I will be covering every weapon currently available in the game, including how to acquire them, the damage they do to each fate, and my personal (subjective!) opinion.

If you prefer trying things out for yourself and experimenting, then stop reading now!

If you do read ahead, I would strongly recommend you try all the weapons for yourself anyway - my opinions are my own, and a weapon that I dislike might end up being your favourite!

Also remember that "peeling back the curtain" like this can ruin your immersion in the game, so if you play for RP or don't care about raw statistics, either give the guide a miss or just stick to the "basic" sections!

With that out of the way, let's begin.

This forms part of a guide I wrote on how to play the scum faction effectively; however, it quickly grew way too large and so I decided to split it off into it's own separate guide. If you'd like to learn more about the scum faction, please check out my guide below!

https://steamproxy-script.pipiskins.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3443716822

This guide covers every currently (18/03/25) available weapon in Aneurism IV, both firearms and melee weapons. I will go over each weapon's statistics, including weight, magazine size, hits to kill each fate, and crafting components, as well as give my personal opinion on each.

There will be two sections for each category: a "basic" section, which will give you important need-to-know information quickly, and an "advanced" section, which provides a deeper look at each weapon for you number-nerds out there (like me!).

Let's get into it!

"Hits to kill" is based on body hits to a full health neutral fate (ie a prole) with no buffs or modifiers. Faction-aligned fates like Controllers, Scumbags, Limitators etc will take more hits to kill. For a full damage breakdown see the Melee: advanced section.

Self-defence only!

• Crafting recipe: N/A
  
• Hits to kill: 7
  
• Weight: 3kg
  
• Contraband?: No

An essential tool.

• Crafting recipe: 1x Metal Plate, 1x Wood at Workbench
  
• Hits to kill: 6
  
• Weight: 1kg
  
• Contraband?: No

Not just for mining!

• Crafting recipe: 1x Metal Ingot, 1x Wood at Workbench
  
• Hits to kill: 4
  
• Weight: 2kg
  
• Contraband?: No

STOP RESISTING!

• Crafting recipe: N/A
  
• Hits to kill: 5
  
• Weight: 2kg
  
• Contraband?: YES
  
• Note: this item can only be acquired by possessing a Controller fate.

The weapon of a petty anarchist.

• Crafting recipe: N/A
  
• Hits to kill: 6
  
• Weight: 1kg
  
• Contraband?: YES
  
• Note: this item can only be acquired by possessing a Scumbag fate.

The darker waters call to you.

• Crafting recipe: N/A
  
• Hits to kill: 3
  
• Weight: 3kg
  
• Contraband?: YES
  
• Note: this item can only be acquired by possessing/consecrating as a Zealot fate.

Here, I'll go over each weapon in-depth, giving it's hits-to-kill for each fate, and a short personal evaluation of the weapon. At the end of the section there's a table directly comparing each weapon.

Note that all neutral fates (Proles, Dealers/Bankers, and Corpsmen) share the same health pool. Liquidators have the same health as Sanitars, who have the same health as Scumbags.


Pros

• Non-contraband
  
• Easy to acquire
  
• A useful tool for mining and fishing
  
• Offers some very basic self-defence

Cons

• Worst melee damage in the game
  
• Does not inflict bleeding
  
• Cannot skin corpses
  
• Tied for heaviest melee weapon

Personal opinion
The humble Pipe symbolises every prole's triumphant rise from laundry-washing cog to rock-breaking labourer, but beyond that it offers very little else. Useful to defend yourself if absolutely necessary, but if you're expecting a fight the other two non-contraband melee weapons are a far superior choice. The Pipe can be acquired either from scavenging (found in bins AND suspicious stashes) or by interacting with the Supplier in the Metalworks as a Prole with positive karma (ie you haven't killed anyone or smashed something you weren't supposed to).



