any point in having a sidearm?

[archamedes 238]

another point to add that a backup is REALLY handy was when me and a few friends captured a guy and was trying to get him to join us, Then as i walked round the corner his buddy knocked me out ith a single punch and stole my m4. He then went on to kill one of my mates, what He didnt do was take anything else, mainly because he was a fresh spawn and didnt have room. So when i woke up I drew my pistol and shot him in the back of the head as he was about to kill my other remaining friend. I got my m4 back and i wouldnt have done that without my pistol as a backup.

 

Seriously dude, in this game and this world, sometimes having weapons in your slots is more important than other things. its better to have it and not need it rather than need it and not have it

[MIKEMONSTER 5]

When silencers are actually functional pistols should become more used to take out zombies (I hope that by then I'l be able to swap my ax for a mosin (and then the pistol would replace the axes role) then I would have an auto, a sd pistol and a sniper-PERFECT)

[theevancat 94]

Once silencers work the FNX will be a great zombie killer.

 

I was bummed when I found a pristine silencer in a tent city and it didn't do anything.

 

So I guess I'll just wait for them to work.

[MIKEMONSTER 5]

I actually have 4 weapons atm: AKM (75 round drum), Magnum, Ax and a sawn off. An overkill? IKR?

[blowurselfup 54]

Magnum in the shoulder holdster just LOOKS badass B)

[Cullis 7]

 

 

The only reason for a pistol to fire 10 feet to the left of a person at 50m in game should be user error not a rng magical cone of fire.

 

So what about 1 feet off the target?

Because everyone except the dude who has spent months of his life blasting away on the range is going to be a bad shot with a pistol.

 

Is there some sort of background info specifying survivors are all pro-shooters or cyborgs or whatever?

 

No.

 

IMO, accuracy with pistols ought to be  crap, on account of sway. Not rng based, but just sway. So unless someone shoots from a supported position, they'll be unable to hit say better than torso-sized targets @ 15 m reliably with rapid fire. I've been instructed how to use pistols, and also shot them in the past, and I can't really do better with 9 mm pistols.

 

Which is.. well, pretty uncommon for someone in a post-communist country. Only 1% of people ever bother to get a weapon permit. Maybe.. 1/10 th of those shoot handguns competitively. 

 

Perhaps RPG-like stats ought to be implemented.

 

People would pick skills they want, and if someone wanted to shoot pistols, (which are supremely impractical* weapons in real life) like Jerry Miculek they could put all their points into pistol marksmanship and skimp on health, medical, endurance... mechanical, etc.. 

 

*anyone who expects a fight carries a long gun. A pistol is only used by those people who aren't expecting a fight and for whom carrying a rifle would be impractical - like everyone in a civilized society.

Edited July 18, 2014 by Cullis

[gibonez 3633]

 

IMO, accuracy with pistols ought to be  crap, on account of sway. Not rng based, but just sway. So unless someone shoots from a supported position, they'll be unable to hit say better than torso-sized targets @ 15 m reliably with rapid fire. I've been instructed how to use pistols, and also shot them in the past, and I can't really do better with 9 mm pistols.

 

 

I think thats the only thing anyone is ever asking.

 

Arma 3 handles pistols in a good way. Heavy sway a small sight picture makes accurate shots hard. Yet at the same time nothing is technically restricting you from hitting a persons torso at 200m with a pistol.

 

If you are skilled enough and take your time to make sure the shot is perfect you can hit a person at that range yet the heavy sway with pistols makes it so most people are relatively ineffective with pistols at a distance.

[byrgesen 1341]

I have only picked up one sidearm and that was an engraved 1911, because it was pretty :)
Ive yet to actually use one ingame, so i would say no, you dont really need them at all.

Having a melee weapon and a rifle can get you in and out of any situation, just fine.

[Katana67 2907]

Eh, not really.

 

I do, but mostly out of habit.

 

Until suppressors work, I don't see any reason for a sidearm in addition to a primary weapon.

 

Likewise, they're never really useful in my opinion if reloading your primary takes more time than bringing up your secondary. If I can just throw another mag in my primary with a simple stroke of the R key, vice fumbling around in the inventory, or having my character root to the ground to take 2-3 seconds to swap to a secondary... then it never becomes an attractive/useful option.

Edited July 18, 2014 by Katana67

[Bruce of Wayne 81]

I hope that in the future sidearms will be what most people have and rifles will be rarer.

[jukaga 271]

I like to carry a couple to give to trusted freshies or newly spawned in friends but I can't really say I've ever used one in battle if I had a proper rifle available.

