How To Maximize Fusion Rifle Consistency

How To Maximize Fusion Rifle Consistency - Illustrating Range, Aim Assist, and Bolt Magnetism

Introduction

Previously, I had shared some observations regarding fusion rifle damage falloff and bolt speed. Those posts were far from conclusive, however, and the jury is still out on what exactly the Range stat does for fusions. After reading an informative post by /u/SevenMillion5, this comment by /u/ch4_meleon_, and the Massive Breakdown of Range, Accuracy, Aim Assist, and Stability by /u/Mercules904, I became determined to explore the question further. Analysis thus far has usually involved wall tests and lacked the presence of an actual Guardian target. This time I set out to observe fusion rifles as they behave with a target in front of them.

In this analysis, I look at aim assist and bolt magnetism related to fusion rifle range. I also take a closer look at accuracy-enhancing perks like Hip Fire, Hot Swap, and Eye of the Storm as they relate to fusion rifles. This guide really contains no advice that hasn’t been stated elsewhere, but I hope to illustrate why we do the things that we do, and provide a clear picture for what to look for in a fusion rifle.

Examining the Fusion Rifle Reticle

Fusion Rifle Reticle Comparison

What exactly are we looking at here? As explained by /u/Mercules904, the reticle contains two components — the crosshairs, which indicate the error angle where bolts may randomly project, and the segmented aim assist circle within which bolts can magnetize towards a target. This reticle is visible within the Last Rites story mission. I didn’t learn about this trick until just recently, so I was excited to jump into it with fusion rifle accuracy in mind.

Here’s a simple graphic to help visualize what appears in the reticle. Imagine the error angle forming a cone that projects from the end of the barrel, and the aim assist circle projecting a cylinder until the aim assist falloff point. The reticle is a two-dimensional slice of these two elements at a certain, yet unknown distance. Very generally, the Range stat narrows the accuracy cone, and the Aim Assist stat increases the size of the aim assist circle. A fusion rifle is most effective where the accuracy cone is smaller than the aim assist circle.

Aim assist falloff appears to be governed by zoom magnification; Compare the aim assist falloff between these two fusion rifles, configured with and without Rangefinder. Aim assist appears to fall off around 40 meters for regular fusion rifles, and 45 meters with Rangefinder. This coincides with the range where ammo crate markers are visible in Crucible, and Patrol beacons are visible on Patrol.

For most weapons, when a round is fired, the error angle grows (bloom) and aim assist degrades until the error angle reaches maximum bloom and the aim assist circle completely disappears. Bloom resets between shots, eventually returning to initial accuracy. The same mechanics are in action for fusion rifles, but produce unique behavior.

Fusion Rifle Reticle Behavior

Fusion rifles fire 7 bolts across 7 frames. You may notice in the frame-by-frame above that the accuracy cone reaches maximum bloom immediately and only appears to reset after all bolts are fired. It resets very quickly, in just two frames. My educated guess is the accuracy cone as it appears one frame after the last bolt fires actually represents the accuracy of all bolts after the first. (That is, accuracy resets to this amount before the next bolt is fired, returning to maximum bloom again, which is what we see when the frame renders.) Aim assist does degrade over subsequent bolts, but never completely vanishes. This is because bolt magnetism is extremely important to making fusion rifles feel consistent; if bolts were purely random, fusion rifles would be frustratingly inconsistent outside close range. The key takeaways are that the first bolt is the most accurate, all 6 subsequent bolts are equally accurate, and the region where bolts can magnetize shrinks between the first and the last bolt.

So, with this mind, what do we look for in a reticle? We want our aim assist circle to be as large as possible, and our error angle to be equal in size to or smaller than the aim assist circle for the best consistency. This way, we can maximize the range of consistency and be sure that bolts will magnetize regardless of error angle so long as we stay on target within that range. Unsurprisingly, many popular fusion rifles like Saladin’s Vigil, Plan C, and Stellar Vestige meet this standard.