New Player Guide: How to Get the Really Good Weapons

[BradSTL]

The difference between a crappy weapon and a top-quality weapon can be the difference between life and death in Neocron. For the same level of combat skill, a top-quality weapon might well have double the range, double the accuracy, double the rate of fire, and double or even triple the damage of a poor-quality version of the same weapon.

But buying a high-quality weapon in Neocron isn't supposed to be as easy as just bopping on down to the local megamart, plunking down your 10,000 credits, and walking away whistling a happy tune. Getting a really good quality weapon is almost a quest, a deliberately challenging part of the game. That way, frankly, if you accidentally break the weapon through mistreatment, or worse lose it in Player versus Player (PvP) combat, you're supposed to feel real loss, the loss of the time it took you to obtain that weapon.

UNDERSTANDING THE STATS ON A WEAPON

Consider the following four partial screenshots. All of these are the same model of gun, the Neocron equivalent of a cruddy Saturday-Night Special, the Lazar Gun, a cheap 9mm pistol that requires only 2 points of Dexterity and 5 points of Pistol Combat to use. They differ only in where they came from, and therefore quality.



This gun was bought from one of the pawnshops in Outzone sector 1. Note that the first word in the name is "shabby." This is what we refer to as a shabby quality gun. Now look at the Damage, Frequency, Handling, and Range numbers under Object Stats, and see that they're all around 21%. That's what makes this a shabby quality gun.

21% of what? It's not quite that simple. The short answer is that there's a formula used for each of those four factors every time you fire the gun. It factors in, among other things, your combat skills and the quality of the weapon. So when it comes to the weapon quality variable in those formulae, it uses the value 0.21. Now compare that to the same weapon, as made using a Recycling Tool, by anyone with 2 or more levels of Recycling skill from 3 wood, 1 metal pipes, and 2 metal plates fished out of various trashcans:



This time the quality numbers are around 64%. In other words, for the same amount of skill this gun does three times the damage of the shabby gun from the pawnshop. Now consider a copy of the same weapon made by an Engineer with a Construction skill of 160:



This time the stats are all at 94% quality. For unmodified standard weapons, this is the absolute highest number possible, and this number slowly drops to about 89% as the tech level of the weapon rises. (Don't ask me why, I think it's a stupid rule.) Up to a cap of around 120 to 150 levels (less for lower tech level weapons like this), the higher the skill of your constructor, the closer they can get to the quality cap.

Notice that the name of this weapon includes the phrase, "Free Slots: 1." This is what we call a slotted weapon. The ammunition dealers sell add-on parts called weapon mods. You can only use one of each mod on any weapon, you can't double up. Weapon mods fit into three categories. Upgrade mods change the weapon's stats. For standard low-tech melee weapons, there are only the two sharpening chemicals. For spells, there's a wide variety of mods. For guns, there are basically three: barrels increase range and damage, bullet chambers increase frequency (which affects rate of fire), and gyro stabilizers increase handling (which affects accuracy and recoil). However, if you have high enough skill to reach the "caps," or upper limits of the weapon's ability, adding these mods will not further increase your range, damage, accuracy, or rate of fire, or further decrease the recoil.

Ammo mods enable the use of alternate ammunition. (Always get an ammo mod if you can. If you use the right ammo for the person or creature you're shooting at, the alternate ammo always does about another 40% to 60% damage per shot.) Utility mods add special tricks to the gun. A flashlight mod adds a weak flashlight to the weapon, and is therefore almost always useless. A laserpointer increases the gun's aiming speed when it's turned on. A scope lets you turn on or off 2x magnification. A silencer changes the sound the weapon makes when being fired to a much quieter sound.

All of these mods can only be added to a weapon that has free slots, and each one takes up a slot. Slots are random. I can not stress that enough. If your constructor has enough skill to reach the quality limit on the gun, then roughly one out of three weapons will have at least one slot, roughly one out of 20 will have 2 or more slots, and only very rare guns will have from 3 to 5 slots. There is an extremely rare and expensive optional component that can be added during construction called a slot-enhancer that increases the minimum number of slots on the weapon by 1, 2, or 3; they are only found as loot on some of the most dangerous robots in the game. The same robots also occasionally have loot called "ultima" mods, which add to all four stats across the board.

