Haz5 Generalist Loadout - Scout

Introduction

Refer to this post on r/technicaldrg for an explanation of the premise for these builds, which also outlines general build priorities and limitations. I wanted to use these karl.gg builds to give additional context regarding build decisions and gameplay notes so the Reddit post can remain concise for those just looking for a build without the detailed information included here.

Perks

Active

Dash:

On activation, Dash grants a speed boost and cancels any slowdown effect allowing you to reliably reposition yourself when necessary. This effect is consistently valuable and can proactively save you every 40/35/30/25 seconds. When a swarm of bugs is about to overwhelm you an untimely slowdown (Naedocyte shock, Slasher stun, Web Spitter web, Fungus Bogs/Goo Bomber floor goo, etc.) will guarantee you going down, which Dash is able to easily counter. The speed boost on its own is also great for general enemy kiting and movement around the caves.

• Scout Notes: The additional mobility and safety provided by the Grappling Hook makes the benefits of Dash less valuable when playing Scout compared to other classes, allowing alternative perks to be considered. However, Dash can still be helpful to avoid dangerous situations when the Grappling Hook is recharging or in very tight quarters where there is not enough space for the Grappling Hook to excel.
  • Heightened Senses: This is an acceptable alternative to Dash which passively adds a white gradient visual overlay and a sound cue when a player is about to be grabbed by a Cave Leech, Mactera Grabber, Nemesis, or Nayaka Trawler. The perk can also be activated 1/2/2 times per mission to instantly kill the grabbing enemy except Nemeses. Scouts are often the first to explore a new cave and tend to find themselves alone more than other classes, which will usually result in going down if grabbed by a Leech. The added safety Heightened Senses provides from its visual/audio cues can allow Scouts to minimize attention cost and deal with grabbing enemies only when absolutely necessary.
  • Field Medic: This is another alternative perk to Dash that is better when focusing more on team play. This passively increases revive speed by 15%/20%/25%/30%, and at tier 4 Field Medic will apply a guaranteed fear effect to all enemies within 5 meters after a revive. This even includes enemies that are typically immune to fear, as long as the Field Medic player was the one to initiate the revive. Field Medic can be activated once per mission to instantly revive a downed teammate, which can be very helpful when trying to revive someone in a dangerous situation. The mobility and safety provided by the Grappling Hook means that Scouts will frequently be the last teammate alive and are able to quickly reach downed teammates. This makes the increased revive speed and instant revive option especially helpful during difficult missions where multiple revives are necessary.

Iron Will:

When downed this perk can be activated to instantly put you back on your feet for a 6/8/10/12 second invulnerable last stand once per mission. After the last stand ends you will go back to being downed unless you get some form of healing during the last stand duration. This perk is so valuable because it essentially gives you a second chance to get through the most difficult part of a mission without requiring any teammate attention cost. Take a moment before activating Iron Will to see if your team can get things under control. If not, look around for nearby Red Sugar, Resupply Pods, or enemies that you can pickaxe power attack when using the Vampire perk to regain health within last stand.

Passive

Vampire:

A resource that is typically limited within every mission is health. Vampire breaks that limitation by allowing you to regain 2/3/4/5 health with every medium or larger creature killed by a melee attack. In practice though, the major benefit Vampire provides is a reliable way to regain health during Iron Will last stand. Red Sugar or a Resupply Pod may not be close to where you went down, but there will almost always be a few bugs around your downed body. Vampire allows you to use those bugs as a healing source to ensure you will stay up after the Iron Will last stand timer runs out. Note that regular pickaxe strikes do not do much damage, power attacks are the best way to take advantage of Vampire during typical gameplay.

Resupplier:

This perk is actually 3 in one: more health from resupply (50% base to 60%/65%/70%/75%), faster resupply collection (20%/30%/40%/50%), and a full reload on all weapons/equipment after resupply. Health is a fairly limited resource on missions so anything that increases that resource is valuable. Needing to resupply in a stressful/dangerous situation is not uncommon so the additional resupply collection speed frequently prevents going down. The full reload to all weapons/equipment on resupply is another welcome quality of life improvement and can provide enough of a combat tempo boost to get a critical situation under control.

