Review: Stahlta (U28.0.4)

The Stahlta is a new MR10 Rifle, released in the U28 Deadlock Protocol update. A weapon with two firing modes, it complements a conventional Full-Auto Primary Fire with a slow but incredibly powerful explosive Alternate Fire.

Acquisition

The Stahlta's blueprint occasionally drops from the revamped Jackal on Venus, Fossa. Its components can be found in the new Granum Voids, one in each tier and all in their respective C rotations.

Stats

The Stahlta has two very different firing modes. Primary Fire is a relatively conventional Full-Auto, with solid Crit and Status Chances, though a below average Crit Multiplier. Majority Slash base Damage is a great complement, enabling reliable Slash procs. Innate Punch-Through of 1.2 metres is fantastic, and is enough to pass through most enemies.

Oddly, the Stahlta's Primary Fire has a chance to inflict Radiation procs, even if it doesn't deal Radiation damage. This appears to be separate to the chance of inflicting procs naturally, and does not replace normally inflicted procs.

A Mag Capacity of 40 rounds is quite solid, with a RoF of 6 rounds-per-second and a rather fast Reload Time of 1.4 seconds. This gives an excellent Reload Ratio of 4.76.

In its description, the Stahlta is described as firing steel rods, so naturally its projectiles are subject to travel time, which can make longer ranged engagements more difficult. Much like bows however, a killshot will cause the projectile to continue on its trajectory and drag along the body.

Its Alternate Fire is completely different. It is a very slow, charge-fire shot that consumes 20 ammo all at once, and is fired immediately once fully charged. In exchange, it deals very high base damage on a direct hit, supplemented with amazing Crit stats and an excellent Status Chance.

0.4 seconds after impact, the Alternate Fire projectile explodes, dealing a massive amount of Radiation damage in an impressive 7.2m radius. It has a reasonably large amount of fall-off, dropping to just 30% damage at its edges. Naturally, the explosion can inflict self-stagger/knockdown.

Augments

None.

Builds

0-Forma:

A single native V polarity allows a solid basic build to fit in, with 6 spare capacity to switch one of the 60/60s for a 90% elemental if desired. Both firing modes are quite solid with this basic build, though each has notable drawbacks. Primary Fire is a tad lacking in direct damage, while Secondary Fire still has its very slow Charge Time.

Viral is by far the best all-round element, in particular because both of the Stahlta's firing modes have good Status Chance and Slash bias. Viral-enhanced Slash procs are incredibly powerful especially against heavily armoured enemies, bypassing the damage reduction from their armour.

As always, Corrosive and Radiation have their uses against particular enemy types, especially bosses. Toxin is always a strong option against any Corpus unit who is not armoured.

Recommended Setups: Viral vs everything, Corrosive vs Infested, Radiation vs armoured Corpus, Toxin vs unarmoured Corpus

1-Forma:

One added V polarity allows the addition of a seventh mod. In this case I've slotted in Vigilante Armaments for a no-fuss overall boost, with 4 spare capacity. Again, that could be used to switch one of the 60/60s for a 90%. There are many good options for that seventh mod slot, which I've discussed better in the section just below.

Recommended Setups: see above and below.

3-Forma High Damage:

With innate Punch Through on the Primary Fire and explosions on Secondary Fire, the Stahlta has no need for (Primed) Shred. Instead, I've opted to slot in Heavy Caliber for a big damage boost. I personally find its accuracy penalty to be minimal and very manageable given the extra damage. This setup maximises damage-per-shot while also inflicting a good number of Status procs. Primary Fire is the primary beneficiary here, as Alternate Fire is ridiculously powerful, but still has its painfully slow 1.6 second Charge Time.

3-Forma Alternate Fire:

This alternate build goes in a different direction, with greatly increased Fire Rate to reduce the Charge Time of the Alternate Fire. Given it already deals a ridiculous amount of damage in a single shot, the only enemies with any hope of surviving a shot (besides shield gating of course) are heavily armoured enemies. Hunter Munitions has been slotted in to take care of such foes, inflicting brutal Slash procs on anything that survives the blast. Primary Fire is still reasonably effective and also inflicts a lot of Slash procs, but is somewhat lacking for damage-per-shot.