So, here is the exact same weapon, with a pistol barrel extension added to it.



OBTAINING STANDARD WEAPONS

Getting a top-quality copy of almost every weapon up through level 80ish is a four-step process:

1) Buy a cheap copy of the weapon from a non-player-character vendor.
2) Take the weapon, a blank datacube, and some research substance to a Scientist to get a blueprint made.
3) Buy the parts on the blueprint's parts list, and take those, the blueprint, and some constructor grease to an Engineer.
4) If the weapon has slots, go to an ammo vendor, buy the mods you want, and take the weapon and the mods back to the Engineer to get it upgraded.

Buying the Weapon: You can get a more-or-less complete list of weapons from one of the fan websites, the Neocron Resource site. That tells you what weapons are available. Unfortunately, that doesn't tell you where to buy them, and some of them are an absolute pain to find. Here's a partial list.

• Archer & Wesson, in the Plaza in Neocron City and the Main Retail Area of the Military Base, sells most melee weapons, low tech pistols, low tech rifles, and low tech heavy weapons.
• HEW, in Via Rosso in Neocron City and in the Main Retail Area of the Military Base, sells most high tech pistols, high tech rifles, high tech heavy weapons, drones, and HackNet software.
• Boobs & Guns in the Dome of York sells pistols, rifles, and drones.
• Fist Weapons in the Dome of York sells melee weapons and heavy weapons.
• Brothers in Arms in the Dome of York sells low-level psi weapons.

If the weapon you want isn't at those vendors, then you have to find the appropriate smuggler. There is are low tech pistol smugglers in Plaza 4 and the Military Base, a high tech pistol smuggler in the Old Canyon (God help you), and low tech rifle smugglers in Pepper Park 3 and the military base, a low tech heavy weapon smuggler in the Military Base (who also has a few rifles), and high tech heavy weapon smugglers scattered across Via Rosso 3, Industrial Area 1, and Tsunami Sector in the Dome of York. Tech Haven has the high tech melee weapon smuggler and the high tech rifle smuggler. There are low-level psi weapon smugglers in Pepper Park 3 and the CityMercs HQ in the Military Base. There is a HackNet software smuggler in Fallen Angels Sector in the Dome of York.

Getting the Blueprint Made: If you're very lucky, you don't have to go through all of that. You may be able to find a Scientist (researcher) who has a blueprint of the weapon you want already made, and is willing to run you off a copy. If not, then go to Crytons Tech Tools or Tech Angels Equipment (or your faction HQ) and buy at least one blank datacube, and a small tube of research substance. Now, find a player who is a Scientist. You might find one in your faction HQ. There may be one hanging out in Tech Haven sector 2. You may know one personally.

Otherwise, you'll have to advertise for one. Hit F1 to change chat channels, and click Custom. Make sure that the channel you want is checked, and select it. The game is designed so that you can ask for, or here advertisements for, services like this in the SERVICE channel for your side in the conflict. In practice, the better channels to use are ALLIANCE, FACTION, and (especially on Terra server) the TRADE-NC channel, which on that server has always been the generic tradeskiller chat channel (unfortunately). Here's what to say: "Does anybody have a blueprint of (name of weapon) they would sell me?" Wait at least two minutes before repeating yourself, somebody may be in combat. If you don't get any offers, buy the weapon, then advertise, "I need a researcher, TL (whatever the tech level of the weapon is)." Use chat to set up a meeting with the researcher.

If you're going to be using this weapon for a while and you can afford the parts, you may want to get 3 to 5 copies of the blueprint made. That way you can have multiple copies made, which improves your odds of getting at least one free slot.

