Unfortunately, this seems to be the limitation of PlanetSide 2’s engine, and there’s not much the current development team can do to fix it. 

There is a lot of drama revolving around this issue, and there seems to be  a lot of myths or unclear information, so I decided to run my own set of tests to find out what exactly causes the reduction in Rate of Fire, and how strong this effect is.

Usually game’s performance is bottlenecked either by CPU or GPU (Graphics Card). I wanted to figure out which of the two causes Rate of Fire issues. 

GPU Bound Results

For most of my tests I used EM6 with Extended Mags. It has convenient 600 RoF, which means the time period between two shots should be equal to 0.1 seconds. There are 199 time periods between 200 shots, so firing them should take 19.9 seconds.

To establish some baselines, first I recorded the time to empty a magazine using my Usual Settings, and then with all settings set to Very Low. In both cases I wasn’t capping FPS in any way, and RoF was close to expected values.

Test methodology: I went to Koltyr, stepped outside of the spawn building, and fired at full auto. I recorded using my shitty phone, as I wanted to avoid any potential impact from my own PC. I kinda forgot to disable Shadowplay’s background recording, though. I ran each test only once, and it’s possible the results would be inconsistent.

Then I used RTSS to cap FPS at 120, and then at 150. In both cases there was a negative impact to Rate of Fire.

Then I enabled Smoothing, which caps FPS at your monitor’s Refresh Rate. In my case, this is 120 Hz. That fixed the Rate of Fire issues.

Then I created a GPU-bound scenario by increasing Render Quality to 1.41, making the game render at double resolution, putting a lot of raw workload on my GTX 1060 3 GB. This had a noticeable negative impact to Rate of Fire.

Then I made GPU-bound situation more severe by increasing Render Quality to 2.0, making the game render at quadruple resolution. That reduced RoF even further, and introduced some horrible Input Lag.

Thanks to /u/Octiceps, we know that being GPU bound causes Input Lag, and indeed, it felt like an eternity would pass between moving the mouse and seeing the crosshair move on screen. According to my measurements, the delay was around 0.1 seconds, but it felt much longer, and the game would definitely be unplayable.

Capping the FPS by any means should remove the Input Lag. First I used RTSS to cap FPS at 45. That removed Input Lag, but impacted Rate of Fire even further.

Then I set an FPS limit through UserOptions.ini by setting MaximumFPS to 45. That removed Input Lag and solved the Rate of Fire issues. 

Note that according to Octiceps, using MaximumFPS to cap FPS still adds some Input Lag, but it seems miles better than being GPU bound, and I couldn’t feel any during my short tests.

I also ran a test with Smoothing enabled while GPU bound. In this case having an FPS cap at 120 should not have affected anything, but it’s possible that Smoothing actually does something else behind the scenes. And indeed the RoF impact was lower than while simply being GPU-bound, but it’s possible this was just a statistical margin of error. Since I’m lazy and ran each test only once, there’s no way to tell.

Finally, I wanted to test whether low RoF or high RoF weapons are more affected, so I removed the FPS Cap and ran tests with 500 RPM Gauss SAW and 857 RPM Watchman. As you can see from the results, the impact to higher RoF Watchman was nearly double.

Per /u/Punisherlceman’s suggestion, I ran tests with a couple of vehicle weapons, and surprisingly they seem to be unaffected by this issue at all. Even when I used RTSS to limit FPS at 30, which made the Watchman fire at 69% of its intended Rate of Fire.

CPU Bound Results

My CPU is Core i5 7600k. To create a CPU-bound scenario, I went to BIOS and manually reduced its maximum multiplier to 12 and disabled 3 of the 4 cores, as well as reduced memory frequency to 2133 MHz. 

For the test I set all settings to Very Low to make sure the FPS is not GPU-bound. 

It didn’t feel like there’s any Input Lag, but all animations would play at super low FPS, the famous “Doom Animations“. 

There was a significant impact to Rate of Fire. Then I increased the number of active cores to 4, and impact to RoF was not as huge, but it was still there. “Doom Animations” went away as the number of cores increased, so we can conclude that laggy animations happen when the CPU cannot handle several threads at the same time.

Normally my CPU runs at 4500 MHz, and RAM at 3000 MHz, so I went back to these settings, but once again left only one active core. I would still get laggy animations, but negative impact to RoF all but evaporated. 

During these tests the PlanetSide’s FPS counter was showing [GPU] half the time, in a situation where being GPU-bound is practically impossible, which just goes to show that indicator cannot be trusted.

It’s worth noting that while CPU-bound, the framarate fluctuated like crazy.

Second PC Results

I ran one more round of tests on my brother’s PC, who’s using entry-level Ryzen R3 1200, overclocked to 3.8 or 3.9 GHz, and an obsolete HD5770, middle of the road graphics card from 2009.

• “Low Settings” = Very Low preset with Ultra Textures.
• “High Settings” = Ultra Preset with Shadows Disabled. 
• Render Distance of 800m and FullHD resolution in both cases.

Similar to before, there was considerable Input Lag while GPU-bound with uncapped FPS. Using MaximumFPS in UserOptions.ini to cap FPS at 55 removed Input Lag and mostly solved RoF issues. 

It’s interesting to note that even in worst case scenario RoF impact was not as severe as on my machine.

Conclusions

• Rate of Fire is reduced when you are:
  • GPU-bound at low FPS.
  • Using RTSS to cap FPS.
  • CPU-bound by frequency.
• It’s possible to have reduced RoF without any Input Lag.
• You don’t need high FPS to fire at nearly full RoF.
• RoF issues can be solved by:
  • Having very high FPS.
  • Setting an FPS Cap through MaximumFPS in UserOptions.ini just below your usual FPS.
  • Using Smoothing if your FPS is usually above your monitor’s Refresh Rate.
  • Preferring weapons with low Rate of Fire.

This set of tests is not intended as the last word on this topic, I mainly just wanted to see the problem with my own eyes and confirm tests done /u/ChasseurDePorcinet and /u/Datnade, and /u/Ahorns, as well as rule out Input Lag as the primary cause.

Tengu excels at consistently dealing damage to enemies, even against mobile targets, or when the user makes aiming mistakes. This makes Tengu a perfect weapon for newbies and low-aim players. 

Due to large pellet spread from the hip, Tengu has worse hip fire than other SMGs, almost always requiring the user to aim down sights.

Stats

Best of Both Worlds

Both SMGs and Shotguns have a number of problems that make them less effective than other CQC primary weapons. 

Shotguns fire multiple pellets with each shot, so they can easily inflict some damage with each shot. However, their Time to Kill is balanced around hitting nearly every pellet, and large Pellet Spread limits their effective range. Unless you’re within a few meters and aim well, any automatic CQC weapon is likely to kill faster. 

They also have relatively low Rate of Fire, so missing a whole shot is extremely punishing.

Shotguns also don’t have Cone of Fire Bloom, so you are expected to fire at maximum rate of fire to make your TTK more competitive. 

To summarize, to be effective with a shotgun in hectic close range combat you are expected to hold your aim pinpoint at enemy’s center mass and click at a very specific rate. Needless to say, this is hard to accomplish even for good players. 

The fact that shotguns easily inflict partial damage doesn’t mean much, because only partial damage will take ages to kill an enemy. 

SMGs have a different set of problems. On average, they have lower DPS than other CQC primary weapons, lower Damage per Magazine, and shorter effective range. The only thing they gain is increased hip fire accuracy, and 75% ADS. And sometimes you can have too much accuracy.

You have to compensate reduced firepower with your own skill, going for headshots and hip fire headshots, and outmaneuver the enemy with your mobility. This creates a significant skill requirement just to make SMGs competitive in CQC.

NSX Tengu is a perfect balance between shotguns and SMGs. Tengu easily inflicts partial damage on targets, but it doesn’t suffer from shotguns’ low RoF and from SMGs’ “too much accuracy”. You can waive Tengu in general direction of the enemy and still kill him in a reasonable amount of time. 

Tengu is inaccurate enough to be effectively used in hectic CQC setting, even by an average player. But it is accurate enough to have about the same effective range as other SMGs. 

Couple that with some very short reloads and decent Damage Per Mag, and you get a rock solid SMG in the end.

Mechanics

Mechanically, Tengu is a shotgun. Feel free to familiarize yourself with Weapon Mechanics and Shotgun Mechanics.

Cone of Fire Bloom. Unlike Shotguns, Tengu does have some CoF Bloom, in line with other 200 damage per shot weapons. Similar to other SMGs, Tengu has the same CoF Bloom for both ADS and Hip Firing.

CoF Bloom Per Point of Damage Done: 3.5 * 10-4

In this regard, Tengu shares the first place with Eridani, which is known for sustained hip fire accuracy. Of course, Pellet Spread will interfere with that a lot, but as far as CoF Bloom mechanics are concerned, Tengu is excellent.

The fact that Tengu fires multiple projectiles with each shot is a double edged sword:

Pros: 

• Makes it easier to consistently inflict some damage, even when target is actively dodging or the user makes aiming mistakes. This gives Tengu affinity for CQC and makes it friendly towards newbies and low-aim players. 
• As an additional consequence, Tengu user is less affected by flinch from getting shot, and can be competitive in duels even without Battle Hardened implant.

Cons:

• Optimal DPS is harder to reach.
• Damage can be reduced if target is partially protected by cover. 
• It is harder to focus your damage output at a particular point, such as enemy’s head. Or to single out a specific enemy in a group. 

Damage

Damage per Pellet: 50 @ 6m - 36 @ 40m
Pellets per Shot: 4
Damage per Shot: 200 @ 6m = 144 @ 40m
Rate of Fire: 500
Damage Per Second: 1666 - 1200
Headshot Damage Multiplier: 2x


Within maximum damage range, Tengu’s DPS is equal to 200 @ 500 weapon, such as Gauss SAW, which is below average for an SMG.  Considering that optimal DPS is harder to reach for Tengu, it has a comparatively low, but consistent damage output. 

Despite that, in the hands of an average user, Tengu is likely to be more effective and kill faster, just because it is so consistent at dealing damage.

Similar to other 200 damage weapons, Tengu gets hard countered by Nanoweave Armor, which can increase Ideal TTK from 0.48 seconds to 0.72 seconds – that’s 50% TTK increase for 20% damage reduction!

However, Tengu can potentially deal 400 damage with a headshot, and kill an enemy with just three headshots, with a good overkill in case a few pellets miss or hit the body.

Tengu takes 4 body shots or 2 head shots before it can reliably melee combo enemies.

Ammunition

Ammo: 20 / 140
Damage Per Magazine: 50 * 4 * 20 = 4000
Extended Mags: +4 rounds per magazine (+800 DPM)
DPM w/ Ext Mags: 4800
Reload Time: 1.875 sec / 2.5 sec


Tengu has very decent Damage Per Magazine, close to Cyclone’s, which holds the first place among first gen SMGs. Extended Mags provide a noticeable boost, pushing magazine size from “adequate” to “comfortable”. 

Tengu also has quick reloads; the long reload penalty is unusually mild for an SMG. 

Hip Fire Accuracy

Hip Cones of Fire:1.75 / 1.75 / 1.75 / 2.0
(crouching still, crouching moving, standing still, standing moving)
Hip CoF Bloom: 0.07
Pellet Spread Hip: 3.0

Due to large hip fire Pellet Spread, and larger initial Hip Fire CoFs, Tengu has notably worse hip fire than other SMGs. 

Tengu has access to a unique attachment – Hybrid Laser, which reduces Hip Fire CoFs and Hip Pellet Spread by 20%. It enables the user to hip fire with a bit more liberty, but other SMGs will still have much better Hip Fire accuracy.

Click to enlarge.

On these pictures, each weapon fires 2000 damage. This is 10 shots for NSX Tengu, and 16 shots for GD-10 Blitz. Both weapons are fired from the hip while Standing Moving – the most likely hip firing stance. As you can see, Blitz – and by extension other SMGs – has much more accurate Hip Fire. 

As mentioned, Tengu has below average DPS, and due to large pellet spread, it cannot focus its DPS when firing from the hip, and even with Hybrid Laser you can’t hip fire for headshots outside spitting range.

And with normal, partial body shots, Tengu simply takes too long to kill an enemy from the hip. If the enemy is on the beefy side, and slightly at range, you’re likely to run out of ammunition before killing the enemy, assuming you even live that long.

