What are your favourite ammo types and weak spot priorities?

General Discussion
1

What I’m asking is, what is your usual procedure against different types of enemies, which ammo types do you actually use and what do you target on the different enemies. I know a bit about the ammo and hit point mechanics now but theres still a lot of things I’m not sure about, so I wanted to know what people actually do practically in their playstyle. I have read the wiki entries of their weak spots, but I have not yet fully identfied all described weak spots on the actual machines, so I work with what I recognize so far. I also use binoculars to see the component view of machines that we have the blueprints of, but the colors in that view still confuse me a bit as it seems inconsistent, what is armor, what is component, and what are the additional colors. If I overlooked some better weak spots or tricks, let me know! :wink:

Concerning Ammo: Even though I carry around 7.62 and .50 FMJ AND AP ammo with me all the time, I basically don’t use AP ammo at all. Since I know FMJ is better for components, and I found myself always aiming for those, I kept using those. I tried to destroy the front armor plate of the tank a few times, but never got it off. So it either needed even more bullets, or I’m wrong and it doesn’t actually come off?
I also know hollow and soft point ammo from the sniper rifles and revolver are good for components, but I’m not using those weapons at the moment. Would anyone recommend those over using FMJ 7.62/.50 on components?

Regarding weak point priorities on the different enemies:
Well we dont have to talk about ticks, seekers or runners I think. For the first two I don’t think I would try to aim at anything, and the latter you try to hit the tank on top or just spray.

For hunters I used to aim a lot at the head, neglecting the shoulders which seem to be an easier target in most cases. Or using Assault Rifles I’m spraying the general area of the head, shoulders, and top weapon. I’m doing this also with FMJ ammo, but I wonder if using AP ammo would yield in better results since you might hit a lot of the chassis, and i read somewhere that AP does more damage on chassis, if that’s true? Also sometimes I shoot at their main weapon, but I’m doing this mostly with a gut decision, I don’t know what the best order of attack would be. Of course if facing their back, I shoot the tick pod or fuel tank.

Tanks. As I play always in coop at least with one friend, we have good chances to hit it from behind as well as from the front. Mostly focusing to shoot down the main weapons, with FMJ since those are counting as components, but I have read contradicting information on that. Someone pointed out that the sparks you see when hitting them are yellow, and thus they must count as armor. So now I am unsure which one is better, and I’m not someone that in the heat of battle (esp. with a friend) can keep track of how many bullets I shot into them. So let me know what your approach is for the tank main weapons.
Then after the weapons or of course whenever there is a chance to shoot at the back, it’s the fuel tank, tick pod, and the three battery thingies. and also the top most part of the middle, with the cables coming out. Not sure what part that is, but you can also aim at it from the front and it gives blue sparks (component).
I am also unsure what the hinges on the legs are that the wiki mentions (“the hinge located near the model number”), but I’m guessing those are the “joints” of the topmost leg parts? It is said the tank will be crippled, does this actually mean cannot move at all?
Tank hinge
Then from the front usually shoot the two sensors. Does anyone bother shooting down the big armor plate at all?

Harvester: First thing we destroy is the rocket launchers on it’s back. Also using FMJ ammo as they have blue sparks and thus definitely seem to be components for me. But what I’m not sure about is whether it is still of use if the rocket launchers are burning, or if they are already destroyed at that point. I never fully witnessed them disappear entirely.
Next target are either the sensors if you are facing the front, or the fuel cells and tick pod from behind. With the rest of the weakspots I havent really meddled with.

So that’s how I’m mostly fighting them machines with bullets. I sometimes use emps to get more free easy shots on components, and rarely try to set up mines and traps with boomboxes or radios. But those approaches havent been reliable. If anyone knows a fool proof bait strategy with mines or explosives, let me know ^^

Edit: It might also be interesting what consumables you have mostly in your loadout. I switch around between the flares, fireworks, emps, radios and explosives. More depending on mood or what I have than strategy ^^

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In general shooting off weaponry early is good choice, since guns are big, relatively “soft” hit boxes, that taking big chunk of total health upon destruction. Also it makes much easier to fight.
As for harvester - destroyed rocket pods are burning.

HP/SP ammo usually very good choice for taking out components (guns included), but automatic guns with FMJ still has better damage per minute and more reliable choice if ammo isn’t an issue (which is very abundant). I usually use this ammo for trickshots at weak points (accuracy allows that).
AP ammo is more about destroying “armor” parts (light blue in component view if blueprint is available; blacked out in IR view) and punching through chassis to hit components. For example that Tank hinge at shoulder - AP allows to hew out blue sparks from virtually any angle, while rest ammo types can do the same only by hitting the rim of that bearing cover (especially tricky to do in frontal projection). Shotgun slug is considered AP ammo, with worst ballistics and is not tracer.

