter

2023-06-05T00:29:20Z

Vid-szhite: /* Supporting Traits */

===0.9.9.7===

Sharpshooter is a build that blooms much later than other pistol builds and deals less overall DPS besides since you're blocked from taking [[Dualgunner]], but on the plus side, you can make use of [[10mm ammo chain]]s all throughout the game, and any (pistol) uniques you find will make you a wrecking ball. More than anything, though, this build gives you the pinnacle of reliability, since you will always know whether or not you will knock an enemy back, and you will always know how many shots it will take to kill something. It also means modding just one of your pistols to a ridiculous level will pay off in spades.

Unfortunately, you are barred from taking [[Dualgunner]], which is a really good trait, not just for DPS but for early-game survivability. Dualgunner allows you to fire two aimed shots in a single attack and reliably kill imps and formers that wander into vision before they can react, as well as kill Demons before they get close and before you have to reload--and if they get close anyway, you would no longer need to aim and would able to kill them with much faster normal shots. Without this excellent ability, your one pistol may be better than anybody else's one pistol, but your whole build is probably never going to be as good as [[Gun Kata]].

So unlike all the other classes, ''you'' have to wait until at least level 7 to reliably one-shot formers with your starting pistol, and you can never one-shot imps without at least a P-modded pistol--and that's assuming you didn't grab any traits that don't lead to your capstone. Even worse, you have to rely on your one pistol's worth of ammo and constantly be reloading it even ''after'' your capstone. So sure, you can use ammo chains, but you also kinda need them.

So thanks to the Dualgunner lockout, you are utterly dependent on your capstone or good loot to start doing acceptable damage fast enough. Even afterwards, Sharpshooter's ability to actually win games is still highly loot-dependent. Still, Sharpshooter probably gains the most from finding the better pistols, though it probably gains less from finding two of them. Finding a single P mod or even a 10mm ammo chain early enough can completely change the build's viability, and finding a [[Combat pistol]] is basically one of your win conditions. With mods, the combat pistol is even better than finding one of the unique pistols, but if the game is stingy with P mods and you never find any better pistols, the latter of which is very likely, you might not even reach the capstone.

If you are fine with that and don't mind the challenge, go for it.

== Getting off the ground ==

You are a Technician, so you start with a Technical mod, which you should immediately use on your starting pistol. It makes you fire your pistol as if you had a level in [[Finesse]], an insanely good boost. It's almost as good as having SoG2 from level 1. Once you get SoG3, you're firing a shot every 0.32 seconds with your T-modded Pistol instead of every 0.4 seconds, and this T-mod is guaranteed from the moment you land in Entryway. This actually does quite a bit to catch up to the DPS of Dualgunner, so this build isn't without some upsides. It can even allow you to use your pistol as a reliable source of damage right from Son of a Gun 2 instead of having to wait one more level like the others tend to. Yes, once you get Son of a Gun 5, this T-mod won't do you any good, but you have to get there first, and this is free and helps you do that.

Alternatively, if you're not going Son of a Gun first, you could always save the T-mod for the first shotgun you find, which will help you get off the ground, although this will also make your pistol less effective, so it could leave you dependent on your shotguns for proper damage output unless you find a better pistol early. That T-mod is really important for your pistol DPS, so understand that not using it on your pistol could make your mid-game really suck, especially since that T-mod is part of all the good mid-game WK1 assemblies.

Depending on difficulty or challenges, you can go one of a few routes:

On lower difficulty, it is often best to max out Son of a Gun ASAP. The firing speed boost, combined with the T mod, combined with the damage boost, makes pistols get really good, really fast. The power jump from SoG2 to SoG3 is night and day. If you're doing [[Angel of Marksmanship]], this is the best choice by far. If you don't go this route in AoMr, especially on UV, being locked into only pistols will mean you die incredibly quickly because you can't kill anything, so taking Hellrunner will just mean you can't reach level 3. If you go Son of a Gun first, be sure to smartly use [[Tactics]] in places where Hellrunner would otherwise save you. For this reason, it's important to know the "feel" for when Hellrunner is doing its job.