Born Ready:

This perk reduces the attention cost of keeping weapons/equipment reloaded and improves combat tempo by automatically reloading unequipped weapons/equipment after 15/10/5 seconds. Switching to a weapon in a stressful situation only to find the magazine empty is an easy way to go down. Time spent reloading also means time spent not shooting, which can make the difference between success and failure in a difficult mission. If Born Ready does not seem necessary, an alternate perk I would recommend in its place is Sweet Tooth to further increase the total health available throughout the mission combined with a speed boost on Red Sugar collection to reposition when at dangerously low health.

Equipment Notes

General Equipment

Pickaxe:

Serrated Edge (T1A) doubles power attack damage and is generally considered the best option in this tier. The additional damage is important to ensure that a power attack during Iron Will can reliably secure a kill (and corresponding health from Vampire) to stay up after last stand ends. Many dangerous enemies also take increased melee damage (Mactera, Korlok Tyrant-Weeds and their healing pods and sprouts, and most Rival enemies), which an increased damage power attack can kill outright or inflict significant damage.

• Scout Notes: Better Weight Balance (T2C) to reduce pickaxe power attack cooldown by 10 seconds (33% reduction from base 30 seconds) can be considered to more frequently use pickaxe power attacks to mine minerals or carve terrain after a grapple to avoid falling. However, the significant damage loss from not taking T1A makes getting a kill during Iron Will last stand significantly less reliable. In general, taking T1A is still the best option, even when playing as Scout.

Armor:

The most important perk is Breathing Room (T4C), which doubles the temporary invulnerability duration after your own revival from 3 seconds to 6 seconds. This is valuable because the base time to revive someone else or to collect a resupply is also 6 seconds. Breathing Room ensures that if you act right when you are revived you can make a big play without going down prematurely. Improved Generator (T1A) starts shield regeneration sooner, which reduces the amount of damage that gets through your shield into your health by regenerating the shield buffer more frequently. The alternatives in this tier are not compelling with Boosted Converter (T1B) delaying shield recovery time and Bigger Mineral Bag (T1C) not changing the number of trips required to get a full resupply. Healthy (T2B) gives more total shield + health than Overcharger (T2A), scales with Resupplier for more health recovery, and still works on missions with Shield Disruption.

Throwable:

• Cryo Grenades: Scout has many of the best throwable options across all four classes, which makes it difficult to choose a best option. In this case Cryo Grenades are recommended because they are incredible at dealing with enemies that this build struggles the most with, large groups of Swarmers/Naedocytes and Mactera clouds. Cryo Grenades apply 250 cold in a 6 meter radius, which is enough to instantly freeze most enemies. When frozen, Swarmers/Naedocytes will instantly die and flying enemies like Mactera and Naedocyte Breeders will die once their frozen body hits the ground. Naedocyte Breeders require 2 Cryo Grenades to fully freeze, but this is generally worth the investment if they are far enough from the team to lay multiple Naedocyte Roe before being eliminated. The frozen effect applies a 3x multiplier to all direct damage against a frozen enemy and applies that multiplier to all parts of the enemy model, including armored parts of the enemy that normally reduce or fully block damage. The frozen status also prevents enemy death effects such as Bulk Detonator explosions and Brood Nexuses releasing Swarmers. This makes the Cryo Grenade useful in almost every situation due to how easily it can apply the frozen status whenever necessary.
• Pheromone Canisters: This is the best throwable in the game, but the reason they are not recommended for this build is their relative lack of effectiveness at dealing with large groups of Swarmers/Naedocytes when compared to Cryo Grenades. Pheromone Canisters apply a status effect to every enemy within 4 meters of its explosion that lasts for 15 seconds and causes each affected enemy to become hostile to other enemies. Each pheromone-affected enemy also attracts the attention of ~12 other enemies around it which attack the pheromone-affected enemy for the duration. To put this in perspective, the L.U.R.E. is one of the Engineer's best throwables and each one applies its own pheromone effect that attracts ~12 enemies towards the L.U.R.E. during its duration. If a Pheromone Canister hits 10 different enemies it has the same effect as if 10 L.U.R.E.s were thrown simultaneously, and Scout and Engineer both carry 4 of those throwables. Every time a Pheromone Canister is used on a large group of enemies it neutralizes the entire swarm for the 15 second duration, providing a significant amount of temporary safety for the team to get a dangerous situation under control. Somewhat counterintuitive to how most throwables are used, it is generally better to keep enemies affected by the pheromone effect alive for the duration so they can continue to draw the attention of nearby enemies. This is also why Pheromone Canisters are not great at dealing with large groups of Swarmers/Naedocytes. Directly targeting Swarmers/Naedocytes with a Pheromone Canister will cause them to die too quickly to get value out of the pheromone effect. Targeting large enemies with a Pheromone Canister will not deal with large groups of Swarmers/Naedocytes efficiently since larger targets tend to attack with slower, higher damage attacks.

