Back 4 Blood - In-depth Weapons and Cards guide 4:52 AM / by admin / in PC / with No comments / Read More Share This: Facebook Twitter Google+ Stumble Digg
![Optics High-Zoom Scope - 4x magnification plus weakspot damage. Generally this will be the least useful of all optics types - there is almost never a situation where 4x magnification is necessary -unless you're not planning on using ADS much in which case the weakspot damage is nice. ACOG - 2x magnification plus weakspot damage. A better option, best suited to SRs for tapping weakspots from range. Avoid on any weapon you'll want to fire full-auto, as the increased zoom amplifies recoil effects - though having said that, the bonus weakspot damage functions whether you're scoped or not, so you may want to slap this on your AA12 for burst damage despite how ridiculous you feel in doing so. Note that although the game claims there's a damage boost from this mod, there isn't. It lies. Holo-Sight/Reflex Sight - Movement speed while in ADS. Both do essentially the same thing, so which you use will be down to personal preference and/or what you managed to find. My preferred option on virtually all weapons is Reflex, but that's just me. Note that the movement speed while in ADS, although not particularly useful, does make Sweeping slightly smoother. Weapon Attachments pt. 2 Magazine Extended Mag - Magazine size. Never bad, and usually very helpful given the tiny size of many clips in this game. Most useful on the AA-12 and fall-back secondaries, however, as these are the weapons most likely to be used in desperate circumstances when you really don't have time for a reload. Fast Mag - Reload speed. Functionally very similar in uptime to the extended mag for most weapons, which you use will often be down to personal preference. However, note that reload speed has a disproportionate effect on pump-action shotguns and bolt-action rifles as it affects the downtime between shots. AP Ammo - Bullet penetration. Quite a niche stat while has two theoretical uses. Firstly, allows you to hit multiple Commons with a single bullet so long as they obligingly line up for you; cases where this happens are rather rare in practice, and when it does happen those Commons are usually pretty easy to deal with already. Secondly, does provide some assistance with dealing damage to armoured weakspots once these start appearing on Corruption cards - but the damage increase doesn't tend to be all that noticeable. More alarmingly, this attachment has the side effect of drastically increasing the chances you'll clip a Hazard by mistake - and while birbs are fairly easy to spot and avoid, alarmed doors and cars are far less so. Generally speaking, avoid this attachment, as anything that needs penetration usually has it by default. HP Ammo - Bullet stumble. Although technically any enemy type can be stumbled (which amounts to a short-duration stun), you'll most commonly see this happen to Tallboys. Typically you'll only get a stumble animation after the target takes a substantial amount of damage in a short period of time - for instance, unloading an auto-shotgun or firing an M95. HP ammo can improve the speed at which the stun takes effect, which can be lifesaving (but rarely is). Hit-or-miss, but it's acceptable if it's all you've got. +P Ammo - Bullet damage. Standard, boring, but fairly effective. If you can hit a breakpoint (particularly one-shotting Commons or weakspot Stingers) this gets a lot better. Note that this is potentially more ammo-efficient than the magazine size/reload speed attachments, which may be relevant in public lobbies or if your team likes to run multiples of one weapon type. Note that AP/HP Ammo can sometimes display in-game as increasing Firepower - this is a bug, as you can test for yourself on the firing range. Interestingly, the name of this attachment is shared by a brand of powerful diuretics available in-universe. [N.B. Not actually true, but I wish it were. Oh god do I wish it were.] Stock Competition Stock - ADS speed. None of the stock types are especially valuable, but usually you'll want to be choosing between this one and the Tactical. ADS speed helps with hitting headshots and weakspots in stressful situations, so I tend to favour this one. Tactical Stock - Swap speed. You'll see the benefit fairly rarely, but when you do need it, it comes in clutch. This is a must-take on a lot of Duals builds, particularly ones relying on LMGs and Admin Reload. Lightweight Stock - Movement speed. The weakest of the three, movement speed is rarely particularly valuable given the importance of sticking with your team and the rarity of situations where rushing is necessary. Even when you need to rush, unless everyone on your team has a speed boost, you'll wind up getting split up or having to wait for them. Can occasionally come in clutch, but so can basically anything.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7RXHOm8L8NB-hm6pv7gj785LDPA74ZBOyq64akykcRXVORIn-lrlnfD7u3Ue-Ef4axLZWit1b_cKhvN3siuX6srQUFDWsKxlj9_i5_GRXvkMHj40kdiwzfPXQ7WnuhReE_2UfHG8GwbDh/s16000/3.png)