On higher difficulty (which I will assume from here on out) as long as you're not doing AoMr, it's better to take two levels of [[Hellrunner]] first and use a Shotgun until you have at least [[Son of a Gun]] 2 and [[Eagle Eye]] 1. Never reload in a spot where an enemy can see you or is adjacent to you, you can outrun them all at base speed in [[green armor]] or no armor. Once you have Hellrunner 2, clear [[Hell's Arena]] for the Rocket Launcher and the goodies, then immediately switch focus to finishing your capstone at all costs. Get Son of a Gun to at least level 2 before you start to bother with Eagle Eye 1, but if you do get a level of Eagle Eye before Son of a Gun 3, finish Son of a Gun before going for the next two, since the DPS boost is massive.

Get a feel for when it would be safe to peek out again after reloading, and for when it would be better to play ring around the rosie while cornershooting. If you peek out and dodge a fireball that is aimed at your previous location, and you were deep around a corner last turn, the monster will usually hit the wall next to them and take splash damage without harming you, which helps push them back as well. If they're too close and would hit you too, play ring around the rosie and run around the next corner while you wait for them to catch up.

You don't need [[Dodgemaster]] and should probably not take it until after your capstone, as while it does offer complete consistency in your dodging, it would delay your capstone too much, and you can probably survive a stray hit or two, especially if you start Running. You still have about an 80-90% to dodge fireball-throwing enemies just with Hellrunner 2, and the speed is really more important anyway. Being able to dodge fireballs and run away from [[Demon]]s without needing [[tactics]] will can carry you really hard for the good majority of the early to midgame. Even [[Baron of hell|Barons]] are not so threatening when you know you can always dodge your way to safety and run fast enough to LoS them even in a long hallway. However, getting either your capstone or an [[energy pistol]] in time for Revenants is imperative, so if you delay the capstone for any reason, only do so to finish an Energy Pistol.

If you successfully managed to survive without Hellrunner all the way to SoG 3 and Eagle Eye 1, you might actually be better off diving for your capstone or taking Whizkid than taking Hellrunner, but keep in mind Hellrunner is useful all game and can still save you in a Demon cave. A good thing to remember though is that with Eagle Eye 3, you pretty much have capped accuracy at all ranges even while Running, so you can start Running with no downside.

If you find two power mods early, I would take [[Whizkid]] 1 before your capstone to construct an [[Energy pistol]]. You don't necessarily need WK2, but I wouldn't unless you managed to skip Hellrunner. The ability to mod your gun later is less important than getting your Energy Pistol in time for Revenants.

If you don't find the power mods you need, don't bother with Whizkid yet and grab your capstone first, then build an Energy pistol with the first two P-mods you find. This will allow you to use any of the cells you find, as well as just having an overall better damage type against the most dangerous enemies in the midgame. You really don't need to keep a normal pistol anymore by now, especially if you got the [[Backpack]]. You're so ammo efficient that you could probably win the game with 4 stacks of cells and never run out. [[Arachnotron]]s and [[Former commando]]s will easily be enough to replenish your supply.

By now you've definitely hit Deimos, and on UV you've been up against VMR for a while now. The energy pistol is recommended to kill Revenants. If you don't have one yet, carry a Plasma Rifle to deal with them quickly. While [[Mancubus|Mancubi]] are by far the most dangerous if you get caught out in the open, and [[Arch-vile]]s are the worst things on two legs if they're behind the things you have to kill, by far the most consistently dangerous enemy to you as a bullet-locked Pistol build will be [[Revenant]]s. Before you have your capstone, you could unload an entire [[Combat pistol]] clip into one and it'll only be at half HP, and you can sort of corner-shoot the others, but Revenants are too fast to run from, can't be dodged, and take too many actions too quickly for you to gun them down with your pistol before they shoot you, so unless you can build yourself an [[Energy pistol]], you'll often be at the mercy of your sub-weapons with them. They just barely don't go down in one clip from a base-power bullet-firing pistol with your capstone.