Shredding through tank’s frontal plate is worth it, again, when ammo is plenty and covers are safe enough. There’s four inner components that are easy to mince with MORE DAKKA. Tearing off it’s guns should be high priority if it somewhat restrained by environment - without guns it’ll try to run you over or fart in your general direction.
Trying to scratch it’s back is more bother than worth it. Big upper box is just bigger from the back and you still can trickshot fuel tank from front. Don’t bother with it’s upper light - AFAIR it is armor component. Lower light/sensor takes the most damage. Knees and armpit boxes are good choices too. AoE weapons is up to you - generally tricky to pick out, but may inflict substantial damage.

Harvesters are a bit harder to tear apart if you screwed up with preparations or let yourself “caught with pants down”. Rocket launchers and barrels are high priority, then it’s AoE weapon, if fight in close proximity. (hips if gas, near knees if blast). Then there’s soft “cheeks” on both sides of drill, then there’s a hole right under it (frontal). Legs have a lot of small “blue sparks hit boxes” consult with component view.

High priority for hunters is destroying it’s guns. “headshots” while do most damage are impractical due to head’s size. Better off to shoot side boxes, either through shredding vent covers or at certain angle, where you hit component while bypassing the cover. Fuel tank is also recommended.

About gear: my playstyle is “hoard everything, spend everything”.
I cycle guns around based on ammo available, which is in most cases are pistols (heavy ammo), rifles/shotguns (slow burning ammo). I ain’t use SMGs often, since 9mm (smg) quite rare in nature (I mean without carrying one in pockets). As for backup gun is either AK4 or PVG90.
Rocket launcher (CarlG) is special case and used more as tactical tool than weapon.

As for other slots - explody cans are used either as traps when bored or actively planting under disabled machines, them blow it up. Honorable mention goes for small fuel cells planted right under leaping hunter where it about to land.
Smoke is used either for stealth or against tanks to fight in open areas.

Flares are essential, especially when bullfighting against pack of hunters (they and runners ignore smoke).
Mines are either as big trap pile detonator or for “flying pie” tactics.
'nades are thrown mostly to interrupt bigger machines (stagger effect on explosion).

2 Likes
3

I second what @DeadWanderer said - I mainly use the (5*) AG4 with FMJ ammo to clear ticks, seekers and runners, then the exp PVG to mop up the hunters, tanks and harvesters. The exp Klaucke works wonders against lone seekers and runners, at least when you aim right. I also go for the ‘collect everything and then give it back’ playstyle - get gas tanks, mines, EMP placeables, put them on the road before the big ones while out of sight, and then place a lure a bit ahead. Sneak back to where the robot will be when it’ll get stunned, and tear out its back electronics.

4

Thank you for the answers, esp. DeadWanderer for the amount of detail.

I read before somewhere that armor piercing in GZ is more about destroying armor parts rather than piercing them to go through and hit the components inside, yet you mention both of those things. So when you shoot on an armor plate, with AP, you do actually hit the component behind (blue sparks) AND deal more damage to that plate than with FMJ?

I suppose with tank’s knees you mean shooting off the plates and hitting underneath, using AP till they are off and then FMJ? Where the armpit boxes are I will have to check.
Upper Light is armor even though it makes blue sparks? Okay, thank you devs :stuck_out_tongue:
With Harvesters barrels do you mean the fuel tank and … what? ^^
Pistol heavy ammo means the .44 I presume? With rifle and shotgun slow burning ammo you are pointing towards their ammo efficiency or do you actually mean the 6* heat ammo?

You are saying the detonate when the hunter jumps on them? Damn, how do you pull that off.
Smoke… The one time I tested smoke against a tank, it was shooting through the smoke right at me. Does every tank do this or do only some have an OPV module?
Also what is flying pie tactics? ^^
Sorry for all the additional questions, but your insights intrigue me to understand them.

I will try to do this more, I surely have to get some success at some point :3

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AP ammo deal more damage to parts that are marked as “ARMOR:XXX”, usually have light blue tint at component view and darkened in IR view. Chassis - is body overall and it glows in IR. There’s mechanic in gunplay that determine how deep can reach certain bullet in certain part. As I said with example - high shoulder hinge can be damaged with AP ammo even if shot perpendicular at “round” side (blue sparks on hit), while other ammo will do dull yellow sparks.
In other words - AP ammo helps to hit certain “deep” hit boxes, but won’t shoot through machine or do multi-hit.
Exception - exp. pvg90 and that it’s special trait.

