With the release of Fortuna, we have another open world area to explore (and one 4x bigger than the Plains of Eidelon!). This helps to cement the recommendation of owning at least one good sniper rifle. It is also worth noting that all of these weapons have natural punch-through, so they do not need to equip a punch-through mod. Vectis Prime (MR 14) https://goo.gl/EgCTQN There are many sniper rifles out there, but the Vectis Prime is mine. There is just something very satisfying about a bolt action sniper rifle and if that is what you want, the Vectis Prime is the best at what it does. Due to its very unique traits and small magazine, the Vectis Prime works best with both Charged Chamber and Depleted Reload. I played around a lot with different builds and this is the best one I've found: 31,092.255 -TOTAL DAMAGE 31,092.255 - BURST DPS 54,131.616 - SUSTAINED DPS Rubico Prime (MR 12) https://goo.gl/xiz1sU Compared to the Vectis, the Rubico is a semi-auto with a 5 round magazine. Damage per shot is somewhat similar to the Vectis. The big difference is that its 5 round magazine allows for much higher burst damage, but this same magazine is also much slower to reload; which drops its overall DPS. 34,842.128 - TOTAL DAMAGE 127,870.610 - BURST DPS 51,811.430 - SUSTAINED DPS Opticor (MR 14) https://goo.gl/VWg2hY Technically, not a sniper rifle so much as a laser cannon, the Opticor still performs much the same function. It has huge alpha damage potential, but has lower DPS due to its charge mechanism. Despite it's shortcomings, this weapon is far easier to obtain than the previous two and is highly recommended to newer players (get a BP in the Dojo Energy Lab). 90,973.189 - TOTAL DAMAGE 49,388.268 - BURST DPS 40,576.802 - SUSTAINED DPS Lanka (MR 10) https://goo.gl/72Yku4 Although the Lanka is popular and often recommended, in reality it does not stack up well compared to the previous three. In fact, the standard (non-Primed) Vectis and Rubico both out-damage it as well. The only advantages the Lanka has is that it deals pure electric damage which allows you to tailor it with mods to deal "pure" damage of your choice to exploit an enemy's weakness. However, this advantage still does not put it out ahead of the other three listed above. It is highly recommended to use the standard Vectis or Rubico instead of the Lanka and then upgrade to one of the others above when you are able. 17,494.844 - TOTAL DAMAGE 33,240.204 - BURST DPS 24,087.104 - SUSTAINED DPS
Both Rubico Prime and Vectis Prime are solid picks for Fortuna. Lanka's fame comes from Eidolon slaying as you can do good rad builds with it. Rubico also starts the sniper combo counter with just one hit so "shoot-to-hit" pays off. Rubico's only real minus is the average max x5 scope, which has some minor effect on Fortuna. For comparison Vectis has max of x6 and Vulkar Wraith has impressive x8 scope. Those of you who own Vulkar Wraith are probably having good time on Fortuna. I prefer Rubico Prime for the combo counter and very clear scope.
Are these just your top tier? obviously there's more, and easier to obtain ones than these guys, even MR 10 is tough when you're first starting off, I haven't really compared damage potential though. Also there's some things to keep in mind when using this website for statistics, a lot of the 'contingent' effects are not calculated, so the additional 5% per mod chance of upping your crit level from the vigilante mods aren't shown, which can amount to a pretty significant number. I might also recommend running with Prmed bane of Corpus while you're on Venus since while the % bonus seems low, it calculates after all other mods rather than from base like normal. At least that's what it's supposed to do
We could sit here all day debating about the nuances of each weapon. That is not what this is about. I just wanted to establish what players can generally aim for. This is to help players see their full potential (minus Rivens). Also, this isn't really intended as a guide for players just starting out. I did mention the basic Vectis and Rubico are excellent for new players. However, we have specific threads for for best recommendations to new players: http://www.theskjaldborg.com/index.php?threads/weapon-recommendations-for-new-players.8868/ And yes, I realize some of those more obscure buffs are not fully accounted for, but they are also terribly inconsistent. 5% is pretty much the antithesis of "significant". That means 95% that buff doesn't trigger at all. I was going for something that shows consistent results. Also, you will notice that whenever I make these weapon comparisons, I do my best to fit them with the same mods to show where they stand in overall raw power (with a few exceptions where it is warranted). Everyone is free to kit their weapons however they want, I was just showing a good "general build" for each weapon.