All of this boils down to – Tengu can be effectively hip fired, even without Hybrid Laser, but with much less freedom than other SMGs. Tengu requires more thoughtful approach. It is preferable to almost always Aim Down Sights, and hip fire only against squishy or weakened targets, or at very close ranges. 

ADS Accuracy and Effective Range

ADS Cones of Fire: 0.15 / 0.17 / 0.15 / 0.32
(crouching still, crouching moving, standing still, standing moving)
ADS CoF Bloom: 0.07
Pellet Spread ADS: 0.75
Velocity: 380 m/s
Projectile Lifespan / Gravity: 1.5 / 11.25


Overall, you can expect Tengu to have about the same effective range as other SMGs, around 20-30m. 

Remember two things:

• Tengu gets an accuracy boost for staying still or crouching.
• Tengu fires multiple projectiles, so it benefits from firing at completely exposed targets.

Given right conditions, Tengu can reach out to enemies at longer ranges, especially if they’re not Heavy Assaults. 

However, the reverse is also true. When the target has partial cover, you will need to be closer before you can do any meaningful damage.

Due to relatively large initial Pellet Spread, burst firing is not as important with Tengu as with other weapons, so you can afford to fire in longer bursts. Extremely high First Shot Recoil Multiplier makes shortbursting even less desirable. 

Tengu has slightly less Damage Degradation than other SMGs, losing 28% of damage over 29m. For comparison, 125 damage SMGs lose 33% of damage over 31m (assuming SPA on both).

Overall, Tengu has surprisingly decent effective range for an “automatic shotgun”. 

Recoil

Vertical Recoil: 0.4
Vertical Recoil Per Second: 3.33
First Shot Recoil Multiplier: 3.5x
Recoil Angle: -5 / 5
Horizontal Recoil: 0.25 / 0.25
Horizontal Recoil Tolerance: 0.6
Average Horizontal Deviation: 0.205
Maximum Horizontal Deviation: 0.5
Recoil Recovery Delay: 120
Recoil Recovery Rate: 18

Tengu has high vertical recoil for an SMG, but it’s fairly average overall. However, Tengu has extremely high First Shot Recoil Multiplier, and this is something that you will need to adjust to when firing at enemies beyond ~25m. 

Tengu has more stable horizontal recoil than most SMGs.

All that said, you will run into damage degradation and Pellet Spread issues long before recoil becomes a problem. So aside from the mentioned FSRM, recoil is not something you should overly concern yourself with when using Tengu.

Misc Stats

ADS Time To / From: 0.15 sec / 0.15 sec
ADS Movespeed Multiplier: 0.75x
Minimap Detect Range: 40m
Equip / Unequip Time: 0.65 sec / 0.25 sec

All of these are standard for an SMG.

Attachments

Optics

Tengu has access to a variety of 1x and 2x scopes, including HS/NV scope. As always, the choice will depend only on your personal preference, but generally speaking, there’s no reason to use anything other than 1x CCLR scope. 

Barrel

Flash Suppressor

This is the standard recommended attachment for most weapons, as it provides a bit of concealment at nearly no cost. Increased minimap detection range can mess with you, giving away your position to enemies outside your effective range, so if you do a lot of solo flanking, you may prefer to run Suppressor or no barrel attachment instead. 

Suppressor

Suppressor will reduce your ranged damage, reducing your Damage Per Second by up to 13%. Tengu sounds loud when you shoot it, but it sounds much quieter to other players around you. And the Suppressor makes Tengu nearly inaudible. 

Suppressor is a great attachment for flanking SMG Infiltrators and Light Assaults, who usually have more thoughtful and deliberate engagements, against unaware or weakened enemies. Having more time to ADS and aim properly will further reduce the effects of damage penalty.

However, it doesn’t make much sense to use Suppressor for aggressive pushing and hectic CQC skirmishes, as you’re likely to be spotted or lit up by a Motion Spotter anyway.

Rail

Tengu has access to Extended Mags (+4 rounds per mag), Darklight Flashlight and Hybrid Laser attachment.

Hybrid Laser reduces hip Pellet Spread and Hip CoFs by 20%. 

On paper, both Hybrid Laser and Extended Mags are viable. I’ve used both, and have been satisfied with their performance. 

The problem with Hybrid Laser build, is that Tengu has worse hip fire performance than other SMGs, and Hybrid Laser is inferior to Advanced Laser Sight.

 You would think that 20% reduction to Pellet Spread and 20% reduction to Hip Fire CoFs come together and equate to 40% reduction to Hip Fire CoFs of ALS, but it doesn’t actually work like that. Effectively, you still get a 20% reduction versus 40% reduction.

And given the fact that Tengu has worse hip fire capabilities than other SMGs even before the attachments, it doesn’t make much sense to go with Hybrid Laser.

It’s certainly a viable attachment, you can make it work, but objectively Extended Mags is better, especially when used by flanking classes – Light Assault and SMG Infiltrator.

Ammo

Tengu has access only to Soft Point Ammunition, and should always be used with it.

Recommended Attachments

This is a cookie cutter build if you don’t know which attachments to pick for your playstyle.

• 1x CCLR
• Flash Suppressor
• Soft Point Ammunition
• Extended Mags

Gameplay Tips

First and foremost, you must realize that Tengu’s hip fire is much worse than for other SMGs. You almost never want to hip fire, unless the enemy is just a few meters away. So in almost any engagement you want to be aiming down sights.

Other than that, Tengu plays a lot like other SMGs, so feel free to check out the corresponding sections of the SMG Guide and SMG Infiltrator Guide.

Remember to close the distance before engaging, when possible.

Take advantage of Tengu’s short reload. After killing one enemy, you almost always want to take a step back and reload, unless you’re flanking several enemies from a really good position, and can kill all of them at once.

Get a good sidearm, and get good with it. You’re gonna be relying on it a lot, similarly to other SMGs. 

Be careful about engaging enemies in partial cover. You won’t be dealing much damage to them.

When engaging enemies at range, you can boost your accuracy by being still or crouching. Just be careful about being sniper bait.

Conclusion

Tengu is the most competitive weapon in the whole NSX lineup. It is very effective, and will serve most players much better than Cyclone ever will – and that weapon is universally regarded as the best SMG. Unlike other SMGs, Tengu is friendly to newbies and low-aim players. It has the best qualities of shotguns and SMGs, while doing away with their worst qualities. 

Tengu is much easier to use than other 200+ damage weapons, while still letting you enjoy the feeling of impactful, high damage shots.

Worth buying?

Tengu is a must buy if you have any intention of using SMGs. 

However, at the end of the day, all SMGs have limited firepower and effective range. Most classes will have a more versatile CQC primary weapon option. If you don’t have a reason to use an SMG, you don’t have a reason to use Tengu.

Yumi is an excellent weapon for medium and long range combat, and it gives a huge advantage when firing first, more so than any other automatic weapon. But the burst delay makes the weapon a little bad in direct confrontation, especially if the enemy engages you first in close quarters. 

Playing with Yumi is like playing with any slow and accurate ranged Assault Rifle – you will have to stick to cover, be ready to disengage if you get shot and avoid rushing head-first.

Using the Yumi is the hard way to teach a player to look for good engagements; the strict requirement on accuracy and firing delay will force the user to always aim down sights and aim properly before opening fire. 

On the other hand, Yumi is a weapon that plays itself. Unlike other burst weapons, which are basically automatic weapons in disguise, Yumi doesn’t allow any Cone of Fire management, and barely requires recoil compensation. 

Yumi is predominantly a medium+ range support weapon. If you ever wanted a designated marksman rifle for a medic – this is it. 

Yumi was released in underpowered state, and was significantly buffed in Apr 27th, 2017 patch and Oct 19th, 2017 patch, and now that this weapon is actually viable, let’s take a deeper look. 

Stats

Mechanics

After you press the trigger, there is a 0.25 second firing delay. Then it takes a 0.24 seconds to fire off a 5 round burst, with 60 ms refire time between shots. For comparison, AF-4 Cyclone has 92 ms refire time. 

As with a semi-auto weapon, you can queue the next burst right after you start charging the current burst. Click-release-click-hold until the next burst starts charging. This technique is explained in detail here. 

If you press the trigger without Aiming Down Sights, you will not be able to Aim Down Sights until the weapon finishes firing.

Similarly, if you press the trigger while ADSing, you will not be able to leave ADS, even if you jump. This is actually one of the biggest turn-offs of this weapon, because when you click to fire, you essentially commit your next 0.55 seconds to firing, and this can be a problem if you get attacked by another enemy during this time. 

Melee Combo

Yumi’s fixed burstfire mode gives it an interesting mechanical quirk. You can click to start charging the burst, and then perform a quick melee attack while the weapon is firing. This makes Yumi surprisingly scary in close quarters, because even if only 4 out of 5 shots hit, a knife strike will still reliably kill standard infantry through nanoweave. 

Learn more here.

Damage

Rate of Fire during a burst: 1000 RPM
DPS during a burst: 2783 to 2083 depending on distance.

Overall Rate of Fire: ~545 RPM
Overall DPS: 1516 to 1135, depending on distance.

Yumi fires off the burst at the highest rate of fire among all primary weapons, and therefore has the highest non-shotgun DPS. Burst delay significantly reduces overall rate of fire, reducing overall DPS to be on the level of a 167 @ 550 RPM weapon. 

With perfect accuracy and bodyshots, Yumi will require two bursts against a full health target. Heavy Assaults will require an extra burst at most. It is possible to one-burst a target if several shots hit the head.

Overall, assuming good, but not perfect accuracy, you should expect 2-3 burst kills against standard enemies, and 3-4 bursts against Heavy Assaults.

Finally, one burst + one quick knife swing will reliably kill standard infantry, though it’s not an easy combo to hit against an aware player. 

Recoil

Yumi is the only weapon to feature a zero First Shot Recoil Multiplier, meaning it has no vertical recoil for the first shot. The first shot is still subjected to Horizontal Recoil, though. 

Yumi has one of the lowest values for Vertical Recoil, though extremely high rate of fire still creates a noticeable vertical pull during the burst. You can’t start compensating recoil on reaction, because the burst will be over before you can react.

Yumi has very little Horizontal Recoil for its damage profile, and a negligible recoil angle to the right. 

Recoil Recovery finishes before you can start the next burst. 

Accuracy

ADS CoFs: 0.03 / 0.15 / 0.03 / 0.15 / 0.05

Yumi has very small Cones of Fire in all stances, and reduced Cone of Fire Bloom. Most 167 damage weapons have CoF Bloom of 0.06. 

It’s worth noting that Yumi doesn’t get any bonus accuracy for crouching.

Overall, it’s safe to say that Yumi features one of the longest effective ranges among Assault Rifles. And even ranged monsters like Reaper DMR cannot compete with Yumi’s moving accuracy and low Bloom.

Hip CoFs: 2 / 2.25 / 2.5 / 3 / 0.12

Yumi has standard hip fire accuracy for an assault rifle. It can be surprisingly effective in a pinch, but don’t expect any miracles, especially if you use Compensator. 

Attachments

Optics

Yumi has access to a variety of reflex scopes from 1x to 3.4x, and HS/NV scope. As always, the choice will depend only on your personal preference.

A low magnification scope makes it feel like the weapon has no recoil at all, and it allows a wider field of view, which can be crucial while you are busy tunnel visioning in one direction and firing off several bursts – Yumi has a long exposure time. 

On the other hand, a higher magnification scope gives a clearer sight of the target, allowing for more deliberate accuracy. It can also help identify targets at longer ranges before you even open fire. 

When in doubt – start with 2x Reflex, and see whether you need more or less magnification.

Barrel

Yumi has access to Flash Suppressor and Compensator. Both are viable, depending on playstyle and intended application.

• Flash Suppressor will make you less noticeable, which is crucial in ranged combat. 
• Compensator will increase ranged accuracy and make it easier to get headshots. 

Rail

Yumi has access to Extended Mags (+5 rounds), Forward Grip, Darklight Flashlight and Underbarrel Smoke and Grenade Launchers.

Yumi is a rare case of a ranged weapon where Forward Grip is not mandatory. Yumi already has very little horizontal recoil, and at ranges where you would benefit from the Forward Grip, Yumi already gets weaker due to Cone of Fire Bloom and damage degradation.

Yumi’s underbarrel attachments are similar to those of other weapons.

Underbarrel Grenade Launcher offers a great way to increase utility, versatility and firepower. It can damage vehicles, finish off players behind cover, and even OHK if you manage to get a direct hit. UBGL was never a bad attachment to have. It has just two problems: it is usually available on crappy weapons, or weapons that greatly benefit from other rail attachments.

