I’m a stat junky, I play with stats all day long, my life and job is all about stats, I even write about stats. So when I get the chance to review stats – I can’t help myself.
We all love our FPS games, be it Call of Duty or Battlefield. We also all have our favorite weapons. Many of us have a fondness from our military experience (remembering the M1A1, M4, M14, .45, etc), some of us are fans of historically important weapons that have shaped world events, like the AK-47. Others like the commando and European weapons like H&K and SIG. Some of us have our own rifles at home and would like to mimic using them on the battle field. (Note: I personally have the Mini-14 and a couple of SIG 55x series).
However, regardless of our fondness of the looks or history, the programmers of these games make some weapons just more powerful than others, thus making some the “go to” weapon based on bullet-to-kill ratio.
So I did some research for BF3 and this is what I found, like it or not – these are the weapons (based on hardcore mode) that have the most stopping power per shot.
Some notes:
Hardcore mode is 60 max health.
Head shots are 2x damage
Body shots are 1x damage
Assault:
Like it or not every single weapon in the Assault group is the same damage factor, except one.
10 meters or less: All of them are 25 damage at 10 meters of less. That makes them a 3 round body shot for a kill (3*25 = 75) and even a 2 round head shot (a single shot is 50 damage – just not enough to kill, so a second shot is needed).
50 meters: At 50 meters all the guns drop off to 17 damage. That is 3.52 shots (round up to 4) for a body shot (only one more shot then at close range). For a head shot it is still 1.76 shots (round up to 2). So close or far you need 3-4 body or 2 to the skull.
The most powerful Assault weapon can only be gained in Co-op mode and it is the last weapon to achieve. It is the G3A3 and personally I am a big fan of the HK91/93 series (I guess I am dating myself) and the G3A3 has a long and distinguish line and history. With 34 damage in the sub 10 meter range that will drop you in 2 shots and it will also make a 1 shot head kill. The additional bonus is that damage doesn’t drop off until 75 meters. Out at distance (75m) it is a 20 damage round that make it 1.5 shot to the head (round up to 2 again). While powerful, it has its draw backs – it is semi-auto and only 20 in the MAG. Still if you want the one shot head kill even out to about 30 meters this the best you’re going to do in the Assault category. Time to start co-oping.
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Engineer:
The exact same story here, everything looks the same except one weapon the SCAR-H. Anything else you are looking at SAME damage in the sub 10m range – just like an Assault rifle. They all start at 25 damage. The only difference between these weapons and the Assault selection is the slop is steeper out to 50m. The Engineer weapons drop off to 14.3 instead of 17. That means at distance they are 5 shot body kill or a 2.09 (round up to 3) skull cracker.
However, there is one that stands out – the SCAR. It starts off with the SAME damage as the G3A3, 34 damage in the sub 10m range. WOW! And it also has a long distance than the rest of the Engineer selection and a higher minimum damage rate of 17 out at 60m. That’s still better than all the Assault weapons, except the G3A3. Seems like the SCAR is the only way to go for an Engineer.
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Support:
This machine guns fall into two categories, the weak sisters and the longer range crushers. The M27, RPK-74, M249, and Type 88 have the exact same damage ranges as all the Assault Rifles, 25 damage sub 10m and drop off to 17 at 50m. No difference. However, if you step up to the big guns like the PKP, M240B, and M60E4 we are talking 34 in the sub 10m and 20 out at 75m. Guess what – these are the fully auto versions of the G3A3. The exact same damage out-out and range levels, just bigger and fully-auto.
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Recon:
I have never played Recon and frankly I get a little tired of getting my noggin popped off from some distant bush, oh well. This is a mixed field and I am not sure what they were trying to plan with it. There is the SKS that is not much different than the G3A3 as far as damage – it does have ONE advantage the minimum damage is 30 at 50m, which is far better than the G3A3.
Then there is the SVD, MK11, and M39 – all are the exact same, with 50 damage in the sub 10 range (making it ALMOST a one shot body dropper, just 10 health shy). At distance of 75 they are 34, making them still a one shot skull capper and a 2 shot body dropper. I personally really like the M39 (should be unlocking that soon in Co-op).
The next up the list is the SV98 and the M40A5, both at 75 damage in the sub 20 range – WOW – that is a single body shot dropper out to 20m. At 60m it drops to 55, just 5 health shy of a full KO to the body.