For sharpshooters in particular, you need a power mod on your pistol--and the [[Energy pistol]] has enough base damage to count--since a pistol that previously never knocks back under any circumstances suddenly becomes 100% guaranteed knockback to all enemies with your capstone. In an environment where you get to fire 3-4 times for every 1 tile a demon can move, having guaranteed knockback offers incredible safety, and a P mod additionally allows you to one-shot imps. If you find one of the unique pistols, you can either build the energy pistol anyway or save them for your armor.

Since Pistols don't need that much ammo, you can keep a decently flexible arsenal and feel confident in all your guns thanks to Eagle Eye 3. You don't need to keep more than two stacks of bullets, and if you have an Energy Pistol, ditch all bullets and the weapons that use them for cells. You can probably even drop your shotguns and their shells and just keep emergency items and a Rocket Launcher and/or a BFG. I would keep the rocket launcher no matter what so you can rocket jump. This is useful both when jumping to safety as well as when you need to travel fast to conserve power-up timers between levels. If you assemble the Rocket Launcher into something, I would make a [[Tactical Rocket Launcher]], it's worth it for the invulnerable multi-rocket-jumps alone.

Before you get your capstone and energy pistol, though, if you aren't blocked by your challenge, it can be a good idea to carry at least one shotgun, a rocket launcher, and a plasma gun as backup weapons. Pistols have big problems with some enemies, and while the capstone can make this irrelevant, you have to get there first.

Shotguns are great for radar-shooting and dealing with Souls and Revenants. Rocket Launchers can destroy corpses to keep Arch-Viles from resurrecting them, as well as give you the ability to Rocket Jump, blow holes in walls, and deal knockback to keep a group of nasty enemies at bay. A Plasma Gun ignores half armor and deals enough damage to kill Revenants in 1-2 bursts. Of these weapons, your shotguns will be the most useful early-game, and the Plasma Gun can tide you over until you get a better pistol, but the Rocket Launcher is your most useful sub-weapon by far. It will save your bacon in the worst of situations, as well as allow you to rocket jump to carry power-ups from across the map to the stairs. If you spawn in a room surrounded by Demons or something even nastier, it's better to rocket jump away and lose a little bit of health than try to run and get ripped in half when you get cornered. If you rocket jump out of the demons' view, they eventually de-aggro, and you can take them on in more manageable numbers. Being able to crack walls can also give you safer routes into the rooms you need to enter, especially if you're blocked by a river of acid or lava.

== Supporting Traits ==

Good traits to take alongside this build are:

[[Hellrunner]] - As stated, you should probably grab these first before anything else. The flexibility they offer you increases how far you can reliably go so much, which in turn increases the likelihood you'll make it far enough to find a rare pistol. If you take them first, though, don't use your pistol until after you get Son of a Gun 3/Son of a Gun 2 and Eagle Eye 1. Taking 2 levels of Hellrunner guarantees that you'll be able to easily beat the Cyberdemon, probably even damageless. If you skip Hellrunner, be sure you have enough medpacks, health, and armor with fire resist to facetank the Cyberdemon's rockets, or else he'll out-DPS you.

[[Whizkid]] - You are a Technician, so you can grab Whizkid at any time. In many cases, it can actually be a better idea to grab 1-2 levels in WK before finishing Sharpshooter, since modded gear can be a lifesaver, and carrying around a bunch of crap that you plan on using in the future does you no good if you get killed because your gear wasn't good enough (or you had to drop important items to carry it). In general, though, assembled pistols are inferior to heavily modded pistols. 3P2T Pistols are ridiculously good, though once you get SoG5, 3P2B is better, since you will be at the firing speed cap with all pistols at that point.