![Assault Rifles As with most games (and indeed, reality), ARs are the generalist choice of weapon; they're suitable for all ranges and useful in all situations. Unlike most games, however, ARs require a decent amount of skill to use effectively. On any difficulty above Recruit you should be aiming for headshots on Commons as a matter of course, while using short bursts of fire at centre mass for runners or small groups. Choices of attachments are fairly free, with a reasonable argument being available for most options. Furthermore, while there are differences between each weapon, these are relatively minimal - you should therefore always take the best quality option available, prioritising comfort thereafter. The main exception to this is the Ranch Rifle, which is poor and should be avoided in most circumstances. M4 Carbine Base bullet damage: 10.0 Magazine: 25 Walker's starting weapon and usually fairly easily acquired, this AR is middle-of-the-road in all aspects. Its main selling point is lower recoil than the other ARs, which shouldn't matter too much as you should rarely be firing on full auto; it does, however, assist with keeping sustained fire on a weakspot. That said, it has relatively low bullet damage compared to the alternatives; the combination of low recoil and low damage can lead to inefficient usage of ammo. It's a carbine, not a rifle, so the developers are all kinds of wrong on this one. AK-47 Base bullet damage: 14.0 Magazine: 20 Karlee's starting weapon, the AK has relatively high bullet damage for an AR (although still lower than the SCAR); this can lead to it hitting Common one-shot breakpoints more easily. It has substantially more recoil than its competitors, however, which can be problematic if you're not used to controlling it - though, as above, this should rarely become relevant. The favourite of megalomaniacal dictators in third-world countries everywhere. M16 Base bullet damage: 14.0 Magazine: 20 Rather an unusual AR due to its burst-fire characteristics. While in other games the burst-fire is a mixed blessing, in B4B this is nothing but a detriment - it ensures you can't be ammo-efficient at sweeping Commons while also making it more difficult to output sustained damage into Specials' weakspots. This doesn't make the weapon unusable - particularly if rifle ammo is uncontested - but does make it weaker than its competitors; it is recommended that you only use an M16 if its quality is higher than what you have. Like most M16s in games, stuck on burst-fire even though there are M16 variants which allow for fully automatic fire, primarily because that's how most kids think these things work. SCAR Base bullet damage: 15.0 Magazine: 20 Arguably the 'best' AR, the SCAR combines modest recoil with good bullet damage. It has a lower rate of fire than the M4 or AK, but not to a substantial extent and its other characteristics allow for a comparable, if not superior, DPS output. Named after the villain in 'The Lion King'. Ranch Rifle Base bullet damage: 22.0 Magazine: 15 Mom's starting weapon, the Ranch Rifle is a single-shot AR with a 15-round clip. It can charitably be described as a niche choice, and more accurately described as terrible. Despite having higher bullet damage than the other ARs it still struggles to hit any non-headshot one-shot breakpoints; meanwhile, its recoil makes staying on-target on weakpoints more difficult. Furthermore, due to the combination of not-actually-very-high bullet damage and no automatic fire, it can struggle at dealing with hordes. Avoid this weapon wherever possible. Underperforms substantially compared to the Mayo rifle, but is comparable to the BBQ rifle [that's right, I made a condiments joke, come at me]. Assault Rifle Cards Not good. Bullet penetration is questionably useful at the best of times, let alone at the cost of a card. If you really want some pen, take Combat Training so you at least get some damage out of it. The first of many similar cards, so get used to hearing me say (or rather, reading me write) - solid card, you'll want it in your deck if you're running this weapon type. How deep in, on the other hand, is an open question. Slightly better than it is for SR-users, as ARs actually have a reason to hip-fire. Still isn't good enough to burn a card slot on, though.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzWlzCZpg1n2EBThWO9a7-omYYXC2fBxBj2OirEEsGQV0NwA4NZNkavhrF45b54IPnMUc4WzDDf7a1S01DVHSyZOx-S9-hqtvAjuksbXFIstzNU00Ydb0CFlhih9lbvxM-nOtUcjgHbnwv/s16000/4.png)
