Why are pistols so overpowered ?

[ShalmanezerIII]

Im wondering why pistols are so OP. Machine guns are supposed to be not just bigger but also normally do more dmg per bullet. But I guess for some balance reasons the bullet from any automatic weapon /of the same quality and level/ is in fact weaker than the one from a revolver and magazine pistol. Is it just balance ? But simple logic says the pistol or handgun as they call it must be weaker than all other ranged weapons ... Pistols have another hidden quality , well, it is not in fact hidden - the reload time is shorter. Now, the only reason I shoot with something that is not a pistol and not my unique rifle IS TO HAVE FUN AND VARIETY. If I play on hardest , I am sure I will choose pistols only +melee. What do you think ?

 

[Faux_Grey]

I'm having a great time punching things at level 30~ish.

Really never tried any weapons on this playthrough yet.

 

[Hudatyebam]

All the iconic weapons I've found so far have been pistols apart from a couple of melee items and one of the pistols is pretty much double the DPS of the rest so I took this as a sign from beyond the blackwall and specced into pistols

 

[Divinorium]

Im wondering why pistols are so OP. Machine guns are supposed to be not just bigger but also normally do more dmg per bullet. But I guess for some balance reasons the bullet from any automatic weapon /of the same quality and level/ is in fact weaker than the one from a revolver and magazine pistol. Is it just balance ? But simple logic says the pistol or handgun as they call it must be weaker than all other ranged weapons ... Pistols have another hidden quality , well, it is not in fact hidden - the reload time is shorter. Now, the only reason I shoot with something that is not a pistol and not my unique rifle IS TO HAVE FUN AND VARIETY. If I play on hardest , I am sure I will choose pistols only +melee. What do you think ?

I think revolvers should have better damage per bullet.

With that said: Pistols have smaller magazine machine guns, so that could be a balancing factor. Also the game apparently has damage dropoff.( weapons lose damage when hitting targets too far away)

That's another balancing point since pistols have low range. With that said... the pistols seem to be overtuned for sure, but i don't think it's an issue with pistols, just that items are too flat and close to each other.

 

[PHOOEY]

I didn't realize how badly the weapons were balanced until I watched the spiffing Brit on youtube. He took the weakest earliest weapon and just destroyed everything with it, at like low levels.

 

[Sild]

They're not exactly overpowered. Their dps is comparable to any other weapon. What makes them powerful are the respective perks you unlock for each weapon type. The more perks you have for handguns the more they'll shine compared to other weapons you've no perks in.

 

[PoisonDartFrog]

I didn't realize how badly the weapons were balanced until I watched the spiffing Brit on youtube. He took the weakest earliest weapon and just destroyed everything with it, at like low levels.

great video, he took a baseline 10cent pea-shooter and turned it into Johnny's hand cannon super deluxe. But yeah that does just put the game on easy mode.

 

[Divinorium]

They're not exactly overpowered. Their dps is comparable to any other weapon. What makes them powerful are the respective perks you unlock for each weapon type. The more perks you have for handguns the more they'll shine compared to other weapons you've no perks in.

Hard disagree. I am playing a character without offensive perks.(be in pistols or anything)
And pistols perform other weapons by a huge margin when it's not sniper ranger.

I run around with a sniper, a pistol and a assault rifle.(In case i end up running out of ammo for the other 2)

And when comparing the assault rifle to the pistol it's not even close. Specially when you fast tap pistol to have the same effect of assault rifles without having to deal, or mod out, the recoil

 

[kofeiiniturpa]

If they weren’t ”powerful” nobody’d use them.

I would’ve tried a different route with how weapons work - based on accuracy and mobility at different distances with generally a bit slower pace in combat; e.g. two-handed guns being clumsier and less accurate at clise quarters - but meh. It is what it is.

 

[Sild]

And when comparing the assault rifle to the pistol it's not even close. Specially when you fast tap pistol to have the same effect of assault rifles without having to deal, or mod out, the recoil

I mean, the dps dosen't lie. Difference is in the head shot multiplier. So if you consistently land headshots, then yes a pistol will outperform an assault rifle. All else being equal though, not so much. And the magazine size of the assault rifle gives it an edge in prolonged encounters, especially chance to apply status effects.

 

[Hudatyebam]

Hard disagree. I am playing a character without offensive perks.(be in pistols or anything)
And pistols perform other weapons by a huge margin when it's not sniper ranger.

I run around with a sniper, a pistol and a assault rifle.(In case i end up running out of ammo for the other 2)

And when comparing the assault rifle to the pistol it's not even close. Specially when you fast tap pistol to have the same effect of assault rifles without having to deal, or mod out, the recoil

Yeah, the only downside I've seen with pistols is the range and that can be negated by a perk, high rpm weapons like assaults and lmg's suffer from bullet climb as well although I did just have a defender drop with a negates horizontal recoil perk and there's a mod that stops vertical recoil so might give that a try out.

 

[Ouroboros612]

Pistols are OP due to their perks all being really fucking good. IMO pistol perks need a SLIGHT nerf across the board. I'm saying slight because when devs nerf something they tend to overnerf.

Other skill trees for weapons tend to have more utility and support perks. If you combine a weapon perk tree with the tech tree charge bonuses, any weapon (Tech+Pistol, Tech+Rifles etc.) become really strong due to all the scaling getting out of control.

 

[Hudatyebam]

Yeah I was hoping for more smart weapon perks but I guess their powerful enough when combined with the weapon trees.

 

[ShalmanezerIII]

If they weren’t ”powerful” nobody’d use them.

I would’ve tried a different route with how weapons work - based on accuracy and mobility at different distances with generally a bit slower pace in combat; e.g. two-handed guns being clumsier and less accurate at clise quarters - but meh. It is what it is.

No, you do not see what I meant, I am not saying the pistols have to be weak, I think the huge machine guns and small but fast SM guns have to feel more or less BETTER than pistols

 

[kofeiiniturpa]

No, you do not see what I meant, I am not saying the pistols have to be weak, I think the huge machine guns and small but fast SM guns have to feel more or less BETTER than pistols

No I really do get what you’re saying. What I was trying to imply, is that the design went this way for, better or worse, reasons.

 

[--Kory--]

You are probably having trouble compensating for the recoil of a machine gun. It's easier to line up consecutive headshots with a pistol than a machine gun because of the difference in rate of fire and it's affect on recoil between the two. Their dps isn't necessarily out performing eachother. There are perks to help with rifle kick back I think. People sleep on the affect of recoil on dps.

With the rate of fire of a machine gun, and managing recoil, you could take down targets easier than using a pistol if you want.
I'm surprised some people aren't trying to get shotgun nerfed. Thing can knock some enemies down even without perks, love it.

 

[Aki-San]

what are you talking about? i have the feeling the pistols are the weakest weapons of all of them. seemingly it just depends on how you build your skill tree...

 

[AdamTaylor]

Once you get to high enough levels pistols don't work anymore. They will literally do no damage to enemies. You'll need a weapon that's hitting for over a thousand damage a hit with massive crit chance.

Enemies get stat bloat so badly that they will be immune to hit under 1K damage because of armor.

 

[SakariFoxx]

What weapon is weak that you think pistols are too strong?

 

[DataEntity.390]

Im wondering why pistols are so OP.

Rule of Cool.