Build Pros/Cons:

Pros:

• Very ammo efficient. Very.
• Great swarm control with electricity slows and VSS stuns.
• Decent single-target damage.
• Good effective range. More than you'd think with Zhukovs.
• Good DPS output, DPS scales with player skill (leading shots on far targets with DRAK, animation canceling, and weaving in: reloads, grapples, VSS throws, and power attacks).

Cons:

• Not the highest single-target dps on Oppressors/Praetorians (though I find that it's rare to need to kill one instantly)
• Not super good against swarmers/naedocytes, but is any scout? It still handles them OK.
• DPS is not instant. It's high DPS over time, but for swarms that suddenly sneak up on you, you can't instantly kill threats.

Build Overview

This build is probably my favorite so far in DRG (Player Level ~500, ~1000 hours). It has tons of ammo while still having good damage and versatility on both large single targets and swarm/mobs. You get 50 full clips of Plasma Carbine, and 18 of Zhukov. You have 2216 effective ammo on Plasma Carbine.

On Haz 5 with 4 players, A praetorian generally dies in 1 Plasma Carbine clip + 1 Zhukov Clip + Power Attack (or an additional Plasma Carbine clip).

The best part about this is that you can perform the following sequence to fire nonstop when there's a big swarm around. The amount of time it takes to fully unload Zhukovs, reload, and swap back to Plasma Carbine, is almost exactly the amount of time your Plasma carbine can be overheated for. With this build and full ammo, you can fire nonstop for 2 full minutes following 1-6 rotation (not that you'll ever do that), and still be left with about 57% of your DRAK ammo.

1. Full clip overheat Plasma Carbine
2. (optional) Throw stun sweeper
3. Swap weapons
4. Shoot Zhukov (either full clip, or not)
5. Reload Zhukov
6. Swap Back to Plasma Carbine

Some tips:

1. Always overheat the carbine. Well, almost always. A full clip of nonstop firing (45 bullets) overheats to only cost 13.5 ammo with rewiring mod. If you're shooting a single grunt or a lootbug, chances are you'll accidentally shoot more than 13.5 bullets anyway, so it's better to just overheat.

2. Always swap to Zhukov after overheating. Even if there's nothing to shoot, or if you might only shoot a bit into 1 bug, it's a good habit to get into, so that it's natural to you when big swarms hit.

3. Learn to Animation cancel the DRAK's overheat. If you hold left click nonstop when DRAK is cooling down from an overheat, the scout will slap the weapon and then begin firing. If you left click right before the slap, he will begin firing much sooner. The "Weapon Heat Crosshair" mod is useful for this: https://drg.old.mod.io/weapon-heat-crosshair

4. Make use of Zhukov's +33% damage to electric targets (From either DRAK-25 or your grenade) on big targets and guards. Even if you can only hit 10% of your DRAK shots on a praetorian before swapping due to their armor, it's worth it if you proc electricity.

5. Use Zhukovs to break armor for big targets. It has armor breaking.

6. For big swarms, or bugs that are far-away, spray your Plasma Carbine around liberally, and lead your shots. A lot of your damage comes from proc'ing electricity, so it's not always good to focus fire a single target.

7. Use VSS liberally. Great against Mactera, sure, but killing off just 8 swarmers or shredders, or using it against just 5 grunts/slashers/guards who are getting too close, or using it to proc electricity on a praetorian for your Zhukovs, are also valid uses.

8. If you're getting swarmed, replace firing zhukovs with a grapple.

Build Discussion

TLDR:

1. Firing speed on DRAK is important for your DPS output during critical moments.
2. Accuracy on both is important for increasing your effective range.
3. Of all the perks, I'd say only Zhukov T4A vs T4C, and maybe DRAK T1A vs T1C is negotiable.

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DRAK-25 Plasma Carbine:

• T1A vs T1C: Personally, I find that without T1A + T5B, your damage output isn't good. You already hit like a wet noodle. T1C isn't bad, but just spray and lead your shots, you have plenty of ammo. T1B: Bad. It doesn't work well with Rewiring Mod.

• T2A vs T2B: Either is fine, but I prefer relying more on the electric damage from T4A

• T3A: Less Spread = lots more damage. T3C isn't bad, but you can just grapple instead, and it limits your effective range. T3B is bad for what this build is going for.

• T4A: Essential for what this build is aming for.

• T5A: Bad with rewiring mod.

Zhukov:

• T1B: Bad for this build's goals.
• T2A/B: Bad for this build's goals.
• T3A: Accuracy makes this build better at shooting stuff on the ceiling, and at a surprisingly long range.
• T4: Any of these are good, but for me, Ammo is a good balance between both. T4A: Swarms for me generally aren't a problem. There are many scenarios where blowthrough would be helpful, but with the slow of electricity, and stun of VSS, I find it's not needed. T4B: I don't think it works with Gas Recycling. If it did, it would be a valid choice, but For me, praetorians generally die Haz5 4-player with 1 clip DRAK + 1 Clip Zhukov + a Power attack or another DRAK clip. I'd rather have the ammo to deal with single grunts, lootbugs, swarms, etc.
• T5A: A must on this build.

Perks

I will say that this build still can still struggle with swarmers and nedocytes, so thorns could be helpful, but personally I run: Resupplier, Sweet Tooth, Mineral Bag, Iron Will, Field Medic.