Then there is the grand-daddy destroyer, the M98B with a whopping 95 damage out to 20m and it falls off to 59 damage at 75m (just 1 health shy of dying). At 70m you ARE dead. This is the serious single shot killer – you don’t even have to aim at the head with this gun. However this is OVERKILL in hardcore mode. You better be across the entire map if you are using this - otherwise you are a wasted asset for your squad.
I think the SVD, MK11, M39 are all great weapons. If you can't tap the skull at 50m with scope for a one shot kill in hardcore mode - you need some SERIOUS practice.
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General Guns:
Sub-machine guns – there are a couple of short and longer range surprises. For short range the PP-200, UMP-45, and PDW-R are all 25 sub 10m damage. That’s 2 shots to the head and 3 to the body. However they lose serious power at 40m most dropping to 12 or even 10 damage. Thus you need to seriously pepper even someone’s head to drop them. The stronger longer range weapon is the AS VAL at 16.7 out at 40m, not as good as the Assault rifles but better than any other of the general subs.
Pistols: Easy – there are only 2 to choose from the MP412 with 50 sub 10m damage (that’s a single shot to the head and just barely 2 to the body). It drops off to 16.7 at just under 40m, which makes it as powerful as the AS VAL. Of course if you can grab the Dirty Harry .44 then you are the man popping off a 55 damage at sub 10m and carrying damage minimum of 16.7 out at 50m.
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Shotguns:
I never played Battlefield 2, but I did play Bad Company. Let me tell you the greatest secret, it was the 870 shotgun with slugs. It had NO bullet drop and in hardcore mode it was a one shot BODY kill across the entire map. It was the only gun I used in Bad Company and I would snipe with it, just as easily as firing in CQB. So did BF3 keep the same godly power in the 870 shoty with slugs? No – and I cried all the way home. I still use it and there are some advantages.
Damage first:
Slugs are 100 damage in the sub 10m range, which creates some serious brown trouser time for those on the receiving end. At 40m it drops to 34 damage. That means it is a one shot head kill at 40m. Now SunnyGuns can tell you I have dropped him at some serious distances (not entirely across the map) but you CAN. It is a ONE shot killer across the entire map if you plug that skull. The downside is that BF3 introduced bullet drop which NEEDS to be compensated for. The good news is you can now slap a scope on this puppy (I haven’t just use the red-dot myself). However, I did try it for fun and have managed to compensate for bullet drop (just like a sniper). Note that it is a two shot body drop at distance.
The other fun round is the Frag round. It is 60 damage in the sub 10m range – making it a one shot kill and 34 at 50m. Here’s the bonus, it has a STACKABLE damage with an additional 40 blast damage. Just like the slug it is certainly a one shot to the head at any distance, but with the additional stackable blast damage it could serious bring the hurt. I haven’t really used it that much yet, but will be trying it out in the nights to come. I was really excited when I saw this data.
What bout Buckshot and Flechette? There is good and bad. First there are 12 shots in each type of round and at short range it is 14 for Flechette and 20 for Buck PER SHOT – that means if ALL 12 shot hits the target you are doing 168 damage for Flechette and 240 for buck. That is a body dropper even in non-hard core mode. At distance it is STILL a lot of damage with 6 for buck and 8.4 for Flechette PER SHOT. That’s 72 for buck and 100.8 for Flechette, still a lot of damage. The question is HOW many shots you need to hit to make a kill. Well that’s pretty simple at anything over 25m (the minimum damage at range) you need 10 of 12 buck shot to land on the body to kill (not including any to the head) and just over 7 of 12 Flechette rounds to land to kill. The problem is the SPREAD at distance and I need to figure that out. Obviously the farther out the more the shot spreads. I haven’t figures out that yet. Also I haven’t figured out exactly how the CORE Frag damage is calculated (is it like Buck or like a Slug).
Note about Shotguns, if you are loading Slugs the semi-auto shotguns have only 50 damage in the sub 10 range and they drop off to 34 minimum damage at 20m. Still not bad, but nothing like the pump. All other shotgun ammo types work identical in all shotguns. The USAS-12 with Frag looks like a killer.
I will be working on some spreadsheets with my finding and I will post them when I complete them. I am currently very busy at work, but had the time to write this up for now. I hope you find it useful.