Pros

• Non-contraband
  
• Lightweight
  
• Inflicts bleeding
  
• Can skin corpses
  
• Cheap to craft
  
• Fast attack speed

Cons

• Low raw damage output
  
• Cannot mine
  
• Outclassed by the pickaxe in (almost) every way

Personal opinion
The Knife would be a good choice for a prole's self-defence weapon, if the Pickaxe didn't exist. But sadly, it does, and the Pickaxe does everything the Knife can do, BETTER than the Knife, and does even more than that! The faster attack speed of the Knife doesn't make up for it's lack of damage - the Pickaxe will still kill faster - and since bleeding doesn't stack, getting in more hits in a shorter period of time means nothing. The Knife cannot mine, but the Pickaxe can skin corpses, and given that you can craft the Pickaxe for the same cost as a Knife (1 metal ingot + 1 wood), there is absolutely no reason to ever choose the Knife, other than roleplay reasons.



Pros

• Non-contraband
  
• Cheap to craft
  
• Can mine and skin corpses
  
• Inflicts bleeding
  
• Good damage

Cons

• Somewhat heavy
  
• Slow attack speed
  
• uhhhhh

Personal opinion
The single BEST weapon a neutral fate can (legally) acquire. The Pickaxe is cheap to craft, deals good damage, inflicts bleeding, and performs all three of the roles required for working in the factories (fishing, mining, and skinning corpses). Being able to 2-hit-kill neutral fates is a powerful ability for shadier characters (or starving proles), and it offers a good defence against would-be attackers. S+, 5 stars, 10/10, cannot recommend enough. Always keep one or two in your locker/apartment for when you need to start over.



Pros

• Deals "okay" damage
  
• It's free?

Cons

• Doesn't inflict bleeding
  
• Somewhat heavy

Personal opinion
This weapon is pretty much dead weight in any Cortex fates' kit: ammo is free and unlimited, so why close the distance to use a mediocre melee weapon? Even as a Limitator, you'll lose a toe-to-toe melee fight against a Zealot with a Ritual Axe, so why even take the risk? The only saving grace of the Nightstick is its niche as a "less than lethal" compliance weapon for beating up unruly proles. It doesn't inflict bleeding, so feel free to beat them within an inch of their life!



Pros

• Lightweight
  
• Fast attack speed
  
• Inflicts bleeding
  
• Can skin corpses
  
• Quiet
  
• It's free!

Cons

• Mediocre damage
  
• Cannot smash machinery

Personal opinion
Much like the Knife, the Switchblade is easily outclassed by the other available melee options. I would rate it higher than the Knife, however, because as a Scumbag it is a genuinely useful tool for causing mischief and spreading the Rot. The Switchblade is quiet (NOT silent), making it much easier to kill proles and take the bodies for sacrifice. It also allows you to skin corpses to provide the meat to your Zealots. Beyond that, it's a solidly mediocre melee weapon. It inflicts bleeding and does slightly more damage than the Knife, but you're probably better off with a Pickaxe - or a gun.



Pros

• Highest damage of any melee weapon in the game
  
• Inflicts bleeding
  
• Can skin corpses
  
• Quiet
  
• Cool cult symbol on the side
  
• Can smash machinery
  
• It's free!

Cons

• Heavy
  
• Slow attack speed

Personal opinion
Statistically, the best melee weapon in the game. Deals heavy damage - even more than the Pickaxe - and gives Zealots the ability to skin their own corpses. Like the Switchblade, it gives Zealots a quiet option for fueling the Ritual Pits, and combined with stamina-enhancing drugs like Jenkem or Epinephrine, you can go on some truly terrifying killing sprees, literally running down your prey in the street. Praise the Rot!



Uhhhh I'll be honest I forgot about the Screwdriver. It inflicts light bleeding and does less damage than the Knife, although it can also skin corpses. It's lightweight and it's free so I guess that's nice? You're better off using literally anything else as a weapon.

