Going to quote myself from a similar thread:
Originally posted by Shurenai: Of note is that higher level weapons may sometimes have lower BASE stats, but after adding mods they result in higher total stats.Read more
EG: Take a Q1 weapon with 30 damage, and a Q5 weapon with 25 damage.
Seems like Q1 is objectively better and does more damage right? But each mod equipped to an item increases the primary stats (Damage, typically) by 15% in addition to the mods effects.
A Q6 weapon can fit 4 mods, so t...