For someone who considers himself a weapon mechanics guru, I’ve been woefully negligent. For a long time we had access to a peculiar statistic: 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 addlisted Recoil Recovery Delay to weapon’s Refire Time.
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.
Semi Auto Scout Rifles
Semi Auto Sniper Rifles
Battle Rifles
Refire Time, ms
235
260
180
Recoil Recovery Delay, ms
-118
-130
-30
True Delay, ms
117
130
150
Recoil Recovery Rate,
degrees / sec
8
10
15
Vertical Recoil, degrees
1
1.2
0.6
Recoil Recovery Time per shot
0.125s
0.12s
0.04
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.
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.
NSX Tomoe – named after Tomoe Gozen – is a fully automatic Scout Rifle, available to Infiltrators of all factions.
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.
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.
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 minimumdamage 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.
As pulled from DBG API by planetstats, here are Tomoe’s recoil stats:
Statistic
Stock
w/ Attachments
Attachment
Vertical Recoil
0.25
0.21
Compensator (-15%)
Recoil Angle
-3.0 / 3.0
-0.225 / 0.225
Forward Grip (-25%)
Horizontal Recoil
0.14 / 0.14
0.105 / 0.105
Forward Grip (-25%)
Horizontal Recoil Tolerance
0.4
0.3
Forward Grip (-25%)
First Shot Recoil Multiplier
2.0x
Refire Time
0.08s
Recoil Decrease
6
Recoil Recovery Delay
0.32s
Analysis
Statistic
Stock
w/ Attachments
Attachment
Vertical Recoil per Second
3.125
2.625
Compensator (-15%)
Recoil Angle
Negligible
Average Horizontal Deviation
0.115
0.087
Forward Grip (-25%)
Max. Horizontal Deviation
0.28
0.21
Forward Grip (-25%)
Max. Num. of horizontal kicks
2
Refire Time
0.08s
Recoil Recovery Delay
0.32s
True Recoil Recovery Delay
0.40s
Recoil Recovery Time per Shot
0.041
0.035
Compensator (-15%)
Tomoe’s Recoil Pattern
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.
StockForward Grip
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 stationaryenemies 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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
Low Damage Per Magazine. This is a constant issue when dealing with hardened or evasive targets beyond certain distance.
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.
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:
