Acquisition
Stats
The Zylok uses the Duplex trigger previously exclusive to the Tigris family. It behaves similarly to a two-shot Burst, with trigger press firing the first round and trigger release firing the second. It is the first weapon with a Duplex trigger to have a base Mag Capacity larger than 2.
With a Duplex trigger, the Fire Rate is a little misleading. Rather than limiting time between each shot, Fire Rate limits time between each duplex-shot-pair, as time between duplex shots is purely controlled by trigger and can be near-instantaneous. At full speed, the actual Fire Rate is twice that listed, for 3. With just 8 rounds per magazine and a 1.2sec Reload Time, this give a slightly above-average Reload Ratio of 2.22.
Augments
None.
Builds
General Purpose 0-Forma:
The Zylok is one of many weapons with no innate polarities. As a Status-focused weapon, it can at least fit in a decent build with that capacity, though some of the key mods can be difficult for a newer player to acquire. The Heat/Cold 60/60s drop from various Spy missions, while the Toxin ones drop from Corrupted Vor in the final Void branch, and the Electric ones either from Baro or from the one Hive mission on Eris.
If you have these elemental mods available, you can comfortably fit in the essential mods and up to three elemental mods. If you only have 90%s, depending on the ranks of your mods you may have to stick to five mods.
For elemental combos, naturally Viral is the go-to. It is near-universally useful, and synergises especially well with the Zylok's Slash-proccing ability. Toxin is a great option against unarmoured Corpus, with both its damage and proc bypassing their Shields entirely. Magnetic is an alternative if you want to specifically target enemy Shields, though there are very few enemies whose Shields are legitimately worth worrying about.
Corrosive offers much better direct damage against Ferrite-armour and most heavy Infested, especially against Viral-resistant/immune enemies (e.g. Cambion Drift Infested). Similarly, Radiation can be used for better direct damage on Alloy-armoured enemies. That all being said, the Zylok's direct damage is very low and you are much better off using other weapons against such targets.
With potential space for three elemental mods, you can also consider triple-element combos. Adding Heat alongside Viral or Corrosive is a great combo, as Heat is a great proc to have, and synergises well with both Viral and Corrosive. Radiation + Toxin is a solid catch-all for most Corpus targets, striking most of their Health/Armour types super-effectively. Magnetic + Heat can do very good damage to enemy Shields, and the added Heat also helps against armour, but there are very few enemies against whom this is actually warranted.
Of these setups, Viral (+ Heat) is the only one that isn't immediately and vastly outclassed by other weapons.
Recommended Setups: Viral (+ Heat) vs everything
If you're feeling really dedicated: Corrosive (+ Heat) vs Ferrite-armour, Infested, Radiation vs Alloy-armour, Magnetic (+ Heat) vs strong Shields, Toxin (+ Radiation) vs Corpus
General Purpose 1-Forma:
One added V polarity lets you potentially fit in a seventh mod, depending what mods you have available. The pictured build uses Augur Pact, which is cheap and simple but relatively weak.
The most notable mod I'd recommend though is Carnis Stinger, which offers +Slash/+Status Chance, perfect for the Zylok. It greatly enhances the frequency of Slash procs. However, it is relatively difficult to acquire being quite a rare drop on the deceptively difficult Cambion Drift, where Augur Pact is a lot more common on the relatively easier Plains of Eidolon.
Recommended Setups: see above. Also consider: Viral + Slash vs armoured enemies
General Purpose 3-Forma:
Two more Forma and you can start looking at a decent eighth mod as well. Being a Status-focused, non-AoE weapon, there aren't a lot to pick from.
Magnum Force is stronger than Augur Pact, though they both become much weaker with a weapon Arcane installed. A Primed Expel is very strong, especially as it double-buffs damage-over-time procs like Slash. However, they are expensive to max out and tedious to switch around.
The aforementioned Carnis Stinger is a great option. Maim adds more Slash damage than Carnis Stinger, but does not increase Status Chance. Primed Heated Charge adds a great deal of Heat damage, though this is suboptimal in any build that wants Slash procs. Maim is an option to really, really prioritise Slash procs, though its direct damage increase is not major.
(Primed) Quickdraw or (Primed) Slip Magazine for +Reload Speed/+Mag Capacity respectively can be nice quality-of-life, with the former being the better of the two. If you want Mag Capacity, Ice Storm is a nice option that also adds a small amount of Cold damage.
Seeker is a great option. The Zylok has no anti-crowd capabilities, and the added Punch-Through helps significantly against tightly clumped enemies.
I think that the best option for the Exilus slot is Steady Hands. Reducing Recoil makes it much easier to land Duplex shots with precision, thus ensuring maximum DPS. It's about the only notable option, as ammo economy is not a big deal.
Recommended Setups: see above.
Galvanised Build and Arcane
Galv Shot is a great option. The Zylok is a Status-focused weapon, and with elemental Status mods quickly and easily gets 3+ proc types on enemies for Galv Shot to be worth using.
Galv Crosshairs is not great. Though the Zylok is relatively precise, its Crit is poor and it kills primarily with Slash procs, which do not stack Galv Crosshairs.
Similarly, the reliance on Slash procs makes Deadhead rather troublesome. Though both its secondary benefits are great (+Headshot Damage is always nice, -Recoil is very helpful for the Duplex trigger), actually stacking Deadhead is more difficult as it does not stack from Slash proc kills. As such, though Merciless takes longer to stack, it is much more reliable. Its +Reload Speed buff is also appreciated.
My Builds
Combat Use and Summary
Great Slash proc inflicting ability makes the Zylok most effective against heavily armoured enemies. Its Slash procs coupled with Viral can make short work of most armoured enemies, bleeding them out with armour-ignoring damage.
That is about all it is good at though. Low Fire Rate and no AoE makes it quite poor against groups of enemies. While it can kill individual weak enemies relatively easily, it is very slow against large numbers of them.
Additionally, the lack of Crit and overall severe lack of direct damage is detrimental against unarmoured high-health enemies, and especially detrimental against anything Status-immune. The Zylok relies primarily on its solid Status capabilities and especially its Slash procs, which are a lot less efficient against unarmoured targets.
WIth a spare Ammo count of 210 and relatively low Fire Rate (even accounting for Duplex), ammo economy is not usually a concern.
The Zylok is the first Duplex-trigger weapon with a base magazine larger than two rounds. This trigger style is quite unusual and will likely be unfamiliar to most players. While I am somewhat comfortable with it personally, it may not be to your liking.
Overall, the Zylok is a decent single-target Status weapon, inflicting Slash procs with great regularity alongside other procs. However, this is pretty much where its expertise ends. Its direct damage is quite poor, and it is slow firing with no AoE whatsoever. As such, it struggles against groups of enemies, as well as tough, unarmoured and especially Status-immune enemies.
As I discuss further below, besides the Duplex trigger, nothing that the Zylok does is particularly notable. Other Secondaries can also inflict brutal Slash procs, while also packing superior direct damage, anti-crowd capabilities, or even both.
Scores
Vs Variants
None.
Competitors
There are quite a few other Secondaries capable of reliably inflicting strong Slash procs, especially with the introduction of Hemorrhage.
With Hemorrhage in the mix, you also have to consider weapons like the Tenet Spirex, and a Secondary Tombfinger Kitgun, both of which I'd consider far superior.
Overall, especially with Hemorrhage in the mix, I consider the Zylok outclassed. Barring its unique (among Secondaries) Duplex trigger, there are other weapons that do the same job, but better.
Rivens
The Zylok has a fairly high Riven Disposition of 4/5 (1.25). It's appropriately quite high for a relatively niche and unimpressive weapon.
+Damage/Multishot are of course good. +Slash can be useful to further bias procs towards more Slash. +Elemental Damage can be nice for more damage output or to shift proc biases, though this will reduce Slash bias. +Status Chance stacks more of the Zylok's best traits, but you get a lot of it already from other mods. +Faction Damage is a very strong multiplier of damage-over-time procs, most useful against the Grineer. +Mag Capacity/Reload Speed can be nice QoL stats. -Recoil makes Duplex follow-up shots far easier to land precisely, but can be gotten elsewhere. +Punch-Through is quite helpful against tight groups.
-Impact/Puncture are both good negatives to have, biasing damage towards ones with more useful procs. However, losing them entirely does mean losing a multiplier for Galv Shot, which is a minor downside. -Crit Chance/Damage are not major losses, between the two I'd prefer the former. -Faction Damage to the weaker factions (Corpus and especially Infested) can be manageable, and of course has no effect on other targets. -Ammo Max is not a major issue as the Zylok draws from fairly common Pistol ammo, and is fairly ammo-efficient. -Projectile Speed has no effect. +Recoil can be manageable if you handle recoil well, or compensated for with other equipment. -Zoom is great for close quarters.
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