U33 Pickrate Analytics

Time for another "MeatShield data dump"! Continuing the tradition started by U31 and U32, this blog post is an analysis of the weapon builds submitted to Karl.gg during Update 33.

934 loadouts were either created or edited during U33, which is impressive because U32 lasted from Oct 22, 2020 - Feb 3, 2021 (104 days) and had 918 loadouts, but U33 has only been around since Feb 4 (76 days). That's almost 40% more loadouts created/edited per day! Because I know how insanely long these posts are, I'm going to place my observations and conclusions up at the top of the blog post so that people who aren't interested in wading through all of the numbers can still read the interesting stuff without having to scroll ALL the way to the bottom.

Part 1: Observations and Conclusions

The weapon builds have stagnated; U34 needs to shake things up

As many of you probably suspect, I just copy/pasted U32's edition of this blog post to get the template, and then filled in the numbers from U33. The problem is... a handful of numbers didn't change at all, or by less than 2% difference. Mods and Overclocks that were popular in U32 got picked more, and Mods/OCs that were unpopular got picked less. I can't give more insight into the same numbers than I already did for U32's post. The playerbase has settled into a pattern, and that's extremely worrying to see. In my opinion, every game is at its healthiest when players can pick any playstyle, have fun, and succeed. This transcends DRG, and applies to every game that you can change weapons or characters or abilities etc. MOBAs, class-based shooters, looter-shooters, everything. The fact that the playerbase has been using the same loadouts for 6 months in a row is alarming, and I'm worried that people are getting tired of "the same old same old". I'm really hoping that all of the balance changes set to arrive tomorrow with Update 34 will breathe life back into the playerbase, and let everyone experiment with new ways to play the game.

I think it's true to say that I care far more about weapon balance of DRG than any other aspect of the game, and I probably care more about DRG's balance than every other game I've played so far. I believe that having as many of the ~64,000 builds be fun and viable for players to use is what will keep people playing this game long after they max out their promotions and unlock all of the cosmetics. To me, the weapons comprise about 70% of the gameplay so the more ways I can do that, the better. I'm really excited to see how the rest of the playerbase will react to U34's weapon balance changes!

I wish I had more to say, but that's really all there is. So little has changed between U32 and U33's pickrates that I would just be wasting your time with meaningless fluff. Enjoy the rest of the data, and go experiment with new builds in U34!

Part 2: Weapon popularity per class

• Driller (239 primary weapon builds, 226 secondary)
  • Flamethrower 43.51%
  • Cryo Cannon 56.49%
  • Subata 42.04%
  • EPC 57.96%
• Engineer (229 primary weapon builds, 207 secondary)
  • Shotgun 57.64%
  • SMG 42.36%
  • Grenade Launcher 58.94%
  • Breach Cutter 41.06%
• Gunner (207 primary weapon builds, 190 secondary)
  • Minigun 54.11%
  • Autocannon 45.89%
  • Revolver 62.11%
  • BRT 37.89%
• Scout (197 primary weapon builds, 187 secondary)
  • GK2 49.75%
  • M1000 50.25%
  • Boomstick 55.08%
  • Zhukovs 44.92%

Part 3: Most popular build per weapon

This section is just aggregating most popular mods and overclock for each weapon into one "build"; don't misinterpret this as "the same build that was submitted the most number of times from many users".

• Driller
  • Flamethrower BABCB + Sticky Fuel
  • Cryo Cannon CABCB + Perfectly Tuned Cooler
  • Subata BACAA + Automatic Fire
  • EPC BBBBB + Heat Pipe
• Engineer
  • Shotgun ABCBB + Magnetic Pellet Alignment
  • SMG BBBBB + EM Refire Booster
  • Grenade Launcher BABBB + Hyper Propellant
  • Breach Cutter AAABB + Light-Weight Cases
• Gunner
  • Minigun CBCAB + Lead Storm
  • Autocannon CCABA + Carpet Bomber
  • Revolver BCCBB + Magic Bullets
  • BRT ACBBA + Composite Casings
• Scout
  • GK2 BBCAC + Bullets of Mercy
  • M1000 BAABA + Minimal Clips
  • Boomstick AACAC + Special Powder
  • Zhukovs ACBCB + Minimal Magazines

Part 4: Overpicked mods and OCs

In order for a Mod or Overclock to qualify as "Overpicked", it had to be selected at least 1.5 times more often than it would be if every mod/OC at that tier was picked equally. To phrase it another way: if there are two mods, then for a balanced pickrate each one should be picked around 50% of the time. In order for one of those two to qualify as Overpicked, it would have to have a pickrate of 1.5 * 50% = 75% or higher. Tiers with 3 mods need a 50% pickrate, 5 Overclocks would need 30%, 6 Overclocks 25%, and 7 Overclocks would need a 21.43% or higher pickrate.