"Hits to kill" is based on body hits to a full health neutral fate (ie a prole) with no buffs or modifiers. Faction-aligned fates like Controllers, Scumbags, Limitators etc will take more hits to kill. For a full damage breakdown see the Crafted/Scum Firearms: advanced section.

ALL firearms (and ammunition) are considered contraband, and you will be marked for Limitation if spotted holding one (ie having it equipped in your hands) by any Cortex fate or Surveillor/camera, or if a Cortex fate searches you when you have one in your inventory.

Firearms can only be crafted in two places: at a Cult Bench, or at a regular Workbench with the Gunsmithing Tools upgrade active.

Accuracy is rather subjective here; I based it on a weapon's ability to hit a standing prole from 20m away.

Semi-automatic handgun
Beats a knife!

• Crafting recipe: 1x Odd Glue, 1x Machine Trinkets, 1x Metal Plate
  
• Ammo: 9mm
  
• Mag size: 7
  
• Hits to kill: 6
  
• Accuracy: bad

Fully-automatic SMG
You don't wanna know what went into this!

• Crafting recipe: 1x Axle, 1x Machine Trinkets, 1x Odd Glue, 1x Jenkem
  
• Ammo: 9mm
  
• Mag size: 32
  
• Hits to kill: 7
  
• Accuracy: bad

Revolver
Six bullets, more than enough to kill anything that moves!

• Crafting recipe: 1x Old Gun Parts, 1x Wood, 3x Machine Trinkets
  
• Ammo: .357 magnum
  
• Mag size: 6
  
• Hits to kill: 2
  
• Accuracy: good

Sawn-off double-barrel shotgun
A timeless classic.

• Crafting recipe: 1x Old Gun Parts, 1x Wood, 2x Machine Trinkets
  
• Ammo: 12g
  
• Mag size: 2
  
• Hits to kill: 1*
  
• Accuracy: TERRIBLE

*if all pellets hit


Fully-automatic shotgun
This'll make some noise.

• Crafting recipe: 2x Metal Plates, 1x Machine Trinkets, 1x Advanced Gun Parts
  
• Ammo: 12g
  
• Mag size: 12
  
• Hits to kill: 2*
  
• Accuracy: TERRIBLE

*if all pellets hit


Fully-automatic SMG
A real political statement.

• Crafting recipe: 2x Metal Plates, 1x Axle, 1x Odd Glue, 1x Machine Trinkets
  
• Ammo: 9mm
  
• Mag size: 18
  
• Hits to kill: 6
  
• Accuracy: bad

Semi-automatic battle rifle
A deadly tool in the right hands.

• Crafting recipe: 2x Wood, 1x Axle, 1x Machine Trinkets, 1x Old Gun Parts
  
• Ammo: 6.5x55mm
  
• Mag size: 6
  
• Hits to kill: 2
  
• Accuracy: good

Fully-automatic assault rifle
An iconic weapon of revolution.

• Crafting recipe: 2x Wood, 2x Axles, 1x Machine Trinkets, 2x Old Gun Parts
  
• Ammo: 7.62x39mm
  
• Mag size: 30
  
• Hits to kill: 5
  
• Accuracy: decent

Fully-automatic marksman's rifle
They say you never hear the shot that kills you.

• Crafting recipe: 2x Wood, 2x Axles, 2x Machine Trinkets, 1x Advanced Gun Parts
  
• Ammo: 9x39mm
  
• Mag size: 10
  
• Hits to kill: 4
  
• Accuracy: decent

Here, I'll go over each weapon in-depth, giving it's hits-to-kill for each fate, and a short personal evaluation of the weapon. At the end of the section there's a table directly comparing each weapon.

Note that all neutral fates (Proles, Dealers/Bankers, and Corpsmen) share the same health pool. Liquidators have the same health as Sanitars, who have the same health as Scumbags.

Damage to Zealots isn't (currently!) included in this section as I was initially doing these tests for a "how to play scum" guide. I will update this section as soon as I get round to doing it!


Pros

• Cheapest gun to craft
  
• Can be found in stashes - no crafting required!
  
