EP-40 Merc w/ 104 what should I use this for?

[Kaiser]

I am a green guy here on Calypso. I started the way most people seem to with an Opalo and a 103 for the larger animals that I could handle. I started with Goblin and ended up in Rascal within a week. I tend to learn and progress fast. I skilled 1k rifle in 3 days and skilled 1.1k handgun in the next 4 days after that (I'm an addict that plays 10 hrs a day plus religiously). Anyway I am in the process of building a vigi set, I am wearing my vigi harness and arms and the rest is still Rascal. My question is this, I upgraded to an EP-40 Merc and 104. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should be going after? I am finding I can't get enough money out of my favorite mobs (argos) at Twin Peaks to break even. I use an EK-2300 as well got tired of using FAP-X. Also would like to know if anyone has any suggestion on a weapon both with a budget in mind and without. I honestly would love a Karma Killer. It seems to cost roughly the same as an EP-40 to maintain as far as decay but does hella more dmg/sec. Would love to hear any ideas yall have about equipment, mobs, etc.


TY

K


P.S. If I did something stupid and bought a weapon way out of my skill set please please please let me know what i should have bought instead. Luckily the EP-40 is pretty easy to resell at a decent price if I went weapon crazy.

 

[Kay-T]

Later on you might want to get an m2875 it gives ya faster damage and is more ecenomical than the EWE series, but your ep-40 is in the same class as 2875.

You shold be able to hunt things like feffoid, maffoid with reletive ease (especially if you use rascal). when you complete your vigi set you should be able to take on drones up to generation 5.
With it you should be able to kill ambulimax young, longu young-old, atrox young-old, atrax up to guardian/dominant, gokibusagi young-old, armax cow up to perhaps guardian, armax bull up to perhaps old, morsusilex young-old, low-medium maturity molisk and higher maturities of argonauts.
Most noobish mobs will die in 1-5 shots depending on misses and damage done.
On a good hit you will be able to drop most snablesnots, young diakibas and the fightless birds in one shot. I have found chirpies/fugabarba/gibnib/turp can loot very well under this condition. (there have been times i got 1-5 peds from 1 shot on a chirpy or fugabarba).

 

[GolGotha]

I would honestly say that unless you're past 2k HG that the ep-40 alone is too high for you. Therefore the ep40 + amp is way too high for your skill level. Seriously, if you don't hunt according to your skill level, you will lose a helluva lot. And I'm seriously suggesting against any higher weapon, such as the m2875 and m2890. They are really out of your skill level, and you will lose on a regular basis. Honestly, I'd say amp the hell out of the TT pistol, 'cause it's efficient and does decent damage. I'd keep that until you get relatively no skill gains from the any significant amount of ammo.

 

[Kaiser]

I do have one more question. I expected to hear that I was out of my skill level with the EP-40. I kind of got that idea when suddenly my minorly profitable hunts turned into UBER losses. My question is if it is indeed out of my skill level why does it say skill progress 100% in the stats screen? Am I misunderstanding what that means? I took it to mean that you had the necessary skills to efficiently (as far as the weapon goes) use it. Thanks for all of your help.

hehe I know this is off topic but how do I post pictures on these things? I have a couple hofs and globals I need to post.

 

[Blue]

definately go with an M2875 it has 1 less atck at 60 per min but decay is slightly better. its worth spending the extra money

 

[Anthalas]

I would honestly say that unless you're past 2k HG that the ep-40 alone is too high for you. Therefore the ep40 + amp is way too high for your skill level. Seriously, if you don't hunt according to your skill level, you will lose a helluva lot. And I'm seriously suggesting against any higher weapon, such as the m2875 and m2890. They are really out of your skill level, and you will lose on a regular basis. Honestly, I'd say amp the hell out of the TT pistol, 'cause it's efficient and does decent damage. I'd keep that until you get relatively no skill gains from the any significant amount of ammo.

