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Fatsharks newest Patch brought us 2 new shovels for the Veteran and one more Shovel for the Ogryn.
Now, I hear you ask, “why tinker with perfection”? An understandable notion.
I, too, pondered about which one of the now available shovels best fits what I want of a shovel.
So I figured it’s time for a short comparison and analysis of the new models to facilitate discussion.
(Veteran) Shovels in general
The current, and so far, only, shovel for the veteran, the Standard Issue Munitorium Sapper Shovel, is an interesting weapon that is, alas, often a bit underappreciated.
Combining good stagger, good cleave, servicable attack speed, and decent defensive stats that I’m sure a theoretically primarily ranged class would appreciate, it suffers a bit from those defensive stats only really coming to fruition on a high level base, while its focus on crowd control with level-able damage multipliers against armoured foes leaves it less than lethal in early levels - precisely those levels where the player is also lacking a strong ranged option.
It probably doesn’t help that Shovels were nerfed by a recent bugfix.
The humble shovel, in that respect, is remarkably like an Ogryn weapon (except the fact that it’s fast) and also bears resemblance to the Zealot’s Crusher (minus the anti-armour damage output).
Shovels excell at crowd control, but will never be your first choice against armoured targets.
Amongst it’s often overlooked quirks, the Shovel offers unique opportunities for Blessings:
- Not only is it the only weapon to have “Take a swing”, granting weakspot damage after pushing an enemy, but it also offers blessings otherwise only available on other weapon types:
- Limbsplitter, Decimator, and All or Nothing, otherwise only available on Axes (what use is the former is admittedly anyone’s guess) with somewhat more of a single-target focus, and
- Uncanny Strike, otherwise only available on Knives and Psyker-Exclusive weapons.
This offers unique combination opportunities, some of which may be useful some day in this game’s future.
Anyways, unto the actual weapon comparison:
Standard Issue Munitorium Sapper Shovel
Our baseline, and only choice so far. Tagged "Versatile" and "Crowd Control".
It has three “Strikedown” Melee attacks that on average are more sideways than downwards, being 2 45° diagonal strikes followed by a horizontal strike from the right.
The light attacks deal slightly less dmg vs. Flak, more vs. Maniac, and none against Carapace outside of Finesse Attacks.
The Heavies are two clean horizontal swipes, quick to charge, with very good stagger for its speed, and more range than one might think given the size of the weapon.
The Push Attack is a useful direct vertical strikedown; Not my first choice after a push, but a welcome addition.
It’s Special is a fast forward stab, easy to aim, with VERY good stagger against Carapace and Unyielding enemies, but little in the way of damage. The utility value should be obvious, but it doesn’t provide any direct offensive power.
Unto the new contenders:
Munitorum Mk III Sapper Shovel
The first new contender. Tagged "Crowd Control" and "Strikedown".
It’s light attacks are a diagonal, 2 horizontal, and another diagonal swipe, reminscent of a heavy sword, only it’s better because it’s, you know, a shovel.
The last attack in the chain is a strikedown reminiscent of the standard shovel in that it’s more sideways than down, and has the same damage profile.
The Heavies are a Diagonal Swipe from the right, complete with a lovably janky animation, and a vertical strikedown deserving of the name.
The Push Attack is a horizontal swipe with good cleave.
The Special is a departure from the previous shovel in that it works more like activations on other melee weapons changing the weapon behavoir: Not only does it deal increased damage when hitting armoured targets, like, say, a virgin Mauler that has shown insufficient appreciation for our chosen tool of the trade, it also changes any affected attack to a vertical strikedown. The weapon will stick for a very short timeframe, complete with light slowdown, and deal a smaller tick of damage afterwards when pulling it out again.
Munitorum Mk VII Sapper Shovel
Lastly, the Mk7. Again, "Crowd Control" and "Strikedown".
At first glace, it looks pretty similar to the mk3:
Except, it’s probably actually closer to the standard shovel.
The light chain consists of two pleasingly horizonal swipes, followed by the customary not-really-strikedown and a vertical strikedown.
The Push Attack is a vertical strikedown like on our standard, and chains directly into light 3 for a useful single-target combo.
The Heavies look identical to the standard shovel’s, as well, two horizontal swipes with good cleave, good stagger, and an identical damage profile.
Only the Special works like the mk3 again, flipping the weapon’s tool end and changing the next attack to armour piercing single target. Unlike the mk3, the heavy and light use different angles (diagonal on the heavy, vertical on the light).
Ogryn Shovels:
Fenrir4life, right below, has graciously offered to take a look at the new Ogryn Shovels.
Preliminary Analysis:
The new marks seem rather similar to the existing one except for the new special, with the mk3 being a bit more different from the existing model than the mk7.
The special is probably useful in more situations than the stagger-stab on the standard-issue, but it’s also more involved, requiring an animation before doing a regular attack.
Of note, the special-activated attack causes 2 stacks of bleed when penetrating our Mauler, though this is of limited consequence given the attack timings involved.
To me, the mk7 seems like the better option so far, offering straight-forward attack chains that allow you to do more or less the same as on the standard, if maybe with the odd block in between, while exchanging the stab (theoretically useful, but I forget about it everytime I have an opportunity to use it) for potential extra damage against armour, and thus increasing the potential to be used as a main weapon. I quite like the ability to two-hit a mauler, though I’m aware that’s still not fast. (Edit: Crushers, too, if one of them is a crit. With Rending Strikes it’s nearly target agnostic.)
It felt a little more sluggish, but that’s probably just me getting used to the animation timings.
I also like that the activated light and heavy are slightly different, for all the practical difference it does not make.
So, fellow shovel afficionados, what’s your favourite? Anything I forgot?
Or, do you have an opinion on how the new Ogryn Shovel stacks up to the existing one?
Addendum:
Recent Talk about Shovels
Older reddit discussion about the shovel
Please do poke me at other threads discussing the ins and outs of the new tools. : )
