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Wednesday, 13 July 2022

Review: Twin Kohmak (U31.6.3)

The Twin Kohmak is a rather old MR10 Dual Secondary, introduced back in U16. As its name suggests, it shares many similarities with the Primary Shotgun Kohm (and its Kuva variant). A spool-up weapon, it increases in both Fire Rate and Multishot during sustained fire, but also consumes more ammo-per-shot at full speed. While the Twin Kohmak packs great Status output, that is about its only key strength and it faces strong competition in many other aspects.

Acquisition


Acquiring a Twin Kohmak is a little unusual. The overall blueprint is a potential drop from Kela de Thaym on Merrow, Sedna. It requires two single Kohmaks, and a spare Forma.

The single Kohmak Blueprint can be acquired a Dojo's Chem Lab once the research is complete.

Stats

Like with its bigger brethren the Kohm, the Twin Kohmak is a Slash-heavy, spool-up Shotgun. Its Crit is mediocre at 11%/2x, barely Crit-viable with both Secondary Primed Crit mods, and not worth building for otherwise. On the other hand, a base Status Chance of 69% is immense and combines perfectly with its majority Slash, though this gets split amongst its extra pellets as it spools up. Speaking of:

The Twin Kohmak starts at just 20% Fire Rate, gaining an additional 8% from each subsequent shot, thus taking 11 shots to reach maximum Fire Rate. Each shot also adds an extra base pellet to a total of 5 base pellets. As mentioned previously, the base Status Chance is "split" among these pellets, so 69% base Status Chance becomes 13.8% Status Chance per-pellet at full spool.

At full spool it also consumes 1.67 ammo per shot (or 5 ammo per 3 shots). Using this ammo consumption rate, a very large Mag Capacity of 80 with Fire Rate of 6.67 gives a decent Reload Ratio of 3.26.

Damage Fall-Off is fairly harsh as expected for a Shotgun, starting at 12m and degrading to just 17% damage at 24m and beyond. 

Innate Punch Through of 1.5m is very nice, and is sufficient to penetrate most enemy units and a good number of objects.

Augments

None.

Builds

NOTE: Overframe.gg uses the base stats of Twin Kohmak with a single base pellet, not the full base 5 at full spool. For full spool damage, multiply all damage numbers by 5.

Basic 0-Forma:

With just a native D polarity, the Twin Kohmak is not the easiest weapon to fit a basic build into. The only notable D polarity mods for Secondaries are Deep Freeze (+90% Cold) and Galvanised Shot, which if you're looking at this build, you most likely won't have yet.

Besides the basic Damage/Multishot mods, you have plenty of space for at least two elemental mods, such as the above pictured 90%s for Viral.

Three Elemental 0-Forma:

If you have access to most/all of the 60/60 elemental mods, a three-element combination is also worth looking at. Though it doesn't offer any extra direct damage over two 90% elementals, the far higher Status Chance and extra elemental combos offer a lot of extra firepower.

Viral is of course the great all-rounder, with a proc that is at least somewhat useful against the vast majority of enemies. If you have the space for it, adding Heat is a great option as its proc is quite powerful, and is greatly enhanced by Viral. Corrosive offers far stronger direct damage against Ferrite-armoured enemies as well as the Infested, especially those on the Cambion Drift who are immune to Viral procs. Once again, adding Heat is a great option.

Pure Toxin is a strong option against unarmoured Corpus units, as the Toxin damage and procs will bypass their Shields entirely. Radiation deals decent direct damage against Alloy-armoured enemies, notably almost all armoured Corpus units use Alloy-armour. Combining Radiation and Toxin gives for a fantastic catch-all that covers almost all Corpus targets.

Finally, there are a select few enemies whose Shields are legitimately tough, and cannot be bypassed by Toxin damage/procs. Magnetic is the obvious go-to for depleting their Shields, though it will struggle against whatever Health type is exposed afterwards. Once again, Heat can be added to make the most of Magnetic procs, stacking even more damage on top of the already-weakened Shields.

Recommended Setups: Viral (+ Heat) vs everything, Corrosive (+ Heat) vs Ferrite-armour, Infested, Radiation and/or Toxin vs Corpus, Magnetic (+ Heat) vs Shields

Primed Crit 3-Forma:

Three added V polarities allow you to fit in both Primed Crit mods, justifying a Crit build. Without both of them, it is not worth building for Crit. Depending on the rank of your mods, you may only need two Forma.

Recommended Setup: see above.

General Purpose 4-Forma:

One more Forma gives you some options for the eighth mod slot, though the native D polarity is problematic. I recommend keeping it however, as it will be useful for Galvanised Shot.

Keep in mind that building for Crit on the Twin Kohmak is not necessarily the best build - you may achieve better performance dropping them for other mods.

Magnum Force and Augur Pact offer straight +Damage, the former being stronger but also higher drain/rank as well as giving an Accuracy penalty. Ideally you'd slot in a (Primed) Expel mod for maximum damage, as the +Faction Damage applies twice to damage-over-time procs like Slash and Heat. I don't like +Faction Damage mods personally.

Carnis Stinger is a great option to maximise Slash proc frequency, ideal against heavily armoured enemies. Maim offers marginally higher Slash direct damage, but does not add Status Chance, so is overall worse. Alternatively, Primed Heated Charge offers a massive chunk of Heat damage and increases Heat proc frequency and strength. Ice Storm may be worth consideration in any build using Cold, for the increased Mag Capacity.

You could run a +Fire Rate mod like Anemic Agility to cut down spool-up time to a minimum, but note that it will also crank up your ammo consumption rate to the extreme. (Primed) Quickdraw and (Primed) Slip Magazine could be run for +Reload Speed or +Mag Capacity respectively, offering nice quality-of-life.

Hydraulic Crosshairs and Sharpened Bullets are conditional Crit mods that could be used in a Crit build, but they are not very strong.

For the Exilus slot, there are a few options of note. (Primed) Pistol Ammo Mutation is a very good option to mitigate ammo concerns. Steady Hands can be used to greatly reduce recoil if you struggle with it. Personally I'm also a fan of Targeting Subsystem, as the increased accuracy/reduced spread makes concentrating damage onto single targets a little easier.

Recommended Setups: see above. Also consider Viral + Slash vs armoured enemies.

Galvanised Build and Arcane

Galv Diffusion.

Galv Shot is clearly a great option. The Twin Kohmak stacks up a plethora of Status procs with ease, which with elemental mods to give it 5 unique damage types offers a far larger +Damage bonus than Hornet Strike. The +Status Chance is of course also appreciated.

Galv Crosshairs can be worth using on a Crit build, for drastically higher Crit Chance. It is extremely easy to initially trigger since a single headshot is very easy to land. However, it can be a little more problematic to stack to full, since stacking it requires specifically headshot kills. I've had some difficulties with Shotguns triggering these headshot kill requirements reliably, since often the killing pellet will be one that hit the body. Furthermore, with much of the Twin Kohmak's firepower coming from its Status procs, kills from these procs will not stack Galv Crosshairs.


For the same reason, between Secondary Merciless and Deadhead, I'd favour Merciless. It stacks on any kill rather than specifically direct headshot kills, and its additional effects (+Reload Speed, +Ammo Max) are both very useful for the Twin Kohmak. That said, Deadhead's extra effects (+Headshot damage, -Recoil) are also useful.

Cascadia Flare is a natural strong alternative, with no extra effects but offering more +Damage than the regular +Damage Arcanes. It stacks from Heat procs, which the Twin Kohmak can do effortlessly.

Cascadia Accuracy/Overcharge offer decent damage in a Crit build - more than the regular +Damage Arcanes, but less than Cascadia Flare. Accuracy is probably not ideal for the same reasons as Galv Crosshairs and Deadhead.

My Builds

Unexceptional Crit Viral + Heat build. Riven with +Crit Chance pushes it from barely Crit-viable to very Crit-worthy.

Combat Use and Summary

Especially when spooled-up, the Twin Kohmak is effective against most targets. Its reasonable Fire Rate and innate Punch Through are a great help against crowds, allowing it to chew through tightly packed groups reasonably effectively.

At close range, the Twin Kohmak also packs surprisingly high direct damage, though its relatively low Crit Chance limits its benefit from headshots. It can deal good direct damage to unarmoured targets, though of course loses much of its firepower if they are Status-resistant/immune.

With its propensity for stacking a heap of Slash procs in particular, the Twin Kohmak is very effective against heavily-armoured Status-vulnerable enemies. It rapidly maxes out Viral, allowing its many Slash procs to deal major armour-bypassing damage.


Spool-up for the Twin Kohmak can take a painfully long time, even with +Fire Rate mods. It takes 11 shots to reach full speed, and starts at just 20% Fire Rate (1.334 at base). Without +Fire Rate mods, full spool takes around 3.3 seconds to reach; Lethal Torrent reduces this to just over 2 seconds. Pellet count caps out earlier at the fifth shot, however with such slow starting Fire Rate still takes a while (2.3 sec at base, 1.46 sec with Lethal Torrent). The increased ammo consumption at full spool can also deplete its otherwise large Magazine quite quickly.

A spare ammo count of just 240 is quite small given its ammo consumption rate, and can be rendered empty very quickly. For anything besides a short mission, I strongly recommend at least one of Ammo Case/Mutation/etc.

Pellet spread and heavy Damage Fall-Off make longer ranged combat much less effective. Even if the Twin Kohmak lands pellets on enemies at range, they will likely not inflict significant damage. +Projectile Speed and any +Accuracy effects can help, but it still pales in comparison to non-Shotgun weapons.