Trade the blueprint cube(s), the weapon, and the research substance to the Scientist. Wait. He'll trade you back the weapon and the blueprints. You are not technically required to tip. On the other hand, he's not technically required to give you back the weapon and the blueprints, either. The expected minimum tip is around 1000 credits per blueprint. Tip more if the researcher went way out of their way to come to you, or if you want to be remembered as a good customer. If you can't afford the tip, you can't afford the weapon -- but if you're a very low level character, and seem new to the game, many top Scientists (who really don't need your money that badly) may give you back the tip or waive it. To specify the tip, click in the Amount field of the trade window, backspace, and type out the number.

Getting the Weapon Made: Right click on the blueprint (or stack of blueprints) and select Show Info. There will be a list of parts. Weapon Parts 1 through 7 are sold by Crytons, Tech Angels, and your faction HQ. Weapon Parts 8 and 9, unfortunately, are not. They drop as loot from very high level robots (Warbots and above), or are made from lower level parts kits by high level Recyclers, or manufactured by Scientists and Engineers, so you'll have to find a player with some and buy them.

Take the parts, the blueprints, and a small tube of constructor grease to an Engineer, who you find the same way you found a Scientist. Don't bother getting a weapon made by anybody with a Construction skill below about 80, or below about 120 to 150 for the highest level weapons. Trade them the parts, the blueprints, and the tube of grease. Wait. They'll trade you back the weapon(s), in exchange for the same customary tip.

Getting the Weapon Modified: If you got a slotted weapon, run to the ammo vendor and buy the mod(s) you need. Make sure that they match the weapon! Take the mod(s) back to the same Engineer. It's customary to mod weapons that you made yourself for free; if you wait and can't find them, a small 1000 credit tip to any even mid-level constructor will get you the weapon modded.

(continued)

[BradSTL]

(continued)

FIRST EXCEPTION: SOME STORE BOUGHT WEAPONS

There are a few weapons that are sold at a quality other than shabby or poor. Drones and psi weapons are always sold at better quality. (Ion drones are sold at outstanding quality, which is even higher.) Also, a couple of the Faction Supply Managers sell one or two specific weapons that are at better quality. For most purposes this is quite good enough, especially early in your career where you're only going to be using the weapon for a few or a few dozen hours of game time.

Also, one-shot hand grenade weapons have no quality stats, so store-bought grenades are just fine (although a constructor/scientist team who's willing to spend the time on it can make them a lot cheaper).

SECOND EXCEPTION: RECYCLED WEAPONS

Anyone with fairly small amounts of Recycling skill can take worthless garbage, fished out of trash cans and rotten boxes or looted from robots you've killed, and crank out very low level weapons. Recycled weapons are always good quality, around 64%. Frankly, as fast as you should be able to level up to the point where they're worthless, that's good enough for most purposes. Find anyone who recycles, and take them the parts; get back the gun. Many recyclers hoard the parts, and give away guns when they're feeling helpful or generous. Here are the recipes you need the most, the best "second gun" for any pistol or rifle user:

• Mendicant SMG (DEX 7, P-C 17): 3 wood, 1 metal plate, 1 metal pipe, 1 wire junk
• Mendicant Rifle (DEX 6, R-C 15): 3 metal plates, 3 wire junk, 1 metal pipe

There are other recycling recipes; the most complete list I know is at Agent Hardy's web page.

THIRD EXCEPTION: EPIC WEAPONS

Epic weapons are rewards given to members of specific factions for completing a long series of missions. They all have a DEX or STR requirement of 75. They have certain advantages over standard weapons. They are always artifact quality, 120%. (Consequently, it makes no sense to put weapon upgrade mods on an epic weapon; use ammo and utility mods only.) They are much more likely to have multiple slots than standard weapons are, and always have at least one free slot when they're given out. You can not drop or otherwise lose them during PvP. And finally, no matter how many times they are repaired, they never degrade below 120% maximum condition. Because of that 120% quality, they are extremely devastating weapons.

• Tangent Experimental Beamweapon Pistol (high tech pistol, Tangent)
• Tangent Experimental Beamweapon Rifle (high tech rifle, Tangent)
• Tangent Experimental Beamweapon (high tech heavy weapon, Tangent)
• Tangent Speedgat Cannon (low tech heavy weapon, CityMercs)
• Tsunami Syndicate Assault Rifle (low tech rifle, Tsunami)

Very occasionally they come up for sale on the TRADE chat channels or in auctions at Tech Haven. Prices range from one million credits and up, depending on the number of slots.