Actually if you think that way, you ought to stick with opalo and tt pistol for a while... I have 3.4k in rifles and 2.4k in MMS and 1+k in other ranged combat related skills and still miss hell lot of shots with starkhov-117 and if I'm adiviced to use something like starkhov-97 -98 than -117 and because it's cheaper to miss with them, hell yeah, but they are more ineffective too.

so imo all that is relevant in weapons is that the more costly weapon, more skill gains. you just need to choose a right mob for that weapon that'll pay back your ammo costs.

oh yeah, use scopes and laser sights (you can actually attach laser sight to the scope too) they will help a little too, although it is a small help compared what they should to be (I have skill modifier 45.5% with 2 laser sights and a scope, so my hit rate (2.1 / 10.0) would be 145.5%... doesn't feel that way.

so my advice would be that hunt with ewe-40 when you have extra money, and when you run low on your peds, hunt with opalo or tt pistol, which one want to specialize in, but I suggest that specialize in one prof. it's more economical that way than spreading your peds to different skill classes.

When you are über and have shitloads of money, you can skill whatever you want, even scan auctioneer the whole day

 

[Qobra]

Kaiser,

Like you I am also a PE addict and hunt with ep-40 amped at 104 with laser and scope. I am nearing the 2k hg skill level and have been using this combination since opening MMS at 1400 hg, prior to that I used a ep-32 amped at 104. I am an avid supported of this combination.

My hunts are becoming economical in the scense that I break even or make small losses yet sometimes global and make a nice little profit which usually goes towards decay and ammo anyway. I tend to stick with agro's, merps, bery, feff's, maff's atrox and the like when solo and bigger mobs like hogg's when in a team - damage decides rules - the damage done when hunting like this earns me enough to make small profit when team mates are ubers and doing 100+ damage with there expensive weaponary.

The point I'm trying to make (daft some may say) is you shouldn't worry to much into skill levels and weapons at this stage, the ep-40 is a mid to high level weapon and serves a decent purpose - if you where considering a high level hand gun (ie damage per sec over 50 unamp) - you would probably loose loads of peds but skill alot as well. PE is an enjoyable game and like most things in life enjoyment costs one way or the other. You sacrifice the thrill of taking atrox and atrax solo for buring ped - its up to you. Enjoyment is the key and if you are comfortable with this combination my advise would be to stick to it.

 

[Elroy Harvey]

The point I'm trying to make (daft some may say) is you shouldn't worry to much into skill levels and weapons at this stage, the ep-40 is a mid to high level weapon and serves a decent purpose - if you where considering a high level hand gun (ie damage per sec over 50 unamp) - you would probably loose loads of peds but skill alot as well. PE is an enjoyable game and like most things in life enjoyment costs one way or the other. You sacrifice the thrill of taking atrox and atrax solo for buring ped - its up to you. Enjoyment is the key and if you are comfortable with this combination my advise would be to stick to it.

I agree 100% with this comment, if you can afford to use more powerfull weapons and you enjoy it use it I only have about 1700 in rifle but i hunt with my Justifier MKII and will soon be ugrading again I enjoy being able to kill the bigger mobs and you just cant do that with the opalo. I not disagreing with everyone else if you are in the game to "break even" or at least attempt to,then pick a weapon for your skills it's your choice.

 

[Jimmy B]

I'd be careful mixing rascal and vigi... Personally think vigi is overrated (probably because it has a helmet!) although it is good for certain mobs. Think the impact protection is 7 on vigi and 15 on rascal so a bit of discrepency there when hunting impact mobs...

oh yeah, use scopes and laser sights (you can actually attach laser sight to the scope too) they will help a little too, although it is a small help compared what they should to be (I have skill modifier 45.5% with 2 laser sights and a scope, so my hit rate (2.1 / 10.0) would be 145.5%... doesn't feel that way.

Hmmmmm.... done a few experiments to determine what laser sights actually do. Only done it so far with amped opalo for which I'm certain they make no difference whatsoever in terms of the effectiveness of the gun. The skill gain is increased by roughly the percentage of the skill modifier though. Would be interested to know if this is the case on other guns... personally I've always felt the sights help with long range tagging but never really actually checked it...

 

[PE freak!!]

Ep-40

hey a little tip get merc(EP-40) i use it often its something like a son for me
no really i like this weapon and i use it as secondary weapon its cool but DONT NEVER use a A104 on it to much decay than (i think so its not your decide)
ok


P.S:GL and when u got 1,4k HG rifle or LB you unlock Marksmanship

 

[Kaiser]

You guys are awesome so much good advice. Right now I am trying to break even as much as possible as I have a wife who is disabled and we live on one income. I can not tell yall how much I appreciate this advice. I tried the tt pistol with my 104 and I just can't handle it. It is indeed much more efficient but I figured out what I think is a good solution. Let me know what you think.

I am going to keep multiple level weapons and buy a second EP-40. I know somebody is going MAN this guy is dense hehe. My plan is to throw the 104 on the second ep-40 and tt pistol as well as a midrange. I am lso going to buy another opalo, midlevel carbine and a rifle. I am going to buy 5 or 6 more 104's and keep amped and unamped versions of every weapon hot keyed at all times. It seems to me this is the best way to maintain efficiency. I appreciate all of your advice.


Anyone have any thoughts on the Karma Killer? I have a BP for it and have a friend who is skilled enough to successfully make them.


I guess I shouldn't complain about my hunting really. I had two HOF's last week for a total of 1.1k and three globals (all within 24 hours and all cash) for a grand total of 1.6k ped.

 

[Kerham]

u should do like this:

primarly weapon: tt with amp, either if is rifle or hg. emergency weapon: ep 40 merc with a104 or a3justmk2 with a104, but ONLY for emergency.

DO NOT GO FOR VIGI. That armour is completely USELESS if u don't hunt bots or trox/trax.

and kinda offtopic advice: buy a scanner and go through ppl and scan them. if u meet an arch master laser sniper using opalo, maybe it will give u smth to think about.

 

[aridash]

I guess I shouldn't complain about my hunting really. I had two HOF's last week for a total of 1.1k and three globals (all within 24 hours and all cash) for a grand total of 1.6k ped.

Can we team. please.

 

[Esme]

I use Opalo+A104 as my primary weapon, Opalo unamped for finishing, EP-40+A103 for difficult situations (multiple mobs for instance), MkII to tag with some punch, AS-98+Dante for tagging with even more punch, Fap-50 for quick healing and FAP-5 for the rest.

Never use more weapon or fap than you need and you will probably break even and sometimes you will do very well

What you do get from the Opalo+A104 is the increased numbers of critical hits with really nice dmg which increases the effectiveness and speed of mob dispatch enormously and this helps to reduce your ammo spend

 

[Kaiser]

u should do like this:

primarly weapon: tt with amp, either if is rifle or hg. emergency weapon: ep 40 merc with a104 or a3justmk2 with a104, but ONLY for emergency.

DO NOT GO FOR VIGI. That armour is completely USELESS if u don't hunt bots or trox/trax.

and kinda offtopic advice: buy a scanner and go through ppl and scan them. if u meet an arch master laser sniper using opalo, maybe it will give u smth to think about.

Actually ALL I am hunting now is trox and trax which is why I bought the vigi hehe I am not TOTALLY retarted hehe

 

[Kaiser]

I use Opalo+A104 as my primary weapon, Opalo unamped for finishing, EP-40+A103 for difficult situations (multiple mobs for instance), MkII to tag with some punch, AS-98+Dante for tagging with even more punch, Fap-50 for quick healing and FAP-5 for the rest.

Never use more weapon or fap than you need and you will probably break even and sometimes you will do very well

What you do get from the Opalo+A104 is the increased numbers of critical hits with really nice dmg which increases the effectiveness and speed of mob dispatch enormously and this helps to reduce your ammo spend

It seems to be that everybody says "opalo with amp" "opalo with amp" nobody seems to think about adding in fap repair cost (you will fap much more using slow low dmage weapon), armor decay from having the crap beat of you standing there firing and firing and firing and firing and firing. Maybe these aren't important but seems like they would be to me. Also more time per mob kill = less total kills = less chance of global or HOF I would think.

I am think that combo of dmg/sec with dmg/cell would be the most important thing. Get the highest combo of those with lowest decay and you are set. Anyone have any thoughts? I am really uneasy about using amped tt weapons. They see, to skill VERY slowly. There is no way I could have skilled 1.5k handgun now in 7 days with a tt handgun. I went out and tried the tt hg with my 104 and it took me what felt like a lifetime to kill an argo gatherer and now my finger hurts hehe.

 

[GolGotha]

It seems to be that everybody says "opalo with amp" "opalo with amp" nobody seems to think about adding in fap repair cost (you will fap much more using slow low dmage weapon), armor decay from having the crap beat of you standing there firing and firing and firing and firing and firing. Maybe these aren't important but seems like they would be to me. Also more time per mob kill = less total kills = less chance of global or HOF I would think.

I am think that combo of dmg/sec with dmg/cell would be the most important thing. Get the highest combo of those with lowest decay and you are set. Anyone have any thoughts? I am really uneasy about using amped tt weapons. They see, to skill VERY slowly. There is no way I could have skilled 1.5k handgun now in 7 days with a tt handgun. I went out and tried the tt hg with my 104 and it took me what felt like a lifetime to kill an argo gatherer and now my finger hurts hehe.

Honestly, it doesn't take long at all. I skilled from 1k to 2k Rifle in less than a week, and last night, in two hunting runs of ~40 ped ammo with an a103 on the HG, I got over 120 levels in HG (started at 624 levels). Honestly, it's just patience. It may take longer, but you can enjoy your fun, keep some ped, and honestly now that armor decay has changed, it's not bad at all. I can hunt bery old - dom with 50 ped ammo + a103 and not even have 3 ped decay on my pixie + 2As (same stats as rascal, therefore, same decay). Fap decay is generally low too - maybe a couple ped. It' not much of a loss, I promise - not compared to blowing ped and losing it all in ammo and gun decay.

 

[Kaiser]

Honestly, it doesn't take long at all. I skilled from 1k to 2k Rifle in less than a week, and last night, in two hunting runs of ~40 ped ammo with an a103 on the HG, I got over 120 levels in HG (started at 624 levels). Honestly, it's just patience. It may take longer, but you can enjoy your fun, keep some ped, and honestly now that armor decay has changed, it's not bad at all. I can hunt bery old - dom with 50 ped ammo + a103 and not even have 3 ped decay on my pixie + 2As (same stats as rascal, therefore, same decay). Fap decay is generally low too - maybe a couple ped. It' not much of a loss, I promise - not compared to blowing ped and losing it all in ammo and gun decay.

I don't hunt mobs that small. Have you ever tried killing atrox old with an amped opalo hehe. It takes a virtual lifetime. Argonauts are my skill level mob at this point. I go through about 300-400 ped a day in ammo right now and range from about 10% loss to about 50% gain. I almost always break even or better. I watch when I use an amped opalo or amped m2100 (tt hand gun) about every ten to 15 trigger pulls i gain a skill of some sort and out of every skill i gain 1/10 is handgun. When I equip me ep-40 and go hunting I gain skills almost every trigger pull (never more than two between skill gains) and about every third skill gain is handgun.

The skill system in this game really confuses me sometimes. As for fap decay, I use an ek-2300 and with the size of the mobs I am hunting I am finding that, that is not even fast enough to get me ahead of the hits on the mobs I am hunting.

I guess I need to clarify my purpose for playing PE. My goal is to obtain 10k+ in most combat and defence skills as fast as possible. I am trying to do this also without breaking the bank but, I differ from most players in one area, economy is not my first concern.

I actually did the math and some experimenting over the last couple of days on tt amped weapons versus what I am using and included fap and armor decay.

Believe it or not the best combination was ep-40 unamped with my fap and my armor decay figured in on my hunts.