Weapons

The New Boston Zone is flush with many different types of lethal weaponry.

Weapon Types

Weapons may be heavy or light. Without special Cyberware, a character may not carry two heavy weapons, though two light weapons is always allowed. All melee weapons are considered light.

Beyond the heavy/light distinction, some traits and talents have special requirements, such as fully-automatic, semi-automatic, or single-shot weapons. Some are even more specific, such as only shotguns or only pistols/revolvers.

Firearms comprise all of the ranged attacks in the NBZ. Firearms require Ammunition; all firearms have a finite clip size, after which they'll require reloading. However, CKF permits an infinite number of reloads for all firearms except those which require an Ion Batt charge, namely E-Rifles and Rail Guns. All firearms guarantee glancing hits on shots with at least 80% chance to hit, with a few types extending that out to 60%.

Melee weapons do not require conventional reloading and instead have a special Power Slice that requires the charge of their Ion Batt to access. As they're made in short range, glancing hits are always guaranteed.

Heavy Firearms

Heavy Firearms typically require both hands. Normally, a character can only carry one Heavy weapon, but some implants allow a character to carry two Heavy weapons.

Assault Rifle

Type: Fully-Automatic Firearm, Heavy

Assault Rifles (AR) are versatile. They have substantial maximum range and the capability of firing in burst mode or in full-auto mode. Assault rifles deal moderate Ballistic Damage and have a low to moderate chance to shred armor. ARs have the "Precise Burst" property, providing guaranteed Glancing Hits on Burst Fire shots with 60% or higher accuracy, or 80% in Full Auto. Though they are fairly loud, they can be equipped with suppressors that reduce their noise radius enough to succeed in stealth missions, making them usable in a very wide range of scenarios.

Their primary downsides are their high reload AP and typically worse Full Auto performance compared to Urban Assault Rifles. They're also inaccurate at extremely close ranges.

Urban Assault Rifle

Type: Fully-Automatic Firearm, Close Range, Heavy

Urban Assault Rifles (UAR) are comparable to the ARs in that they're both Full Auto capable heavy weapons. UARs are better at close ranges with a much broader firing arc, substantially more bullets per attack in Full Auto, and higher armor shred chances.

However, they do not have the AR's Precise Burst property, meaning even Burst Fire attacks require 80% accuracy for a glancing hit, and their maximum ranges are noticeably shorter. They're typically worse at single-target damage regardless of firing mode. As they are equally noisy to an AR but have lower ranges, it's typically harder to play stealth missions with a UAR, though not impossible.

Both ARs and UARs share the exact same weapon mod pool, making it easy to switch between the two weapon types without shopping for new mods.

E-Rifles

Type: Fully-Automatic Firearm, Close Range, Heavy

E-Rifles are short range full-auto capable weapons similar to UARs. E-Rifles have fairly high chances to shred armor, superior to all other automatic firearms, and substantial pure damage, both of which make them excellent against heavily-armored foes. E-Rifles ultimately have the highest single target damage in the game against high-armor enemies like Drones.

Unlike ballistic weaponry, the E-Rifle has a limited number of reloads permitted per mission. Once the limited reloads are consumed, they can only be replenished by finishing the mission or by carrying consumable backup batteries with you out in the field. As mentioned before, E-Rifles are rather short range and also cannot be silenced, which makes them poor choices for stealth missions.

Shotgun

Type: Semi-Automatic Firearm, Close Range, Heavy

Shotguns deal massive Ballistic Damage at close range, including at point blank if desired. They're very useful for shredding armor, having the highest shred chance per-hit of any firearm in the game. The tend to have higher accuracy than most other firearms, which is important, since glancing hits cannot shred armor. Some higher level shotguns have the Double Armor Shred property, which rolls armor shred twice every time they hit, allowing two shreds per attack if both rolls are successful. Some Scourge talents require the use of a shotgun.

In addition to their short range, they cannot fire in a full-auto fashion, tend to have a smaller magazine size than other ranged weapons, and generate substantial recoil. Shotguns have the additional disadvantage of lacking mods to reduce their noise radius. As such, they make for poor stealth weapons, but are excellent at helping take down highly-armored enemies.

Sniper Rifle

Type: Single-Shot Firearm, Long Range, Heavy

Sniper rifles are single shot weapons with high ballistic damage, the highest ranges in the game, and extremely high critical hit damage, increased further against surprised targets. With reliable critical hits, your snipers can remain Hidden for an entire mission, racking up single-shot kills every time they have 3 AP to spare and anyone within line of sight.

Sniper rifles gain their long range perks at a significant price: Their shots and reloads are both expensive at 3 AP, their armor shredding is very poor, and their minimum ranges are quite high, meaning they're unusable in moderately close-range combat. They are also very loud, so if you'd like to play your snipers stealthily, pay special attention to the noise radius on your rifle of choice and ensure your choice of suppressor can get it to a manageable level.