[[Intuition]] - Incredibly useful, and unlocked by the EE levels you needed. Int2 lets you see enemies outside your FoV, but even just Int1 giving you the ability to sense powerups means you know where to retreat to if things go south. It also removes the guesswork from levers. One of the best supporting options to take.

[[Ironman]] - Your only source of bulk, and not a bad one either. Increases the power of healthkits. Maybe not as "fun" as some of the others, but you'll swear by it once you try it out a few times. More useful in Ao100 than a standard game or AoMr. Take it after you finish WK2 and MSs.

[[Juggler]] - Finesse itself is useless to your pistols once you get SoG5, but Juggler can be a lifesaver if you suddenly need to rocket jump away or blast a bunch of bad dudes with a Double Shotgun. Juggler also makes carrying a second pistol a very practical solution to the pistol's low capacity, but this second pistol trick by itself is probably not enough to justify taking finesse and juggler in an Angel of Marksmanship game, especially on UV/N!, because you need way more stopping power for [[Demon]]s, and right after you'd be finishing Juggler, [[Hell knight]]s can start appearing.

[[Reloader]]/[[Shottyman]] - Reloader is not that useful if you're finding Ammo Chains everywhere, but in a long game, it and Shottyman can make any shotguns and rocket launchers in your arsenal that much more effective. Overall, it is a much better investment if you find yourself using your whole arsenal more than your pistols, but a very situational one, because its benefits are eclipsed by relatively common items. Although if you're dipping into Shottyman and rely mainly on shotguns and rocket launchers anyway, you might as well just go [[Fireangel]] and admit you're not really playing a Sharpshooter.

Despite everything, Sharpshooter ''is'' still a satisfying and effective build that can be great fun, but it requires a great deal of patience and planning, and of course, you might need to improvise based on your current circumstances. Now if only the rare pistols weren't so abysmally hard to find...

[[User:Ya Girl Juniper|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Ya Girl Juniper|talk]]) 07:48, 3 February 2017 (UTC)
Updated: [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 02:46, 1 June 2023 (UTC)

Strategy:Sharpshooter

2023-06-05T00:28:44Z

Vid-szhite: /* Supporting Traits */

===0.9.9.7===

Sharpshooter is a build that blooms much later than other pistol builds and deals less overall DPS besides since you're blocked from taking [[Dualgunner]], but on the plus side, you can make use of [[10mm ammo chain]]s all throughout the game, and any (pistol) uniques you find will make you a wrecking ball. More than anything, though, this build gives you the pinnacle of reliability, since you will always know whether or not you will knock an enemy back, and you will always know how many shots it will take to kill something. It also means modding just one of your pistols to a ridiculous level will pay off in spades.

Unfortunately, you are barred from taking [[Dualgunner]], which is a really good trait, not just for DPS but for early-game survivability. Dualgunner allows you to fire two aimed shots in a single attack and reliably kill imps and formers that wander into vision before they can react, as well as kill Demons before they get close and before you have to reload--and if they get close anyway, you would no longer need to aim and would able to kill them with much faster normal shots. Without this excellent ability, your one pistol may be better than anybody else's one pistol, but your whole build is probably never going to be as good as [[Gun Kata]].

So unlike all the other classes, ''you'' have to wait until at least level 7 to reliably one-shot formers with your starting pistol, and you can never one-shot imps without at least a P-modded pistol--and that's assuming you didn't grab any traits that don't lead to your capstone. Even worse, you have to rely on your one pistol's worth of ammo and constantly be reloading it even ''after'' your capstone. So sure, you can use ammo chains, but you also kinda need them.

So thanks to the Dualgunner lockout, you are utterly dependent on your capstone or good loot to start doing acceptable damage fast enough. Even afterwards, Sharpshooter's ability to actually win games is still highly loot-dependent. Still, Sharpshooter probably gains the most from finding the better pistols, though it probably gains less from finding two of them. Finding a single P mod or even a 10mm ammo chain early enough can completely change the build's viability, and finding a [[Combat pistol]] is basically one of your win conditions. With mods, the combat pistol is even better than finding one of the unique pistols, but if the game is stingy with P mods and you never find any better pistols, the latter of which is very likely, you might not even reach the capstone.