Yumi doesn’t have any of those problems, so it is a prime candidate for using UBGL. 

Ammo

Yumi has access to SPA and HVA. 

SPA is better within 35m and gives maximum benefit of +1.8% damage at 15m.

HVA is better at 35m+ and gives maximum benefit of +6.4% damage at 90m. 

If you’re interested in a more in-depth analysis of ammo types, /u/DrSwov has a reddit post with TTK numbers against different targets.

Recommended Attachments

There are many viable attachment combinations with Yumi. If you know what you’re doing, you should be able to easily figure out the best build for yourself. 

If you need some help to get started, here is an example of a cookie-cutter build:

• 2x Reflex
• Flash Suppressor
• High Velocity Ammo
• Underbarrel Grenade Launcher
• Battle Hardened Implant

The goal behind this loadout is to give you the most versatility and combat options, without being overly specialized in any particular area.

Gameplay Tips

NSX Yumi is way more versatile than it may seem on the first look. The burst mechanic spices things up a bit, but you quickly get used to it, and for most intents and purposes, you simply get a gun that shoots half the time, and charges up the other half. 

Use the burst delay to your advantage, and take aim properly while the gun is charging up. 

Yumi has surprisingly decent performance from the hip, but you should still invest in a powerful sidearm for close encounters, and get comfortable with it. If you get engaged while healing or reviving, the sidearm will be your go-to weapon, not the Yumi.

Being unable to fire single shots is definitely limiting, because you can’t tap-fire snipe engies behind turrets or deployables. 

Yumi is excellent at range out of the box, without any performance-enhancing attachments, so it can be used with any attachment combination and still be viable.

The burst mechanic certainly gives advantage to firing first, but it’s not like you automatically lose if you get engaged on. Dodging enemy fire and hip firing, or ADSing and going for headshots are both viable ways of fighting back, depending on situation. 

Don’t spend too much time firing at targets at super long range, you’re unlikely to kill them before they make it to cover, and every moment you spend outside cover increases the chances of getting sniped. 

In extreme close quarters, consider switching to a sidearm, if you’re good with it. You can also “pre charge” a burst as you round the corner, though it requires good timing, and you have to already know where the enemy is. 

Conclusion

Yumi is an interesting and worthy addition, both to NSX lineup and Assault Rifles in general. Not everyone will like it, but everyone can use it. Unlike most other NSX weapons, Yumi doesn’t have a steep skill requirement.

• Give Yumi to a PS2 newbie with some FPS experience, and he will be able to participate in ranged combat, even though he knows nothing about CoF and recoil management.
• Give Yumi to a hardened veteran with excellent accuracy, and most enemies will die before they realize they’re getting damaged. 

Yumi is a welcome respite from super-niche weapons, though the delayed burst mechanic   seems a little out of place on Medic, and would make more sense on Light Assault or Infiltrator, in my opinion.

If you’re thinking about purchasing the Yumi, it is strongly recommended you trial it, and use it in actual combat for the whole 30 minutes. 

Answering critique

The whole premise of Yumi being a “garbage” weapon is based on a 0.25 second burst delay, which is not a big deal, unless you get shot as soon as the engagement starts. This just means Yumi user has to be a little more thoughtful about engagements he’s taking, nothing more.

Ignoring the burst delay, Yumi is basically an incredibly accurate 167 @ 550 AR with nearly no recoil and automatic CoF reset. I wouldn’t say that’s bad.

Adding Yumi into Weapon Simulator

If you want to add NSX Yumi into my Weapon Simulator, add this string to the end of the Stats.csv file, which you can open with Windows Notepad:

804246,NSX Yumi,NS,Assault Rifle,167,10,125,90,1,60,1,0.48s / 0.56s / 0.56s,580,-,30,210,3550,2755,0.5,0.12,0.05,2,1.5,2.5,5,2,0.03,0.03,0.15,0.15,5,5,0.29,0.12,0.12,0.4,0,16,Auto,0
804246,NSX Yumi SPA,NS,Assault Rifle,167,15,125,90,1,60,1,0.48s / 0.56s / 0.56s,551,-,30,210,3550,2755,0.5,0.12,0.05,2,1.5,2.5,5,2,0.03,0.03,0.15,0.15,5,5,0.29,0.12,0.12,0.4,0,16,Auto,0
804246,NSX Yumi HVA,NS,Assault Rifle,167,8,125,110,1,60,1,0.48s / 0.56s / 0.56s,609,-,30,210,3550,2755,0.5,0.12,0.05,2,1.5,2.5,5,2,0.03,0.03,0.15,0.15,5,5,0.29,0.12,0.12,0.4,0,16,Auto,0

Keep in mind that it won’t properly simulate Yumi’s burst mechanics.

Rocket Launchers in PlanetSide 2 can be used by Heavy Assault class, and count as their tool. They deal moderate damage to all targets. There is a large variety of launchers; some of them deal increased damage, others can lock on to ground vehicles or aircraft, or use laser guided or even TV-guided systems.

Most vehicles require quite a few rocket launcher hits to take down.

Launchers deal mediocre damage to vehicles in most situations. Pairing them with another player or damage type works best. Finding these opportunities or working in teams will greatly enhance your effectiveness with whatever launcher you use.

/u/Renuse-Sol-Ex

Normally, a single Heavy Assault with a Rocket Launcher is only a nuisance. In order for him to represent any real threat, the vehicle must be already damaged, distracted or otherwise vulnerable, and the Heavy Assault himself requires cover and freedom of movement. 

Rocket Launcher Mechanics

Rocket Launchers follow the same Weapon Mechanics as other weapons.

Most Rocket Launchers deal Direct and Indirect Damage. You can think of it as “piercing effect” and “explosive effect”.

Direct Damage

The Direct Damage of all launchers uses the same Damage Resist Type 34 – Infantry Rockets. Therefore, all rocket launchers can be directly compared to each other. 

• Infantry, MAXes and ground vehicles have no built-in resistances against that Damage Type. Therefore, they will take that damage directly to their Health. 
  • Rockets do not deal increased damage on headshots.
• Aircraft, especially ESFs, take bonus damage from this Damage Type.

You can calculate weapon damage to vehicles using the Toolbox.

Indirect Damage

Rocket Launchers that have Indirect Damage, can be split into two groups:

Standard

Rocket Launchers that are primarily intended to be used against ground targets have Indirect Damage Resist Type 6 – Common Explosion. Any rocket hit will produce splash damage in a small area. 

• Infantry takes full damage from that damage type.
• MAXes take 50% less.
• All vehicles except Flash are immune to it.
• Flash takes 25% reduced damage.

It’s worth noting that compared to mines and frag grenades, rockets deal very little splash damage, and it can be further reduced by first rank of Flak Armor and Ordnance Armor.

Flak Detonation

Lock-on Launchers with dedicated anti-air capability use Indirect Damage Resist Type 12 – Flak Explosion. In-game description will mention this fact.

Rockets from these launchers automatically detonate near enemy aircraft, damaging them with Indirect Damage. Aircraft take bonus damage from Flak. You can use the Toolbox to find out exact resistances.

Flak-type rockets will not produce splash damage in any other circumstances, so it’s highly unlikely for anything but the aircraft to be in range of Flak damage.

• Still, ground vehicles and MAXes have immunity to Flak damage.
• Infantry has no resistances to it and would take full damage if it managed to be in range of Flak explosion.

Indirect Damage Hidden Distance Scaling

Currently, only Empire Specific Ground-to-Ground lock-on launchers are affected by this obscure mechanic. 

Dumbfire Mechanics

Dumbfired rockets start flying at relatively low Starting Velocity, and then rapidly Accelerate to Maximum Velocity, listed in-game as “Muzzle Velocity”.

Starting Velocity and Acceleration are hidden in-game, and can only be accessed via Census API, and without these values you cannot fully evaluate rocket’s speed. 

Rockets dumbfired from Lock-on Launchers do not accelerate, they always fly at their Starting Velocity.

• While flying, rockets are affected by Gravity.
• The slower the rocket is flying, the more time Gravity has to affect its trajectory, so faster rockets with more Gravity can sometimes have less projectile drop than slower rockets with less Gravity. 
• If a rocket doesn’t hit anything during its Lifespan, it will self-detonate. 
• Rocket’s trajectory will be more flat if you’re shooting downwards.

Lock-on Mechanics

• Some of the launchers can lock-on to ground vehicles and/or aircraft. 
• Some of these launchers cannot fire without an established lock (cannot dumbfire).
  • Both these facts will be mentioned in the launcher’s description.
• Rockets dumbfired from lock-on launchers will not accelerate, though they usually have slightly higher Starting Velocity.

To gain a lock, user must hold the enemy vehicle inside Lock-on Angle of the sights for several seconds. Lock-on Time is the same at all ranges and against all targets.

On launchers without dumbfire capabilities, you can hold “fire” key to fire as soon as the lock is established.

There are two statistics related to lock-on distance:

• Lock Range – determines the maximum range at which a target can be locked.
• Lock Hold Range – some launchers can keep tracking the target with a lock even after it has left the Lock Range.

In other words, launchers that have Lock Hold Range longer than Lock Range can hold a lock at ranges where they can’t establish a lock.

Launchers that can lock on to both air and ground targets will have different lock-on ranges against them.

When target goes outside Lock-on Angle or Lock Hold Range, a launcher can keep the lock for a short amount of time, equal to Lock-on Loss Delay.

However, during that time the lock is still fully functional, and you can take advantage of this by angling your rockets to make sure they don’t hit anything on the way to the target. There is a more extreme example here.

Vehicle Stealth defense slot can increase the lock-on time by 0.25 to 2 seconds, depending on vehicle and Vehicle Stealth rank. You can find specific numbers in in-game descriptions of Vehicle Stealth.

Fire-and-forget: after the rocket has been fired with a lock, it will automatically track the vehicle without the need to maintain the lock.

The rocket will only pursue the target for Lock-on Lifespan amount of time, so theoretically the rockets can be outrun, but it is usually impossible outside of edge cases, like an ESF at maximum lock range, afterburning away.

The “agility” of a locked on rocket is determined by Lock-on Turn Angle. If the vehicle performs evasive maneuvers, the rocket may not be able to adjust trajectory in time, and can miss the vehicle.

If then the angle between rocket’s flight direction and direction to the target becomes greater than Lock-on Lose Angle, the rocket will lose the lock. This means that the mechanic of dodging lock-ons is built into the rockets themselves. 

It is currently unclear if locked on rockets are affected by Gravity.

Proximity Seeking

Proximity Seeking rockets are dumbfired as usual, but if they fly near enemy aircraft, they will automatically snap lock-on to them. 

Currently the only rocket launcher employing this mechanic is T2 Striker, though similar mechanic is applied to Coyotes and Hyena Rocket Pods.

Lock-on Related Stats in Census API

The Census API contains a lot of information, related to the lock-on behavior. Unfortunately, most of that information is wrong and meaningless. Values that are actually being used by the game are recorded in the part of the API without public access. 

For example, according to Census API, NS Annhilator has:

• Starting Velocity: 50 m/s
• Maximum Velocity: 100 m/s
• Lock-on Acceleration: 6.67
• Variable lock-on time: 1.5 sec @ 100m -> 2.5 sec @ 300m

And here are actual rocket travel times for different distances, acquired by in-game testing, by frame-by-frame watching of 60 FPS Shadowplay recording:

As you can see from the testing, Annihilator rocket covers 350m over 3 seconds, which means average velocity of ~116 m/s, which clearly exceeds supposed “Maximum Velocity” of 100 m/s. It also seems to travel at a constant velocity, despite the fact there is an “acceleration” statistic.

There is naturally some inaccuracy due to measuring method, but not on the scale of 0.5 seconds. I have ran into similar walls with G2G and G2A lock on launchers. 

As a conclusion: listed Muzzle Velocity can not be used to judge locked on rocket speed. Same goes for such stats as lock-on range,  lock-on time and lock-on loss time.

Rocket Launchers did used to have their lock-on time vary with distance to the target, but it was changed in one of the patches, and now lock-on time is the same at any distance, though it will vary from launcher to launcher.

Some values, like Lock-on Turn Angle and Lock-on Loss Angle cannot be effectively tested. In Rocket Launcher stat sheets below, you will see a red question mark in brackets (?) to highlight stats that are listed in the API, but could easily be wrong.

Lock-on Lifespan is probably correct.