Rail Guns

Type: Single-Shot Firearm, Long Range, Heavy

Rail Guns are powerful long-range weapons powered by Ion Batt power packs. Like the E-rifle, they have a limited number of reloads. No rail guns are currently in the game at this point of Early Access.

Light Firearms

Submachine Guns

Type: Fully-Automatic Firearm, Light

Submachine Guns (SMGs) are comparable to Assault Rifles. They tend to deal less damage, have substantially shorter range, and more rarely shred armor. However, they situationally make up for this with slightly reduced noise radius, slightly better reloading AP, and most critically, the Rapid Fire characteristic, which allows them to be fired with your last 1 AP, instead of always requiring a full 2 AP to fire. This is frequently the difference between firing twice in a turn with some movement and firing once.

Like ARs the SMGs can be fired in burst fire mode or in fully auto mode. Some SMGs have a broader (if shorter) full-auto arc (allowing more targets to be peppered by the same full-auto attack) than ARs.

The theme of SMGs is thus focused on moving and firing, rather than prolonged defense in a gunnery nest.

Revolvers

Type: Single-Shot Firearm, Light

Revolvers are the classic high-caliber revolvers, holding six rounds at a time with no way to increase the "magazine" size. In return these weapons pack a mighty, and mighty loud, punch. They deal moderate Ballistic Damage as well as a sizable amount of Pure Damage, allowing them the versatility to threaten armored foes without shredding them first. They do have a small chance to shred foes, and a medium distance range. A large advantage of the revolver is the enormous amount of damage dealt upon critical hit, and since it's also a single shot firearm, lines up with sniper rifles' specific talents and love of crit chance.

Revolvers cannot extend their ammunition size, and cannot attach any silencer to cover their very loud noise. As single-shot weapons, they cannot be used for full-auto attacks, which overall makes them weak for stealth missions, but very deadly all the same.

Pistols

Type: Semi-Automatic Firearm, Light

The standard go-to side-arm, pistols deal modest damage with absolutely no chance to shred armor. However, they come with substantial bonus stealth crit damage, allowing them to one-tap surprised foes on crit.

In return for these tradeoffs, they are relatively quiet, and can be made extremely quiet with a silencer. They cost extremely little AP to reload, can be fired with your last 1 AP on a turn, have modest recoil, and surprisingly decent range. Pistols are the weapons of choice if you need to kill or wound from a distance without drawing too much attention.

Melee Weapons

Melee weapons are deadly, silent, and don't use conventional ammo, so they don't have to reload to keep attacking. They cannot miss targets, effectively having a 100% glancing hit rate. Their accuracy indicates whether they will deal a full hit instead of a glancing hit. They are very useful for eliminating foes without alerting others to the noise as all melee weapons are perfectly silent. This tactic is particularly useful for the Vanguard and Cybersword, both of whom have silent movement talents and rewards for stealthy takedowns.

Ion Batteries (also referred to as Ion Batts) are an important feature of all modern melee weapons in the NBZ. These provide a small number of uses of their Power Slice ability, which differs depending on the melee weapon used. These charges are automatically refilled at the safehouse for free, but mid-mission may require the use of a consumable backup battery if they run out. Standard melee attacks are still usable with totally drained Ion Batts but won't be able to use Power Slice.

Swords

Standard swords (slingblades, and slantblades) deal large amounts of Kinetic Damage, although advanced models sometimes do a small measure of Pure Damage as well. These swords tend to have a moderate chance at shredding armor with any of their attacks. All swords come with progressively increasing stealth critical damage.

These swords are outfitted with the Plas-Edge Power Slice in their Ion Batts, which provide significant bonus Pure Damage on the attack. As this bonus damage can also critically strike, swords end up being a premiere stealth weapon, capable of taking down a foe in a single swing.

E-Cutters

E-Cutters are similar to swords when simply attacking. Their normal attacks boast similar amounts of damage, armor shred, and accuracy, but have overall lower Stealth Crit Damage progression. Their special niche is in their Power Slice designed to reliably shred armor.

The E-Cutter Power Slice guarantees shredding at least one Protection Point from enemy armor when used, with the amount shredded scaling up on higher Power Level E-Cutters. In addition to the Power Slice guaranteeing shred, the attack also rolls the sword's baseline shred chance, which can shred additional armor. As with all forms of armor shred, the reduced armor is not taken into account until after damage is dealt. Ultimately, while E-Cutters will deal less crit damage than swords, it's often still enough damage to kill lower-tier guards in a single swing, with the Power Slice enabling fairly swift kills of captains or other well-armored enemies.

