Called Shots Guide

The four shots at a glance

The old idea of a single "attack" button does not exist here. Once your weapon can reach the target, the combat screen offers a row called Tactical Limb Targeting with four buttons. Each has its own Action Point cost, its own hit chance and its own damage roll. If you have not read the basics yet, the combat guide covers Action Points and range zones; this page is about what you do with them.

"Bonus" is your damage bonus, the DMG bonus number shown on the combat screen. It already contains your weapon's damage (tier × 6 before rarity), gloves and rings that add damage, and flat damage from talents such as Tinkerer. That is why a better weapon improves all four shots at once. Every ranged shot uses exactly one unit of ammunition (one Scrap for the Scrap Launcher), whatever its AP cost. A three-AP headshot costs the same ammo as a one-AP torso shot. Melee weapons use no ammunition at all.

Headshot chance and what raises it

The headshot chance is 35% plus your Headshot Chance bonuses, capped at 95%. Two talents provide the bonus: Sharpened Senses in the Reaper tree (+15% per rank, five ranks) and Deadly Aim in the Gunner tree (+5% per rank, five ranks, and it needs a rank of Heavy Hitter first). Nothing else in the game changes this number, so gear and rings do not help.

How a shot becomes damage

The number printed on the button is only the first step. Every shot passes through the same chain before it touches the enemy:

1. Roll plus bonus. The base roll for the shot, plus your damage bonus. The headshot multiplies the total by 2.5 and rounds down; the Arm Shot adds only half the bonus.
2. Range. With a ranged weapon the total is multiplied by 0.85 at CLOSE, 1.0 at MID and 1.15 at FAR. With a sanctuary, weather stacks on top (+5% in clear skies, -5% in a storm, -10% in fog). Melee damage ignores range.
3. Flat ranged talents. Trigger Discipline (+5 per rank, three ranks) and Big Guns (+3 per rank, five ranks) add flat damage to every ranged shot, including the weak ones.
4. Percentage bonuses. General damage, ranged or melee damage, and the boss bonus (Boss Hunter, +6% per rank, plus +25% for three days after Kaelen's boss tip) are added together. Executioner-type talents add more once the target is at or below 30% HP, and Rage-type talents add more while you are below 50% HP.
5. Critical hit. Critical chance (capped at 75%) is rolled for every shot, including arm and leg shots. A crit multiplies the total by 1.5 plus your critical damage bonus. A critical headshot therefore stacks with the 2.5 multiplier.
6. Enemy damage reduction. Some bosses cut a percentage of every hit. Armor Piercing and Overpenetration subtract from that percentage, up to 80%.

The Unknown Threat, for example, carries 50% damage reduction. Three ranks of Armor Piercing (30%) bring that down to 20%, which raises every shot you land by roughly 60%. That is worth more than most damage talents.

Arm Shot and Leg Shot effects

Both effects apply only when the shot hits and the enemy survives it. They last two rounds and affect only the target you hit.

Arm Shot: crippled aim

For two rounds, each time the enemy attempts a normal attack there is a 50% chance it simply misses. The counter only drops when the enemy actually gets as far as attacking, so a stunned enemy keeps the effect a little longer. The signature moves of Lady Midday and the Unknown Threat are not affected.

Leg Shot: hobble and knockback

For two rounds the enemy deals 40% less damage with its attacks. Melee enemies are hit harder: while hobbled, a melee enemy standing at MID or FAR cannot close in and does nothing at all on its turn. If the target is a melee enemy and the fight is not already at FAR, the hit also knocks it back one range step (this needs the default battle view; the classic view has no range zones). Once the two rounds run out, a melee enemy resumes its advance as normal. Lady Midday and the Unknown Threat ignore the hobble.

If you are using a melee weapon, remember that knockback also pushes the enemy out of your own reach. It then costs 1 AP to Charge back in, and an enemy at CLOSE can still attack you at the reduced 60% damage.

Which shot to use when

Here are average expected results with a damage bonus of 30 (a Common Hunting Rifle), MID range and no talents, ignoring rounding. This is only a comparison, not a promise of what you will see.

• Torso is your default. It gives the most damage for each AP and leaves AP free for healing or cover. With a damage bonus of 30 you would need a headshot chance of about 91% for the headshot to match it per AP.
• Headshots win on ammo. Even at 35% a headshot returns more damage per round than a torso shot, so it suits you when ammunition is short. It is also the best opener against a boss when you can afford to lose a whole turn.
• Never headshot a nearly dead enemy. A one-AP torso shot kills it, and a miss on a three-AP shot wastes your turn.
• Leg Shot is for melee enemies, and for any enemy whose damage you want to cut by 40%.
• Arm Shot is the weakest damage dealer and only pays when a single enemy hits hard and will outlive two rounds. Against an enemy that hits for 25, the arm effect prevents about 25 damage across its two rounds on average, and only if the shot lands.

Worked turns

Three AP against a lone Feral Timber Wolf (a melee enemy), you have a rifle, the fight starts at MID. Fire a Leg Shot (2 AP), then a Torso (1 AP). If the leg lands, the wolf is knocked back to FAR, skips its next two attacks and then spends a round charging back without biting. It cannot hurt you until the fourth round, and that first bite is a half-damage lunge. Meanwhile every rifle shot is 15% stronger at FAR. If the leg misses, you still land the torso hit.

Three AP against a healthy boss, 80% headshot chance (Sharpened Senses 3). Take the Headshot. A hit deals 2.5 times the normal roll for one round of ammo. The risk is that a miss costs the whole turn, so only do this while your HP is comfortable.

Three AP, enemy at 20 HP left, you deal about 40 with a torso hit. Torso (1 AP), then spend the other two AP on a Bandage and Take Cover. Do not touch the headshot.

Four AP (Reaper's Tempo). The fourth point turns a Headshot turn into Headshot plus Torso, or lets you Leg Shot and Arm Shot the same target in one turn. Stacking both effects only makes sense on one dangerous ranged enemy you cannot kill this round, since both last two rounds.

Related pages

• Ranged vs melee weapons guide: range zones, ammo and the Scrap Launcher.
• Combat guide: Action Points, cover and general rules.
• Talent builds and the Reaper and Gunner trees, where headshot and ammo talents live.
• Bosses: damage reduction and boss patterns.

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