For additional discussion about throwable options refer to the Grenades and Managing Explosive Results guide made by memtransmute in the Practical DRG discord.

Class-Specific Equipment

Grappling Hook:

There are multiple viable Grappling Hook builds that vary based on preference, but the reasons why the recommended build was chosen over other options will be explained. Longer Cable (T1B) in tier 1 is recommended for the additional 5 meters of range it adds to the Grappling Hook (+20% range from combined base + T2A of 25 meters), which can be helpful when navigating larger caves with high ceilings. More importantly though, longer grapple range allows more of the surrounding surfaces to be a viable grapple target at any given time. This reduces the attention cost required to find a viable grapple location when compared to a shorter grapple range. Less attention cost results in fewer chances for mistakes, which can make the difference between finding a viable grapple target before hitting the ground or not. The alternative in tier 1 is Improved Recharger (T1A) which reduces Grappling Hook cooldown time by 0.5 seconds (-12.5% from base 4 seconds). T1A is not a bad option, but since Bypassed Integrity Check (T4C) provides a full 1 second reduction to Grappling Hook cooldown time (-25% from base 4 seconds, twice as effective as T1A), T4C is the recommended perk for reducing grapple cooldown time. The best alternative option in tier 4 is Momentum (T4B), which grants 50% move speed for 3 seconds after releasing the grapple. The movement speed bonus from T4B can be nice to avoid enemies after grappling in tight caves without much room to move. However, grappling generally creates temporary separation from enemies, making the increased movement speed to avoid enemies less important after just grappling to get away from them. The final recommendation is to take High Velocity Ejection System (T3A) to reduce the delay before the Grappling Hook starts pulling the Scout by 0.2 seconds (-50% from 0.4 second base). This helps to quickly get away from nearby enemies and ensure grapples connect in time to prevent fall damage before hitting the ground. In practice, taking Overcharged Winch (T3B) to increase Grappling Hook pull speed by 750 (+50% from 1500 base) will just cause desync issues with the sometimes unpredictable game physics or a host with a poor internet connection. Other common builds include 1113 to minimize grapple cooldown time and 1112 for greater mobility while brawling in constricted cave layouts.

Flare Gun:

Similar to the Grappling Hook, there are multiple viable builds for the Flare Gun but the reasons why this build was recommended will be explained. Since the Born Ready perk should be used we can immediately disregard Auto Reload (T3A) for its identical and redundant effect. The other note is that both max ammo perks (Expanded Ammo Bags, T1A and T3B) provide the same benefit and so do the increased flare duration perks (Thicker Core and Magnesium Core, T1B and T3C). This build recommends a setup that maximizes total light duration, which is done by taking 1 max ammo perk (T1A or T2B) and 1 flare duration perk (T1B or T3C). This brings the total flares to 18 and would provide 9 flares with every resupply. However, High Capacity Magazine (T2B) is also recommended to increase magazine size by 1 (+33% from base 3 magazine), bringing total flares to 19 and causing every resupply to provide 10 flares instead of 9. Doing this means not taking Supercharged Feed Mechanism (T2A) to improve rate of fire by 3 (+300% from base 1 fire rate), which can make setting up flares feel sluggish to faster players. However, this is up to preference as flare shots can be animation canceled by tapping the pickaxe melee button or laser pointer button after every shot to significantly improve effective rate of fire without taking T2A. Other common builds include 112 to have more flares to use in every new cave location as a fast-moving team quickly clears the lit locations and 213 to reduce the number of times flares need to be reset, reducing attention cost.