Vehicle Interaction

Vehicle pilots receive a warning when you try to lock-on to their vehicle, and they can see whether the source of that lock is someone on the ground or an air vehicle.

When a rocket is tracking the vehicle, they get continuous warning and they can see flying rockets on the minimap as pulsing red dots. 

Establishing and holding a lock will not give away your position.

Decoy Flares and IR Smoke

Air vehicles can use Decoy Flares utility to remove the lock and prevent locking for several seconds. Any lock-on rockets already in flight will automatically miss – veer off skywards and self-destruct. 

Ground vehicles can use Smoke Screen to the same effect, though it is much less popular. 

Mythbusting

There is a myth that jumping or falling greatly increases hip fire accuracy of dumbfired rockets. Busted.

Misc. Rocket Launcher Mechanics

Sprint Override: after firing a rocket, the player cannot sprint for a certain period of time. Depending on the launcher, this delay ranges from 0.3 to 0.5 seconds. 

Terminal Resupply to Instantly Reload: you can double-tap the “use” key (default [E]) on an infantry terminal to instantly reload all your weapons and restock on ammo. This can be a great way of boosting your combat rate of fire while using a launcher.

However, resupplying at a terminal mid-reload will result in your character doing a non-skippable reload animation after the resupply, so before resupplying make sure to switch to something that doesn’t need reloading. 

Fire Detect Range of 100m: when fired, all launchers put their user on the minimap of enemies within 100m.

Iron Sight Time: all launchers take 0.35 seconds to ADS, and 0.15 seconds to return from ADS to hip firing.

ADS Movement Speed Multiplier: most rocket launchers have 0.5x multiplier, the only exception is NSX Masamune, which has 0.33x.

Reloading continues in a vehicle: if you enter a vehicle after the reload has started, the reload will continue and complete successfully while you are inside. This works the same for all weapons, but only after they spend all ammo in the mag.

Munitions Pouch Suit Slot allows to carry extra spare ammunition. One extra rocket / magazine / battery per rank, up to 4 ranks.

Dumbfire Launchers

These launchers do not have any sort of laser guidance or heat seeking, but they deal the most damage per rocket.

The ability to instantly fire a highly damaging rocket make them great against MAXes, hovering aircraft and other vehicles at close range. 

According to my tests and confirmed by /u/Renuse’s experiences, a rocket dumbfired from the hip while standing moving is guaranteed to hit an infantry-sized target within ~6.5m, as long as you aim exactly at its center mass. 

Dumbfire launchers can be used as one-shot “sniper rifle” against camping Infiltrators and Light Assaults, as it’s a guaranteed OHK if the rocket touches the player.

All dumbfire launchers share the same Damage Resist Type, so they can be compared directly. 

Starting Launchers

Despite looking different, these launchers function exactly the same between factions.

Starting rocket launchers are your basic RPGs, they have good velocity and damage, but hitting mobile or distant targets can be challenging. Iron sights can be especially inconvenient when trying to compensate for projectile drop.

Quick reload lets you keep dealing a solid amount of damage to ground vehicles, especially at close range, but starting launchers aren’t very effective against aircraft. Even if you manage to hit them, you will still need multiple hits to destroy them. 

One rocket is almost enough to get an ESF burning. If you do manage to get a hit, you can quickly finish off the ESF with about 20-30 bullets from your primary weapon.

Valkyries require at least 3 rockets hits, and other aircraft even more. At that point, using a lock-on launcher for easy guaranteed hits is likely a better bet. 

One rocket deals 32% to 42.5% of MAX‘s health, depending on whether he has Ordnance Armor, and of what rank.

NS Decimator

Can be used by all factions.

NS Decimator is a heavy RPG. It deals more damage than starting launchers, but reloads longer, carries fewer rockets, and the rocket itself has lower velocity, which makes it more susceptible to Gravity and harder to use against vehicles at range and aircraft.

Compared to starting launchers, Decimator deals ~34% higher damage per shot, and usually requires 1 rocket fewer to kill a vehicle. 

Both dumbfire launchers can deal roughly the same damage with the amount of carried ammunition, but starting launchers still deal ~23% more damage per reload time (damage per minute) than Decimator.

However, requiring to fire fewer rockets makes Decimator safer, and higher damage per shot is more desirable against infantry and MAXes at close range:

• Decimator deals 57.5% to 43.4% MAX’s health in 1 rocket, depending on Ordnance Armor.
• One direct rocket hit will kill full health infantry without Flak Armor 3+.

One rocket will reliably one-shots ESFs without Composite Armor. Such overwhelming power earned the Decimator lots of love and adoration from the community. 

Decimator is noticeably harder to use at any meaningful range, so often it is better to stick to starting launchers. After all, it’s better to hit with a weaker missile than miss with a stronger one.

The Kraken

The Kraken is a cosmetic variant of the Decimator, granted for completing the auraxium level of rocket launcher Directives. Kraken has an auraxium shader, and its rocket explosions have noticeable visual and sound effects.

The Directive requires you to earn an auraxium medal (1160+ kills) with five different rocket launchers. Since most rocket launchers are no longer effective against infantry, this directive is very hard to complete for the moment. 

Lock-on Launchers

Empire-specific Ground-to-Air

Despite looking different, these launchers function exactly the same between factions.

These launchers can lock-on to enemy aircraft, but they can still be dumbfired against ground targets, which makes them incredibly versatile. A Heavy Assault armed with one of these will have an option against every target type in the game. 

Comparing G2A launchers to default dumbfire launchers:

The good: there’s virtually no performance loss against ground vehicles at close range.

They are also more convenient to use:

• Scope doesn’t get in the way like Iron Sights, and it’s great for dumbfiring.
• The rocket is slower, but it flies at a constant velocity, so it is more consistent and predictable within ~75m.
• It is less affected by Gravity, and doesn’t require as much compensation for drop within 200m. It will have ~50% longer travel time, though. 

The bad: default launchers deal more damage to MAXes and Infantry, since rockets from G2A launcher do not produce splash damage when fired at ground targets. 

The ugly:

• Low velocity and shorter lifespan limit G2A dumbfire range at 250m. 
• G2A Launchers have much worse hip fire accuracy.

Empire-specific Ground-to-Ground

Despite looking different, these launchers function exactly the same between factions.

These launchers can lock-on to enemy ground vehicles, and they can still be dumbfired against infantry and MAXes, or vehicles at close range. 

Interestingly, G2G launchers deal a tiny bit more damage per shot than default dumbfire launchers. That would be enough to let them reliably oneshot infantry without Flak Armor…. if not for hidden indirect damage scaling. Up close, G2G launcher rockets will deal less splash damage. So the rocket will oneshot only at 30m+. 

G2G launchers have great accuracy and consistency within their relatively short lock-on range of 200m, as long as the vehicle is in relatively open field and the target cannot just hide into cover to throw off the lock. 

NS Annihilator

Can be used by all factions.

NS Annihilator cannot dumbfire, but it can lock to both ground and air vehicles. Against ground targets, it has a longer lock-on range than dedicated G2G launcher.

Annihilator deals less damage per shot, but it has faster reload and ~half a second shorter lock-on time, and it also carries more rockets. Overall, Annihilator can deal slightly more damage before having to resupply. 

The inability to dumbfire makes Annihilator ineffective against ground vehicles at close range, and useless against infantry and MAXes.

It’s not necessarily such a terrible thing, as it simplifies the decision-making. Removing the option to dumbfire against MAXes and infantry forces the player to rely on firearms, but it also removes the possibility to be flanked and killed while handling the launcher, or missing a crucial rocket. It also makes it nearly impossible to accidentally hit an allied unit. For these reasons, Annihilator is the best launcher you could give to a complete FPS newbie. Which is probably the reasoning behind it being included in the Elite Recruit Bundle.

NS-R3 Swarm

Can be used by all factions.

NS-R3 Swarm is a sidegrade to Annihilator. It too cannot dumbfire, and can lock-on to both ground and air vehicles, with same lock-on ranges and lock-on time.

Swarm is magazine-fed, with 3 rockets per magazine, each rocket dealing slightly more than half of Annihilator’s rocket. Swarm can fire only 1 rocket per second, and requires you to maintain the lock for 2 seconds while firing 3 rockets, while the Annihilator is strictly fire-and-forget.

All in all, Swarm has about ~17% lower damage per minute than Annihilator, but in return it can output the most amount of damage per reload. 

Swarm has two firemodes:

• In default firemode, it fires fast, but not very agile rockets. They are great at quickly reaching a large or slow-moving vehicle, but can miss a more maneuverable target.
• In secondary firemode, Swarm fires slow, but agile rockets. They are nearly impossible to dodge, but they can take a long time to reach the target, and can potentially run into terrain or be outrun.

 Empire Specific Rocket Launchers

These rocket launchers embrace the traits of different factions: volume of fire for TR, precise and powerful punch for NC, adaptability and versatility for VS. These launchers are rather unique, and historically have been a hot topic for community, with constant calls for nerfs or buffs, and with whole squads being organized to play around their strengths. Things have been calm and stable lately, though. 

All of these launchers are weak on their own, especially outside their element, but – just like everything else – become noticeably stronger when used in greater numbers in coordianated squads.

T2 Striker

T2 Striker is a magazine-fed rocket launcher, with a focus on sustained fire and close range anti-air. Striker dumbfires small, fast rockets both when hip firing and when looking through the scope. If a rocket passes within ~15m of an enemy aircraft, it will automatically snap lock-on to it.

Striker can be a great deterrence to aircraft when terrain and proximity interferes with traditional lock-ons, but it’s fairly average against armored ground vehicles. 

Striker’s velocity does not seem to follow the parameters in the Census API. Here are some results from in-game testing:

Due to high velocity – more than twice as fast as default dumbfires – individual hits are easy to score, so the Striker can sustain fire on distant targets without any trouble.

Striker is a versatile launcher that can engage both air and ground targets, but noticeably lacks in alpha damage, and exposes the user while firing. 

When dealing with distant targets, starting Cone of Fire becomes a real issue, and has to be managed by staying still. Striker also has a little bit of CoF Bloom, but it’s no big deal and can be ignored, for the most part

Striker has maximum range of about 445 meters.

Tip: Striker is fully automatic, you don’t have to click for each shot, you can just hold “fire”.

Striker is ineffective against MAXes, requiring 14+ rockets to kill one.

NC15 Phoenix

• Phoenix fires slow TV-guided missiles, almost as damaging as Decimator’s.
• While the rocket is in flight, the player uses his first person camera to steer to rocket.
• During that time, the player character is forced to stand and becomes immobile; vulnerable to enemy fire.
• The rocket is slow, emits distinctive blue flames and a screeching sound effect, and can be shot down.
• The reloading process only starts after the user exits the steering mode.
• The rocket can fly maximum 295m away from the user. Flying further will force a detonation. While steering the rocket, players can monitor the distance to their body in the upper right corner.
• Phoenix cannot fire from the hip.

Phoenix users have accumulated a lot of tactical and mechanical quirks to help them:

In prolonged hunkered-down fights, dug-in NC will pull out the Phoenixes. You don’t need to coordinate with them. Pull yours out, and wait for them to fire theirs. Fire yours right away. You should be able to follow where the first NC rocket is going, and most Phoenix users know to do this trick of following the first rocket. It leads to coordinated spikes of damage without actually coordinating.

/u/CloaknDagger505

The Phoenix packs a serious punch and has the incredibly useful trait of not needing line of sight to engage. The best time I’ve found to use this weapon is in support of a friendly armor push: position yourself closely behind, out of enemy line of sight, and fire your Phoenix over cover towards the fight. Focus on an enemy that is being engaged by your allies. This technique is just brutal when you combine it with friendly Vanguards. They cause enemy tanks to seek cover, and you follow the burning tank into cover with your Phoenix and blow it up. You’ll want a vehicle of some sort so you can keep up with the friendly push, and keep the enemy in your range of 295 meters.

Solo Phoenix is amazing against inexperienced and distracted tanks from a flanking position, and can quickly kill even an MBT. Engaging veteran tanks that are not distracted will result in them killing, evading or outrepairing you, so its best to avoid.

Against aircraft, Phoenix can sometimes get good surprise alpha damage. ESFs take especially high damage, almost enough to be one-shot. But you won’t be able to reliably hit evading aircraft. Hovering Galaxies and Liberators are fairly easy to hit, if they are in range, however. 

Pressing the “Change Camera” key (default “T”) after the shot switches the first person rocket view to third person, allowing for a much wider Field of View, which really helps with finding and tracking targets.

