Sniper cannon or blast cannon?

So I am having trouble deciding on whether to use my blast cannon or sniper cannon for my boats.
Both are rare and of equal level.
The only differences are range, crit chance, and damage that I know of ... Is one really "better" than the other?


Thanks!

 

One does more damage (ignoring crit for now) and the other is more likely to hit and has better range. If you prefer close and personal, use blast. If you usually shoot at range or are new to shooting (still learning to lead your shots), use sniper. It also depends on the boat and mix of weapons you can use.

Experimenting is always good to figure out your style. The guns evolve as you level your captains/boats too. So a bad gun can become good to you in the future.

 

Also...great overview vids on all weapons done by forum member here. For your question:

 

Both are good and useful. Keep them both, you can actually use them both at once on a single ship build.

 

Not the best video, since it only compares their base stats, which get a lot more dissimilar to each other when you factor in Crew buffs. If you build for one or the other, it becomes vastly more powerful than the other choice. At base, Sniper is almost always a better choice, since it's damage is only slightly lower but otherwise has better stats across the board. If you build for Sniper, the base damage barely goes up, but it's critical chance and damage skyrockets. However, if you build for Blast, it gets massive base damage, giving it more usefulness for it's consistency. The differences become pretty noticeable at a reasonably low level, since Bhurt is the first crew member, so I don't think comparing their no-Crew stats is fair.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend using both of them (after you get the hang of the game and have tested both). I think it depends on what ship you prefer. If you're on a Shooter or Fixer, you should probably stick with the Sniper, but if you're on an Enforcer, Speeder or Defender, Blast is probably a better option. Reason being that if you plan to stay further away from the fight, Sniper is better by far, since you can shoot from outside every other gun's range and your shot is more likely to hit because of the projectile speed. However, if you're regularly going to be any closer than that, Blast's more consistent damage will serve you better since, when you're in danger, you want the best bang for your buck without any of it being based on RNG.

Plus, at the range Blast fires from, it's easier to take advantage of Bhurt's cannons-on-ignited-enemies buff (if you build for that). Hitting with a Fire Bomb, much less a Flare, from Sniper range isn't the easiest thing in the world, so it's a moot point for that gun most of the time. With a Blast, it could lead to crazy damage numbers very easily. For a Sniper, well, you just have to be happy with your crazy criticals (don't worry, they get pretty crazy, especially when you fire from a range of over 40 ).

 

Really? Jessh! It does give some other detail at the end too. It's only an overview and not meant for more. I've found these videos great for beginners to get a sense of the weapons. I hope they continue to be created too.

But added detail is always appreciated. The game could use more analytics guys to map out all the possible paths for optimizing weapons based on need.

 

Sniper cannon requires a decent investment in perks to get your critical rate up before you can see it's real destructive power.
Not to mention the crew skill training for the additional critical rate and critical damage increase.
If you want to have a faster path to hit harder with more stable output, blast cannot will be more advisable.

Also note that sniper cannon projectile shot is almost in a straight line, where else blast cannon got a better trajectory to go over wave.
Take this into consideration to suit your play style and plan for building your gears.

 

Perfect! Thanks!

 

Blast for defender, sniper for shooter.