User blog:Gracchus Mccarthe/Critical Mass's Sublight COM2 vs. Shotlite's Hornet: THE NUMBERS

OK, I've seen some arguments about the Sub-Light COM2 and the Hornet. People go back and forth about which one is superior.

The question "Which gun is better?" will be answered here with facts (OK, and a miniscule amount of opinion). Consider the following stats:

(This table is from SkyrunnerM35's blog post.) The following stats show just how the guns compare in each category. ( stats are in brackets.)

Damage Tie [Hornet 1.2]

Pierce: COM2 1.25 [1.75]

Capacity: Tie

RoF: Hornet 1.2 [1.2]

Reload speed: Hornet 1.25 [1.25]

Movement mod: Hornet 1.2125 [1.2125]


 * The COM2 slows the user down to 80% speed, while the Hornet slows the user down to only 97%. The Hornet's movement modifier is less than 1/6 that of the COM2. HOWEVER, this method can't be used to calculate which gun is better in terms of movement, as -0% movement mod pistols would have to be considered infinitely better than guns that slow the player down (and only a total moron would say an HVM 001 is better than a HIKS S300).

COM2: 1.25 [1.75]

Hornet: 1.2 x 1.25 x 1.2125 = 1.81875 [1.2 x 1.2 x 1.25 x 1.2125] = 2.1825

The Hornet's overall stats are 1.455 [1.247] times better than the COM2's overall stats.

Now comes the ammo cost: The Hornet's ammunition costs 6.7x as much as the COM2's. The COM2's HD ammo is cheaper than the Hornet's standard ammo by quite a margin. Factoring in the ammo cost, the COM2's stats are 3.684 [4.3] times better.

Please note that ammo cost is not ecessarily a problem: Even if a player can't afford ammo for a certain weapon, Field Supplies might negate that problem.

Only base stats for the Sub-Light COM2 and the Hornet are considered here. Rarity, masteries, skills, levels required to obtain the COM2 and the Hornet, and augment costs have been disregarded.

Neither gun is totally better. The COM2 is cheaper to use, but HD ammo from Filed Supplies might be able to perpetually sustain Hornet ammo.

Another factor is other equipped weapons. A player with a HIKS S300 might feel that he can easily handle bosses, and so he takes a COM2 over a Hornet as the COM2 is better suited for crowd control, with its spread, higher pierce, and cheaper-than-crud ammo.

Another player has a RIA 20 Striker. Hordes are no problem for him, but he's constantly facing large swarms of Wickers and fiery skin Bloaters, not to mention some Thermal Necrosis Spawns. His Striker is virtually worthless in boss fights, and he often get overrun at the end of levels. He eventually gets a Hornet and uses it to dominate bosses, and his problem is solved.

In conclusion, the Sub-Light COM2 and the Hornet serve different purposes. Keep both weapons, should you get them, and find a good weapon to pair each one with. You can change your loadout every now and then so the game isn't so dull, and maybe you can even use these two rival weapons together. ;)

P.S. Thanks to Skyrunner35 for inspiring this post (I used the Striker example for you). And I'm sorry for overrunning this site with my horde of blog posts. ;)