Alternatively, you can press the “Hide HUD” key (default Ctrl + F10) after the shot to remove the scope overlay.

Unfortunately, in both cases you lose the distance tracking.

/u/SteveFrench2017

The rocket can be accelerated and decelerated for better control, same as an aircraft.

/u/Daetaur

You cannot fire the Phoenix while crouching, even when using crouch toggle. Firing the rocket will force you into standing once you enter the camera mode.

It’s something to keep in mind if want to avoid exposing yourself as sniper bait.

/u/M0XNIX

You can prematurely end the steering process by pressing the “Exit vehicle” key (default “E”). The rocket will continue flying, but with a heavy drop downwards. It will still deal damage if it hits something. You can use this technique to shave off a few milliseconds between shots by “exiting” the rocket when it is about to hit something. You can also use this to pseudo dumbfire the Phoenix at close range targets. 

If you have a fancy gaming mouse, it can be convenient to have a thumb button that would increase mouse’s sensitivity while steering the rocket, so you can easier make sharper turns. 

You can use the keyboard to steer the rocket. The rocket will respond to Aircraft Controls for Pitching Up and Down, and Rolling Left and Right. Arrow keys by default. You can also change rocket’s speed to make sharper turns.

Phoenix one-shots Engineers’ MANA Turrets, and kills the Engineer in the process, unless they bail before impact. This is the main reason I use the Phoenix, because a well placed MANA Turret can pin down a whole squad.

/u/DammitBran

Lancer VS22

Lancer is not a traditional rocket launcher, it’s more of a charge up anti-materiel plasma rifle. Lancer’s battery holds 9 plasma cells. By default, Lancer fires weak bolts of plasma that deal minor damage and consume 1 plasma cell. But the user can hold down the trigger to fire more powerful bolts:

• 1.5 sec charge – 3.5x damage – consumes 2 plasma cells
• 3 sec charge – 7x damage – consumes 3 plasma cells

Lancer has no projectile drop and pinpoint accurate while aiming down sights.

Charged shots are more ammo-efficient, so normally Lancer is used in charged mode. It is a common tactic to charge the shot from the hip, and fire it in ADS mode. That way, you can move faster while charging.

There are several ways to cancel the charging process, should you need to:

• switch to a sidearm
• start reloading the Lancer
• perform a quick knife attack
• press “Toggle Weapon Visibility” key (default “Ctrl + F11”)

Due to highest in class projectile velocity, Lancer is easy to use at range. It can even be used to snipe ESFs. Low scope magnification can be a nuisance at extreme ranges, though. Lancer has a considerable damage degradation after 150m, so it’s not very effective at 200m+.

More than any other ESRL, Lancer is known for being used en-masse in organized squads. However, its main allure was that once a certain critical mass of Lancers was reached, the squad could delete any enemy vehicle within render distance. Now that Lancer has considerable damage degradation, it’s less effective in that role. It’s still does a good job of consistently inflicting damage to vehicles at great distances, but the necessary critical mass to instakill a vehicle is now at around ~20 Lancers.

With Lancer, VS heavies can engage any vehicle on the battlefield at basically any range. The charge feature lets you choose how to distribute the damage. Instead of always charging (which does yield the highest percentage of damage), use the appropriate charge for the situation:

• Two fully charged shots take ~6.5 seconds to empty a battery and will deal 1400 base damage. The enemy pilot will have ~3.5 seconds between shots to react to incoming damage.
• Alternatively, you can start with one fully charged shot, then follow up with a lvl 2 charged shot, and then finish with an uncharged shot. It will take ~5.8 seconds, giving the enemy only a couple seconds to react and dealing 1150 base damage.

The key to the Lancer is to focus fire on targets that are already being engaged. Since you can choose how to distribute the damage, you often can easily steal the kill. For this, I like to use Flashes to get in flanking positions of big tank battles.

Don’t try to solo a veteran tank crew, unless they are already engaged or otherwise distracted. If they can’t kill you, they will just disengage or outrepair your damage.

The Lancer shines against light vehicles. Once you get enough practice, hitting a cruising harasser is pretty easy. 

Lancer is great for sniping MAXes. Unless running Ordnance Armor 3+, they will die to 3 charged shots within 150m. Note: Lancer doesn’t deal bonus headshot damage.

However, Lancer is horrible against infantry and MAXes at close range. Its lack of burst damage makes it useless on the front lines.

/u/SteveFrench2017

Other Launchers

NSX Masamune

NSX Masamune is a quad-barrel rocket launcher, and a part of the unique Nanite Systems Exports weapons lineup. It has some interesting mechanics. 

In hip fire mode, it fires all barrels at the same time like a shotgun. Crouching and staying still will increase hip fire accuracy. 

In ADS mode, it fires all rockets one by one over 0.75 seconds. The player can use the scope to steer the rockets, similarly to Engineer’s AV Mana Turret. A reload can be started 1 second after the final rocket is fired.

Rockets do not follow the crosshair exactly. They start flying noticeably below the crosshair, so usually you have to aim above the target for rockets to hit. 

When leading a moving target, it is better to overlead and then drag rockets backwards, rather than trying to drag rockets forwards. Overleading fast moving targets may require an extreme body turn, though.

Rockets accelerate much slower in ADS mode.

Masamune always fires and reloads all 4 barrels, so it can be treated as a pseudo single shot launcher.

Keep in mind that you are exposed and vulnerable while steering the rockets, and you are not reloading while doing so. Masamune also has reduced ADS Movement Speed Multiplier – you can only move at 1/3rd of your normal movement speed while ADSing.

Masamune can be hard to use properly, but it’s a powerful and versatile launcher, capable of close range MAX and infantry takedowns, accurate long-range hits on ground vehicles, and effective air deterrence out to medium range.

Masamune is also okay for anti-infantry purposes; it can one shot infantry without Flak Armor, if all 4 rockets hit. A full salvo will damage an ESF without Composite Armor into a burning state. 

Masamune can do a lot more than most launchers, but it also takes a lot of skill to use at range, and can often deliver lower than optimal performance.

Tips and Tactics

Quickscoping

When engaging enemy vehicles at “medium range” of 50-100m, it’s a common tactic to “quickscope” a rocket launcher. You use your hip fire crosshair to aim, then start Aiming Down Sights and fire the rocket during Aiming Down Sights animation, before you actually see Iron Sights align.

For rocket launchers, it takes 0.35 seconds to transition to Iron Sights, but only ~0.15 seconds for Cone of Fire to shrink to ADS state. 

So as long as you fire ~0.15 seconds after you pressed the ADS key, your shot will have the same accuracy.

The point of this tactic is to be more efficient with your time, and spend less time being exposed while aiming. Staying still at the moment of the shot will increase accuracy as well.

Ballistic Crosshair Overlay

Hitting distant targets requires compensating for projectile drop, which can be tricky to do, since iron sights will be obscuring the target. While massive amounts of practice can help, there are a couple of completely legal tricks you can employ.

If you use RTST Crosshair Overlay, you can use these ballistic crosshairs:

Enable “Centered image” option.

There are 4 red bars, each serves as a crosshair for 100m, 200m, 300m and 400m. These crosshairs are scaled based on 1920 x 1080 resolution and 74 degree Vertical FoV. If you play at a different resolution or FoV, you will have to scale the crosshairs accordingly. 

At 100m+, rockets have so much drop that your target will be obscured by iron sights. You can avoid this by hiding your weapon model, default Ctrl + F11. Obviously, it helps to rebind it to something more convenient. You cannot shoot while the model is hidden, so you will need some quick finger work. 

You can bind Toggle Weapon Visibility in-game and Toggle Crosshair Overlay in RTST to the same keybind, and then you will be able to toggle between aiming and firing with one button. You will need a secondary keybind for Toggle Weapon Visibility so you can synchronize these things when you first log in. 

If you have a gaming mouse, you could create a macro for a thumb mouse button that would hide the weapon while you’re holding the button, and show it when you release the button. Effectively, you would have a “hold to hide weapon for aiming” key. You could also rig that macro to fire as soon as the weapon is shown. 

Rocket Jousting

It is  a common tactic for a Heavy Assault to turn the corner with a Rocket Launcher ready and surprise the enemy with a point blank rocket shot. This tactic is especially effective due to Internet Delay advantage.

Keep in mind this is only really effective against infantry if you use NSX Masamune or NS Decimator, as other launchers are incapable of reliably killing infantry without Flak Armor.

There are a couple of ways you can improve this trick:

1. Firing the rocket while jumping will allow you to preserve sprint-level speed.
2. If you activate overshield after your feet leave the ground, you can also gain overshield’s protection from enemy fire and your own splash damage without receiving movement speed penalty until you land.
3. If you deactivate overshield before your feet touch the ground, you will not suffer overshield’s penalty at all. 
4. Immediately after the rocket shot, you can switch to something else, like a sidearm, med kit or even C4, depending on what you want to do next. Switching to LMG is usually a bad idea, as it will take much longer. 

Video demonstration.

Naturally, these improvements require some quick finger work, and require a lot of skill to pull off in combat scenarios. But it is deadly effective against infantry and MAXes, and allows to do a ton of damage while still being very mobile.

C4 Combo

There used to be a special trick you could do: deploy C4 on enemy vehicle, and then use Rocket Launcher’s splash damage to detonate it, saving a bit of time required to detonate C4 manually. However, now that Rocket Launchers deal little splash damage, this combo is no longer possible.

Calculating Launchers’ Damage

You can use the Toolbox to calculate Rocket Launchers’ damage to different vehicles with different defensive certifications. 

Credits

This guide wouldn’t be possible without generous contributions of other community members that have answered my call for help with this guide. Every response in this thread is appreciated. Especially helpful people: 

• /u/NS_CorraDald
• /u/Teoke
• /u/magnanimous_xkcd
• /u/PS2Orange
• /u/CloaknDagger505
• /u/t0nas
• /u/TheSubEx
• /u/kennyn172
• /u/Nazgren
• /u/commissar_emperor x2
• /u/RYKK888
• /u/gitroni x2
• /u/st0mpeh
• /u/PlansThatComeTrue
• /u/xxkid123
• /u/Xerox1231
• /u/zharrhen
• /u/SanguinaryXII gets MVP Stars for explaining splash damage scaling.
• /u/shanterlad
• /u/SteveFrench2017 great tips on Lancer and Phoenix
• Thanks to Xerox1231 for pointing out some typos.
• /u/Renuse-Sol-Ex for his explanation of Rocket Jousting tactic and other tips. 

From my testing, the claymore appears to deal damage in the shape of an isosceles triangle. The damage is a constant 1300 throughout the triangle, so the in-game “1300 at 3m 350 at 6.5m” is bullshit; Claymore deals no damage outside 2-3m.

With the newly added 0.32 second detonation delay, the claymore can no longer cover the entirety of a doorway. From in game experience, it appears to cover less than half of a doorway now. This is because if an enemy is close enough to the claymore, he can just run straight through it taking no damage.

Depending on the exact amount of time it takes for a character to run through the detonation zone, it may be beneficial to place the claymore at an angle to enlarge the kill zone.

Knowing the detonation delay of 0.32 seconds and that sprinting player moves at 6.32m per second, we can calculate the distance a player can cover during the delay: 0.32 * 6.32 = ~2.02m, which means that a player can potentially spring right through the claymore without getting damaged, which is confirmed by in-game testing.

PlanetStats

This should be your go-to resource. Lists all weapons in a convenient, sortable form. You can also select and compare several weapons. This source would be ideal, if not for a few issues:

• Sometimes weapon stats take too long to load. 
• Some numbers are rounded too roughly. For example, it will show 0.225 as 0.23.
• Some stats, like Recoil Recovery Delay, are not shown, and Equip Time is incorrect for some weapons.

Daybreak Census API

This online database is owned and controlled by Daybreak – PlanetSide 2 developers. It contains information about player characters and weapon statistics. This is where PS2 informational sites pull data from.

To pull information from the API, you have to put a query into browser’s address bar. Here is an example of the simplest request:

https://census.daybreakgames.com/get/ps2/item?name.en=TRAC-5&c:lang=en

You will receive a JSON string. I highly recommend you use a browser plugin that formats JSON strings to make them more readable, or at least use a JSON formatting site.

Normally, you can view JSON strings right in the browser, but some browsers prompt a download of the .json file instead. In that case, you can open it with any text editor, such as Notepad.

However, that simplest query does not give you any useful information about the weapon. This is because Census database is fairly complex, and weapon data is stored in several different tables, with different key fields. So if you want to pull all available information about a weapon, you have  to pull information from several places at once, and the query becomes much bigger.

