I’m trying to create an effective sniper build using the Lever-Action Rifle and Gauss Rifle, and I’m wondering about the best ways to achieve armor penetration. I know there are three main options: the Capacitor mod for the Gauss Rifle (which provides either 40% or 20% armor penetration along with a 15% boost in reload speed), the Tank Killer perk (offering 36% penetration), and the Anti-Armor legendary effect (which grants 50% penetration). Can anyone recommend which combination of these methods would be optimal for maximizing armor penetration? Also, how much armor penetration should I aim for when using these weapons?
4 Answers
Armor penetration from the same source is actually additive, but when it comes from different sources, it’s multiplicative, which caps out at 90%. For example, combine a 50% anti-armor mod from your Gauss Rifle with a 40% from a perforated magazine, and you hit that cap. But if you mix it with different sources, like the Tank Killer perk, you can achieve a decent amount of penetration without hitting the ceiling. I’d recommend going with ‘Furious’ as a legendary effect for your Gauss Rifle; it pairs nicely with perforated and Tank Killer for boosting damage against tougher enemies!
One issue you’ll hit with these guns is that they can easily reach the max armor penetration cap, meaning any additional anti-armor effects won’t have an effect. My go-to setup is usually just the Tank Killer perk and the Capacitor mod. The Anti-Armor effect often pushes your penetration over the cap against most foes. Plus, it lets you use that mod slot for a damage addition, like using ‘Furious’ along with ‘Reverse Onslaught’ for some major DPS!
The armor penetration mechanics have changed significantly. It used to be more effective, but now enemies have higher damage resistance and lower armor, making the effects not as powerful. If you have the Tank Killer perk, I’d suggest using something else for your first legendary effect—something like Furious or Bloodied. Furious is particularly useful since it doesn’t require complicated setups. For maximum damage on a semi-auto sniper build, ‘Reverse Onslaught’ is really solid!
These armor penetration methods stack, but they don’t stack additively like they did in the past. Let’s say an enemy starts with 100% armor. With the Anti-Armor effect, that drops to 50%. Then, if you add the Perforating effect, you’re looking at 30% left. The Tank Killer perk further reduces this to about 19.2%. So, if the enemy had 700 armor initially, with all three effects, they’d go down to around 134 armor. Just remember, the effectiveness of stacked penetration can vary based on the mod combinations you choose!
Yeah, that cap feels weird sometimes. If enemies have super high damage resistance, even with 90% pen, you might still struggle to get your damage through. It’s a bit counterintuitive, right? Trying to figure out armor mechanics can be so frustrating, especially when you think you’re set with high DR. But it sounds like you’re getting the hang of the system! I thought Hellcat would be more useful too, but I’ve been finding it lacks compared to other sets in some situations, especially against heavy hitters.