If you are fine with that and don't mind the challenge, go for it.

== Getting off the ground ==

You are a Technician, so you start with a Technical mod, which you should immediately use on your starting pistol. It makes you fire your pistol as if you had a level in [[Finesse]], an insanely good boost. It's almost as good as having SoG2 from level 1. Once you get SoG3, you're firing a shot every 0.32 seconds with your T-modded Pistol instead of every 0.4 seconds, and this T-mod is guaranteed from the moment you land in Entryway. This actually does quite a bit to catch up to the DPS of Dualgunner, so this build isn't without some upsides. It can even allow you to use your pistol as a reliable source of damage right from Son of a Gun 2 instead of having to wait one more level like the others tend to. Yes, once you get Son of a Gun 5, this T-mod won't do you any good, but you have to get there first, and this is free and helps you do that.

Alternatively, if you're not going Son of a Gun first, you could always save the T-mod for the first shotgun you find, which will help you get off the ground, although this will also make your pistol less effective, so it could leave you dependent on your shotguns for proper damage output unless you find a better pistol early. That T-mod is really important for your pistol DPS, so understand that not using it on your pistol could make your mid-game really suck, especially since that T-mod is part of all the good mid-game WK1 assemblies.

Depending on difficulty or challenges, you can go one of a few routes:

On lower difficulty, it is often best to max out Son of a Gun ASAP. The firing speed boost, combined with the T mod, combined with the damage boost, makes pistols get really good, really fast. The power jump from SoG2 to SoG3 is night and day. If you're doing [[Angel of Marksmanship]], this is the best choice by far. If you don't go this route in AoMr, especially on UV, being locked into only pistols will mean you die incredibly quickly because you can't kill anything, so taking Hellrunner will just mean you can't reach level 3. If you go Son of a Gun first, be sure to smartly use [[Tactics]] in places where Hellrunner would otherwise save you. For this reason, it's important to know the "feel" for when Hellrunner is doing its job.

On higher difficulty (which I will assume from here on out) as long as you're not doing AoMr, it's better to take two levels of [[Hellrunner]] first and use a Shotgun until you have at least [[Son of a Gun]] 2 and [[Eagle Eye]] 1. Never reload in a spot where an enemy can see you or is adjacent to you, you can outrun them all at base speed in [[green armor]] or no armor. Once you have Hellrunner 2, clear [[Hell's Arena]] for the Rocket Launcher and the goodies, then immediately switch focus to finishing your capstone at all costs. Get Son of a Gun to at least level 2 before you start to bother with Eagle Eye 1, but if you do get a level of Eagle Eye before Son of a Gun 3, finish Son of a Gun before going for the next two, since the DPS boost is massive.

Get a feel for when it would be safe to peek out again after reloading, and for when it would be better to play ring around the rosie while cornershooting. If you peek out and dodge a fireball that is aimed at your previous location, and you were deep around a corner last turn, the monster will usually hit the wall next to them and take splash damage without harming you, which helps push them back as well. If they're too close and would hit you too, play ring around the rosie and run around the next corner while you wait for them to catch up.

You don't need [[Dodgemaster]] and should probably not take it until after your capstone, as while it does offer complete consistency in your dodging, it would delay your capstone too much, and you can probably survive a stray hit or two, especially if you start Running. You still have about an 80-90% to dodge fireball-throwing enemies just with Hellrunner 2, and the speed is really more important anyway. Being able to dodge fireballs and run away from [[Demon]]s without needing [[tactics]] will can carry you really hard for the good majority of the early to midgame. Even [[Baron of hell|Barons]] are not so threatening when you know you can always dodge your way to safety and run fast enough to LoS them even in a long hallway. However, getting either your capstone or an [[energy pistol]] in time for Revenants is imperative, so if you delay the capstone for any reason, only do so to finish an Energy Pistol.