Full Query

Go here if you’d like to learn how to put together your own queries.

These versions of the query pull all information about the weapon, including what cannot be accessed in-game, such as Recoil, Equip Time, Projectile Lifespan and exact effects of attachments.

By Item ID 

By weapon name 

Implant Effects 

Vehicle Attachments

Nanoweave Armor

Built-in Armor and Resistances

These queries pull a lot of info at once, and if you intend to make several queries in a short time frame, you may be required to register a Service ID.

Both queries above pull information in English. If you want to pull all languages, simply remove &c:lang=en from the query.

Or you can specify another language: de, en, es, fr, it, tr

There are other queries you can make to the Census, as explained here and here.

How to find out weapon’s Item ID?

You can make a query using weapon’s name: 

https://census.daybreakgames.com/get/ps2:v2/item?name.en=Force-Blade

Make sure to type the name exactly as it appears in game, including blank spaces, if there are any. The Item ID will be listed in one of the first fields, e.g: “item_id“: “19”

If you’re having trouble typing the weapon name properly, or if you don’t know the name, then another way is to make a query of all weapons of certain category.

Or query for a list of categories:

https://census.daybreakgames.com/s:iridar/get/ps2/item_category?c:limit=500&c:lang=en

Examples of queries for all weapons in “Carbine” category:

https://census.daybreakgames.com/s:iridar/get/ps2/item_category?c:limit=500&c:lang=en&name.en=Carbine&c:join=item^list:1

https://census.daybreakgames.com/s:iridar/get/ps2/item?item_category_id=8&c:limit=500&c:lang=en&c:show=item_id,name

Weapon Analysis Toolbox

This Excel Sheet can:

• download weapon stats from Census API and display them in formatted form, including information about weapon’s projectile
• make manual query to Census API about a weapon with a simple double click
• analyze and calculate weapon mechanics, such as Bullets to Kill, Time to Kill, bullet damage at certain range, analyze weapon’s Cone of Fire and Recoil properties.

DasAnfall

An alternative to PlanetStats. It displays more weapon stats, but can potentially be outdated, and you still have to know weapon’s Item ID. DasAnfall may be necessary to find out such weapon stats as:

• Equip and Unequip Times
• Projectile Lifespan
• Projectile Gravity
• Weapon’s Fire Modes

For example, you can use PlanetStats to find out that TRAC 5 has ID of 43.

Then link to the DasAnfall page of TRAC 5 will look like this: 

https://stats.dasanfall.com/ps2/civ/index.php?id=43

As you may notice, DasAnfall lists weapon stats several times. This is done because PS2 weapons have separate stats for each fire mode.

For example, TRAC 5 has 4 modes: single shot, full auto, single shot while ADS, full auto while ADS.

Most weapon stats are identical in different fire modes, but it’s important to understand that as far as game engine is concerned, those are all completely different weapons. 

It is theoretically possible to make a weapon that will function like a full auto grenade launcher while firing from the hip, and like a sniper rifle while ADSing, and could also switch into a Flak Turret fire mode.

FISU

An alternative to PlanetStats.

This video is outdated and doesn’t include many new features, but it explains the general purpose and spirit behind this tool.

This Excel Spreadsheet is a culmination of years of work on theorycrafting PlanetSide 2 weapon mechanics. It uses Visual Basic macros to pull weapon stats from DBG API, to calculate damage and recoil statistics and draw graphs to visualize them.

This toolbox arms you with all necessary tools for comprehensive weapon analysis.

Current version: v6h

• Download Link – ZIP Archive with .xlsm file
• Backup Download Link

Attention! When you first open the toolbox, you will see a yellow bar with a security warning about macros. Click “Enable content” to allow the use of macros, or the Toolbox will not function. 

Structure

The Excel file has 9 pages:

Each page fulfills its own, clearly defined function, but some of the pages can transfer data to each other.

Pages contain cells of different color:

  Soft orange cells. These cells store automatically imported weapons stats, and they also accept manual input. You can edit them without fear of breaking anything.

Light grey cells contain calculations and references to other cells, do not edit grey cells, or you will break the tool’s functionality.

 Pale yellow cells store values for configuration, and you may need to edit them in specific situations.

 Light green filling indicates that this cell’s value has been selected, likely by double clicking.

Small red triangles in the corner of a cell indicate a tooltip. Put your mouse over the cell to display the tooltip.

Note: Toolbox’s calculations always assume worst case scenario: weapon damage is rounded down and target health is rounded up.

Stats Page

This huge table has stats of all known primary and secondary infantry weapons. Normally you don’t work with this table itself, and only use it to export stats into other pages:

Double click or right click on any weapon to copy its stats into soft orange cells on other pages.

Other functions:

Double click on Item ID of the weapon to open a API query for that weapon in your default browser.

The Toolbox is not perfect, and may sometimes pull wrong stats, or fail to pull stats at all. There is no substitute for looking at a query with your own eyes. 

Select a weapon and click “Export 1” button. A window with exported weapon’s stats  and attachment list will show.

Pulling stats and adding new weapons

The Pull Stats button will initiate a download of weapon stats from DBG API, using API queries for each Item ID in the first column. When a new weapon is released, simply insert its Item ID to the end of the list, and its stats will be downloaded as well. 

If you don’t know weapon’s Item ID, you can find it out this way,  or simply copy-paste it from Attachments Page.

Keep in mind that “Name” column is not downloaded, and you will have to fill it manually for any new weapon releases.

The “Date” field near the “pull stats” button stores the date when stats were last downloaded. Normally, you should re-download stats only after a patch that changed something.

Damage Page

This page serves to analyze weapon damage at different ranges and/or with different attachments. You can compare two weapons at the same time.

On “Stats” page, double click on a weapon to export its stats for the first weapon, and right click for the second weapon.

You can add attachments to weapons by clicking corresponding Check Boxes. If the weapon doesn’t have a certain attachment, you will be informed with a pop up window, but you can’t see whether weapon has access to an attachment on this page without clicking the Check Box.

The calculations for Minimum and Maximum damage ranges are self-explanatory. To calculate weapon’s damage stats at certain range, enter it into soft orange Range cell.

Both weapons are analyzed against the same target, which you can configure this way:

Target Settings

Below the Health block, there are reference tables for Health, Nanoweave Armor and Kinetic Armor. Double click on Health or Damage Multiplier value to automatically apply it.

Both weapons have Headshot Damage Multiplier listed. You can double click on its value to apply it to the Damage Multiplier. 

Since both weapons fire at the same target, and damage multiplier is tied to the target, it may be inconvenient to compare headshot properties of two weapons with different headshot multipliers. 

The most common way to analyze a weapon is to look at its performance against the default target with 1000 HP and against a Full Nanoweave target with 1250 Effective HP, so these are the default parameters, and statistics for standard Full Nano target are calculated automatically.

BTK Thresholds

The “Calculate Thresholds” button will calculate BTK Thresholds for both weapons.

For example, the results on the picture above read as:

Gauss Rifle kills in 6 shots at 0m to 10m, and in 7 shots at 11m+.

“Draw Graph” button will also recalculate Thresholds and then draw a comparative graph.

Recoil Page

This page serves to analyze weapons’ recoil properties.

On the “Stats” page, double click on the weapon’s name will import its stats to the left position, and the right click to the right position. 

Click Calculate Stability to calculate Average and Maximum horizontal Deviations and to update Probability Distribution Graph.

The Visual Basic macro fires a virtual gun in bursts with listed “Burst Length” for the amount of times, listed in “Simulations” cell, and then averages out the results. 

“Average Deviation” is the average distance of the crosshair from the burst’s starting crosshair position. The lower it is, the better is the weapon’s horizontal recoil.

“Graph Scale H” refers to the maximum Horizontal Recoil value, visible on the graph. The default value of 0.7 is fine for most cases, but depending on how good / bad the weapon’s horizontal recoil is, you may need to increase or decrease this value to see the graph in necessary detail.

Vertical Recoil module is self explanatory, you’re mostly interested in Vertical Recoil per Second. For the purposes of vertical recoil, it’s better to have high RoF and low vertical recoil per shot, to ensure nice and soft, consistent pull.

FSRM value is listed mostly for your reference, it doesn’t participate in any calculations.

The Average Deviations listed in Recoil Angle block show how much a weapon is affected by Recoil Angle Variance. They basically show you the size of the yellow area:

Cone of Fire Page

This page displays weapon’s Cone of Fire in different stances and shows how it is affected by various attachments.

For now, this page has limited functionality due to Angular Size research fiasco. At this moment, the CoF Page will calculate weapon’s CoF Size after a certain amount of shots, necessary to kill the specified target at different ranges. 

However, without a way to calculate weapon’s accuracy at that range, it is more or less pointless. 

The CoF Page will also calculate a more useful statistic: Cone of Fire Bloom per Point of Damage Done. This statistic with an extra long name ties weapon’s damage output to accuracy loss, which allows you to objectively determine which weapon requires more burst firing, even with perfect accuracy, and regardless of weapon’s RoF or DPS.

You can combine weapon’s starting CoFs and CoF Bloom PPD to make an educated guess which weapon will be more accurate at range, and which weapon will require more burst firing.

Built In Resistances Page

Most units have built-in resistances and weaknesses to some of the Damage Types. This page can download these values from DBG API. To do so, double click on the Profile Name of the unit in the left list. 

Keep in mind that this page is also used for inner calculations of the Resistances Page, so the values you pull may be automatically overridden. 

At the top left, you can click “Pull Profiles” button to pull Profile IDs and Profile Names for all units in PS2. You may need to do this if a new vehicle or class is added to the game. You can also scrub the API for deployable items, such as Spitfire Turrets and Hardlight Barriers, as well as misc items, such as Infantry Terminals.

Resistances Page

This page allows you to calculate weapon damage against vehicles, taking into account their Health, Armor and Resistances to specific damage types. 

It also lets you apply additional defensive certifications to the vehicle. The damage is calculated for all different directions.

This is one of the more complicated pages, and it requires a connection to the Internet in order to function. A video demonstration with a couple of examples.

1) Select the weapon category, and then the weapon from the lists on the upper left. Weapon’s stats for its default firemode will be automatically imported from the API. You can change the weapon’s firemode in the respective listbox. This can be necessary for some of the weapons, like the GODSAW. 

Each weapon has fields for Direct and Indirect Damage. You can specify the distance to the target for Direct Damage, and distance to the explosion for Indirect Damage in the orange Range boxes on the lower left:

2) Select the target unit from the list in the middle by double clicking on its name. Unit’s Health will be copy pasted from the listed, and unit’s Armor and Resistance to the selected weapon will be imported from the API.

Keep in mind that API does not contain unit health values. Health values in the toolbox were acquired by in-game testing, and in case of a patch that affects vehicle health values, values in the Toolbox will have to be adjusted manually.

Direct Damage, Indirect Damage, as well as hits to kill will be automatically calculated and displayed on the target’s “doll”.

Each side of the target has five values associated with it:

• Armor reduces all incoming damage from this direction by a certain percent. In game, only vehicle’s orientation relative to the damage source is important. It doesn’t matter which part of the vehicle you’re hitting, only your position relative to the vehicle. 
• Direct Damage is dealt on direct hits.
• Indirect Damage is dealt on direct and indirect hits, though most of armored vehicles are immune to most Indirect Damage sources. 
• The amount of hits required to destroy the vehicle with specified Direct OR Indirect Damage is also listed. Keep in mind that these damage sources are not added together. So if the unit takes damage from both Direct and Indirect Damage, you will have to calculate the required amount of hits manually.

When you import the target unit by double clicking on its name, the list on the upper right will update with some of the vehicle’s defensive certifications. Double click on the certification name to add it to the vehicle. 

When a defensive certification has several ranks, you only have to click on the rank you wish to add. E.g. when you wish to make calculations for Composite Armor 4, you don’t have to double click on Composite Armor 1-2-3 before that. 

Weapon-Target Resistance values will update from the API whenever you change the weapon or the target unit.

You can also manually edit all values in orange boxes to analyze theoretical scenarios. Do not edit the grey boxes, or you will break the tool’s functionality. 

Additional Functions:

For both Direct and Indirect Damage, you can double click the cell with damage value to apply it to the target and subtract it from target’s health. This is convenient when you wish to calculate damage from several sources. 

Example: you want to find out how much Rocklet Rifle hits it takes to destroy a Lightning in the rear armor after one brick of C4. Video demonstration.

