Finally, a non-Kuva weapon to review! The Basmu is an MR11 Sentient Rifle with two novel firing modes, as well as a unique reloading mechanic. It is an unusual, though quite effective, weapon.
Acquisition
At the moment, the Basmu Blueprint can only be acquired from Operation: Scarlet Spear which is currently active. It can be purchased from Little Duck for 15,000 Scarlet Credits. I presume that it will be made available again in the future in some way, whether this Operation becomes a recurring event or some other means.
Stats
Primary Fire shots explode on impact in a radius of 1.7 metres, and will inflict self-stagger if you are too close. They deal 20% less damage at the edge of the explosion compared to the epicentre - a very minor damage drop-off compared to most other explosive weapons. Of course, a 1.7m explosion radius is very small as explosive weapons go, so it evens out.
Secondary Fire is completely different, instead firing two homing Electric beams. It again has excellent Status Chance, and has the highest Crit Damage of any Primary at 4.8x, but a measly 2% Crit Chance. Its base Damage is also really low, at just 12 between the two beams.
As a beam weapon, Secondary Fire has a limited range of just 9 metres - the equal shortest of any beam weapon alongside the Embolist. This is slightly mitigated by its homing function, automatically locking on to a nearby enemy. Additionally, it can chain from the primary target to up to 5 other nearby enemies, dealing reduced damage each time.
If completely emptied, recharging only occurs after 1 second. During this time however, it will emit short-range pulses that stagger nearby enemies, damaging them slightly and healing you based on how close the enemies are. This delayed recharge gives a poor Reload Ratio of just 1.4.
Augments
None.Builds
0-Forma:
As is custom since U27.2, my go-to element is Viral. It stacks up to a 4.25x damage multiplier very quickly, and the innate Heat on explosions is a great complement. It is particularly effective against organic enemies. Corrosive deals better direct damage against Infested and Ferrite armour, and has a really strong proc against armoured enemies, but is completely useless against some targets. Radiation is good against armoured Corpus robots.
Recommended Setups: Viral vs everything, Corrosive vs armour, Infested, Radiation vs armoured Corpus
1-Forma:
High Damage 3-Forma:
It's worth noting that Punch Through is pretty much useless on the Basmu, and often actively harmful. Primary Fire shots that pass through an enemy will not detonate (and thus deal reduced damage), and Secondary Fire locks on to targets rather than shooting straight ahead, so does not need Punch Through.
Besides Vigilante Armaments and Heavy Caliber, you could consider installing another elemental mod. In particular, adding in Heat is quite strong, allowing for Viral + Radiation + Heat. This can be installed via Hellfire for highest damage, Thermite Rounds for highest Status Chance, or even Wildfire for a slightly larger Mag Capacity. On the Crit side, Bladed Rounds and Argon Scope are reasonable boosts, though if you're going for pure damage, VA and HC are better. Firestorm is a funny option to increase the size of Primary Fire explosions, making it more effective against groups.
For the Exilus slot, there aren't many good options. The Basmu's fast recharging magazine invalidates several options, though Vigilante Supplies can still be used for the Vigilante set bonus. Hush can be used to silence the weapon if so desired. Terminal Velocity increases the Projectile Speed of Primary Fire, which can make it easier to use at longer range.
My Builds
Combat Use and Summary
With decent RoF, a small AoE and decent Crit and Status Chance, the Basmu's Primary Fire is reasonably well rounded and decent against most enemies. It is quite adept at eating thrrough tightly packed groups quickly, and provided it isn't emptied, its fast recharging magazine is well suited to engaging multiple groups of enemies.
Its high Status Chance and decent damage output make it quite well suited to dealing with heavily armoured enemies. Both Corrosive and Viral are extremely effective at weakening most armoured enemies. The innate Heat damage on explosions is a great bonus, which of course can be further augmented with Heat mods.
The Basmu is relatively weakest against unarmoured heavy enemies, as its direct damage output is unexceptional by Rifle standards. The much more powerful Viral proc is a big help here, but does not match the firepower of a Crit-heavier weapon.
The Basmu's beam mode being linked to the alternate fire button can be very awkward depending on your key bindings. I personally have alternate fire on one of the extra buttons on my mouse, which thankfully is alright. This problem would be much less of an issue if alternate fire simply switched between firing modes, like a traditional Select-Fire weapon.
Neither firing mode is very good at range. Primary Fire fires projectiles which have travel time, and are not particularly accurate. Secondary Fire, as mentioned just before, has an extremely short range. Annoyingly, Primary Fire can also be a bit troublesome at very close range. As an explosive weapon, it will inflict self-stagger if you are caught in the (relatively small) blast radius.
