Uh, and I don’t mean this in a mean way, but did you ever consider that in your 300 hours (vs 1k, 2k), and not all of that on the hardest diffs, your observations are different? Like your comment to @Ralendil about ammo…
Fire shots have been spammed and oversold (edit: incl. here) ad-nauseum with only a very recent drop-off. Just because you’d only use it 4-6 times doesn’t mean that’s how it was generally used, including by other(s) here rushing to its defense.
I’m not exaggerating either, I wish I was, it was non-stop fire shot spam including if not especially on zealots. If you’d bothered to read up I made that clear, I’m repeating myself here. If the “average use” you described matched the in-game usage I wouldn’t have said a thing.
idk there was quite a huge uptick in topics discussing about lack of ammunition in maps when survivalist aura was last time nerfed.
Its definitely not a topic that has only 1 consensus, at least not in these forums.
I think you misunderstood so let me rephrase :
We’re not talking about how skilled are people at using them but the weapons capabilities itself.
Just because alot of people are using it poorly that doesnt mean the weapon itself is terrible and just because others are bad at it that doenst mean you should assume that OP will also be bad and try to keep them away from using it. They should have a chance to try it out themselves.
It would be entirely different case if the weapon actually was bad like the TH or the new boltgun pistol from what i’ve heard. but it isnt bad, its great at what it was designed to do.
I use Boltgun. Reduce a stack of crushers. Kill some Bulwarks or maulers and got the 90 victims in less than 30 sec achievement with it. Was last man standing with a very huge horde cleaned it with this weapon. Take time but still possible to kill 1-2 sniper when you got a pug without anyone who’s take care of them. Got a Boltgun with maniac (locked) and carapace with pinning and cavalcade. Help well with monsters too.
Braced Autogun, though if you feel that there are overwhelming hordes constantly in your matches the problem may be somewhat out of your control in pubs; we never know what’s going on with other people in Darktide or why they’re playing the game that day. That being said, I know the point of the thread is to get ranged weapon recommendations but I think it’s worth noting three options worth trying if the guns fail to provide the horde clear you’re looking for. These are more indirect methods of achieving a similar outcome, mind you. Shroudfield with Invocation of Death on a crit build makes for a smooth experience in sticking with the team or a specific teammate and reviving people is much easier than normal with such a build. Chorus IoD can negate the danger of rager patrols, crusher patrols and overwhelming hordes by giving the rest of the team time to destroy everything. A more limited use option for clearing out basic hordes comes in the form of Immolation Grenades which have an extremely fast detonation time if thrown underhand (right click → left click).