Weapons and shooting

Firearm handling

Most of your problems in the Zone can be solved with guns, which come in many sizes and calibers. However, before picking one up you ought to to know, how to use it.

Loading, unloading, reloading

When removed from any kind of container, be it packaging or magazines, ammunition will be collected in small stacks. This can be done with RMB. LMB on the other hand is used to deposit/load your ammo. Loading is slow, but can be done while walking, but not running. Ammo stacks are limited in size.

Examining a magazine will tell you the approximate amount of ammo left in it. Some magazines have perforations in them to assess how much ammo is left.

To load your gun click it with LMB while holding a magazine. To remove the magazine, drag the gun in to the other hand - if it's occupied, the magazine will fall on the ground. You can also attempt a tactical reload by clicking a loaded gun with a magazine. This will almost instantly reload your gun, placing the old magazine back in to your hand. However, chance of success depends on your agility and the relevant weapon skill. On failure, you might drop one of the magazines or maybe even both.

Break action weapons and revolvers are operated differently from their magazine-fed sisters. Click them while in active hand to break them open or use the space key. This will expose the loading chambers of the gun. This might be inconvenient to reload during a fight, but it will never misfire.

If you need to cycle the chamber, weather to unload it or to fix a misfire, drag the gun open in the off-hand to remove the magazine. Then, do it again. This will remove the bullet from the chamber.

Shooting

Every weapon in the game has it's own minimal strength value - it represents how much strength you need to handle the guns kick. Higher caliber and poorer ergonomics translate in to higher minimal strength value. If your strength is lower than what is required, you will take a severe penalty to your aim.

All weapons, except for pistols and knives, can be wielded by clicking them with RMB or by pressing C. This will significantly lower the minimal strength requirement - only an absolute beast can one-hand a rifle. Use RMB and C in the same manner to stop wielding your weapon.

Another thing affecting your aim is concentration, representing if your character is ready to make the next shot. When holding a firearm, your cursor will change in to a crosshair, which can be either yellow, reflecting that you are concentrated, or red, indicating the opposite. You loose concentration after shooting, changing hands, or moving rapidly (going prone/standing up, climbing, running etc.).

Concentration takes a second to restore. It will also take a second to concentrate after drawing your gun.

Concentration provides a bonus to hitting the next shot (or burst, for automatics), derived from the weapons accuracy. Accuracy represents how weapons inner structure and ergonomics affect your aim. Pistols and shotguns have the lowest accuracy, SMGs have it a bit higher, rifles and high-end SMGs have an average value and high-end rifles along with LMGs have the highest accuracy values. This means a rifle will be more accurate than a pistol when concentrated, and, conversly, both will have the same chance to hit without concentration.

Clicking your gun with LMB or using space will change the firing mode for automatics. Pump and bolt action weapons will instead cycle the chamber. Revolvers and break action will expose the loading chamber.

Besides that, MMB lets you look in to distance and up/down the stairs. This can be done regardless of being prone or not.

Shooting in a crown

If there is a person on a neighboring tile in one of the 4 cardinal directions, you can shoot through that person while on help intent. Clicking their sprite, or shooting with any other intent mode will shoot at them. If you are both in the same group, you will be shooting through each other regardless of the mode.

Weapon types

Weapons come in 3 categories:

• Short arms
• Long arms
• Melee

Every category requires the relevant skill to effectively use. You can see what skill the weapon requires in the loadout screen, or when examining it. Your agility also affects how well you can shoot.

Firearms come in 6 types:

1. Pistols
2. SMGs
3. Shotguns
4. Rifles and carbines
5. Automatic and assault rifles
6. LMGs

During your journey through the Zone, you will encounter many different firearms, each different from the other. Some have more ammo capacity, others are more reliable and accurate. Try every single one and choose your favorite.