Weapon Notes

Deepcore GK2 (GK2)

Electrifying Reload (ER):

ER is a powerful unstable overclock that causes the GK2 to be used in a much different way than its traditional role as a direct damage dealer. ER causes every shot to leave a detonator on the enemy it hits. When the GK2 is reloaded, every detonator that was placed on an enemy before reloading will activate, applying 3 electric damage (does stack with multiple detonators) and an electrocution damage over time (DoT) effect (does not stack with multiple detonators) that does 22.5 damage/second for 6 seconds (135 total damage) and slows affected enemies by 80% for the duration. The penalties ER applies is reducing magazine size by 10 (-33% from base 30 magazine) and reducing total ammo by 60 (-17% from base 360 ammo). If the full damage of the electric DoT is used it can hit many valuable breakpoints that allow the GK2 to be an incredibly efficient tool for horde clear. Its horde clear capabilities also do not require specific enemy positioning to be effective like blowthrough builds. See table of relevant damage breakpoints below:

1 Body + 1 DoT	1 Crit + 1 Body + 1 DoT	3 Body + 1 DoT	2 Body + 2 DoT	1 Crit + 1 Body + 2 DoT
Grunt, Web/Acid Spitter	Slasher, Mactera Spawn	Slasher	Slasher, Mactera Tri-Jaw	Guard, Septic Spreader

Enemies that require 2 full electric DoTs to kill can be finished off more quickly with [Embedded Detonators] to prevent team damage, such as Tri-Jaws and Septic Spreaders. Enemies that require 3+ full electric DoTs to kill should generally just be primed with a single electric DoT and then bursted down using [Embedded Detonators]. ER struggles with large groups of Swarmers/Naedocytes, which is why Cryo Grenades are recommended. Direct GK2 damage can be used on Swarmers/Shredders/Naedocytes if necessary, or they can be drawn back to the team who can more easily deal with them.

Tier 1 Perks:

With a build that reloads as often as ER, it would seem like taking Quickfire Ejector (T1A) to reduce reload time by 0.5 seconds (-28% from base 1.8 seconds) is the obvious choice. However, ER's electric DoT is applied as soon as the reload animation begins, not when the reload animation ends. Therefore T1A is not as valuable as it seems, especially because the GK2 benefits quite a bit from reload canceling, which T1A does not significantly improve. Instead, it is recommended to take Gyro Stabilization (T1A) to completely remove GK2 base spread. This allows for easier applications of detonators from ER to distant Web/Acid Spitters without missing and requiring additional ammo. Supercharged Feed Mechanism (T1B) improves rate of fire by 1 (+12.5% from base 8 fire rate) and is less valuable in a build focused on DoT application instead of direct damage. The impact of increasing fire rate generally results in accidental breakpoint inefficiencies by applying more detonators than necessary, but can be considered more when playing solo to better use direct damage when necessary.

Tier 2 Perks:

Most of the damage in this build comes from the ER DoT, which makes the +3 direct damage (+19% from 16 base damage) from Increased Caliber Rounds (T2B) a relatively insignificant improvement to the overall build performance. However, T2A is more relevant when playing solo where ammo efficiency is not as critical and the weapon can be used for its direct damage more frequently. The better perk in this tier for general play is Expanded Ammo Bags (T2B) to increase max ammo by 120 (+40% from combined base + ER penalty of 300 max ammo). ER is very ammo efficient, so improving total ammo by such a large amount allows the build to easily deal with all the enemies in a 4-player lobby and still have enough left to deal with some groups of Swarmers/Shredders/Naedocytes.