• Lightweight
  
• Cheap ammo

Cons

• Second-lowest damage of any firearm
  
• Lowest damage per magazine of any firearm
  
• Inaccurate at medium/long ranges

Personal opinion
The Frommer is BAD. However, it does have its niches. Since it's so readily available - cheap to craft and you can literally just find it lying around - it makes a good "throwaway" weapon for equipping disposable Scumbags to do things like smash machinery or kill a few proles. They'll lose the moment they encounter any sort of armed opposition (even a Liquidator can out-damage the Frommer with their flamethrower), but when they die nothing of great value will be lost. Use the Frommer as a Scumbag, when you're weak and disposable, and upgrade to something stronger once you become a Zealot.



Pros

• Good damage relative to it's cost
  
• Biggest magazine capacity of any craftable firearm
  
• Cheap to craft
  
• Cheap ammo

Cons

• Slow rate of fire
  
• Poor accuracy
  
• Runs through ammo quickly
  
• Requires prior resource gathering as non-Scum fate, or help from a non-Scum fate on the surface in order to craft

Personal opinion
The PM9 occupies a weird space; it's a low-tier weapon, but it's recipe requires an item that can only be acquired above ground (Jenkem). Therefore, to craft this, you have to either acquire Jenkem beforehand as another fate and stash it away to be used as scum, or have a neutral fate bring you some Jenkem from the surface. If you can get past this hurdle, however, the PM9 is a good choice for a cheap weapon. Although it does less damage than the Pity - it's direct competition as a low-cost SMG - it has nearly double the magazine capacity, meaning you have far more trigger time and, crucially, more chances to actually hit your target. For me, this elevates it above the Pity, cementing it as the premiere low-cost automatic weapon. A good choice for Scumbags if you have the resources and suitable for Zealots if there's nothing better available.



Pros

• Very high damage
  
• Good accuracy
  
• Cheap ammo
  
• Good ammo efficiency
  
• Badass name + cool cult symbol on the side

Cons

• Low magazine (I know it's a cylinder I don't care) capacity
  
• Semi-automatic, slow fire rate
  
• Expensive to craft

Personal opinion
The RDZ is an interesting gun. It's rather expensive to craft, costing THREE Machine Trinkets, but it offers unparalled damage for a handgun. Being able to 3-hit-kill Controller fates is no joke, and a few Scumbags with this weapon can easily hold their own against Cortex fates if they play their cards right, and it makes a good backup weapon for Zealots too. However, the low magazine capacity really lets it down in close quarters gunfights: if you miss your shots, you'll probably be dead before you get the chance to reload. Pick your fights with this weapon, stay at long range and don't be afraid to back off if the enemy get too close.



Pros

• Highest damage of any firearm in the game
  
• Great ammo efficiency
  
• Lightweight
  
• Cheap to craft relative to it's strength

Cons

• Smallest magazine capacity in the game (yes I know it technically doesn't have a magazine)
  
• Ammo is expensive to craft
  
• Can't two-shot Limitators
  
• Utterly useless at anything beyond point-blank range

Personal opinion
The Director's Death is a weapon for a patient Scumbag. It offers unrivalled firepower, able to down Controllers in just two shots, and Sanitars in one. The reload is surprisingly fast too, and in combination with a drug like Jenkem you can easily weave in and out of gunfights, dropping foes with two quick blasts. However, those sawn-off barrels give the Director's Death it's biggest weakness: a total and absolute lack of range. Trying to hit anything beyond spitting distance with this thing is futile, and you'll be mown down trying to close the gap. This is best used as an ambush weapon by Scumbags, or as a backup weapon for Zealots using something long-ranged like the Kidney Splitter or AG42B. If you can find a willing Prole, they can also use it to sneak up behind Cortex fates and two-tap them before they know what's happening. Vive la Resistance!