Overall, the Twin Kohmak is a decent Status Shotgun Secondary. Though it takes a while to reach full power and consumes ammo at a crazy rate, it is capable of drowning enemies in Status procs, notably including Slash. However, its many drawbacks have a significant negative impact on its usability. As such, though its potential close range firepower is very impressive, I personally prefer other simpler Secondaries.

Scores

Vs Trash Mobs: 4/5 - Solid innate Punch-Through, decent Fire Rate, and high Mag Capacity make the Twin Kohmak reasonably effective against groups when spooled-up. However, the spool-up can take a while even with +Fire Rate mods, which is a notable detriment.
Vs Unarmoured Heavies: 4/5 - Very high base Damage once spooled and borderline-usable Crit makes the Twin Kohmak decently effective against unarmoured heavy units. It suffers significantly against anything Status-resistant/immune, naturally.
Vs Armoured Heavies without Forced Slash: 4.5/5 - Very high Status Chance and pellet count makes the Twin Kohmak very capable of stacking immense numbers of Status procs. Its high Slash bias is also a notable benefit, for very regular Slash procs.
Vs Armoured Heavies with Forced Slash: NA/5 - The Twin Kohmak does not inflict anywhere near enough Impact procs for Hemorrhage to be worth considering. Carnis Stinger is much more effective.

Vs Variants

The MR10 Twin Kohmak is a pretty typical majority-upgrade overthe MR5 single Kohmak, trading higher Mag Capacity and Fire Rate for slower Reload Time and worse Accuracy.

Competitors

There are quite a lot of other potent Status Secondaries in the game. I've focused on those with high Fire Rate and Mag Capacity, since they compare most directly to the Twin Kohmak.
The MR13 Kuva Twin Stubbas is the first one to consider. It is a more conventional weapon, with good Status Chance and decent Slash bias, though notably far superior Crit Chance and a larger Mag Capacity. While the Twin Kohmak comes out well ahead in close range DPS once spooled thanks to its extra pellets, the KTwin Stubbas are far more useful beyond close range, and of course does not need to be spooled-up.

The MR10 Spectra Vandal is also very solid. Again, it trades much lower base damage for higher Crit and general usability. It has a base Range of 22m, similar to the maximum effective range of the Twin Kohmak. Once more, the Twin Kohmak have much higher peak firepower, while the SpectraV is a lot simpler and more convenient.


Finally, we must always consider the MR13 Kuva Nukor and MR14 Tenet Cycron, both of which are often considered top-tier Secondaries. Both have superior Crit to the Twin Kohmak, comparable Status output, and superior anti-crowd capabilities with their chaining. The Twin Kohmak maintains a far higher base Damage when spooled up, as well as being the only one of the three that can naturally inflict Slash procs. Nonetheless, both the KNukor and TCycron are more than capable of holding their own, and can kill the vast majority of enemies in the game just as easily while offering a lot more overall than the Twin Kohmak.

Overall, the Twin Kohmak has very stiff competition. While its Status output and close-up firepower are undeniably good, it is not that much superior at close range compared to other weapons. Its extended spool-up period is a major disadvantage compared to most other weapons.

Rivens


The Twin Kohmak currently has a rather high 4/5 (1.25) Riven Disposition, and the single Kohmak is slightly higher at 5/5 (1.35). These are not surprising given their unpopularity, flaws, and relative lack of notable niche.

+Damage/Multishot are obvious good positives, though the former is much less valuable with Galv Shot and the +Damage Arcanes. +Slash is useful for maximising Slash proc frequency. +Crit Chance/Damage is of course great if you are going for a Crit build. +Elemental Damage can be useful to save a mod slot, add a good chunk of damage, or shift around damage biases. +Faction Damage can be very strong against extremely high level Grineer, as it applies twice to damage-over-time procs like Slash. +Fire Rate greatly reduces spool-up time, but also amps up ammo consumption to an insane degree. +Mag Capacity/Reload Speed can be nice quality-of-life given how quickly the Twin Kohmak already consumes ammo. +Projectile Speed increases Damage Fall-Off distances, which can be nice but are less impactful in this case. -Recoil is useful if you struggle with recoil management. +Punch Through is nice against crowds, but less necessary considering the innate 1.5m Punch Through.

-Impact/Puncture are ideal for maximising Slash/other procs. -Crit Chance/Damage are fine if you are not going for a Crit build. -Faction Damage to the weaker Factions (Corpus somewhat, Infested especially) can be mitigated by good positive stats, and of course has no effect on other Factions. -Ammo Max in smaller values can be mitigated with Ammo Case/Mutation/etc, though be careful as the Twin Kohmaks's spare Ammo count is already quite low. +Recoil is not bad if you handle Recoil well. -Zoom is ideal for close quarters.

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