Talk:HIKS S300/@comment-123.2.32.76-20150215032051

My level 50 Medic just picked up a 8*** [RED] S300 (pre-loaded with deadly and adaptive) from a Nantonium. Not sure what to get for the 3rd upgrade - Nightmare mode has kinda changed the game significantly. For starters, adaptive has become more important, as Nightmare zombies of any type are pretty much resistant to everything. Secondly, the massive cash drops have made field supplies a far less valuable skill as HD ammo has become more affordable - even for the more expensive weapons.

I'd say piercing has also become more important. Previously it was hard to get 5 enemies lined up in a row because the front ones would die too quickly, but with Nightmare you can easily get half a dozen high level, highly resistant zombies, that take a whole lot of killing, coming at you in a tight cluster, making a higher pierce much more valuable. Although, the HIKS isn't the best weapon for that - I'd go for a waveclear like a mixmaster or supermarine - but pierce can definitely be a valuable upgrade

Capacity is less of an issue, given the small base clip size increasing it to 24 will not make much difference in damage output, race modded is the superior option here. And no, getting an extra 2-3 ammo each time from field supplies is NOT worth it.

Tenacious is normally a recommendation, but I'm not a fan. It's a 3 second DOT (all other thermal is 2 sec), which is only useful on bosses. With deadly, helmet boosts, and masteries all not boosting DOT, maths says tenacious will up my damage by maybe 15%. Pinpoint would give me better damage than that (~24% with full skill, not including bonuses from masteries).

Race modded can increase the amount of time you spend firing rather than reloading, which can up your damage significantly. However if you have enough points in Fast Reload, Nimble, and wear Titan IDS, then your reload will already be pretty swift and race modded can only shave so much off that. Enough to justify an augment slot? Well, that's up to you.

So unless you're lucky enough to pick one up with Overclocked on it, you'll be wanting Race Modded if you have a slow reload speed, Pinpoint (or Tenacious if you don't have points in Critical Shot) for more damage, or Pierce if you want to hit more zombies.