For both Direct and Indirect Damage Types, you can click a “Find Weapons with that Damage Type” button. The toolbox will find all weapons that use that Damage Type, and put them into Weapon Name listbox. 

Keep in mind that not everything is perfectly represented in the API. For example, AV Grenades use the same Damage Resist Type as Rocket Launchers, but you will not see AV Grenades in the list if you search for that Damage Type.

You can click “Export List“, and a pop-up window will show, and you will be able to copy from it.

Note there are two “Find Weapons with that Damage Type” buttons,  one for Direct Damage, and one for Indirect Damage.

There are also two self-descriptive buttons “Find Units with Resistances to that Damage Type”. When clicked, the toolbox will provide you with a list of units, with the amount or resistance specified in brackets. You can export that list in a similar fashion.

If you have doubts whether the Toolbox correctly displays the Resistance relationship between your current target and weapon, you can click “Refresh Resistances” to make sure. You may want to do this if you manually change weapon’s Damage Resist Type for an experiment’s sake. 

Sometimes, the listboxes on this page will bug out, and won’t let you scroll down to the final element in the list. Blame Excel. You can temporarily fix this issue by clicking the “Fix Listboxes” button.

For both Direct and Indirect Damage, the Toolbox will calculate Damage Per Minute (DPM). It will take Reload speed and Refire Time into account.

To get correct DPM numbers, you often have to manually edit some of the orange cells:

• For tank cannons and other vehicle weapons, you should apply a Reload Speed Upgrade. Maximum value is usually 10%, but check in-game descriptions to be sure.
• For Rocket Launchers, Lock-on Time and Charge Time (Lancer) are not calculated, so you’ll have to manually add them into Reload Time. Lancer’s charge damage is not available in the API either, so you’ll have to change Direct Damage manually as well.
• DPM calculations don’t yet take into account “shotgun” weapons, such as NSX Masamune. Speaking of Masamune, it has an edgy reload mechanic in ADS mode.

Implants Page

This page will perform calculations for Implants. In order to function it requires statistical data on implant drop chances, such as this spreadsheet by RegulusMagnus. It is normally acquired by purchasing a ton of Deluxe Packs and Recycler on the Public Test Server, and writing down how many of each thing have you gotten.

Enter the data in orange boxes. Group Size column refers to number of implants in each rarity group. E.g. how many exceptional implants are there in total.

Then enter how many of Deluxe Packs and/or Recyclers you “buy”, and the spreadsheet will calculate how much will it cost, how many implants you will receive, what is their ISO-4 value, what are the chances that at least one of the dropped implants will belong to a certain rarity group, and what are the chances of getting a specific implant you want.

Known issues:

• Sometimes an error pops up when reaching out to the API. Just try again whatever you were doing.
• Resist Shield does not work yet. If you wish to make an analysis for the Resist Shield, simply add 35% Resistance to orange cells on the lower left.
• The tool does not fully support charge up weapons, such as Lancer. You have to manually multiply the damage.
• It will not calculate weapon’s TTK. 
• It will not take into account rocket launcher indirect damage scaling.
• Weapons’ faction isn’t always determined correctly. 
• Damage values of Explosive Bolts, Typhoon Rocklets, Anti-Vehicle Grenades, C4 and Tank Mines are not accessible in the API. I have discovered their more or less precise damage values by in-game testing, and then hardcoded those values in the Toolbox. They will have to be manually updated if a patch changes them.
• Damage for the Underbarrel Grenade Launcher is available in the API, but it’s formatted differently, so it was easier to hardcode its damage as well.
• Other explosives, like Frag Grenades and Sticky Grenades simply do not work (yet). They could potentially get hardcoded as well.

Attachments Page

This page stores a table with known effects of known attachments on all weapons. When you add attachments to weapons on other pages, this is where their effects are taken from.

To update the table, click “Pull Attachments“. A VBA Script will pull Names and Item IDs for all weapons from weapon categories on Categories Page, and then pull attachment data for them.

You can also double click on weapon’s name to open a JSON query for that weapon’s attachment list. This may be necessary if a weapon has access to atypical attachment, since the table is formatted only for known effects of known attachments.

Categories Page

This page has two functions. On the left, there is a list of weapon categories. The “Attachments” page will use this list to pull attachments for all weapons in these categories.

You can click “Pull Categories” to download a full list of Item Categories from the API, but then you will have to manually clean it up, and remove everything except infantry weapons, so the Attachments Page doesn’t get overloaded.

On the right, there is a similar list of weapon categories. For each weapon category there is a list of weapons in that category. This list is used by the “Resistances” page. To update this list, click “Pull Categories”, clean up the downloaded list, then copy paste it to the right and click “Pull Weapons”. Save, close and reopen the Toolbox so that changes take effect on the Resistances Page.

Temp Page

This is a temporary page for storing calculations results. You don’t need to interact with this page at all.

Changelog and To-Do

v1 – initial release.

v2 – added CoF import functionality and reworked Cone of Fire page. Special thanks to FISU. Weapon names also update when you add attachments.

v2a – added the ability to double click on weapon’s Item ID to open JSON queries. 

v2b – Pull Stats will also pull Falling CoF (for flying / jumping with Carbines). Falling CoF will also be imported into Cone of Fire page. Also fixed a bug that any value of 1 character long was not pulled from the API. 

v3 – The toolbox will now also pull ADS movespeed multiplier and other missing stats. Fixed several issues, minor improvements. 

v3a – Fixed a Reload Time export.

v3b – Added the button to pull  information about weapon’s projectiles.

v4a – Added functionality to download exact effects of weapon attachments and apply them to weapons. 

v4c – Cleaned up unnecessary code in order for the Toolbox to work with 64 bit version of Excel. Also fixed a minor bug with HVA on Damage page.

v4d – Downloaded weapon and attachment stats for latest patch, including NSX Tanto. 

v4c – Cleaned up unnecessary code in order for the Toolbox to work with 64 bit version of Excel. Again.

v4f – Stripped most of the functionality of the CoF Page, because it was based on the wrong Angular Size research. Added “CoF Bloom Per Point of Damage Done” instead. Also updated weapon stats for the latest patch. 

v5 – Added a second weapon to the Recoil Page. Added brand new “Resistances” page to calculate weapon damage to vehicles.

v5a – Resistance Page will now correctly display and apply Composite Armor to air units. 

v5b – added infantry and MAX defensive certifications.

v6 – added Built In Resistances Page. Reworked Resistances page, now it has increased performance and works completely differently behind the scenes, with more precision.

v6b – fixed a minor bug, removed remnants of unused code causing errors on some PCs.

v6c – fixed a minor bug related to resistances not updating properly. Fixed Blockade Armor not adding bonus HP.

v6d – hardcoded a few more weapons: UBGL, Explosive Bolts, Typhoon Rocklets. Added Engineer’s turrets. Added some more functionality to the Resistances page.

v6e – added damage-per-minute calculations to Resistances page. This feature was not thoroughly tested, so treat it as a beta.

v6f – added new weapons.

v6g – added new weapons (Flash / Doku BRs)

To Do

Determine if BASR time between shots = chamber time. Done.

Overall weapon rating based on multigon square calculations.

CoF / RoF probability distribution to determine weapon consistency (done in alpha)

Reword the horizontal recoil probability distribution graph to be more accurate

Let me remind you the raw numbers:

Compared to other 1st generation SMGs, the Cyclone has bigger difference between minimum and maximum recoils. It can also potentially have an extra recoil kick, increasing the total width of the recoil pattern.

That led me to conclude that Cyclone has less stable horizontal recoil. 

It is true that potentially Cyclone can kick further from the start than other 1st gen SMGs.

However, statistically, it is very unlikely. The probability of several hits in the same direction and with the recoil magnitude being in specific bounds is simply too low to be worth considering.

Discouraged by my error, I have created a tool that will allow to judge the stability of horizontal recoil pattern in an objective manner.

Horizontal Recoil Stability Calculator

This excel spreadsheet will calculate stability of a weapon’s recoil pattern as average distance from the starting crosshair position.

• Download Link: .xlsm file
  
• Backup Link

Important! To be able to open this file, you will need a Microsoft Office with enabled Excel Macros. Supposedly there are security risks for doing this. Responsibility is yours, though I promise there’s nothing malicious in specifically my excel files.

How to use

Enter the weapon’s Horizontal Recoil stats into the three orange boxes at the top (where to get stats?). It’s fine to leave Burst Length and number of Simulations to their default values. 

Click “Calculate Stability” button, and the sheet will automatically update all results and the recoil distribution graph.

The Probability Distribution graph is your main instrument for assessing weapon’s horizontal recoil stability. 

The horizontal axis of the graph represents the distance from the center of the recoil pattern, and the vertical axis represents the probability of that position being chosen. 

“Graph Scale H” defines the horizontal scale of the graph. It is set to “1 degree” by default, and generally it should be high enough for all PS2 infantry weapons. For weapons with low horizontal recoil and low tolerance values, you can reduce Graph Scale H to 0.5 to make the graph more accurate.

Ideally, you want a weapon whose graph looks like this:

Basically, a weapon without horizontal recoil whatsoever.

The closer the spikes of the graph to the left side, the higher the probability of the crosshair staying near the center of the recoil pattern – near crosshair’s original position at the beginning of a burst.

“Stability” is simply the average distance of the crosshair from the burst’s starting point. The closer it is to zero, the more accurate the weapon is on average. 

“Maximum Deviation” is the highest value taken by Horizontal Recoil during simulation.

You can copy paste the graph as image in order to compare different weapons:

This is a graph for Gauss SAW.

On the next picture, I’m manually holding it with my mouse over the graph for Cyclone, allowing us to easily compare them.

Returning to Cyclone

As you can see, both Armistice and Eridani have lower stability, and a higher chance for the crosshair to be kicked further from the start. While Cyclone will generally shake in wider bounds, half of these bounds is still closer to the center due to lower minimum recoil. Cyclone may be less predictable on small scale, but it will be more stable on average.

Why Excel Sheet?

I’d love to eventually add this functionality into Weapon Simulator, along with other few minor updates, but for the time being I’ve lost the ability to make any additions to it. My Visual Studio died, basically

It can be pulled from DBG API.

What is Recoil Recovery Delay? 

Recoil Recovery Delay is the delay before your crosshair starts returning to its original position after you have stopped firing, measured in milliseconds.

The speed of the crosshair movement depends on another statistic – Recoil Decrease, also known as Recoil Recovery Rate, measured in degrees per second.

Knowing these two statistics and Vertical Recoil, you can judge weapon’s affinity for tap firing and short bursting.

Using the old weapon stats spreadsheet by /u/cheesecrackers as basis for my original research years ago, I’ve been led to believe that Recoil Recovery Delay is always equal to weapon’s Refire Time – time between shots, based on weapon’s Rate of Fire.

Turns out, it’s a little more complicated. 

How it works

The Recoil Recovery Delay values listed in DBG API – could be more correctly called “added” Recoil Recovery Delay. A shift, or an offset.

To calculate the true delay before the crosshair movement starts, you need to add listed Recoil Recovery Delay to weapon’s Refire Time.

True Delay = Recoil Recovery Delay + Refire Time

Example

You fire a burst with T1 Cycler. It has:

Recoil Recovery Delay: 80ms
Refire Time: 80ms

True Delay = 80 + 80 = 160 ms = 0.16 seconds

After final shot in the burst, 0.16 seconds will pass before the crosshair starts moving back.

You’ll notice that Recoil Recovery Delay in this case is equal to Refire Time, and it’s also true for many other weapons. This is probably what led cheesecrackers to believe that True Delay is equal to Refire Time. I guess he never ran a slow-mo tests to confirm it, and neither did I – until recently.

However, there are a lot of weapons which have Recoil Recovery Delay equal to zero, and the recent patch even set negative Recoil Recovery Delay for some weapons. 

And as an even crazier exception, Tomoe has increased Recoil Recovery Delay of 4 times the Refire Rate.

What the November patch changed

Currently, Battle Rifles, Semi Auto Scout Rifles and Semi Auto Sniper Rifles have negative Recoil Recovery Delay.

These Scout and Sniper rifles have True Delay of 0.5x the Refire Time, while most automatic weapons have True Delay of 2x Refire Time. 

Unfortunately, at this time I lack the capacity to create a side by side video. But you can already guess that reduced Recoil Recovery Delay gives them unprecedented tap firing speed, as crosshair starts moving back almost instantly after the shot, without purpose-less-ly hanging in air.