We all love our FPS games, be it Call of Duty or Battlefield. We also all have our favorite weapons. Many of us have a fondness from our military experience (remembering the M1A1, M4, M14, .45, etc), some of us are fans of historically important weapons that have shaped world events, like the AK-47. Others like the commando and European weapons like H&K and SIG. Some of us have our own rifles at home and would like to mimic using them on the battle field. (Note: I personally have the Mini-14 and a couple of SIG 55x series).
However, regardless of our fondness of the looks or history, the programmers of these games make some weapons just more powerful than others, thus making some the “go to” weapon based on bullet-to-kill ratio.
So I did some research for BF3 and this is what I found, like it or not – these are the weapons (based on hardcore mode) that have the most stopping power per shot.
Some notes:
Hardcore mode is 60 max health.
Head shots are 2x damage
Body shots are 1x damage
Assault:
Like it or not every single weapon in the Assault group is the same damage factor, except one.
10 meters or less: All of them are 25 damage at 10 meters of less. That makes them a 3 round body shot for a kill (3*25 = 75) and even a 2 round head shot (a single shot is 50 damage – just not enough to kill, so a second shot is needed).
50 meters: At 50 meters all the guns drop off to 17 damage. That is 3.52 shots (round up to 4) for a body shot (only one more shot then at close range). For a head shot it is still 1.76 shots (round up to 2). So close or far you need 3-4 body or 2 to the skull.
The most powerful Assault weapon can only be gained in Co-op mode and it is the last weapon to achieve. It is the G3A3 and personally I am a big fan of the HK91/93 series (I guess I am dating myself) and the G3A3 has a long and distinguish line and history. With 34 damage in the sub 10 meter range that will drop you in 2 shots and it will also make a 1 shot head kill. The additional bonus is that damage doesn’t drop off until 75 meters. Out at distance (75m) it is a 20 damage round that make it 1.5 shot to the head (round up to 2 again). While powerful, it has its draw backs – it is semi-auto and only 20 in the MAG. Still if you want the one shot head kill even out to about 30 meters this the best you’re going to do in the Assault category. Time to start co-oping.
==========================================================
Engineer:
The exact same story here, everything looks the same except one weapon the SCAR-H. Anything else you are looking at SAME damage in the sub 10m range – just like an Assault rifle. They all start at 25 damage. The only difference between these weapons and the Assault selection is the slop is steeper out to 50m. The Engineer weapons drop off to 14.3 instead of 17. That means at distance they are 5 shot body kill or a 2.09 (round up to 3) skull cracker.
However, there is one that stands out – the SCAR. It starts off with the SAME damage as the G3A3, 34 damage in the sub 10m range. WOW! And it also has a long distance than the rest of the Engineer selection and a higher minimum damage rate of 17 out at 60m. That’s still better than all the Assault weapons, except the G3A3. Seems like the SCAR is the only way to go for an Engineer.
========================================================
Support:
This machine guns fall into two categories, the weak sisters and the longer range crushers. The M27, RPK-74, M249, and Type 88 have the exact same damage ranges as all the Assault Rifles, 25 damage sub 10m and drop off to 17 at 50m. No difference. However, if you step up to the big guns like the PKP, M240B, and M60E4 we are talking 34 in the sub 10m and 20 out at 75m. Guess what – these are the fully auto versions of the G3A3. The exact same damage out-out and range levels, just bigger and fully-auto.
========================================================
Recon:
I have never played Recon and frankly I get a little tired of getting my noggin popped off from some distant bush, oh well. This is a mixed field and I am not sure what they were trying to plan with it. There is the SKS that is not much different than the G3A3 as far as damage – it does have ONE advantage the minimum damage is 30 at 50m, which is far better than the G3A3.
Then there is the SVD, MK11, and M39 – all are the exact same, with 50 damage in the sub 10 range (making it ALMOST a one shot body dropper, just 10 health shy). At distance of 75 they are 34, making them still a one shot skull capper and a 2 shot body dropper. I personally really like the M39 (should be unlocking that soon in Co-op).
The next up the list is the SV98 and the M40A5, both at 75 damage in the sub 20 range – WOW – that is a single body shot dropper out to 20m. At 60m it drops to 55, just 5 health shy of a full KO to the body.