FOURTH EXCEPTION: FACTION HIGHEST SECURITY DATABASES

Each faction has a Highest Security Database sector inside Hacknet. Inside, there are four cone-shaped software icons that dispense blueprints for special items; each faction has at least two. To get the blueprints from your own faction, you only need to be able to enter HackNet, and to carry with you a TL90 high capacity datacube. Those datacubes are only sold by faction supply managers, so they have to be bought by people with 90 sympathy in their own faction.

To get a blueprint from an allied faction's highest security database, you need a one-shot item called a Codebreaker, which is assembled by a high level Recycler from code fragments looted from certain defeated software programs inside HackNet. Each Codebreaker gets you one blueprint. To get a blueprint from an enemy faction, you must fight your way into their Highest Security Database and survive long enough to use a Codebreaker. Or, of course, if you can find someone willing to sell the blueprint, you can buy it.

All faction database item blueprints require a part called a Construction License. Each license is faction-specific, and only sold by that faction's supply manager, and only to members of the faction with 90 sympathy. If you need another faction's license, you'll have to buy or trade for it. Faction database items aren't made from standard weapon (or implant, or vehicle) parts kits, either, but from item parts that are only sold by faction supply managers. However, the good news here is that all FSMs sell the same parts, so you can always get the parts from your own (if you have 90 sympathy).

Faction database weapons follow the same quality cap and slot chance rules as standard weapons.

FIFTH EXCEPTION: RARE WEAPONS

The highest level weapons are not built from blueprints. They are assembled from specially looted pieces called "rare parts." These parts are only dropped as loot by NPCs, animals, and robots level 76 and up, and not by all of them, and not all the time. Each one takes a complete set of 5, 6, or (in one case) 7 parts.

When you find them, they look like the garbage "computer junk" item, with a name similar to "Unidentified Tech Part." They come in three difficulty levels, Low, standard Tech, and Expensive. This corresponds to the difficulty rating of analyzing the part, which is 90, 105, or 120. Low tech unidentified parts can be safely identified by a a Scientist (researcher) with a skill of 135; do not take the other parts to a researcher with a skill below 180, and higher level researchers will do the job faster. If the researcher does not have at least one and a half times the difficulty level of the part in skill, there is a very good chance that they will destroy the part. There is always a tiny chance that the part will be destroyed anyway, no matter how high the Scientist's skill. If you do not bring a Big Pack of Research Substance for the researcher, tip them extremely well, because on average parts go through around 1000 to 2000 credits just in research substance to identify.

When you get the parts back from the Scientist, they will always be named "* WRECKED * (whatever part) OF (whatever weapon)." Do not believe the "wrecked" part. It's a bug in the game. These parts have no "condition" stat, so the game thinks they're at 0% condition and broken. They're quite fine. If the part were actually broken, it would have been destroyed (deleted from inventory). A five-part weapon will always have a Tech Part (TP), a Hull Part (HP), a Frame Part (FP), a Core Part (CP), and a Component Part (OP). A six-part weapon will also have an Additional Tech Part (ATP). The Raptor drone also has an Additional Hull Part (AHP). You can find a complete list of rare weapons, and their required parts, at the Neocron Resource Site again.

When you collect a complete set, take them to an Engineer with at least a Construction skill of 150, and preferably closer to 200. Ideally, the constructor should use an owned or at least allied factory outpost to get the best quality. The resulting weapon can have item stats up to 120%, although for the higher level weapons, even for the best constructors, random numbers from about 105% to 120% are more common. Item quality for rares is semi-random; even the best constructors sometimes make 105% quality weapons.

[CMaster]

Additional Note: Some hi-tech cannons and rifles are also only availble from smugglers in the Old Canyon.