Pros

• Exceptional damage output; highest DPS in the game
  
• Cheap to craft for a high tier gun

Cons

• Uses expensive ammo
  
• Uses A LOT of expensive ammo
  
• Poor performance beyond close range
  
• Loud
  
• Empties its magazine very quickly

Personal opinion
I go back and forth on the Lung Puncher; on the one hand, it is the strongest weapon in the game in close quarters, bar none. If you can lure a Cortex fate into a close-range fight, you'll wipe the floor with them, every time, guaranteed. Outside of close range though, the Lung Puncher suffers from its lack of accuracy, requiring you to empty an entire magazine for even a chance to hit your target. The ammo is expensive, too: 12g requires 2x Gun Powder and 1x Old Ammo to craft, and it only provides 25 shots instead of the usual 50; that's only two magazines for the ammo-hungry Lung Puncher. The gun itself is cheap to craft, relative to its power, requiring only 3x Metal Plates and 1x Machine Trinkets in addition to the Advanced Gun Parts. An extremely situational, but extremely powerful weapon, it's a good idea to have at least one Zealot wielding this when you take the fight to the Cortex.

Pros

• High rate of fire
  
• Decent damage
  
• Cheap ammo

Cons

• Low magazine capacity
  
• Expensive to craft relative to its strength
  
• Burns through ammo

Personal opinion
If the Pity had a different crafting recipe, it'd be a solid choice of weapon. Unfortunately, it directly competes with the Lung Puncher (Metal Plates), Tantalizer (Axles), and AG42B (also Axles) for crafting resources, and those limited resources would be MUCH better spent on the latter weapons. The Pity SMG itself is a perfectly serviceable weapon, dealing decent damage with a high rate of fire that lets it burst down single enemies at close range. However, with its low accuracy and small magazine it struggles at long and even medium ranges, or when fighting more than one enemy - expect to spend more time reloading than shooting when using this gun. Suitable for Scumbags when there's plenty of resources to go around, or as a backup weapon for a Zealot using something long-ranged.



Pros

• Highest damage of any non-shotgun firearm in the game
  
• Good accuracy
  
• Ammo efficient

Cons

• Low magazine capacity
  
• Slow/semi-automatic fire rate
  
• Somewhat expensive to craft

Personal opinion
The AG42B makes a great primary weapon for Zealots, capable of dishing out significant damage at medium to long ranges, where Cortex weapons struggle to fight back. The low magazine capacity makes it a liability in close-range fights however, and you should always carry a backup weapon in case you get pushed (the Pity, PM9, and Director's Death are good for this). Can be suitable for Scumbags to use, if they keep their soft, squishy bodies far enough away from the fighting so as not to get killed.



Pros

• Good damage output
  
• Decent accuracy
  
• Good rate of fire
  
• High magazine capacity
  
• Cheap to craft relative to its strength
  
• Really cool cult symbol on the handguard

Cons

• Uses expensive ammo
  
• Uses A LOT of expensive ammo
  
• Still kinda expensive to craft

Personal opinion
Probably the best firearm available to the scum faction, certainly the best all-around weapon. This classic firearm performs well at long and short range, but is out-performed by weapons that dominate those niches (AG42B/Kidney Splitter/RDZ for long range, Lung Puncher/Director's Death for short range). At medium ranges however, the Tantalizer is unmatched, able to deal out significant damage for a good amount of time thanks to it's high magazine capacity. The two main drawbacks are it's relatively high crafting cost, particularly Wood which is hard to come by in the Underground, and it's high ammo usage. This is the only scum weapon that can reasonably compete with the Limitator's Surma LMG - although I'd still avoid taking them on in a fair fight.



Pros

• It's got a silencer!
  
