Zealot main here. I still run the Grippy as my preferred secondary over the Zarona Revolver (albeit that’s a close second) in my Combat Blade + Shroudfield + Blades build. Absolutely love it and can perform just fine with it on most Auric Maelstroms (some modifiers do be an issue tho but then what isn’t at that level), and on occasion it even helps me clutch things up for the team.
The revolver does more damage to Crushers, sure - but for that I’ve got the combat blade with its metric poopton of rending plus the backstab bonuses out of stealth plus the Uncanny Strike on my CB applying to the Blades on weak point hits (can 2-3 shot a Crusher when this happens). For everything else I find the Grippy performs just as good if not better than the Revolver. Bulwarks? 1st slugshot to leave them exposed, 2nd slug shot to the head usually gets the kill depending on what buffs and blessings you have active at the time (plus damage from your team of course). Reapers? Two slug shots to the head, 1st one staggers, 2nd one typically kills. Not too different from the revolver. Maulers? 1st slug shot to the body knocks them flat on their ass, 2nd slug shot to the body (especially with T4 flak dmg) usually kills them outright. Muties? Slug to the head, trigger Full Bore, then a blade for the kill. Spam blades after that if it’s a wave of another half dozen or so muties. Everything else is either a 1 shot, weak spot hit with the slug or close enough to its breakpoint that I can kill with a blade or vice-versa (in other words, blade then slug).
To summarise - the grippy still offers most of the damage output and characteristics of the Zarona revolver but with substantially more long-range CC, debatably more long-range accuracy, more ammo, a larger (regular) magazine and therefore, more support for team mates that might suddenly find themselves in a bad spot. Sure, you can kill the first two Crushers in a murder train of Elites with the Zarona for example, but then you get to the reloading part and that’s where that weapon falls flat and can leave you with your pants down. The Grippy on the other hand, might not kill the first couple of Crushers with ease, but you can stagger and knock down all of the Elites to create space for your frontline and not let anyone on your team get immediately overwhelmed. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve saved an ally from those silent Crusher sneak attacks from behind, or even straight-up overhead smashes from the front, by prioritizing those targets and firing off a couple of well-placed slug shots as a ranged interrupt.
And if you don’t have time to load in another slug? Well, the regular rounds aren’t the most efficient way of killing, and they’re practically useless against crushers, but for everything else - firing off rapid shots in succession can still take out most disablers/specialists in 3-4 shots, hell even a mauler getting up in your face can go down in 4 or 5 rounds (again, body shots for the flak dmg) and you’ve still got 2/3rds of your magazine left.
All of this is with at least T3 Full Bore and No Respite Blessings of course, and my Grippy has 80% dmg, 80% stopping power and 71% stability with flak + maniacs dmg perks. And honestly, if the Grippy had something like Surgical Strike or any form of extra rending on the slug shot much as the revolver does, then it would be a very clear cut above the Zarona IMHO.
Honorable mention goes to the surprisingly good burst damage on Monstrosities (particularly Beasts of Nurgle weak spots) with a slug shot out of Shroudfield and then following up with regular rounds spam to said weak spot with Full Bore active.
Anyway thanks for coming to my Agripinaa Shottie Ted Talk.
