Gunslinger - Rack 'em Up

[Cannonaire]

**EDIT 2**
It looks like Rack 'em Up doesn't work as I thought it did. I'll keep this post how it used to be in spoiler tags for reference, but it looks like it's not needed.

Spoiler!

**EDIT** This is how I assume it works. It might work differently. **END EDIT**

I just did a bit of simple math comparing Gunslinger's Rack 'em Up skill (+5% damage per consecutive HS) to Bone Breaker (+20% damage).

You need to land 8 consecutive headshots to match Bonebreaker. If you can do that and get even more, your damage can increase quite a bit. It takes a lot of well-aimed shots to make Rack 'em Up consistently worth it.

 

[Escadin]

I wonder if penetrating a zed and then hitting another zed in the torso or the map ruins your bonus. Actually, I wonder what "consecutive" means. Do we have to build up an uninterrupted combo or is it a buff that goes higher / resets in time with additional headhsot but ignores failures?

 

[Cannonaire]

I wonder if penetrating a zed and then hitting another zed in the torso or the map ruins your bonus. Actually, I wonder what "consecutive" means. Do we have to build up an uninterrupted combo or is it a buff that goes higher / resets in time with additional headhsot but ignores failures?

I don't know. We would probably need a 'show damage' plugin to see. My math is just based on how I assume it works. I'll edit my first post to reflect that.

 

[Escadin]

I don't know. We would probably need a 'show damage' plugin to see. My math is just based on how I assume it works. I'll edit my first post to reflect that.

I hope simplecat can figure it out

 

[DBShinigami]

It's only 5% per consecutive headshot ?
I was thinking it was going to be 10% ?

 

[Cannonaire]

It's only 5% per consecutive headshot ?
I was thinking it was going to be 10% ?

In-game it says 5%, but someone in another thread says it goes up to 7 headshots. I'm working on getting Gunslinger to 10 to find out how it works for myself.

 

[random]

in the description it says 5% per headshot up to 75%, the counter goes on infinetly but i guess dmg only goes to 75%, if you miss a headshot past count 7 it goes back to 6, example ive had it go from 30 to 6.

EDIT: some test

number of headshots with T4 weapon on 6p hard lvl12 gun.

bone breaker:
-scrake 7
-fp 15

rack em starting from 0 headshots/ starting at full counter:
-scrake 7/5
-fp 12/11

on real practice,i can kill them faster with rack em, but just barely, if you want to lay back and have consistency, then bone breaker, max performance at the cost of more difficulty then rack em.

 

[Stumbles the Klutz]

I believe this is how Rack 'Em Up works:

In-game says that each consecutive headshot adds 5% and maxes at 75%, while devs said it'll add 10% and max at 70%. I believe it still adds 10% because, when you get a headshot using this skill, there is a note that increases in pitch until you reach seven headshots, which is the number of headshots needed to reach the maximum damage.
Furthermore, any headshot after 7 repeats the same note, and if you miss a headshot past 7, it simply goes back down to the count of 6.

Missing a headshot after reaching 7 simply puts the damage counter down to a count of 6, or 60% added damage.

I did some more tests with this skill because I wanted to see thoroughly (or at least a little thoroughly) on how it worked. After fiddling around with it a little, Rack 'Em Up adds a count for every headshot landed, not every Zed killed with a headshot. This is useful to note because, should a player still use their starting pistol, the Remington, they can rack up the damage counter on a Scrake without having to resort to using a more powerful pistol and enraging it. This means that a player can build up their damage counter, hit the 70% damage increase, then unload on a Scrake/Fleshpound with a heavier-hitting pistol.

It's also important to note that the counter goes down one for every shot that misses its target. Basically, if it's not a headshot, it reduces the counter.

I hope this is information that people can use.

 

[q3.railgun]

The game data shows +10% increase per headshot (doesn't have to be a kill). Caps out at 70% (max is 7). Each miss only reduces by 1 headshot count, not resets back to 0.

This is only from taking a look at how it's coded, I don't have a Gs leveled up yet so I can't confirm.

 

[Escadin]

The game data shows +10% increase per headshot (doesn't have to be a kill). Caps out at 70% (max is 7). Each miss only reduces by 1 headshot count, not resets back to 0.

This is only from taking a look at how it's coded, I don't have a Gs leveled up yet so I can't confirm.

I had a list of questions that I send to simplecat but if you're already on it here it goes (I'll remove what you've already answered):

If a shot penetrates and hits nothing as it second target (or a torso - just anything but a head shot) does it break the combo / reduce the headshot count?

Is the extra penetration granted by Gunslinger's level 15 skill treated any different?

Is there a time limit or can you carry your stack around indefinitely if you take your time and aim carefully?

 

[ScrakeMorgendorffer]

I just tested a level 12 Gunslinger with Bone Breaker vs Rack 'em Up on a 6-player HoE Fleshpound, .500 Magnums.