Tier 3 perks:

This tier is mostly up to preference, with both perks being good options. Taking Floating Barrel for 44% bloom reduction and 50% recoil reduction is what is recommended to help stay accurate with sustained fire and improve general ease of use when trying to land precise numbers of bullets on enemies. The build revolves around frequently reloading to trigger the ER DoT so the +10 magazine size (+50% from combined base + ER penalty of 20 magazine) is not critical. However, it is not uncommon in this build to start a reload and not commit to finishing it to simply activate the ER DoT and continue with other activities. In these cases the additional magazine size from T3B can reduce how frequently a full reload needs to be performed for a slight quality of life improvement.

Tier 4 Perks:

Both perks in this tier can initially seem fairly lackluster. However, it is important to note that the detonators from both [Electrifying Reload] and [Embedded Detonators] will not trigger if they do no damage to an enemy from their heavy armor. This makes the +500% armor breaking from Hardened Rounds (T4B) very important against enemies with heavy armor such as Guards, Stingtails, Mactera Brundles, and Q'ronar Shellbacks. Removing those armor plates with the GK2 to reveal vulnerable spots makes it significantly easier to place and successfully trigger [Embedded Detonators]. Hollow-Point Bullets (T4A) increases the weakpoint modifier of direct damage by 20%, but is once again not a focus of this build. T4A is more viable in solo to further improve direct damage effectiveness when its burst damage can be useful.

Tier 5 Perks:

None of the perks in this tier are very compelling with ER, but Stun (T5C) is recommended for its 35% chance to apply a stun on weakpoint hit. This is a good effect that can prevent an enemy from attacking while the ER DoT wears them down, but the issue is how inconsistent 35% ends up being in practice. It is a nice surprise when the stun triggers, but is not an effect that should be relied on for safety. Battle Frenzy (T5A) provides a 50% movement speed boost and prevents accuracy bloom for 2.5 seconds after killing an enemy with direct damage. Since this build does not focus much on direct damage, activating the T5A effect can be fairly rare in group play. However, this can be triggered more frequently by intentionally shooting Swarmers/Shredders/Naedocytes or in solo when combined with the other direct damage perks that were previously discussed. The final perk option is Improved Gas System, which increases rate of fire by 2 (+25% from base 8 fire rate). Similar to the T1B fire rate bonus, this is not an impactful improvement in this build and can actually cause mistakes more often when trying to land specific numbers of bullets on enemies with less time between shots.

Primary Weapon Alternatives:

The provided alternative weapon builds do not make an effective generalist loadout on their own. They are strong components that need to be combined appropriately across the full loadout to have a tool to deal with every type of combat threat. Typically, one weapon should focus on single target damage while the other focuses on horde clear/area damage. For example, if a primary weapon build specializes in single target damage then the loadout is best when paired with a secondary weapon build that specializes in horde clear/area damage, and vice versa. Once enough of both damage types are incorporated into a build then safety and utility become the next highest priorities.

• M1000 Classic [Electrocuting Focus Shots] 13111: This is the best M1000 build for horde clear, and can still contribute good single target damage when necessary. To make the most out of Super Blowthrough Rounds (T4A) the build requires enemies to be grouped up, which Pheromone Canisters or IFGs can help with. This build also has fantastic safety from the electric slow it applies to enemies while also easily stunning dangerous enemies with Hitting Where It Hurts (T5A). The stun will give the electric DoT time to finish weakened enemies before they can recover such as Mactera Tri-Jaws.
• M1000 Classic [Hoverclock] 23122: This M1000 build is focused heavily on single target damage and will struggle with ammo economy if used for horde clear. Precision Terror (T5B) is recommended for additional safety against Mactera clouds, but T5A can also be used. [Hoverclock] was recommended for some additional utility and fall damage safety, but the same perk selections also work well with [Active Stability System] and [Minimal Clips].
• Deepcore GK2 [AI Stability Engine] 21222: This GK2 build is a more traditional way to build the weapon and does great single target damage when hitting a weakpoint. It has enough ammo to be used periodically for horde clear against smaller clusters of enemies when necessary. The complete lack of recoil and bloom makes the weapon very easy to use and one of the best tools when dealing with fast-moving enemies like Patrol Bots in Industrial Sabotage missions.
• DRAK-25 Plasma Carbine [Thermal Exhaust Feedback] 32112: Similar to the [AI Stability Engine] build above, this build has incredible single target damage when at high weapon heat while also having enough ammo efficiency to be used for horde clear when necessary. This build is also fantastic at applying heat to enemies at all ranges, which improves its horde clear and is especially effective against Spitball Infectors and Mactera. However, the weapon shoots projectiles instead of being a hitscan weapon like the M1000 and GK2 which can make it difficult to use against fast moving targets like Patrol Bots.

