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TL;DR
Recommended builds:
- General purpose/DPS: 213XX + Six Shooter
- Sniper: 2131X + Elephant Rounds
- Tank destroyer: 2132X + Volatile Bullets (fire also required; you may need to change your primary build)
- Crowd control: X3212 + Magic Bullets
Before we dive into the details and graphs, I want to reiterate that as this is a secondary weapon you have some more freedom and flexibility in terms of builds, this isn't your primary source of damage. So while I've done my best to find and compare the "best" builds, I'd recommend using the builds I list here as a good starting point for further experimentation to fit your own playstyle (this generally applies to other build guides as well).
As with the minigun, the bulldog seems to misrepresent its base spread stat. After some more pixel counting
(displayed accuracy * 0.666) + 33% = real accuracy. So a displayed accuracy of 30% is actually ~55%.
Lets get the OC-less build out of the way first, I'm going to be recommending 2131X as a good starting point. It provides a decent balance of DPS and ammo economy as a support weapon for picking off mactera and specials. If you don't find yourself constantly running out of ammo, you could consider taking the extra damage mod on tier 4 for a nice boost in DPS. We'll be using 2131X as the baseline for the OC builds comparison.
A quick note on the final mod tier. If you aren't going for a CC build (where you should probably be taking neurotoxin), the choice really comes down to your personal preferences:
- Deadeye is a solid pick if you're always on the move. The extra accuracy really helps to snipe weakpoints in the middle of a swarm.
- Neurotoxin offers a good bit of extra damage (around 120 damage applied over 10 seconds) and utility, as it slows down poisoned enemies. That can be especially helpful when fighting dreadnoughts.
For the OC builds, I divided them into two groups, one focused on single target damage, and one for crowd control. After some testing and number crunching, I determined that the magic bullets build (listed below) is your best option for CC. The other builds are basically the same in function, but perform worse. However, there are a few different damage builds to pick from, each offering a different playstyle. (If you want to take a closer look at the other CC builds you can find them with the rest of the data in my spreadsheet.)
The final builds:
- X3212 + Magic Bullets, CC build.
- 2132X + Six Shooter, DPS build.
- 2131X + Six Shooter, all-rounder build.
- 2132X + Volatile Bullets, tank destroyer build.
- 2131X + Elephant Rounds, sniper build.
As with the other guides I'm simplifying damage calculations by assuming 100% damage dealt per bullet, for critical damage calculations I'm only including the damage bonus from the weapon itself, not the multiplier from the target (as that varies with enemy type). The magic bullets data is based on hitting 2 targets per bullet (with ricochets applying 100% damage, no critical bonus).
Now lets get to the graphs:
And a relative comparison using the OC-less build as our baseline:
(I've included the weapon's bonus critical damage for these graphs, for a pure base damage comparison, see here
- X3212 + Magic Bullets: Combining the ricochets with explosive rounds and neurotoxin allows you to theoretically poison twice as many enemies per bullet, as the AoE damage and neurotoxin get triggered on the ricochet and the final direct hit after the ricochet. So you generally want to aim for the floor right next to your targets (within 1.5m so the AoE is in range) to cause the bullet to ricochet. I personally like to take increased reload speed for my tier 1 mod, it synergies well with the overall function of the weapon (that is, to spray poison and AoE damage everywhere).
- 2132X + Six Shooter: This build offers the highest increase in DPS with a decent bump up in magazine damage. But, with the higher rate of fire you need to keep an eye on your ammo, it's easy to burn though those 42 bullets.
- 2131X + Six Shooter: With a small step down from the previous build in terms of DPS, you gain some extra ammo economy which also helps to reduce overkill. Overall, this build feels great as a do-it-all secondary.
- 2132X + Volatile Bullets: The damage on offer here, while situational, is insane. 1500 damage per mag. However, you have to set your target on fire, otherwise you'll be dealing 1/4 of the damage (the OC adds 300% damage, it's not a 3x multiplier). And sadly, to be able to do that consistently and regularly you need to shanghai a driller, or use the minigun with hot bullets or burning hell. You might also want to consider taking incendiary grenades, and possibly taking an ammo mod instead of damage if you don't need such a massive amount of DPS/damage per mag.
- 2131X + Elephant Rounds: A pretty straightforward build, it's a sniper. It kicks like a mule, but packs a fair bit of damage. Ammo can be a bit short, but your ammo economy is still better over our baseline if you're able to minimise overkill.
[1]: Minor spoiler from the next hotfix regarding praetorians and oppressors. They are currently set to receive a 25% HP buff, this will push the oppressor out of mag-dump territory on 4 man hazard 5 missions for this build. Though you should still be able to kill them in one magazine on 4 man hazard 4 missions.
As for homebrew powder and chain hit. They're ok OCs, they provide a marginal improvement that occasionally feels "nice to have", but never actually substantially improve the weapon compared to the other builds. This is understandable as they are both clean OCs, OCs without any penalties. However, their performance just isn't comparable to the other builds, which is why I've left them out of my recommendations.
Please feel free to share any questions or suggestions.
Rock and stone!
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