Very few weapons have any form of healing, and only Melee weapons can be generally modded to have it. As such, the Basmu's lifesteal effect on an empty reload is a neat, if risky feature. It stuns nearby enemies, which is helpful, but still leaves you vulnerable to enemies further away. It is also a significantly longer delay than reloading while still partially full, which can be very frustrating.
Besides the Secondary Fire being terrible, my biggest issue with the Basmu is its miniscule Mag Capacity relative to its RoF. 21 rounds gets eaten up in 1.75 seconds by a RoF of 12, and its relatively mediocre direct damage often means that the Basmu often needs to use up most of a mag on a single heavy target. With reloads from empty being so punishing time-wise, I often feel like using the Basmu optimally requires frequently interrupting the flow of combat, for the sake of fast reloads.
Overall, Basmu is a decent weapon. Primary Fire is reasonably powerful, and deals enough direct damage to take advantage of its impressive Status capabilities. Secondary Fire is largely a waste of ammo and should be ignored outside of very low levels. A quickly regenerating magazine is very convenient provided you do not empty the mag entirely. The unusual health-leech-from-enemies when completely emptied is a neat feature, but there are much better ways to heal up that do not rely on enemy proximity or completely emptying your weapon.
If you enjoy unusual weapons with odd gimmicks, the Basmu is right up your alley. It is an overall decent weapon and can handle most standard enemies without too much issue. Additionally, you will probably find a lot more enjoyment out of Secondary Fire if you regularly use Crit Chance boosting equipment (the aforementioned Harrow, Adarza Kavat, etc). However, it is very unusual to use and will take a lot of getting used to. There are many other good Rifles in the game that are a lot more conventional and easier to use, and for the most part I would direct you to look towards them instead.
Scores
Vs Trash Mobs: 4.5/5 - Any amount of AoE is very beneficial to taking down groups, and the Basmu's Primary Fire does enough damage to take down groups quite efficiently. If not fully emptied, it also reloads extremely quickly.Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 3/5 - The massively buffed Viral proc is a big help here, allowing the Basmu to deal drastically more damage to unshielded enemies. It doesn't deal a great amount of direct damage, and is difficult to land headshots with, so is significantly worse against Status-immune enemies.
Vs Armoured Heavies without Hunter Munitions: 4.5/5 - High Status Chance, decent RoF and reasonable direct damage make the Basmu quite good against armoured enemies. Viral + Heat is a viciously powerful combo that can eat through armoured enemies very quickly.
Vs Armoured Heavies with Hunter Munitions: NA/5 - Its Crit Chance is too low to take very good advantage of Hunter Munitions. Slotting in Thermite Rounds for some Heat and even more Status Chance has a similar effect, with better performance against unarmoured enemies.
Vs Variants
None.Competitors
The Basmu is a very hard weapon to compare against, as its two firing modes are quite distinct and unusual.Primary Fire is somewhat similar to the Acceltra, Scourge and Astilla. All of them fire projectiles that explode on impact, and are all quite different. The Acceltra is Crit-focused and quite fast firing, so deals much more direct damage, but relies heavily on Hunter Munitions against armoured enemies. The Scourge is slower firing and Status-focused, notably dealing base Corrosive damage. As a speargun, it also has a unique throwing mechanic. Astilla is probably the closest to the Basmu, being Status-focused but still with usable Crit, however it is much slower firing and deals a lot more damage-per-shot. The Basmu is unique among them for its base Heat and Electric damages, as well as its recharging magazine.
Secondary Fire is pathetically weak and not worth properly comparing. It is most similar to the Amprex and Kuva Nukor, but hilariously weaker than either.
Rivens
As a new weapon, the Basmu starts off with a neutral 3/5 (1) Riven Disposition. I would not be surprised if it stayed as is, as it does not feel like an exceptional weapon. Popularity is impossible to gauge currently considering it is only available from a newly started event.+Damage/Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage are all great stats to have. +Elemental Damage can be good for saving a mod slot, or just more damage. I consider +Mag Capacity to be an enormous help for the Basmu, it allows it to fire for significantly longer, and reloads only very slightly slower. +Projectile Speed makes Primary Fire a bit easier to use at range, but still not great.
If they are possible rolls, any of -Impact/Puncture/Slash is perfect as the Basmu deals purely elemental damage. -Faction Damage can be manageable depending on the faction. -Fire Rate helps to improve the Basmu's Reload Ratio and ammo consumption rate, but of course also significantly reduces damage and Status output. -Ammo Max has no effect, so is perfect. -Reload Speed is hardly noticeable on partial reloads, since it only affects the (miniscule) recharge delay. It is much more noticeable on total reloads, which have a much longer delay. +Recoil is quite manageable as the Basmu does not have much. -Zoom is ideal for close quarters.
No comments:
Post a Comment