These extra mods can of course be mix-and-matched at will. Hunter Munitions + Vigilante Armaments allows both firing modes to inflict great numbers of powerful Slash procs. Alternatively, Vile Acceleration + Heavy Cal/Vigi Armaments maximises the Burst DPS of both firing modes, at the cost of ammo economy. There are of course other mods you could consider for one of those two slots.

Argon Scope and Bladed Rounds are conditional Crit mods that can benefit both firing modes significantly. An additional elemental mod is another way to add damage, and can offer more potent elemental combinations, like Viral + Heat. Primed Cryo Rounds in particular is a big bunch of extra Cold damage. A Primed Bane mod is especially potent alongside Hunter Munitions, but very tedious to switch out for each faction and very expensive to max out. Firestorm is an entertaining alternative to increase the size of the Alternate Fire explosion, but not all that good.

For the Exilus slot, there are two main options to consider. Terminal Velocity increases Projectile Speed, which can make the Stahlta easier to use, especially at longer ranges. An Ammo Mutation mod can help keep the weapon supplied with ammo, which may be an issue if using Alternate Fire frequently. In particular, Vigilante Supplies offers an Ammo Mutation effect as well as contributing to the Vigilante mod set bonus.

Recommended Setups: see above. Also consider: Viral + HM/Heat vs everything, Corrosive + Heat vs Infested, Radiation + Toxin vs Corpus, Viral + Electric vs unarmoured Corpus

My Builds

Pretty much exactly as I'd described in the 3-Forma builds, with the extra Forma to play around with different mod configs.

Combat Use and Summary

The Stahlta's all-round Primary Fire is effective against most targets. Decent RoF and innate Punch-Through make it quite solid against groups, and a very good Reload Ratio keeps it in the fight most of the time. It will comfortably kill weaker enemies, and can engage steady streams of them with minimal downtime.

Primary Fire fares reasonably well against armoured enemies. Its solid Status Chance and high Slash bias allow it to stack up Viral and Slash procs quite quickly, dealing good damage to such enemies through their heavy armour. Hunter Munitions further improves this capability, drastically increasing the number of Slash procs inflicted.

Its unexceptional direct damage leaves Primary Fire behind many other good Primaries when used against unarmoured heavy targets, though it is by no means bad. Once again, the ability to reliably stack of Viral procs is of great assistance, provided the enemy is vulnerable to Status procs.

The Alternate Fire is much less convenient to use, but incredibly potent. A single, well placed shot can instantly kill almost any enemy, and anyone who somehow survives can be easily dealt with by Hunter Munitions. A large explosion radius effortlessly wipes out groups of enemies. Its main downsides are the very slow base Charge Time, high ammo consumption rate, and short delay before detonation.


As both firing modes are projectile-based, the Stahlta is not well-suited to long range combat. +Projectile Speed can be helpful, but is still nowhere near the convenience of hitscan weapons.

If you use Alternate Fire frequently, it is worth considering one of Ammo Case/Mutation/etc, especially if also using a +Fire Rate mod. Alternate Fire consumes a lot of ammo with each shot, so even at such a low RoF, can deplete your ammo reserves quite quickly. This is mitigated by Rifle ammo drops being one of the more common ammo drops, as well as restoring a lot of ammo per pickup even before mods.


Overall, the Stahlta is a novel and rather enjoyable Rifle. A conventional, solid Full-Auto is complemented with a slow but extremely powerful explosive shot. Both firing modes are effective and suited for different purposes. Different mod setups will also offer differing benefits to each firing mode, and it can be very much tailored to your personal preferences. If you're looking for a decent Full-Auto Rifle, a powerful explosive weapon, or even just an all-round solid Primary, I'd definitely recommend giving the Stahlta a try.