If you successfully managed to survive without Hellrunner all the way to SoG 3 and Eagle Eye 1, you might actually be better off diving for your capstone or taking Whizkid than taking Hellrunner, but keep in mind Hellrunner is useful all game and can still save you in a Demon cave. A good thing to remember though is that with Eagle Eye 3, you pretty much have capped accuracy at all ranges even while Running, so you can start Running with no downside.

If you find two power mods early, I would take [[Whizkid]] 1 before your capstone to construct an [[Energy pistol]]. You don't necessarily need WK2, but I wouldn't unless you managed to skip Hellrunner. The ability to mod your gun later is less important than getting your Energy Pistol in time for Revenants.

If you don't find the power mods you need, don't bother with Whizkid yet and grab your capstone first, then build an Energy pistol with the first two P-mods you find. This will allow you to use any of the cells you find, as well as just having an overall better damage type against the most dangerous enemies in the midgame. You really don't need to keep a normal pistol anymore by now, especially if you got the [[Backpack]]. You're so ammo efficient that you could probably win the game with 4 stacks of cells and never run out. [[Arachnotron]]s and [[Former commando]]s will easily be enough to replenish your supply.

By now you've definitely hit Deimos, and on UV you've been up against VMR for a while now. The energy pistol is recommended to kill Revenants. If you don't have one yet, carry a Plasma Rifle to deal with them quickly. While [[Mancubus|Mancubi]] are by far the most dangerous if you get caught out in the open, and [[Arch-vile]]s are the worst things on two legs if they're behind the things you have to kill, by far the most consistently dangerous enemy to you as a bullet-locked Pistol build will be [[Revenant]]s. Before you have your capstone, you could unload an entire [[Combat pistol]] clip into one and it'll only be at half HP, and you can sort of corner-shoot the others, but Revenants are too fast to run from, can't be dodged, and take too many actions too quickly for you to gun them down with your pistol before they shoot you, so unless you can build yourself an [[Energy pistol]], you'll often be at the mercy of your sub-weapons with them. They just barely don't go down in one clip from a base-power bullet-firing pistol with your capstone.

For sharpshooters in particular, you need a power mod on your pistol--and the [[Energy pistol]] has enough base damage to count--since a pistol that previously never knocks back under any circumstances suddenly becomes 100% guaranteed knockback to all enemies with your capstone. In an environment where you get to fire 3-4 times for every 1 tile a demon can move, having guaranteed knockback offers incredible safety, and a P mod additionally allows you to one-shot imps. If you find one of the unique pistols, you can either build the energy pistol anyway or save them for your armor.

Since Pistols don't need that much ammo, you can keep a decently flexible arsenal and feel confident in all your guns thanks to Eagle Eye 3. You don't need to keep more than two stacks of bullets, and if you have an Energy Pistol, ditch all bullets and the weapons that use them for cells. You can probably even drop your shotguns and their shells and just keep emergency items and a Rocket Launcher and/or a BFG. I would keep the rocket launcher no matter what so you can rocket jump. This is useful both when jumping to safety as well as when you need to travel fast to conserve power-up timers between levels. If you assemble the Rocket Launcher into something, I would make a [[Tactical Rocket Launcher]], it's worth it for the invulnerable multi-rocket-jumps alone.

Before you get your capstone and energy pistol, though, if you aren't blocked by your challenge, it can be a good idea to carry at least one shotgun, a rocket launcher, and a plasma gun as backup weapons. Pistols have big problems with some enemies, and while the capstone can make this irrelevant, you have to get there first.