• Good accuracy

Cons

• Mediocre damage
  
• Expensive to craft
  
• Low magazine capacity
  
• Surprisingly ammo hungry

Personal opinion
The Kidney Splitter is a personal favourite of mine - it's a long-range rifle with a silencer (suppressor for you pedants) that can dish out damage before anyone even realises where the shots are coming from. Its main drawbacks are its low magazine capacity, making it a liability in close quarters, and the somewhat lacking damage - it needs over half its magazine to kill a Controller, whereas the Tantalizer can do it in under a third. The two best uses for the Kidney Splitter are as a support weapon in group fights, where your allies can make up for it's shortcomings, or as a sabotage tool, using its low noise profile and good accuracy to smash cameras from outside their detection range.

This section contains all the raw data I collected about the firearms in-game. I'll post the tables below, along with some summarising thoughts.



This table is a simple comparison of the shots it takes to kill each fate. It's not particularly useful except as a metric of raw damage; looking at the table you'd suppose the Director's Death is the best gun in the game, given it's immense power, or that the Frommer and Pity are roughly comparable, since they have similar damage. This is not the case, however. Evaluating a weapon's usefulness is quite subjective, and a lot of other factors play into it, such as accuracy, magazine size, reload speed, ease of acquisition, ammo efficiency, etc. I've tried to cover these things in the other advanced sections of the guide, but I'll take a closer look at it here, to help you better understand the pros and cons of each gun and make your own decisions based on your needs.

Here is another table that might prove more useful:



This one shows the shots to kill expressed as a percentage of the firearm's magazine capacity. This is useful in two ways: it displays how useful a weapon is at fighting multiple opponents, being able to dish out more damage before having to reload; and it shows a weapon's margin for error. If you need 80% of your magazine to kill a target, that doesn't leave you much ammo left if you miss a few shots, whereas if you only need 10%, you can afford to be less accurate and still have a good chance of killing the enemy.

It helpfully shows how utterly terrible the Frommer is, needing perfect accuracy to take out the weakest Cortex fate (the Sanitar) in one magazine, and requiring two and three (!) reloads to kill a Controller and Limitator respectively. By comparison, the Pity does almost the same damage, but due to it's higher capacity is able to kill Controllers and Limitators without needing to reload (although with little room for error).

The table also shows the difficulty scum face in fighting Limitators: namely, most weapons need either to use their entire magazine, or even reload, in order to finish one off. Only the Lung Puncher and Tantalizer have the right combination of damage and magazine capacity to make a close-range engagement with a Limitator even close to fair. However, with a little thought, we also have the answer to how to fight Limitators: strength in numbers. One Scumbag firing a Kidney Splitter needs to reload before they can kill a Limitator, but two can finish them off in roughly half a magazine each. By increasing the amount of guns, we reduce the mag% to kill for each individual fighter, increasing damage output and margin for error.

Wow! More guns = more damage, who'd have thought it! But that's enough waffling about numbers and theory, let's take a look at the traitorous pigs' Cortexs' arsenal.

"Hits to kill" is based on body hits to a full health neutral fate (ie a prole) with no buffs or modifiers. Faction-aligned fates like Controllers, Scumbags, Limitators etc will take more hits to kill. For a full damage breakdown see the Cortex Firearms: advanced section.

Cortex fates acquire their weapons and ammunition differently from scum and neutral fates. Controllers spawn with the Ahti, Limitators with the Surma, and Sanitars with the Brain Scorcher; all three can earn the Conciliator and Arbiter via promotions from doing their jobs.



All Cortex weapons use the universal "CTX: Ammo Pack", which weighs 4kg and can be acquired from the Cortex armouries found in the Nexus. These ammo packs can also be used to reload any non-Cortex firearms you might acquire.




Accuracy is rather subjective here; I based it on a weapon's ability to hit a standing prole from 20m away.

Semi-automatic handgun
Standard issue, standard performance.

• Hits to kill: 5
  
• Magazine capacity: 8
  
• Accuracy: bad

Semi-automatic shotgun
Those aren't beanbag rounds!

• Hits to kill: 2*
  
• Magazine capacity: 6
  
• Accuracy: TERRIBLE

*if all pellets hit


Fully-automatic SMG
A real bullet hose.