This is less noticeable on Battle Rifles, however they have greater Recoil Recovery Rate, lesser Vertical Recoil and shorter Refire Time. They already excel at tap firing.

Tomoe‘s unique situation is described in another article.

Closing Thoughts

Recoil Recovery Delay is an important statistics for judging weapon’s capability to burst fire, and it should be considered on equal grounds to Recoil Recovery Rate and Vertical Recoil. 

It focuses on quick kills with headshots at close to medium range, and has a unique combination of traits: no damage degradation and increased headshot damage multiplier, low recoil and high rate of fire.

Limited magazine size means you are likely to have only one engagement per reload.

Tomoe bridges the gap between traditional automatic Scout Rifles, that engage enemies with automatic fire at medium range, and semi auto Scout Rifles, that go all-or-nothing on headshots.

Stats

Damage output

Damage per Second: 1400
Damage per Magazine: 2464

These are rather low values. However, since Tomoe has no damage degradation, it doesn’t lose any performance as range increases. 

Headshot Damage Multiplier: 2.5x

This is one of Tomoe’s main selling points: it does 280 damage on a headshot, which means 4 headshot kill against a generic infantry target. 

Average reload speed and a lot of spare ammunition.

Bullets to Kill and Time to Kill

While Tomoe is clearly built around getting as many headshots as possible, it should be possible to kill any enemy with bodyshots. However, it will take a disproportionately more time, and low Damage per Magazine will give you little margin for error.

You should go for bodyshots only:

Against weakened, distracted or unaware enemies. Being able to cloak should give you plenty of opportunities to pick your engagements.

When you’re massively out of range and can’t hit the tiny head. Tomoe’s low recoil and no damage degradation make it possible to reach out to quite distant targets

When you can’t hit the head, because the enemy is moving in an unpredictable and erratic manner. Though in cases like that it may be better to not engage at all.

Tables below contain the BTK and TTK values. Since Tomoe has no damage degradation, they are true for any distance.

Headshots

Bodyshots

Cone of Fire and Bloom

Hip Fire CoFs

Tomoe’s starting hip fire CoFs are bad, and the huge Bloom of 0.4 means whatever hip fire accuracy you have is only going to last for a few first shots, and then rapidly spiral out of control. Unless you’re in melee range, forget hip fire even exists for Tomoe.

ADS CoFs

Tomoe’s ADS CoFs are nothing special when compared to other precision weapons, but it sufficiently accurate in general terms.

Notice that you get an accuracy boost for both crouching and staying stationary, and as an Infiltrator, you should take advantage of it. 

ADS Bloom of 0.05 is somewhat high for such small damage per shot, so it’s recommended to not straight up magdump, and instead fire in bursts of 4-6 rounds, unless the target is very close.

That said, it is comparable to many weapons that deal 112 minimum damage per shot.

Advanced CoF Mechanics

Starting Still CoF: 0.1
Starting Moving CoF: 0.3
Bloom per Shot: 0.05

From these statistics, and using Rule 2 of Advanced CoF Mechanics, we can say that you only get an accuracy boost for staying stationary during your first 4 shots.

After 4 shots, you can start moving at no accuracy penalty. 

This knowledge is extremely situational, because at closer ranges you’d want to engage while moving, always. And at longer ranges, you wouldn’t want to fire more than 4-5 round in a burst.

Recoil

As pulled from DBG API by planetstats, here are Tomoe’s recoil stats:

Analysis

Tomoe has silky smooth and stable recoil pattern. It is not noticeable at close range. At long range, it gives you the ability to easily take out stationary enemies.

Tomoe has a very unusual quality: super long Recoil Recovery Delay.

After your last shot in a burst, whole 0.4 seconds will pass before crosshair starts returning into its original position.

And the low Recoil Decrease ensure it will take its sweet time while doing so.

Believe it or not, this is actually a good thing. Tomoe engages enemies in 2-4 bursts per magazine, and the long Recoil Recovery Delay gives you time to reset Cone of Fire and readjust your aim between bursts without any forced crosshair movement.

Effective Range

Tomoe should be adequately effective up to 30m or so, but after that you are likely to have problems engaging moving targets.

Additionally, ADSing for headshots in close quarters can be very challenging, and with Tomoe’s hip fire being so terrible, you should make all effort to stay outdoors, and away from CQC in general.

However, extremely skilled players can find great success in taking Tomoe in aggressive close quarters, and enjoy quick headshot kills without using a bolt action rifle. 

Going outside Effective Range

Super small magazine size and average projectile velocity of 520 m/s will make engaging moving and aware targets challenging, even when you can afford to sit still and fire in short bursts for a prolonged amount of time. 

However, very low recoil and lack of damage degradation give you the ability to kill stationary enemies with a few short bursts even at very long ranges. 

In theory, Tomoe’s maximum range is limited only by user skill, since there is no damage degradation, and crouching CoFs are nearly equal to zero.

Attachments

Scope

Tomoe’s optimal range is within 10 to 30m bracket, and headshots are your primary goal. 

With that in mind, I recommend to use a 1x or 2x reflex scope.

Stronger magnification can make it inconvenient to aim at targets within 10-20m, and limit your field of vision too much.

Rail

You are faced with a choice between Forward Grip (-25% horizontal recoil) and Extended Mags (+2 rounds per mag).

Arguments can be made for both.

Damage per mag is one of Tomoe’s biggest issues, and horizontal recoil is pretty great by default. Having a couple of extra rounds makes going into Long Reload less likely, which can be important in aggressive CQC setting.

However, Ex. Mags’ benefit is very small, which makes Forward Grip a better choice for most players. Ideally, you want to engage enemies outdoors, at medium range, and you need all the accuracy you can get to hit those headshots more reliably.

Barrel

Tomoe has access to Flash Suppressor, Suppressor and Compensator.

All three are viable, as long as you keep their upsides and downsides in mind. 

Suppressor may be of special interest, as it will not affect Tomoe’s damage in any way, only the velocity. 

But, personally, I recommend the Compensator.

Tomoe’s hip fire is already beyond terrible.

As an infiltrator, you don’t care that much about increasing minimap detection range from 40m to 75m. While it can give away your position to enemies outside your effective range, you can use cloak to prevent them from engaging on you without closing in first.

Tomoe’s performance depends on accuracy very much, and you really want smoother recoil for more convenience.

Recommended Infiltrator Loadout

Cloak Type

Tomoe has limited effective range, but you will still be mainly participating in open field combat. So you will often need to move into position before engaging, and you will need the increased cloak time of Hunter cloaking.

This will work well with reserved, engage-in-ideal-conditions playstyle, but if you do have the skill to consistently hit ADS headshots at close range, you will find better success with Nano Armor Cloaking and more aggressive playstyle.

Suit Slot

Nanoweave is recommended. 

In case you mess up and fail to kill the enemy within one magazine – and it’s easy to mess up with Tomoe – you will need some defenses, to survive long enough to reload or whip out your sidearm.

You will not always have the opportunity to just hide into cover and vanish – too close for that.

Using the Tomoe may often leave you exposed for a prolonged amount of time, while you’re burst firing at an enemy. It’s not like a bolt action rifle, where you make one shot and immediately recloak. So Nanoweave will help you survive if someone’s shooting your way.

Grenade

EMP is the recommended choice. The sheer versatility of this grenade cannot be overstated, even if there is no particular synergy with the Tomoe. You’ll be using it mainly to delete enemy Motion Spotters. 

Tool and Utility

Motion Spotter and Anti-Personnel Mines make a great combination with Tomoe. You can deploy a Motion Spotter and throw a couple of mines around. The Motion Spotter will show up on enemy minimap, and attract them to destroy it, giving you opportunities to ambush them. Mines can ensure you won’t be flanked, and that Motion Spotter is going to last a while.

This is perfect for outdoors skirmishing.

The rest of the loadout is up to preference. 

Optimal engagement

As you may have constructed by now, you want to engage enemies with Tomoe within 10 to 30m, from a cloaked stationary position, and fire in 4-6 round bursts at enemy’s head, making your best effort to keep the crosshair on target.

Tip: when engaging from behind, be aware that enemy will play a “being hit in the head from the back” animation, forcing enemy to bend forward, and actually hiding the head from you for a moment.

When engaging an enemy in the back, you already have an advantage, so it may be better to go for bodyshots.

“Optimal” is not everything

Tomoe is weak in head to head fights, unless you massively outskill the enemy. Stay away from closed spaces and always keep the enemy at an arm’s length.  

If you do need to close in, whipping out a sidearm may be a good idea, as at least it can hip fire accurately. 

It’s usually not a good idea to engage enemies at long range, unless you can do so safely, or the enemy is staying stationary, in which case Tomoe can be used almost like a sniper rifle. 

Closing thoughts

Tomoe’s competition are other full auto scout rifles and NS-7, which can be used in the same capacity. 

All of them already require very good accuracy and proper engagements, and they already kill one enemy per reload at most.

Tomoe just acknowledges and embraces these traits, and pushes them to the extreme. It kills in the same 4 headshots as other full auto scout rifles, but has better accuracy and recoil, and higher Rate of Fire.

Tomoe challenges you to go for headshots and rewards them immensely. However, as soon as you try to go for something suboptimal, like bodyshots against HA or – god forbid – hip firing, you’re gonna regret it instantly.

When paired up with sufficient skill, Tomoe can be very strong and versatile.

However, if you’re already good at clicking heads, you may as well use a CQC BASR and have 0 TTK and more kills per reload.

Tomoe very much requires both aiming and positioning skills, as well as awareness and judgement – when and how to engage. 

Overall, it’s an interesting weapon, but a very steep skill requirements makes it something that 90% of infiltrator players would not enjoy using.

Weapon’s problems

Tomoe has two recurring issues:

1. Low Damage Per Magazine. This is a constant issue when dealing with hardened or evasive targets beyond certain distance. 
2. Weak in 5-10m range segment, especially in head to head engagements. 

These issues combined require you to keep enemies in a “sweet spot” distance, where they are not too far, and not too close. Tomoe’s main competition, the conventional automatic Scout Rifles, don’t have to deal with these issues to the same extent.

They have better hip fire, so they work better in CQC, and they have much more DPM, so they can actually kill enemies through bodyshots. In a theoretical scenario, where the user can land 100% headshots, Tomoe wins every time, but reality is rarely so bright.

Mustarde’s thoughts

(no link to source because it’s a PM)

I auraxiumed Tomoe on all 3 factions. It’s a CQC monster, and has the DPM to be useful in mid range. You don’t need the highest skill level to use it, however it still requires headshots to be competitive, otherwise you will lose out in CQC.

Due to its no damage falloff and accurate high ROF, at mid-long range it probably is comparable or better than most LMG/AR/carbines out there, but automatics aren’t really supposed to be competitive beyond 70m or so.

I’d say it’s slightly better than SOAS / Stalker / Artemis at this point, but depends on the user having good aim and headshot accuracy. I burst it in 4-5 round taps beyond 15m.

Mustarde’s  Loadout: Nano Armor Cloaking, Nanoweave Armor, Recon Darts, EMP grenades, Med Kits. 

And on the cloak choice:

Because it is such a CQC reliant weapon, I have found greater success with the nano-armor cloak, which gives me 100 shield back plus lets me escape and survive dicey encounters. That plus nanoweave let’s me get in people’s faces and splooge the Tomoe mag and escape for reloading.

The hunter cloak works too, obviously, with a different and more conservative style. But I still think the NAC is a powerful option. If you expect to be taking any fire, it’s really worth considering. It makes you on-par with other classes which is huge in 1v1’s, especially with a gun that often forces you to face off against others.

With a bolt action, you usually don’t get shot much for that single headshot, so I don’t rely on NAC at all, even when using a 4x BASR. But for scouts and now SMG’s, I’m fully on the NAC train, after years of using Hunter cloaking. I’ve seen a very noticeable improvement in performance with it.

Adding Tomoe into Weapon Simulator

If you want to add NSX Tomoe into my Weapon Simulator, add this string to the end of the Stats.csv file, which you can open with Windows Notepad:

804252,NSX Tomoe,NS,Scout Rifle,112,10,112,20,1.5,80,1,0.55s / 0.64s / 0.64s,,-,22,286,2900,2100,0.5,0.4,0.05,3.25,2.75,3.75,5,2.75,0.1,0.03,0.3,0.06,-3,3,0.25,0.14,0.14,0.4,2,6,Auto,0

The guide is now concluded, feel free to comment or ask questions below.