Indirect Hits: Piercing, Chain, Dividing, Bouncy Walls and Boomerang

analytics
1

These perks interact in complex ways and this is what I’ve figured so far

  1. The calculations are based on Enemy-Specific Damage (ESD) per shot
  2. There are 4 types of enemies (Ground-Ranged, Ground-Melee, Flying-Ranged and Flying-Melee) and the Damage per Shot calculation will be slightly different for each of them based on bonuses (e.g. Blazia at Level 20 gives +5% against Ground Enemies to all heroes) and the Gear in use
  3. This is generally the same for all your shots (i.e. forward as well as Spread shots / Vertical shots / Back shot) but if you have Double/Triple Barrel the damage for the forward shots are docked by 30% / 40% of the Weapon-specific Base Damage.

Piercing Shots

  1. First pierce gives a 40% penalty, so the 2nd hit will be 60% of the ESD of the first shot (if both enemies are of the same type, you will easily see that the 2nd number is 60% of the first)
  2. Second pierce gives another penalty, so the 3rd hit will be 36% of the ESD of the first shot (again, can be easily seen if enemies are of the same type)
  3. There is no further piercing penalty, so all subsequent shots do 36%

Boomerang

  1. Boomerang attracts a 38% penalty, so the damage will be 62% of the ESD - you will see this if the outgoing shot misses and hits an enemy on the return
  2. You will more likely see the outgoing shot pierce one or more enemies and then boomerang;
    • With a single enemy the return damage will be 37.2% (i.e. 60% * 62%) of ESD
    • With 2 enemies, the outgoing damage will be 100% on the first hit, 60% on the 2nd and all the returns will be ~22% (i.e. 36% * 62%)
    • With 3 or more enemies, the outgoing damage will be 100% on the first, 60% on the 2nd, 36% on the 3rd and subsequent; and all the returns will still be ~22% (36% * 62%)

Bouncy Walls

  1. Bouncing attracts a 50% penalty on the first bounce, so the damage will be 50% of the ESD.
  2. There’s a total of 3 bounces, and the penalty only applies for the first bounce
  3. The way Bouncy stacks with Piercing is the same as Boomerang and Piercing; so
    • Hit after Bounce: 50% (this is common with spread shots)
    • Hit after Pierce and Bounce (same for Hit after Bounce and Pierce): 30% (i.e. 60% * 50%)
    • Hit after 2 (or more) Pierces and Bounce (same regardless of the order of the Bounces and Pierces): 18% (i.e. 36% * 50%)
  4. Bouncy replaces Boomerang; so whether it’s useful to take Bouncy Walls for the Looper depends on a few things - haven’t really played enough with Looper to test it but these are my thoughts:
    • With Frostina, taking Bouncy gives more Snowball so you’d almost always take Bouncy
    • The more radial shots (Spread Shots, Vertical Shots, Back Shot) you have, the more useful Bouncy tends to be (especially with a Boss, the radial shots tend to be wasted with the Looper)
    • Homing also generally makes Bouncy more useful, but in the case of Spread Shots with Homing, you can sometimes get all 3 shots hitting your target and then it might be better to not take Bouncy

Chain Shots

  1. For each hit, there will be a brach shot that jumps to a nearby enemy that does 55% ESD provided the generating hit did full damage (easier to see if both enemies are the same type); if the generating hit was weaker (e.g. power reduced by Boomerange/Bouncy/Piercing) then that decline will carry through; for example
    • A chain from a Pierced shot will do 33% of ESD (60% * 55%)
    • A chain from a Bounced shot will do 27.5% of ESD (50% * 55%)
  2. There can be upto 2 more jumps (often it bounces between 2 enemies close together) and each time it’s 55% of the previous; so 3rd chain hit is ~30.3% (55% * 55%) and the 4th is ~16.6% (55% * 55% * 55%). So when there’s 2 or more enemies close to each other, chain shots doubles your damage (100% + 55% + 30.3% + 16.6% = 204.9%)
  3. It’s possible for a Chain shot to Bounce or Boomerang (e.g. if there’s a wall between the enemies), in which case the respective percentages ( 50% / 62%) apply
  4. If you have Piercing and Chain, they both apply, so the Piercing shot will proceed in the original direction of the shot and the Chain will proceed towards a nearby enemy

Dividing Shots

  1. For each hit from a shot originating from your gun, there will be 2 new shots generated (at an angle +/- 45º compared to the original direction)
  2. The damage of these shots is 60% of the ESD - even if it was generated by a pierced shot - so if you get one shot through several enemies, although the damage to those enemies reduce (100%, 60%, 36%, 36%, 36%…) the dividing shots from each of them will do 60% of the ESD
    • It’s hard to verify (because when this happens there are a lot of rapid hits and the numbers are hard to see) so I don’t know if it’s still 60% of the original ESD if the dividing shots are generated by a Bounced/Boomerang shot
  3. If the dividing shot hits, it can chain (then the damage will be 60% * 55%, 60% * 55% * 55%, 60% * 55% * 55% * 55%); however these hits will not generate new dividing shots

Other notes

  1. Chain shots pair well with Poison, Fire and Zap shots, because the damage done by them is fixed (isn’t reduced because it came from a weakened shot)
  2. Chain shots work well with Shrapnel Shots, because each hit can give you unto 4 pairs of shrapnel
  3. Chain shots will, if they hit, reset your Focus Shots benefit, but they do complement each other well - when there are clusters, you benefit from Chain; when the enemies are alone, you benefit from Focus shots
  4. As long as it’s on the same enemy, Bouncy/Boomerang shots count towards Focus Shots benefit
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