59 Overpicked, 302 total Mods and Overclocks

• Flamethrower
  • T2.A "Unfiltered Fuel"
  • T3.B "Sticky Flame Slowdown"
  • T4.C "More Fuel"
  • OC "Sticky Fuel"
• Cryo Cannon
  • T1.A "Stronger Cooling Unit"
  • T2.A "Larger Reserve Tank"
  • T4.C "Larger Reserve Tank"
  • OC "Perfectly Tuned Cooler"
• Subata
  • T1.B "High Capacity Magazine"
  • OC "Oversized Magazine"
  • OC "Automatic Fire"
• EPC
  • T1.B "Larger Battery"
  • T2.B "Overcharged Plasma Accelerator"
  • T3.B "Crystal Capacitors"
  • T4.B "High Density Battery"
  • T5.B "Thin Containment Field"
  • OC "Heat Pipe"
• Shotgun
  • T2.B "Loaded Shells"
  • T4.B "Bigger Pellets"
• SMG
  • T1.B "Upgraded Capacitors"
  • T2.B "Recoil Compensator"
  • OC "EM Refire Booster"
• Grenade Launcher
  • T1.B "Extra Ammo"
  • T2.A "Expanded Ammo Bags"
  • T3.B "Pressure Wave"
  • T5.B "Spiky Grenade"
  • OC "Hyper Propellant"
• Breach Cutter
  • T2.A "Expanded Ammo Bags"
  • T3.A "Quick Deploy"
  • T5.B "Plasma Trail"
  • OC "Light-Weight Cases"
• Minigun
  • T1.C "Improved Platform Stability"
  • T3.C "Blowthrough Rounds"
  • T4.A "Variable Chamber Pressure"
  • T5.B "Cold as the Grave"
  • OC "A Little More Oomph!"
  • OC "Lead Storm"
• Autocannon
  • T1.C "Expanded Ammo Bags"
  • T2.C "Lighter Barrel Assembly"
  • T5.A "Feedback Loop"
  • OC "Carpet Bomber"
• Revolver
  • T3.C "Hollow-Point Bullets"
  • OC "Elephant Rounds"
  • OC "Magic Bullets"
• BRT
  • T1.A "High Velocity Rounds"
  • T2.C "Disabled Safety"
  • T3.B "Increased Caliber Rounds"
  • OC "Composite Casings"
• GK2
  • T1.B "Supercharged Feed Mechanism"
  • T4.A "Hollow-Point Bullets"
  • T5.C "Stun"
  • OC "Bullets of Mercy"
• M1000
  • T4.B "Hollow-Point Bullets"
  • T5.A "Hitting Where it Hurts"
  • OC "Minimal Clips"
• Boomstick
  • T3.C "High Capacity Shells"
  • T4.A "Super Blowthrough Rounds"
  • T5.C "White Phosphorus Shells"
  • OC "Special Powder"
• Zhukovs
  • (none)

Part 5: Underpicked mods and OCs

Conversely, for a Mod or Overclock to be considered "Underpicked", it had to be selected at least 0.5 times less often than it would be if every mod/OC at that tier was picked equally. 2 mods would need a pickrate of 25% or less, 3 mods 16.67%, 5 Overclocks 10%, 6 Overclocks 8.33%, and 7 Overclocks would need a pickrate of 7.14% or less. In my opinion, a well-balanced system would have pickrates between 80-120% of a perfect distribution for each option in a tier.

68 Underpicked, 302 total

• Flamethrower
  • T4.A "It Burns!"
  • OC "Sticky Additive"
  • OC "Compact Feed Valves"
• Cryo Cannon
  • T2.C "Bypassed Integrity Check"
  • T4.A "Hard Mixture"
  • OC "Improved Thermal Efficiency"
  • OC "Flow Rate Expansion"
  • OC "Snowball"
• Subata
  • OC "Chain Hit"
  • OC "Homebrew Powder"
  • OC "Tranquilizer Rounds"
• EPC
  • T1.C "Higher Charged Plasma Energy"
  • T2.C "Reactive Shockwave"
  • T4.A "Heat Shield"
  • T5.A "Flying Nightmare"
  • OC "Energy Rerouting"
  • OC "Magnetic Cooling Unit"
  • OC "Persistent Plasma"
• Shotgun
  • T2.C "Choke"
  • T4.A "Tungsten Coated Buckshot"
  • OC "Light-Weight Magazines"
• SMG
  • T1.C "Expanded Ammo Bags"
  • T2.A "High Capacity Magazine"
  • OC "Well Oiled Machine"
• Grenade Launcher
  • T1.A "Fragmentary Shell"
  • T2.C "High Velocity Grenades"
  • T3.A "Incendiary Compound"
  • T5.A "Proximity Trigger"
  • OC "Compact Rounds"
  • OC "RJ250 Compound"
• Breach Cutter
  • T2.C "Loosened Node Cohesion"
  • T3.B "Improved Case Ejector"
  • T5.A "Explosive Goodbye"
  • OC "Roll Control"
  • OC "Inferno"
• Minigun
  • T1.A "Magnetic Refrigeration"
  • T3.B "Stun Duration"
  • T4.C "Magnetic Bearings"
  • T5.A "Aggressive Venting"
  • OC "Compact Feed Mechanism"
• Autocannon
  • T1.B "High Capacity Magazine"
  • T2.A "Tighter Barrel Alignment"
  • T5.C "Damage Resistance at Full RoF"
  • OC "Splintering Shells"
  • OC "Combat Mobility"
• Revolver
  • T2.B "Floating Barrel"
  • T3.A "Super Blowthrough Rounds"
  • OC "Homebrew Powder"
  • OC "Chain Hit"
• BRT
  • T1.C "Blowthrough Rounds"
  • T2.B "Quickfire Ejector"
  • T3.A "High Capacity Magazine"
  • T4.A "Hardened Rounds"
  • OC "Full Chamber Seal"
• GK2
  • T1.A "Gyro Stabilisation"
  • T4.B "Hardened Rounds"
  • T5.B "Battle Cool"
  • OC "Homebrew Powder"
  • OC "Electrifying Reload"
• M1000
  • T4.C "Hardened Rounds"
  • T5.B "Precision Terror"
  • OC "Supercooling Chamber"
• Boomstick
  • T3.A "Stun Duration"
  • T4.B "Tungsten Coated Buckshot"
  • T5.A "Auto Reload"
  • OC "Double Barrel"
  • OC "Shaped Shells" (only 0% this update)
• Zhukovs
  • OC "Custom Casings"

Part 6: Raw data