![Vector Base bullet damage: 11.0 Magazine: 19 While the UMP45 is a smaller AR, the Vector is a larger TEC 9. It has an even smaller clip than its counterparts but, curiously, an extremely high rate of fire with very little recoil. The Vector's DPS output is phenomenal during its uptime, but the speed at which it empties its clip severely limit it. If you can get your hands on an Extended Mag (or at very least a Fast Mag) its performance skyrockets. For what it's worth, I adore this weapon in spite of its faults. Named after a doctor specialising in cybernetics with questionable taste in friends. Submachine Gun Cards Much like all the other similar cards, if you're running SMGs, you will probably want this card. 30% ammo capacity helps a great deal for getting through the longer maps, and 10% unconditional damage boost is nice too. Particularly useful for SMGs as they tend to have lower damage than their counterparts. 35% reload speed is actually pretty good, but the fact remains that reload speed just isn't a valuable stat unless you're running SRs. Given the tiny Vector clip you might be tempted, but in the end, avoid. Sniper Rifles Although there are three entries in this category, there are really only two sniper rifles - the M95 and the Phoenix - and these are the ones I refer to in this section. SRs, although niche, are nowhere near as weak as many in the community seem to think. They're obviously very effective at dumping damage into weakspots - this much anyone can tell you - but they're also perfectly good at sweeping and not awful at dealing with hordes so long as you're aware of one thing - reload speed affects bolt cycle time. While an unmodified SR will take a relatively long time to eliminate single Commons (which in turn causes slow sweep speeds), with a fast mag and a single reload speed card SRs quickly outpace ARs due to not needing to aim for headshots. SRs innate bullet penetration makes them fairly solid at dealing with hordes, too, so long as you can predict their approach path and position appropriately. You don't need to be getting mass-kills with each trigger pull, of course, but simply putting two Commons down with one bullet is usually enough efficiency gain to allow the SR-user to hold down one angle alone. Nonetheless, it is recommended that SR-users run Duals with a good SMG in their back pocket - not least because SR-sweeping is very ammo-inefficient. Barrett M95 Base bullet damage: 120.0 Magazine: 5 The big boy, you will not find higher bullet damage anywhere in the game. It hits like a truck (albeit a very small truck), but as a trade-off, both the bolt-cycle and the reload time is substantially longer than the Phoenix. Generally, this is not a trade-off worth making. The Phoenix already hits plenty hard enough to do the SR's job, so with the vast majority of targets the M95's extra damage is simply overkill. Having said that, if you're swapping to a higher quality M95 the damage step-up will be sizeable, so don't be too picky. If you do find yourself with an M95, bear in mind that it hits hard enough to get a stumble animation out of a Tallboy from 1-2 headshots, irrespective of weakspots, letting you generally deal with them alone. Named after a player-character in Final Fantasy VII, despite him never actually using a gun without it being embedded in at least one limb. Phoenix 350L Base bullet damage: 90.0 Magazine: 5 Essentially, this is -the- SR of the game. It hits hard enough, assuming quality-parity, to one-shot any non-Tallboy Special with a weakspot hit - including Snitches, on Veteran at least - which is extremely valuable. With a modest amount of reload speed, the bolt-cycle is barely noticeable. Like the M95 it only holds a five round clip, but since you're already incentivised to favour reload speed this is much less of a concern than it might be. As with the M95, always take a Fast Mag if you find one - an Extended Mag might give you more rounds, but it won't get them into the chamber any faster. Presumably named by someone with an extremely poor understanding of what a phoenix is. M1A Base bullet damage: 38.0 Magazine: 10 The red-headed stepchild of the SR family, this rifle should be treated like one and despised [disclaimer: this is a joke, please don't cancel me]. It is, effectively, a Ranch Rifle with a smaller clip and worse hip-fire. In theory being a semi-automatic SR should mean it can deliver frequent high-damage punches to weakspots; in practice, its recoil is far too high to maintain weakspot damage in any but the most favourable (or suicidal) of circumstances. Avoid this weapon at all costs. It is literally worse than a Desert Eagle, and when your primary is worse than your secondary you know you have issues. If you're Jim, who starts with one, learn to love your revolver until you can find a Phoenix. Unlike the other entries, I will not be closing this entry with a joke because I hate this weapon too much for comedy.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmqYWmRNnOf1iAoEXnaG5ela82cfdtKaRdM7Tfuup7DBRqju4rz2OT_un4Ibv6xf2rnX8I6Wd77OjbXa4S9Z5-oEWI-l6ZqlhsqUz5gLLF42oB6FZwQLPxuaYZ1fad4au3qLGPVmLMYF-H/s16000/6.png)
