A short guide to the most misunderstood weapon in Darktide.
Introduction
The Zarona Mk IIa Quickdraw Stub Revolver is an unpopular weapon in Darktide that has become incorrectly associated with early players. While there’s no arguing that it’s not a top-tier pick in either class, it’s one of the most surprising and consistent underdog weapons available.
If the Contrail MG XII would be a 10/10 (which, in the current patch, would be considered the most powerful all-rounder) the Stub Revolver would sit around a 7/10 in my opinion.
The Stub Revolver can be run on Veteran and Zealot, with the former praising it for its high synergy with the Veteran’s fat tree and the latter for being very fast. From my experience it’s much better on the Veteran than it is on the Zealot. It can also be used on a psyker….
Revolver vs. the World
The Stub Revolver has interesting stats that don’t quite paint the picture for its nature. Below is a table of partly objective, partly subjective statistics (all unadjusted, i.e. statistics at 0% scaling baseline). All testing is done on Damnation difficulty, in-game as well as on MattGrinder.
| weapon | DPS | TTK | Combat flexibility | Ammo reserves | Economy of ammo | Reload speed | Amazing ability |
| Recon Lasgun VIIa | 625 | good | good | 300 | good | good | Very bad |
| Braced Autogen VII | 1041 | Very good | Poor/Medium | 200 | ordinary | good | Very good |
| Contrail IV | 455 | good | good | 300 | good | Very good | Bad |
| Contrail XII | 547 | good | Very good | 300 | Best | Best | Bad |
| Bolt gun | 2501 | Best | Very good | 80 | Average | Bad | Best |
| Stub revolver | 480 | good | Very good | 52 | Below average | Average | Very good |
Some explanation for the subjective variables: TTK shows the ability to hit breakpoints on enemies. This is by far the most difficult variable to define because there are so many statistics involved. Normally I would give a weapon a big boost in this category if the weapon can one-tap enemies or dismember them very quickly.
Combat flexibility refers to the situations in which you can properly use a weapon. Think ranged enemies, carapace armored enemies, etc. This does not include the inherent clumsiness of the weapon (looking at you boltgun).
Ammo economy refers to how hungry a weapon is when firing. This includes the adoption of weapons play styles. That is, not randomly shooting at poxwalkers like a flamer. Note that it may be entirely feasible for high-capacity weapons to shoot at a crowd, which is included as a negative factor here, but a positive in combat flexibility.
Reload time seems subjective, but it’s actually objective. This is the average reload time regardless of how many times you have to reload.
Stuttering ability is largely objective. A combination of firing speed and inherent stagger stats associated with the weapon.
So why the revolver?
When you put the revolver up against the best weapons, it should be pretty clear that if not for the figures, its strength lies elsewhere. Somewhat comically the first thing people rightly notice about this weapon is its high reloading requirement (even if it’s not as slow as it might appear). Like the bolt gun this is a real drawback of the weapon. But why bother with a weapon that has a major inherent drawback for being statistically below average?
To understand this we need to look at modifiers first:
Stub revolvers have some of the most impressive weapon modifiers simply because most of the weaknesses other weapons need to compensate for are already built into the revolver. This includes handling, collateral, stopping power and to some extent mobility (which is therefore the most useless stat on a revolver). The revolver is pinpoint accurate at any range, and almost perfectly accurate when firing at maximum firing rate (slight pitch, but no roll).
So instead of making up for the shortcomings, Revolver continues to stack on high damage and high flexibility. This can do pretty impressive damage in a mate grinder, and offers a much tighter scale weapon with modifiers than most other weapons (and the scaling ranges are already pretty good as they are). 600-700 base damage in a single shot at virtually any range is not unusual for a revolver.
Combining this with the veteran’s inherent 15% damage modifier, plus 25% headshot damage, plus a 50% innate damage modifier from their active ability can result in a damage count of between 800-1300. A lot of people will recognize that we are now starting to hit breakpoints on a lot of specialists, especially gunners, bombers and on very good rolls even trappers.
Due to the high innate recoil, the Stub Revolver is capable of knocking out opponents with sustained headshots. This includes heavy specialists like Flamer variants and even Reaper (who will get knocked on his ass after an average of 3 hits to the head). This can help diffuse a bad situation.
Finally the Stub Revolver has one of the most penetrating factors in the game (not a modifier!): it can shoot up to four enemies at once. Allowing the user to fairly consistently kill prominent enemies out of the crowd.
So when and how should I go Full Gunslinger?
Assuming you’re an experienced player (as the weapon is used very differently, and in my opinion much less effectively on Zealot) the Stub Revolver is a weapon that requires very precise aiming and ammo management. There is a need. But, once you get the hang of it, prepare for some of the most bad-ass cliché dramas your allies have ever seen (getting a “wtf that aim” has to be one of the most satisfying comments).
The Stub Revolver is your pocket sniper rifle, while offering a surprising amount of utility over the top. For feats I would recommend the following:
Most of which should be pretty self-explanatory. I choose bio-optic targeting because it helps your fellow veterans a lot (you’ll be glad others take it when using a revolver).
Some tips to get you started:
- Sometimes it’s better to just stand back and wait for a bigger threat to pop up (when you think your team can handle the incoming horde).
- Always go for the head
- Manage the remaining ammo in the chambers! It is not recommended to fully load it especially while you are active to ensure that you can keep it fresh.
- Your hipfire is strong, and can defeat Ragers if you land critical hits. Use it in a pinch.
- The revolver is one of the few weapons that is decently effective against Carapace.
- When your team is pressed, prioritize knocking Reapers and Gunners.
- Always ping the experts, ask your team to do it when they don’t.
- Note that revolver penetration is impressive. You can shoot specialists behind groups of enemies. In a pinch you can also use it to clear out some Pokeswalkers.