Shotguns are great for radar-shooting and dealing with Souls and Revenants. Rocket Launchers can destroy corpses to keep Arch-Viles from resurrecting them, as well as give you the ability to Rocket Jump, blow holes in walls, and deal knockback to keep a group of nasty enemies at bay. A Plasma Gun ignores half armor and deals enough damage to kill Revenants in 1-2 bursts. Of these weapons, your shotguns will be the most useful early-game, and the Plasma Gun can tide you over until you get a better pistol, but the Rocket Launcher is your most useful sub-weapon by far. It will save your bacon in the worst of situations, as well as allow you to rocket jump to carry power-ups from across the map to the stairs. If you spawn in a room surrounded by Demons or something even nastier, it's better to rocket jump away and lose a little bit of health than try to run and get ripped in half when you get cornered. If you rocket jump out of the demons' view, they eventually de-aggro, and you can take them on in more manageable numbers. Being able to crack walls can also give you safer routes into the rooms you need to enter, especially if you're blocked by a river of acid or lava.

== Supporting Traits ==

Good traits to take alongside this build are:

[[Hellrunner]] - As stated, you should probably grab these first before anything else. The flexibility they offer you increases how far you can reliably go so much, which in turn increases the likelihood you'll make it far enough to find a rare pistol. If you take them first, though, don't use your pistol until after you get Son of a Gun 2 and Eagle Eye 1. Taking 2 levels of Hellrunner also guarantees that you'll be able to easily beat the Cyberdemon, probably even damageless. If you skip Hellrunner, be sure you have enough medpacks, health, and armor with fire resist to facetank the Cyberdemon's rockets, or else he'll out-DPS you.

[[Whizkid]] - You are a Technician, so you can grab Whizkid at any time. In many cases, it can actually be a better idea to grab 1-2 levels in WK before finishing Sharpshooter, since modded gear can be a lifesaver, and carrying around a bunch of crap that you plan on using in the future does you no good if you get killed because your gear wasn't good enough (or you had to drop important items to carry it). In general, though, assembled pistols are inferior to heavily modded pistols. 3P2T Pistols are ridiculously good, though once you get SoG5, 3P2B is better, since you will be at the firing speed cap with all pistols at that point.

[[Intuition]] - Incredibly useful, and unlocked by the EE levels you needed. Int2 lets you see enemies outside your FoV, but even just Int1 giving you the ability to sense powerups means you know where to retreat to if things go south. It also removes the guesswork from levers. One of the best supporting options to take.

[[Ironman]] - Your only source of bulk, and not a bad one either. Increases the power of healthkits. Maybe not as "fun" as some of the others, but you'll swear by it once you try it out a few times. More useful in Ao100 than a standard game or AoMr. Take it after you finish WK2 and MSs.

[[Juggler]] - Finesse itself is useless to your pistols once you get SoG5, but Juggler can be a lifesaver if you suddenly need to rocket jump away or blast a bunch of bad dudes with a Double Shotgun. Juggler also makes carrying a second pistol a very practical solution to the pistol's low capacity, but this second pistol trick by itself is probably not enough to justify taking finesse and juggler in an Angel of Marksmanship game, especially on UV/N!, because you need way more stopping power for [[Demon]]s, and right after you'd be finishing Juggler, [[Hell knight]]s can start appearing.

[[Reloader]]/[[Shottyman]] - Reloader is not that useful if you're finding Ammo Chains everywhere, but in a long game, it and Shottyman can make any shotguns and rocket launchers in your arsenal that much more effective. Overall, it is a much better investment if you find yourself using your whole arsenal more than your pistols, but a very situational one, because its benefits are eclipsed by relatively common items. Although if you're dipping into Shottyman and rely mainly on shotguns and rocket launchers anyway, you might as well just go [[Fireangel]] and admit you're not really playing a Sharpshooter.

Despite everything, Sharpshooter ''is'' still a satisfying and effective build that can be great fun, but it requires a great deal of patience and planning, and of course, you might need to improvise based on your current circumstances. Now if only the rare pistols weren't so abysmally hard to find...

[[User:Ya Girl Juniper|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Ya Girl Juniper|talk]]) 07:48, 3 February 2017 (UTC)
Updated: [[User:Vid-szhite|Ya Girl Juniper]] ([[User talk:Vid-szhite|talk]]) 02:46, 1 June 2023 (UTC)