• Hits to kill: 5
  
• Magazine capacity: 22
  
• Accuracy: bad

Fully-automatic "LMG"
The last word in Cortex firepower.

• Hits to kill: 5
  
• Magazine capacity: 71
  
• Accuracy: bad

Fully-automatic marksman's rifle
Arms for the conscripts.

• Hits to kill: 4
  
• Magazine capacity: 10
  
• Accuracy: decent

Here, I'll go over each weapon in-depth, giving it's hits-to-kill for each fate, and a short personal evaluation of the weapon. At the end of the section there's a table directly comparing each weapon.

Note that all neutral fates (Proles, Dealers/Bankers, and Corpsmen) share the same health pool. Liquidators have the same health as Sanitars, who have the same health as Scumbags.

I haven't collected the data for damage to Cortex fates yet, as the situations where you would be fighting Cortex fates with Cortex weapons are pretty rare, but I'll update this section when I get round to it!


Pros

• You spawn with it
  
• One more round compared to the Frommer!
  
• Easily underestimated

Cons

• Low damage
  
• Small magazine capacity
  
• It's pretty trash

Personal opinion
The Ahti is a fine sidearm, but it's just that: a sidearm. Going up against any organised force of scum will leave you bleeding out on the pavement in no time at all. The Ahti is best used in a supporting role, drawing fire away from allies that can deal the killing blows. That's not to say the Ahti is toothless - it can kill a Scumbag with a single magazine, and a Zealot in under two - it's just that if your opposition is even moderately better armed than you, you'll probably lose the fight.



Pros

• High damage
  
• Good pyschological effect

Cons

• Slow rate of fire
  
• Terrible accuracy
  
• Low magazine capacity
  
• Requires promotion

Personal opinion
Shotguns are classic police weapons, and the Arbiter steps neatly into that role. It deals out heavy damage at close range, but falls off quickly with its atrocious accuracy and bullet spread. Pick your fights with this one: in open areas you'll be mown down before you can close the gap, but if you manage to get in amongst the enemy you can do some real damage. Make sure you hit your shots though - the low magazine capacity and slow rate of fire make you vulnerable to groups of enemies, or to any enemies you don't manage to finish off. However, the exceptional damage of the Arbiter has another benefit: anyone hit with a blast of buckshot will probably turn and run rather than try and fight you in close quarters. Very useful for taking pressure off your allies.


*does the same damage as the Ahti, but reloading the Ahti allows an extra tick of bleed damage, resulting in one less shot to kill compared to this

Pros

• Okay damage for an automatic
  
• Ridiculous rate of fire
  
• Decent magazine capacity

Cons

• Bad accuracy
  
• Empties its magazine fast
  
• Requires promotion

Personal opinion
Compared to the Arbiter, the Conciliator offers a slightly more well-rounded option, but one still firmly in close-short range territory. The exceptionally high fire rate and decent damage make this a monster in tight spaces, but the poor accuracy really hurts its ability to reach out further than that. I'd still take it over the Arbiter, though.


*does the same damage as the Ahti, but reloading the Ahti allows an extra tick of bleed damage, resulting in one less shot to kill compared to this

Pros

• You spawn with it
  
• Highest magazine capacity in the game (71 rounds!)
  
• High rate of fire
  
• Good psychological effect

Cons

• Raw damage is quite low
  
• Bad accuracy hurts performance at range

Personal opinion
The Surma's greatest strength lies in that 71 round drum magazine: you can just lean on the trigger and keep firing all day long. They'll drop dead eventually! Zealots and especially Scumbags are usually terrified of this weapon, and for good reason; if you corner them in a tight space, they're going to lose that fight 9 times out of 10. More experienced players, however, can easily play around this weapon's weaknesses. As a Limitator, you should try not to get drawn into long-range firefights, where scum weapons have the advantage. Likewise, never push a corner if you don't know what's behind it: a Lung Puncher or even a well-handled Director's Death can out-DPS the Surma. The strength of this weapon lies in its sustained firepower, allowing the Limitator to spray bullets down range, keeping enemy heads down whilst other Cortex fates close in to mop up.