[scriptfactory 620]

The .22 pistol is badass for quietly killing zombies. Also, on Experimental I carry a 9mm handgun because it shares bullets with my MP5 and I thought that was cool.

[jukaga 271]

FNX with a flashlight is fantastic for looting at night, it has no sway and points directly where you point your mouse and you are armed.

 

Good point!

 

[jukaga 271]

It's fun blowing people to bits though.

 

Are they working again? They seemed to be firing just a single pellet last time I fired one. A sawn-off should have a cone o' death in front of it.

[jukaga 271]

I actually have 4 weapons atm: AKM (75 round drum), Magnum, Ax and a sawn off. An overkill? IKR?

My reg has an AKM (no drum :( ), FNX, Sawn-off, walther 9mm and splitting axe.

My h/c has a M4, Moisin, FNX, Sawn-off and fire axe.

 

There is no overkill :D

[Westcompany 2]

...why, the only pistol you'll ever need is an Amphibia S! The suppressed rimfire action pistol is death incarnate! When you have five mags, like I do. If you fool around NWAF enough you'll find 'em. Not much stopping power, you say? Yeah, but ten bullets to the torso as fast as you can click, with little to no recoil, and almost no sound, cannot be possibly survived. I tested it. Several times. If you wanna pick off one by one a small team, this is the way to go. Hide, aim for the throat, and fire five solid shots. If he doesn't drop, you missed.

Edited July 18, 2014 by Westcompany

[BeefBacon 1185]

I keep a sawn-off in my bag. I use it when I go into large buildings, or when I might be fighting at close range. Usually I can only find an SKS or a Mosin, so having an effective short range weapon is pretty handy. Ammo is common too. I've got about 6 speed loaders for it.

 

Pistols, on the other hand, I don't bother with. I collect magazines, though, since I occasionally play with a friend and if he happens to find a pistol I might have a mag. I don't bother with them myself, however.

[MIKEMONSTER 5]

My reg has an AKM (no drum :( ), FNX, Sawn-off, walther 9mm and splitting axe.

My h/c has a M4, Moisin, FNX, Sawn-off and fire axe.

 

There is no overkill :D

NICE

If you found the m4 after the patch where did you find it?

[bige678 2]

its better to have it and not need it rather than need it and not have it

Yes but this logic applies to all items and you can't have everything so there are trade-offs...so you have to choose. It seems to me that you want to carry the gear that you are most likely to use and handguns are useful only in specific situations.

[archamedes 238]

you seemed to have quoted yourself in that post there.

 

But yes you can't have everything, true, however if this were a true survival game, you would want to max out on survival tools and any food you can find, however dayz whether you like it or not is a deathmatch game because this is how it has turned out, due to fear and panic shooting on sight, so weapons are the more important items to carry than anything else unless you are in a team and allow everyone to carry something each so you dont end up as the donkey

[bige678 2]

Yeah I'm not sure how I did that...Anyway, tto return to the original topic-

I was asking if a sidearm has any utility if I already have an AKM with the 75 round drum. In this situation you would say that weapons are still the most important thing to collect?

Thank you for adding to the discussion :-)

[jukaga 271]

NICE

If you found the m4 after the patch where did you find it?

No, he's still alive from before the patch. I've got 6 mags for it and an ammo box full of nato ammo for it. Needless to say I'm playing him in mega paranoid mode.

[Evaris 61]

I hope that in the future sidearms will be what most people have and rifles will be rarer.

Except given this is a rural area, bolt action and semi auto hunting rifles should be more common than pistols of any sort.  Just saying. 

[bauertschi 254]

Concerning availability, what Evaris said.

 

Generally I still proclaim that going into buildings or guarding them (by not shooting through windows) is way more effective with an FNX than almost everything else, not sure about the AKM. You can get 5 shots out so fast and so accurately that compared to the kick back of rifles it is just wonderful. When carrying a Mosin I would run through cities with the FNX in hand. I remember 2 encounters at the (old) neaf, both against M4, both times the other started shooting first, one time waiting directly behind the prison door, one time from about 60 meters, even breaking my legs before I could shoot back. Both times I killed the M4 guy. Accuracy and fast fireing rate combined ftw.

 

My army time tells me though that shooting handguns accurately is not that easy. Compared to rifles it's hell, so ...

Edited July 21, 2014 by bautschi

[ld-airgrafix 403]

Magnum is my favourite and u dont need to find a magazine either