Then there is the grand-daddy destroyer, the M98B with a whopping 95 damage out to 20m and it falls off to 59 damage at 75m (just 1 health shy of dying). At 70m you ARE dead. This is the serious single shot killer – you don’t even have to aim at the head with this gun. However this is OVERKILL in hardcore mode. You better be across the entire map if you are using this - otherwise you are a wasted asset for your squad.
I think the SVD, MK11, M39 are all great weapons. If you can't tap the skull at 50m with scope for a one shot kill in hardcore mode - you need some SERIOUS practice.
=================================================
General Guns:
Sub-machine guns – there are a couple of short and longer range surprises. For short range the PP-200, UMP-45, and PDW-R are all 25 sub 10m damage. That’s 2 shots to the head and 3 to the body. However they lose serious power at 40m most dropping to 12 or even 10 damage. Thus you need to seriously pepper even someone’s head to drop them. The stronger longer range weapon is the AS VAL at 16.7 out at 40m, not as good as the Assault rifles but better than any other of the general subs.
Pistols: Easy – there are only 2 to choose from the MP412 with 50 sub 10m damage (that’s a single shot to the head and just barely 2 to the body). It drops off to 16.7 at just under 40m, which makes it as powerful as the AS VAL. Of course if you can grab the Dirty Harry .44 then you are the man popping off a 55 damage at sub 10m and carrying damage minimum of 16.7 out at 50m.
===============================================
Shotguns:
I never played Battlefield 2, but I did play Bad Company. Let me tell you the greatest secret, it was the 870 shotgun with slugs. It had NO bullet drop and in hardcore mode it was a one shot BODY kill across the entire map. It was the only gun I used in Bad Company and I would snipe with it, just as easily as firing in CQB. So did BF3 keep the same godly power in the 870 shoty with slugs? No – and I cried all the way home. I still use it and there are some advantages.
Damage first:
Slugs are 100 damage in the sub 10m range, which creates some serious brown trouser time for those on the receiving end. At 40m it drops to 34 damage. That means it is a one shot head kill at 40m. Now SunnyGuns can tell you I have dropped him at some serious distances (not entirely across the map) but you CAN. It is a ONE shot killer across the entire map if you plug that skull. The downside is that BF3 introduced bullet drop which NEEDS to be compensated for. The good news is you can now slap a scope on this puppy (I haven’t just use the red-dot myself). However, I did try it for fun and have managed to compensate for bullet drop (just like a sniper). Note that it is a two shot body drop at distance.
The other fun round is the Frag round. It is 60 damage in the sub 10m range – making it a one shot kill and 34 at 50m. Here’s the bonus, it has a STACKABLE damage with an additional 40 blast damage. Just like the slug it is certainly a one shot to the head at any distance, but with the additional stackable blast damage it could serious bring the hurt. I haven’t really used it that much yet, but will be trying it out in the nights to come. I was really excited when I saw this data.
What bout Buckshot and Flechette? There is good and bad. First there are 12 shots in each type of round and at short range it is 14 for Flechette and 20 for Buck PER SHOT – that means if ALL 12 shot hits the target you are doing 168 damage for Flechette and 240 for buck. That is a body dropper even in non-hard core mode. At distance it is STILL a lot of damage with 6 for buck and 8.4 for Flechette PER SHOT. That’s 72 for buck and 100.8 for Flechette, still a lot of damage. The question is HOW many shots you need to hit to make a kill. Well that’s pretty simple at anything over 25m (the minimum damage at range) you need 10 of 12 buck shot to land on the body to kill (not including any to the head) and just over 7 of 12 Flechette rounds to land to kill. The problem is the SPREAD at distance and I need to figure that out. Obviously the farther out the more the shot spreads. I haven’t figures out that yet. Also I haven’t figured out exactly how the CORE Frag damage is calculated (is it like Buck or like a Slug).
Note about Shotguns, if you are loading Slugs the semi-auto shotguns have only 50 damage in the sub 10 range and they drop off to 34 minimum damage at 20m. Still not bad, but nothing like the pump. All other shotgun ammo types work identical in all shotguns. The USAS-12 with Frag looks like a killer.
I will be working on some spreadsheets with my finding and I will post them when I complete them. I am currently very busy at work, but had the time to write this up for now. I hope you find it useful.
