An Explanation Of Modding Any Weapon (Hooray For Math!)

[Chromosis]

So when I started out, one of the main things I didn't really get was modding weapons.  Sure, things like serration were easy to understand, but how +puncture or slash vs. +elemental damage was tougher.  Now that I know, I wanted to share some stuff.

 

Remember - ALL MODS GO OFF BASE STATS OF A GUN

 

Elemental vs. physical types (IE. puncture, slash, and impact).

 

When you use an elemental damage mod, such as +90% electricty, you take the total amount of all damage and add that much electric damage.

 

Gun A has the following stats:

slash = 50

puncture = 50

impact = 50

 

The total is 150, so +90% would yield (150 X .90) electric damage.  that is to say, 135 more electric damage.  This works regardless of the elemental type.

 

Now, physical damage takes the specific stat and adds to it.  Take Gun A from above.  If you got a mod that adds 90% slash damage, it would result in an increase BASED ONLY ON SLASH DAMAGE.  So now, it looks like this

 

puncture = 50

impact = 50

slash = 50 + (50 X .9) = 50+(45) = 95 damage.

 

Clearly, you can see that the elemental mods deal more damage overall.  Now if you use a weapon, such as the Latron Prime (may it rest in peace) which has very high puncture damage, but lower slash and impact, a mod such as piercing caliber (120% puncture damage) would result in higher damage overall than a 90% elemental mod.  So take a look at your available mod pool, and the stats of your weapon for the best results.

 

Critical Damage/Chance VS. Base Damage

 

When you want high damage, you want critical hits, also called Crit Chance.  The important thing is that sometimes, it is better to increase your weapons base damage than to increase critical damage.  Lets look at an example.

 

Gun A

Crit chance = 10%

Crit Damage = 2x

Damage = 100 (this includes all current damage)

 

Gun B

Crit chance = 50%

crit damge = 3x

Damage = 20 (this includes all current damage)

 

Now, if we add a mod to increase crit chance by 100%, then Gun A goes to 20%  crit chance.  Gun B goes to 100%.  1 of every 5 shots fired (on average) by Gun A will deal double damage, but all shots fired by B will deal triple damage.  So lets look at some averages to determine average damage.

 

Assuming we fire 10 shots from each gun:

 

Gun A will average 2 critical shots (20% of 10 = 2) for 200 damage each, plus 8 shots for standard 100 damage.

 

So:

(Criticals + standard)/shots fired = average damage 

-or-

((2 x 200) + (8 x 100))/10 = (400 + 800)/10 = 1200/10 = 120 damage per shot on average

 

Gun B will shoot 10 criticals, for 60 damage each, remembering that B does 3x damage on criticals on a base of 20 damage.

 

So:

(10 x 60)/10 = 60 damage on average per shot

 

Gun A clearly looks like the better choice, which in this case, without any other mods, is true.  But if we add base damage or +crit damage mods, will change.

 

So lets double the crit damage multiplier for both guns.

Gun A looks like this now, assuming all other stats remain the same from our previous equation.

 

((2 x 400) + (800))/10 = (800 + 800)/10 = 1600/10 = 160 damage per shot on average. An increase of 33% (or 1/3)

 

Gun B 

(10 x 120)/10 = 120 damage per shot on average. 100% increase in damage

 

Now, resetting the original crit damage multiplier, if we increase the base damage, by 100%, you would find that the average damage looks like this.

 

Gun A = ((2 x 400) + (8 x 200))/10 = (800 + 1600)/10 = 2400/10 = 240 damage on average per shot.

 

Gun B = (10 x 120)/10 = 120 damage on average per shot.

 

So what did we find?  Well, with a gun with higher crit chance, base damage or increases to crit damage have similar effects. When you have a lesser crit chance, base damage has a greater effect.  Now, this doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't add crit chance or damage to lower crit weapons. Just make sure to weigh each mod added against another.  It is not as cut and dry as the example.  Guns have wide ranges of different damages and mods add differing amounts.

 

Also remember that different enemy types have weaknesses to types of damage.  The Codex in game gives you information on weaknesses of enemies you have scanned, so if you want to find the best gun for a specific event or node, check it out first to be best prepared.

 

I hope you find this helpful and remember this counts for all weapons, not just guns.

 

[KidMemphis]

Nice guide!

[tuba2000]

ty for information.

keep it up.... :)

[Darzk]

Also important to note that adding to the base I/P/S of a weapon does not increase the elemental damage.

 

So if you have your 50/50/50 weapon and you add 90% Slash, you now have 50/50/95 or 195 total; but if you also add 90% elec you now have 50/50/95 and 135 elec; you're not getting 90% of the 195, but the 150 base damage. 

 

Likewise, you do see an increase in elemental damage from Serration and the like; +% damage mods; If you have 150 damage and add 100% damage, you now have 100/100/100 damage for 300 total, and your 90% elec is adding 270 elec damage.

 

Finally, any two mods that add the same thing stack additively before applying themselves. So if you have a 90% and a 60% elec mod applied to a 100 damage weapon, you get 100*150% = 150 elec, instead of 100*90%*60% or anything like that. Or if you have Serration (+165% damage) and Heavy Caliber (+165% damage) on a 100 damage weapon you get +330% damage; 100 + 100*330% = 430 damage.

[Chromosis]

Also important to note that adding to the base I/P/S of a weapon does not increase the elemental damage.

 

So if you have your 50/50/50 weapon and you add 90% Slash, you now have 50/50/95 or 195 total; but if you also add 90% elec you now have 50/50/95 and 135 elec; you're not getting 90% of the 195, but the 150 base damage. 

 

Likewise, you do see an increase in elemental damage from Serration and the like; +% damage mods; If you have 150 damage and add 100% damage, you now have 100/100/100 damage for 300 total, and your 90% elec is adding 270 elec damage.

 

Finally, any two mods that add the same thing stack additively before applying themselves. So if you have a 90% and a 60% elec mod applied to a 100 damage weapon, you get 100*150% = 150 elec, instead of 100*90%*60% or anything like that. Or if you have Serration (+165% damage) and Heavy Caliber (+165% damage) on a 100 damage weapon you get +330% damage; 100 + 100*330% = 430 damage.

 

Absolutely correct.  Said in the short way, is that all mods go off the base stats of a weapon.  There is no stacking of bonuses besides Serration, which I believe is counted before all other mods are added in.

 

I would also add that every weapon uses Serration (primaries), hornet strike (secondaries), or Pressure Point (melee) for top DPS builds, so these mods are going to be on your weapon(s).

Edited March 18, 2015 by Chromosis