[Original monk]

very nice guide brad, how i know ? cause i was looking for some info about sumthing specific and the searchbutton brought me here, the guide helped me out alot !

cheers lol

[Superbron]

Nice work!

[Hazard01]

Really good one !

5 stars

[Dribble Joy]

Note:
Rare weapons also have slots in exactly the same way as non rare weapons, however the chance of a rare weapon being created with them is much higher.

Mods come in several types:
Stat modifiers, ammo modifiers and extras.

Stat modifiers, like the barrel mod demonstrated, increase cirtain stats on the item.
Ammo modifiers change and add to the damage type of the weapon. These are usually Force, Xray and Fire. Depending on the weapon type, other ammo types are availiable.
Most energy weapons can be modded with advanced ammo, which simply adds more energy dmg.
Nailguns can be given poison mods.
In the vast majority of cases, an ammo mod is the first and most important mod that is placed on a weapon, the dmg increase and the benefit of a second dmg type far out weighs any other mod type.

Melee and Psi weapons cannot be given ammo mods.

Extras include things like laser sights, scopes, silencers and flash lights.
Laser sights increase the speed you achieve lock and/or the aiming stat.
Scopes do as you can imagine.
Silencers make the weapon make a different sound, but the distance you can hear it isn't changed afaik.
Flash lights mean you don't have to carry around a torch.

[Jesterthegreat]

Melee and Psi weapons cannot be given ammo mods.

Extras include things like laser sights, scopes, silencers and flash lights.
Laser sights increase the speed you achieve lock and/or the aiming stat.
Scopes do as you can imagine.
Silencers make the weapon make a different sound, but the distance you can hear it isn't changed afaik.
Flash lights mean you don't have to carry around a torch.

nor can they (melee and psi) be given any of the "extra" mods listed here.

and i believe a lasersight doesnt increase the aim "cap" so its only useful if you dont cap the aim... though if i'm wrong then im sorry

[Tostino]

Also DON'T GET MAD AT THE CSTER IF YOU BRING HIM 1-5 OF A GUN TO BE MADE AND IT GETS 0 SLOTS!!!. There is nothing he can do about it. And for the rare weapons, Aloways ask the cster his skill and his int and dex as well as his cst. The int/dex are very important for csting. Somone with 80 int and 75 dex with 215 in cst will be just as good as somone with 100 int and dex with 140 in cst. Don't think that having high cst will make your slot chances go up, As long as they cap the qualito on the weapon then that is the best you can do.

[nellus]

good guide easy to follow thanks

[Man O Man]

You get good weapons by Killing others and taking them

[BradSTL]

How good can their weapon be if you killed them instead of the other way around?

Poor soul-light is so rare that pretty much all good weapons are safe-slot protected. I've done a bit of running around hacking belts, and I haven't gotten a weapon out of one yet. It's virtually always armor or very low level psi spells, when it isn't something completely worthless.

[Tostino]

I have got many good guns out of belts before (99% of the time I just gave it back to the person though) In NC2 I have hacked a 5 slot PoB 2 slot Dev (NC1) 1 slot CS and a 3 slot Judge.

[eprodigy]

my chars almost all have stuff out of safe slot as well.. my pe has a second judge in slot 2 (for diff ammo), my tank has cs in 1 but a rav and/or sometimes a moonie in another, apu of course are biggest culprit with a good hab and fa/pest/etc in another slot.

so hacking belts isnt useless. if someone kills me and gets my belt then good for them.. i dont usually even accept the item back if they offer.

How good can their weapon be if you killed them instead of the other way around?

some people have skill *cough not me cough* for instance a 5 slot weapon wouldn't help you much just kidding

[Jesterthegreat]

How good can their weapon be if you killed them instead of the other way around?

Poor soul-light is so rare that pretty much all good weapons are safe-slot protected. I've done a bit of running around hacking belts, and I haven't gotten a weapon out of one yet. It's virtually always armor or very low level psi spells, when it isn't something completely worthless.

got a 3 slot doomie, melee pa, and assorted junk from some soldierz tank's red sl belt last night.

gring to DRT on that sl... suicide...