Stun Clubs

Modern stun weaponry of the NBZ has taken a turn for being more lethal. Stun clubs deal less kinetic damage than other melee weapons but more than make up for it with a substantial amount of Pure Damage, making them the highest damage-per-swing melee weapons, especially against heavily-armored foes. However, they do not have any stealth crit damage and have very poor baseline armor shred, instead relying on high sustained damage per swing.

The Stunstick Power Slice will inflict a stun, causing a surviving foe to miss their next turn, which can be immensely useful against the hardest foes. Higher level Power Slices will also decrease the foe's evasion for the duration of the stun, allowing follow-up attacks of any type a better chance to fully connect.

Damage

Damage Calculation

Weapon damage is based on the Ballistic, Kinetic, and Pure Damage values of the weapon. Damage delivered is randomized, ranging from 75% to 100% of the initial damage value. Armor then soaks some percentage of the delivered damage.

For mathematical formulas, see Combat Calculations.

Damage Estimate Bar

The damage estimate bar is a kind of hit point bar with a flashing white section showing how much damage to expect from an attack with the current weapon. The damage estimate is based on the minimum and maximum damage of the weapon in the current weapon mode minus the Armor Soak of the enemy, animating between the minimum and maximum values. A red skull icon will appear if the minimum Hit roll is enough to kill the target. However, the damage estimate does not take into account Critical Hits or Glancing Hits. The damage estimate bar is usually marked with a cyan Attack Icon.

When targeting with a weapon in Full Auto mode, each target gets their own Damage Estimate Bar which takes into account how many strikes are targeting them.

Critical Hits

Critical Hits are particularly well-placed attacks that deal bonus Critical Damage. The odds of getting a critical hit start at 0% but are increased by certain weapons, weapon mods, talents, and traits.

Stealth Critical Hit chance behaves similarly but for targets that are Surprised. Stealth Critical Hit chance is added to Critical Hit chance.

Damage is increased by the amount of Critical Dmg % based on weapon and circumstance (regular and stealth bonus, if applicable).

If a weapon is considered a stealth weapon, it has a second Stealth Crit Dmg % which is added to the regular Crit Dmg % in the case of scoring a Critical Hit on a Surprised target. Thus, a Stealth Critical Hit can be considered a special type of Critical Hit and thus reactions that trigger upon scoring a Critical Hit will also be triggered for a Stealth Critical Hit.

For mathematical formulas, see Combat Calculations.

Glancing Hits

Many attacks with high accuracy are guaranteed to cause some damage even if the attack roll is technically a miss. This is called a Glancing Hit. Damage from a Glancing Hit is based on the initial accuracy of the attack and the final chance to hit roll. See Glancing Hit Mechanics for more details. Glancing Hits count as Hits for effects triggered by "on hit", such as certain Talents like Hit Streak or Bio-Coat Bullet but cannot critically strike or shred armor through conventional means.

For mathematical formulas, see Combat Calculations.

Damage Types

Damage dealt in combat is split into three types. Different armors can soak different amounts of each type. Different mods can improve the impacts of one or more types.

Pure Damage

Uncommon damage type prized for ignoring armor soak. Pure Damage is not reduced by Ballistic or Kinetic armor and is only reduced by the rare Built-in Armor. Some attacks innately deal pure damage and some buffs, traits, attributes, and talents may provide additional pure damage based upon outgoing Ballistic or Kinetic damage.

Ballistic Damage

Common damage type dealt by ranged weapons and some grenades. Ballistic damage is resisted by both Ballistic Armor and Built-in Armor.

Kinetic Damage

Common damage type dealt by melee weapons and some grenades. Kinetic damage is resisted by both Kinetic Armor and Built-in Armor.

Full Auto Attacks

Most firearms use a single unit of ammo and can hit only a single target. Assault Rifles, Urban Assault Rifles, and Submachine Guns have two weapon modes: Burst Mode and Full Auto mode. Full Auto uses twice the ammo and 50% more Action Points but causes a greater amount of total damage that can be distributed across multiple enemies. In the weapon statistics, Full Auto damage is marked with the number of bullets times damage, e.g. "6 x 88(b)" indicating 6 bullets of 88 Ballistic damage each.

When targeting an enemy, the C button toggles between Burst Mode and Full Auto mode. Icons on the Targeting Reticule denote the two modes, with the current mode marked in yellow. When a target is selected and the weapon mode is Full Auto, the nearest enemies within the weapon's Arc and Range are also targeted. The Page Up and Page Down buttons allow you to change how many of the enemies are targeted, potentially increasing the number of bullets per target. Each enemy can receive no more than three shots from a Full Auto attack. This means that firing Full Auto when only a single enemy is within the firing arc may be wasteful since Full Auto attacks typically contain 4 to 10 shots.