Scores

Vs Trash Mobs: 4/5 - Primary Fire has innate Punch Through, decent RoF and a very good Reload Ratio, allowing it to work through enemy groups with reasonable efficiency. A single Alternate Fire blast can wipe out large groups with ease, though with significant delay between shots.
Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 3.5/5 - Primary Fire is a little lacking for direct damage, but can stack up Viral procs quite quickly. Alternate Fire is very slow, but a single solid hit will instantly vaporise almost anything.
Vs Armoured Heavies without Hunter Munitions: 4/5 - Primary Fire is very good at inflicting Viral and Slash procs, handily eating through the health of heavily armoured enemies. Though the Alternate Fire is very slow firing, a direct hit has a decent chance of inflicting a massive Slash proc which will rapidly bleed out even the toughest enemies.
Vs Armoured Heavies with Hunter Munitions: 4.5/5 - Both firing modes have good Crit Chance, Alternate Fire especially. Primary Fire is very capable of stacking up many Slash procs, with or without Hunter Munitions. Alternate Fire can be a little inconsistent with inflicting Slash procs, but a single proc can easily kill all but the heaviest of enemies.

Vs Variants

None.

Competitors

Not many Rifles have both a solid all-round Primary Fire and a slow, powerful Alternate Fire. The Tenora, Quellor and Battacor all have an alternate charge fire, though they are all very different.

The Tenora's Primary Fire is much faster firing, in exchange for lower base Damage, and trades a lower Status Chance for more Crit. It is a spool-up weapon however. The Tenora's Alternate Fire consumes up to 10 ammo (a small fraction of its default mag) to fire a single Crit-heavy hitscan round, with no AoE.

The Quellor's Primary Fire is very Status-focused where the Stahlta is more balanced, and the Quellor also has a major advantage in Mag Capacity. The Quellor's Alternate Fire consumes 75 rounds, a quarter of its default mag, to fire a massive, short-ranged wave much like the Arca Plasmor.

The Battacor's Primary Fire also leans towards Crit, firing significantly slower. Unlike all the other weapons, its Alternate Fire does not consume ammo, but requires Primary Fire kills to be enabled. This Alternate Fire fires a beam much like the Opticor family, dealing heavy damage in a line with a small explosion upon impact.


The Stahlta's Primary Fire is quite conventional, and can be readily compared to a wide range of different weapons. Things like the Kuva Karak, Kuva Hind in Full-Auto, Buzlok and Telos Boltor are all strong competitors as far as Full-Auto weapons are concerned.

As far as explosive weapons are concerned however, the Stahlta's Alternate Fire has few direct competitors. It is among the most powerful single shots in the game, up there with the Kuva Bramma. Appropriately, it is also very slow firing and consumes a lot of ammo.

Rivens

As a new weapon, and in accordance with DE's new stance on Rivens, the Stahlta has started with a minimum 1/5 (0.5) Riven Disposition. I would not be too surprised to see that Disposition go up at least a little; though the Stahlta is strong, it is not without its drawbacks, and it is not quite as easy as say the Kuva Bramma or Ignis Wraith.

Obviously, +Damage/Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage are all fantastic. +Elemental Damage is solid, whether for more raw damage or to save a mod slot. +Fire Rate is greatly beneficial for the Alternate Fire, and wouldn't go astray for the Primary Fire either. +Projectile Speed is a great help for both firing modes at longer ranges.

-Impact/Puncture are both great negatives to have. Neither is a major component of the Stahlta's base Damages, and their reduction biases Status procs towards more useful damage types. -Faction Damage to one of the weaker factions is a solid option (Infested is ideal, Corpus is manageable). -Ammo Max is quite manageable alongside one of Ammo Case/Mutation/etc. -Reload Speed is quite manageable with Primary Fire, though more detrimental if using Secondary Fire a lot. +Recoil is not a big detriment for either firing mode, Primary Fire does not have heavy Recoil, and Secondary Fire fires too slowly to be significantly affected. -Zoom is great for close quarters combat.