For additional alternative primary weapon options not mentioned above refer to the Modded DRG Buildonomicon made by Vonacht in the Practical DRG discord. Those builds will be specialized for coordinated teams in modded difficulties but serve as strong starting points for generalist builds in Haz5.

Zhukov NUK17 (Zhuks)

Embedded Detonators (ED):

Similar to ER, ED is another powerful unstable overclock that changes the gameplay focus from high direct damage to hitting targets multiple times with weak direct damage before reloading for a large burst of back-loaded damage. ED works by applying a detonator with every bullet that is able to do health damage to an enemy, which is why armor breaking on GK2 was important. However, bullet damage with Zhuks are a little counterintuitive since the number of bullets actually fired by the weapon is half of what is displayed by the in-game ammo counter, similar to the "Lead Storm" Powered Minigun. This means that hitting all 30 displayed ammo in the Zhuks' magazine will only result in applying 15 detonators from ED. Upon reloading, each successfully placed detonator will explode for 38 damage (stacks with multiple detonators) allowing for very high burst damage. When an enemy has enough damage to be killed outright by ED damage it will be slowed by 90% for 2 seconds as an icon appears over its head, which indicates that a reload should be performed. Hitting body shots instead of weakpoints is also more forgiving with this build since a detonator from ED will be applied in either case and the detonator will do the exact same damage. The penalties ED applies are significant, between reducing direct damage by 6 (-50% from base 12 damage), reducing magazine size by 20 (-40% from base 50 magazine), and reducing max ammo by 400 (-62% from base 650 max ammo). Despite these penalties, ED excels as a tool for high single target damage, which pairs perfectly with the incredible horde clear from ER to make a well-rounded generalist build.

Tier 1 Perks:

ED applies a significant total ammo penalty, which makes taking Expanded Ammo Bags (T1A) to increase total ammo by 100 (+40% from combined base + ED penalty of 250 total ammo) by far the best option in this tier. Increased total ammo means more detonators from ED can get applied, which significantly improves total damage output. High Velocity Rounds (T1B) adds 1 direct damage (+17% from combined base + ED penalty of 6 direct damage), but the damage improvement does not change the 38 damage from every ED detonator making it irrelevant.

Tier 2 Perks:

Unlike the GK2, Zhuks do not benefit as much from animation canceling their reload. Therefore, taking Quickfire Ejector (T2C) to reduce reload time by 0.6 seconds (-33% from base 1.8 seconds) is a significant quality of life improvement with a build that reloads as frequently as ED. The other options in this tier are also small quality of life improvements, but are not quite as helpful as T2C. Supercharged Feed Mechanism (T2B) improves rate of fire by 8 (+27% from base 30 fire rate), which can help empty each magazine more quickly for slightly better burst damage. High Capacity Magazine (T2A) increases magazine size by 10 (+33% from combined base + ED penalty of 30 bullet magazine), which also improves burst damage by allowing a few more detonators from ED to be placed before reloading. ED already has great burst damage, so the benefits of T2A and T2B are just not as helpful at T2C.

Tier 3 Perks:

Increased Caliber Rounds (T3A) increases direct damage by 1 (+17% from combined base + ED penalty of 6 direct damage), but has the same issue as T1B of not increasing detonator damage from ED. The direct damage improvement is so small that it is not worth taking. Better Weight Balance (T3B) is the recommended choice because it reduces base weapon spread by 60% and can make it much easier to land shots at surprisingly long ranges to apply detonators to targets like Menaces.