Within the Full Auto attack, each bullet on each enemy rolls its own Accuracy, Shred, Critical, and Damage - the first shot might glance, the second shot might hit, and the third shot might crit. When you make a Full Auto attack, regardless of number of bullets assigned to each target, each target counts as a single attack. Talents which defend against a certain number of attacks, such as Aegis for the Cybersword, will treat all bullets assigned to a target as a single combined attack.

Then, at the end the results against a specific target are merged together for special effects. If any shot rolled Shredding, then the target gets Shred 1, but never more. If any shot rolled Critical Hit, then the attack qualifies for On Critical Hit triggers. Effects that cancel on a failure are counted on each target rather than each bullet. Each target is an opportunity to break a streak. For example, when using Full Auto on three targets, each of the three targets must get at least one hit in order to extend Hit Streak for another action.

Recoil

Recoil is generated by movement and firing Weapons. It reduces attack accuracy, which is displayed at the top right of the screen while setting up an attack.

For each Action Point or Movement Point spent in movement, the merc gains 2% Recoil. This value may be modified by certain Talents.

Using a Weapon also adds Recoil. Each Weapon applies a different amount of Recoil, listed in the description of the Weapon. Full Auto attacks generate much more Recoil than Burst Fire or other weapon modes. The actual amount of recoil added when firing a weapon is variable, ranging from 75% to 100% of the value listed in the weapon description and further modified by the Recoil Reduction Attribute of the attacker. When attacking, Ignore X Recoil subtracts a flat value from the Recoil; if the Recoil is less than the Ignore X Recoil value, no recoil is applied to the accuracy. When targeting an enemy the Targeting Reticule displays an estimated Recoil that would be generated by the shot, assuming 100% of the weapon Recoil value plus modifiers such as Recoil Reduction. Due to the variability of weapon Recoil, the amount gained may be less than this displayed value.

Focused Fire is a counter to Recoil. Focused Fire is a status gained by a character attacking the same target more than once without taking any other action between attacks. For each sequential attack after the first, Recoil is temporarily set to 0. Recoil is still accrued, but it is negated by the Focused Fire effect. If the character takes any action other than attacking the same target, the Focused Fire ends and the character will suffer the effect of all Recoil gained before and during the Focused Fire. Here is an example:

1. Hawkear has 2% Recoil from moving
2. Hawkear takes a shot at Feeble the guard; this is the first shot, so -2% Recoil penalty applies
3. The shot generates 2% Recoil, for a total of -4% penalty
4. Hawkear takes a second shot at Feeble -- this is Focused Fire; while Hawkear would have -4% from Recoil, Focused Fire temporarily negates that: the shot is taken with 0% Recoil penalty
5. The shot generates another 2% Recoil, for a total of -6% penalty
   1. If Hawkear shoots the same enemy again, it is still Focused Fire and they have 0% penalty from Recoil.
   2. If instead Hawkear moves or takes any other action, Focused Fire is canceled; even if they shoot the same target after moving, they will suffer the full 6% + movement Recoil penalty
   3. If Hawkear shoots a nearby drone instead, this is the first shot (see #2) and they suffer the entire -6% Recoil penalty

An inexperienced shooter should double or even triple down on the same target to take advantage of Focused Fire. Only a highly trained Soldier is going to be swapping targets with every shot and keeping Accuracy high, using talents such as Marker Sights, Iron Grip, etc.

For mathematical formulas, see Combat Calculations.

Optimal Range

While weapons have a maximum range which represents the limit at which you can even attempt an attack, they aren't necessarily great at firing at all such allowed distances. Ranged weapons tend to have a dead zone up close or a dead zone far away with a sweet spot in the middle. Exceptions exist such as some sniper rifles, and with Weapon Mods the optimum range is often shifted, expanded, or contracted. As long as you are firing at a target within the optimum range of your weapon, you will not suffer an additional accuracy penalty to your attack. However, if you're too close or too far away, but still within the possible range of the weapon you'll face penalties that increase with distance from that optimum range. (Due to Glancing Hit Mechanics, a ranged weapon will always hit within 6 meters, but if you're very far away from your optimum range, that glancing hit will deal very minor damage.)

Accuracy Calculation

The accuracy penalty from attacking outside of optimal range is the square of the difference between the optimal range and the distance to the target. If your foe is at range 7.45 meters but your weapon's optimal range is 10 meters to 18 meters, the penalty will be: floor(10 - 7.45)² = floor(2.55)² = 2² = 4% penalty to hit.

Thus, attacking a foe narrowly outside of your optimum range doesn't carry a large penalty but being at the limit of your weapon's range may make for some very challenging hits unless you've stacked other sources of accuracy.

For mathematical formulas, see Combat Calculations.