19 Headshots for Bone Breaker for a decap - 15 for Rack 'em Up.

Once I got the 15 headshots consecutively, then fired away, the 15 "boost" went straight to 6.

I can understand the appeal of Rack 'em Up - it's really a case of gamblers vs risk-averse. I know I'm not good enough to be able to get even >50% headshot ratios on a mobile Fleshpound in any difficulty at this stage, so I'd be likely to take what I can get in terms of a flat "you've just scored two Rack 'em Up headshots already" boost with Bone Breaker.

 

[q3.railgun]

I had a list of questions that I send to simplecat but if you're already on it here it goes (I'll remove what you've already answered):

If a shot penetrates and hits nothing as it second target (or a torso - just anything but a head shot) does it break the combo / reduce the headshot count?

Is the extra penetration granted by Gunslinger's level 15 skill treated any different?

Is there a time limit or can you carry your stack around indefinitely if you take your time and aim carefully?

These I had to test in game.

Penetration is done strangely but it is in the player's favor. If all shots are headshots then it will add to the headshot count. i.e. - counter is 0 3 clots shot with all headshots using a .500 mag then the count will be 3 at the end. First clot hit will be vanilla dmg, second is +10%, third +20% with whatever hit next at the 30% bonus.

If the first ZED is missed but second is a headshot then counter goes down one then back up one.

If the first ZED is hit but the second is missed then the counter goes up one.

Oh and I forgot to add, if all shots are missed then the counter only goes down by 1.


The Penetration skill applies in a way that it grants +1 when the penetration power is calculated. It does not seem to add it to the weapon's property. 9mm can now penetrate 1, 1911 2, deagle 3, remington 1, magnum 4.

As for the time limit, I didn't see it ever reset in all the time that I was testing.

 

[DBShinigami]

The Penetration skill applies in a way that it grants +1 when the penetration power is calculated. It does not seem to add it to the weapon's property. 9mm can now penetrate 1, 1911 2, deagle 3, remington 1, magnum 4.

Thanks ! It's nice to know. As it impacts 9mm and the T1, it can be nice to use in the first wave (this way dealing with horde will be much easier).

As of rack'em'up, well, I don't know... I do not want to think '****' every time I don't hit a headshot. And I don't want to see a reminder I missed the HS . Anyway, with a lot of weapon (t3), if you are level 9-10, you can kill every trash zed with one shot anyway. No need to go for a HS.

 

[Escadin]

Thank you q3!

I mean think about it. If you are near the cap of your stacks you will need less than a full dual magnum mag for one scrake. If you are at 70% a magnum deals almost 310 damage per shot which means you can probably kill a scrake during it's stumble animation caused by the first hit!

Given a bit practice it will be like musketing a fleshpound back in kf1. I guess you will be level 25 and getting that practing before I do though Don't forget to make a video of it!

 

[simplecat]

I see discussions about this skill goes really wild

Looks like i was wrong about how initial headshot works. Head counter incement happen on processing the hit and only afterwards zed takes damage. So even the 1st ever shot gives addition +10%. Your 2nd headshot will be doing exact same amount of damage if you'd have Bonebreaker skill.

So think of it as 10% + some gambling vs flat 20% extra damage.

Also this skill, along with the Bonebreaker, increases damage from knife and grenade (seems like both - explosion and shards).

 

[Cannonaire]

Also this skill, along with the Bonebreaker, increases damage from knife and grenade (seems like both - explosion and shards).

Grenades get a boost!?

That is really nice.

 

[DBShinigami]

So even the 1st ever shot gives addition +10%. Your 2nd headshot will be doing exact same amount of damage if you'd have Bonebreaker skill.

I was wondering why I was able to headshot a clot (doing 20 dmg) while using 9mm with Rack with zero stack... But, if you have from the start +10% from the first hit, then it makes sense. It means you can kill a clot with 9mm with Rack when you reach level 11.

If grenades get a boost, then, I'm probably gonna use Rack'... it would make dealing with FP easier.

Just need to know if the +70% boost is calculated at the moment you launch the grenade or if it's on the moment of the detonation. With a boost of the knife, you could potentially use it to kill every clots too, in order to keep your stack (possible with the speed boost) for a few second until you can get close the FP...

At least in the beginning of the game, you can take Rack', get enough headshot then swith to your knife, maybe doing even more damage (or close with the nerf of smash) to a berserker using the knife

Need some time to think about the possibility.

 

[simplecat]

Another interesting thing - it is safe to miss one headshot, making it 6 on counter. Your next headshot will still do damage equal to 7 headshots because counter update happen before zed takes damage.

Grenade damage check happen when ZED takes damage, at the moment of explosion.

 

[q3.railgun]

Oh wow, so it is a +80% max. 322 max dmg on highest stack count with a mag to SC. That's 150 *2.15. 1.25 (base) + .1 (hs) + .8 (reu). I should have calculated that out properly instead of assuming it's 0-70 since I saw the max dmg was 322.