Tier 4 Perks:

Expanded Ammo Bags (T4C) matches the benefits of T1A by increasing max ammo by 100 (+40% from combined base + ED penalty of 250 total ammo), which is very valuable to offset the considerable total ammo penalty from ED. The increased ammo efficiency from T4C is generally the best option in groups, but in solo, Blowthrough Rounds (T4A) can be considered for the extra bullet penetration it adds to every shot. When a single ED bullet would hit 2 different targets with T4A it actually applies a detonator from ED to both targets. This can result in incredible ammo efficiency and burst damage to multiple high health targets at once, which is made considerably easier when paired with Pheromone Canisters. The final option in this tier is Hollow-Point Bullets that increase weakpoint damage by 30%. This bonus only affects direct damage and requires weakpoint hits on a relatively inaccurate weapon like Zhuks, which makes it a poor option in this build.

Tier 5 Perks:

Both perks in this tier are fairly underwhelming but the 33% direct damage bonus against electrified targets from Conductive Bullets (T5A) is generally the best option. The direct damage in this build is not substantial, but using this build with ER makes it very easy to reliably target electrified enemies, making the bonus from T5A essentially free damage. Get In, Get Out (T5B) increases movement speed by 50% for 2.5 seconds after fully emptying the magazine and then reloading. Scout already has great mobility from their Grappling Hook and Dash (if used), so an effect that adds more mobility tends to be less helpful. Also, purposely using the entire magazine every time before reloading to trigger T5B more often will establish bad gameplay habits that reduce ammo efficiency.

Secondary Weapon Alternatives:

As discussed more thoroughly in the beginning of the Primary Weapon Alternatives section, these alternative builds are strong components of a generalist loadout. They still need to be combined appropriately to ensure the loadout has a tool to deal with every type of combat threat.

• Nishanka Boltshark X-80 [Fire/Cryo Bolt] 13111: One of the most powerful aspects of the Nishanka is its access to Special Bolt Pheromone (T1A). Each Pheromone Bolt is like its own Engineer L.U.R.E. grenade and this build provides 13 of them, which is great for grouping enemies together. This pairs incredibly well with either [Fire Bolt] or [Cryo Bolt] to either light large groups of enemies on fire or freeze them all. [Fire Bolt] is the best Scout horde clear secondary weapon in solo and does direct damage to groups through fire spread. Note that the heat applied from [Fire Bolt] is surprisingly very bad against Rival enemies. [Cryo Bolt] does no direct damage but amplifies damage against frozen targets and is better at dealing with Naedocyte Breeders and stationaries like Spitball Infectors and Brood Nexuses.
• Jury-Rigged Boomstick [Jumbo Shells] 11213: This is a great generalist secondary weapon build that has good burst single target damage while also having good area damage through fire spread with White Phosphorus Shells (T5C). Taking Super Blowthrough Rounds (T4A) allows its horde clear to be even better against grouped up enemies and pairs well with the [Electrocuting Focus Shot] primary weapon build above. The blastwave damage in this build is not particularly strong, but it is a great way to deal with groups of Swarmers/Shredders/Naedocytes.
• Jury-Rigged Boomstick [Shaped Shells] 11313: [Shaped Shells] trades raw damage from [Jumbo Shells] for a substantial effective range increase from the tighter pellet spread. It is significantly easier to get the most out of every Boomstick shot when all the pellets land on the intended target. This also makes the build much more reliable at igniting ranged enemies such as Rival turrets, which makes it one of the best Scout secondary weapon builds for Industrial Sabotage missions.
• Jury-Rigged Boomstick [Double Barrel] 12233: This build focuses less on damage from pellets and more on maximizing the effectiveness of the blaswave for incredible area damage against grouped up enemies. The build is less effective at igniting targets, has less single target damage, and has less effective range than the other Boomstick build. However, the blastwave is not limited by blowthrough which allows it to instantly eliminate a large cluster of enemies after a well-placed Pheromone Canister or IFG.

For additional alternative secondary weapon options not mentioned above refer to the Modded DRG Buildonomicon made by Vonacht in the Practical DRG discord. Those builds will be specialized for coordinated teams in modded difficulties but serve as strong starting points for generalist builds in Haz5.