Pros

• It's got a silencer!
  
• You spawn with it
  
• Most accurate Cortex weapon

Cons

• Low magazine capacity
  
• Mediocre damage

Personal opinion
The Brain Scorcher is statistically identical to the scum's Kidney Splitter (sadly, the flamethrower mounted under the barrel is purely cosmetic - for now). As such, it has all the same advantages and suffers all the same drawbacks. The suppressor allows you to engage Limits without them realising where the gunfire is coming from, letting you get crucial early damage in before they can fight back. Being the most accurate of all Cortex weapons, it's fitting that it's given to the Sanitar, the weakest Cortex fate: your role is to hang back in firefights, dealing damage at range and keeping yourself out of harm's way. The low magazine capacity is a serious hindrance in close quarters, and engaging more than one enemy at a time is practically a death sentence. Stay at a distance and play it safe, and this rifle will reward you.

This section contains all the raw data I collected about the firearms in-game. I'll post the tables below, along with some summarising thoughts.


This table shows the number of shots it takes each weapon to kill the specified fate, per hitbox.


This table shows the same information as the previous table, but expressed as a % of the firearm's magazine capacity.

As in the scum firearms section, these two tables should provide you with enough information to make informed decisions about how to use Cortex firearms - and how to fight against them.

The Surma is the clear winner here, needing not even a fifth of its magazine capacity to kill the strongest scum fate, the Zealot. The other Cortex weapons, however, are roughly on par with their scum equivalents, having similar mag% to kill figures. The Ahti and Brain Scorcher in particular - the two most common Cortex weapons - have very little leeway when it comes to fighting armed and organised scum. As always, strength comes in numbers, and Cortex fates should always operate in groups and never respond to gunfire alone, especially if they're armed only with their default weapons.

For fighting against the Cortex, remember that their weapons aren't actually that much stronger than your own - their big advantage lies in their longevity, with easy access to medicines like Hemoblocker and Corpsmen to keep their health topped up. Focus on ambush and hit-and-run tactics to whittle down their numbers, rather than trying to set up large, set-piece battles.

In the name of Science!

Well, that was a lot of words.

If you managed to make it this far, I want to offer a sincere thank you. Putting this together was a lot of work, and it stemmed mostly from my own curiosity. Hopefully this guide proves useful to anyone else out there who, like me, was intrigued by the lack of transparency around the different weapons and their abilities.

If you're curious, I did all the tests on a locally hosted devmode server. They weren't exactly scientific, and there's every possibility that I've got things wrong. Some things that I DO know however, are the health values of every fate in the game. They are as follows:


I didn't include this information in the guide as without knowing the damage each weapon does, this information is essentially useless except for telling us which fates are stronger than others (which we already know). However, using this information alongside the hits-to-kill data, we can start to figure out the damage that each weapon does.

Please note that these numbers are likely inaccurate and they represent my best guess based on hits-to-kill and the known health of each fate. If you doubt them, I highly suggest doing the maths yourself. Even if you don't doubt them, do the maths anyway - more brains is always better!


Again, I cannot stress enough that these are guesses based on known information. Without someone to shoot (or shoot me) in a controlled environment, I simply don't have the tools to nail down exact numbers.

Some other random things that didn't make it into the guide:

• Headshots deal 200% damage (melee and projectile)
  
• Weapons are hitscan
  
• Bleeding is unaffected by weapon damage and does not stack
  
• You can sprint and reload but NOT sprint and attack/fire
  
• There are no partial reloads for any weapon - you always reload the entire magazine
  
• Reloading with a partially full magazine will retain the bullets in the magazine

I think that just about covers it.

If any of you have any comments or corrections, please let me know! I'm happy to amend this guide if (and when!) I'm proven wrong.

- amyl