![Desert Eagle Base bullet damage: 28.0 Magazine: 7 Much better. The Desert Eagle is the ideal sidearm for the shotgunner who wants to be able to help out with sweeping, but not enough to take Duals - it packs enough of a punch to one-shot a Common from a chest shot on most difficulties and has a good reload speed, which is about all you can really ask for. Don't make the mistake of thinking it can function as a SR - it can sweep, but it can't kill Specials particularly effectively. Also note that it uses sniper ammo, so don't over-use it if you have a SR-user because they'll probably need that stuff at some point. 'Desert Eagle' is actually the gun's Native American name, but its real name is long lost in the mists of time. Sidearms pt. 2 Glock 23 Base bullet damage: 12.0 Magazine: 15 Basically it's the M9 but better in every way. Still extremely generic, though. Take this pistol if you want to pistol at things with your pistol. Walker starts with this, as is only fitting for the most generic character in the game. If for some reason you're using this a lot, it is a legal requirement for you to start every round by telling your team to 'glock and gload'. [N.B. [i]Okay, that was the single worst joke in this entire guide. I can only apologise. But not enough to delete it or come up with anything better[/i].] Glock 23 Auto Base bullet damage: 10.0 Magazine: 15 Identical to the Glock 23, but with the added bonus of missing roughly 50% of its rounds due to the ludicrous recoil and losing 16% of its bullet damage for no adequately explored reason. Would be borderline usable for emergency situations if the TEC 9 didn't exist. Named 'Auto' because it's actually capable of transforming into a car; unfortunately, as it can only hold 15 bullets' worth of fuel, this doesn't come up much. [N.B. [i]Serious competition for the joke above[/i]] M1911 Base bullet damage: 15.0 Magazine: 8 Hoffman's starting pistol, this isn't actually too bad as far as pistols go. It has acceptable punch given it hits harder than an AK-47, and so long as the zombies aren't running at you very quickly that's often enough. Unfortunately it gets outscaled pretty quickly. Named because even though it's a pistol, it's still 1911 times better than the M1A. TEC 9 Base bullet damage: 9 Magazine: 20 Karlee's starting pistol and the other side to the Desert Eagle's coin; where the birb makes you a pseudo-sweeper, this makes you pseudo-horde control. It's easy to underestimate the TEC 9, as its bullet damage is poor and its clip size is mediocre; what matters, however, is that it has fairly minimal recoil and a high rate of fire. This means that despite its unassuming appearance, it can put out DPS comparable to an SMG. Just make sure you're aiming it at the weakspot, or if you want to actually deal damage, take Duals and replace it with a Vector. Note that, despite being a sidearm, this counts as an SMG for achievements. Also note that despite being heavily associated with street crime and school shootings, carrying this gun does not make you any edgier. You heard me, Karlee. The Belgian Base bullet damage: 8.0 Pellet count: 12 Magazine: 2 Mom's starting secondary, and kind of a multi-layered joke. On the one hand, it's a double-barrelled shotun that still only gets one shot, which is funny. On the other, it can still do more damage in one shot than an M1A, which is also funny. Unfortunately, the comedy drains away once you start actually using this weapon, which is too awful for laughs. Note that although this is a sidearm, it uses shotgun shells and counts as a shotgun for achievements - this is a purely academic fact, however, because you'll never actually fire it. Named 'The Belgian' because it's small, inoffensive, politically irrelevant and shares a land border with France. Sidearm Cards No. Absolutely not. If you're that desperate for ammo you should be running a max ammo boost, not fishing for a 2% chance to get a handful of rounds. Better yet, just play Hoffman. Do not take this card. While this card is worth taking if you're focussing on SMGs, it really isn't worth taking just to bolster your sidearm damage. In this context, do not take.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBHn1AyH9tuUz94mbkiXUGyHkuup5Wy2KxgIiUViIvtSN6zwGEB-39RHL0HBgvss_dAP2wCGSzQ7m722lBw3uyE9DADgEkhsbvwR9WAdu0KBleANZKbeEwnkr0RyN_z1Xm2IuYTmnOV0ks/s16000/9.png)