What gives blue sparks from upper light is also mentioned “armpit box”, which is directly behind it. Light itself is armor (consult with component view).
About knees - AP just helps with tearing off armor plate and more reliable damage to the knee joint. Component itself is still “accessible” with ordinary ammo. Except, may be SP/HP, don’t remember for sure.
Harvester - yes, fuel tanks. Among methods of quick slaying harvester is sneak on it from behind with MG or other high capacity guns, stun/EMP it and dump everything in fuel barrels, rocket pods and other soft spots that are left before it call reinforcements.
Pistols’ ammo are heavy for it’s damage (16g per shot for .44, 8g for 9mm(pistol) and 5g for .32) and slow-burning I meant slow-consuming ammo (bolt-action rifles and shotgun).
“Flying pie” or more like “face-cake” is planting mine right under machine’s feet and run away before it blows.
Trick with hunter is that leap attack have quite wide reach, including under it and how to male it overshoot you by walking towards it. Timing is essential - you dump the explody can or other nasty object right where hunter is about to land.
Small fuel cell have almost non-existent blast radius, yet decent damage for explosive of this game.
As for smoke - there’s guide draft.
Tl;Dr - tank will aim at the volume center of the smoke. So if you are on same level with tank and you lie, the MG will shoot just above your head. Artillery better avoided by running away from smoke and running back, except for heavy mortar of “military.” series - it has very wide AoE and should be avoided with cover.

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Thank you again for the detailed infos, kind sir.

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As far as ammo types are concerned, I’d recommend choosing the guns that work for your playstyle, and then it’s spray-and-pray or bust. I usually go for FMJ or equivalent - AP didn’t help much when I tried it. To be honest, most fights I get into are way too one-sided, so trying to sit on the sidelines and plinking away at some obscured weak spots is suicide. Going in guns blazing, trying to overpower the machines before they can fight back is (less) risky, but then the AP ammo won’t land on target anyway.

In the beginning, I pretty much vacuumed up anything I could get, and used whatever, but leveling (and skilling) up made me drop the Magnus, hunting rifles (great if you go for Runners and their fuel tanks) and RPGs (EMP rounds are neat, but the reload times are killing me). I rarely use shotguns and SMGs, but they at least have use cases for clearing the small fry. The LMGs do pack a punch, but the reload times are something else, and I think they might work better in co-op play. YMMV.

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Well… right now its the 7.76 FMJ ammo type with a decked out 5 star n60… with a switch between 6 star 50 cal using AP rounds and 6 crown rocket launcher… cause got that a few days ago and it rocks and i find but loads of ammo for it.

As for weak points, try to aim for Gas canisters on the back, since they like to go boom and make some pretty visuals when they do.

Rinners are easy, red gascan on the back.

Walkers are the gascan onthe back, center mass where they join at hip and torso with a sprinkling of bullets those thingymajigs under the armpits.

Tanks… Everything that gives off blue sparkles gets shot a few times.

Harvisters… Same as the tanks except shooting that driod pooper first for less troubles.

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Why AP specifically against Harvesters, if you are also shooting their components?
Also against the Hunters, why are you using AP against them only in close range?
Because you use an automatic weapon and spray, and thus hit a lot of armor and chassis instead of just components?

Never heard of that weakspot where the pod is attached, I’ll give it a try. What do you mean with the second part of the sentence?

11

I forgot to mention this: harvesters have a lot of health allocated in legs (component boxes) , which are usually covered by destroyable parts and AP do better job by reaching it.

Speaking of legs - tanks also have protected boxes on hips, that are armored and very hard to reach for bullets with weak penetration. (not impossible, require quite intimate knowledge of what part of chassis is soft enough to bypass armored plates and angles where to hit)

13

I agree with just about everything here, the only thing I do different is on hunters. I aim for the end of the ‘snout’, ‘nose’, elephant trunk’ whatever you want to call it. I’ve found that I can take out a hunter with anywhere from 1 to 4 shots. Depending on the hunter (rival). :grin:

14

Now that I’m back home and brushed off rust and grime from my experience, I’ll drop few bits:
as for hunters in general I go for their guns. Tick trunk is top priority, then machinegun and then either chose another target with more threat or finish off by shooting vents. For automatic guns ammo type don’t make much difference, while SP/HP ammo preferable over FMJ. Shotgun slug can be treated as SP bullet but with AP properties instead (damage around .270 SP).
Most dangerous, of course, are Apoc series due to their nasty flamer and their toughness. Their weaknesses are range and open plains - if you mobile and keep distance (outside of flamethrower reach), you can easily scrap them one by one. Tick trunk and flamer are top priority, mortal can be dodged. Also mortar health almost equal total machine’s health - it takes special means to rip off mortar while keeping hunter standing. So it is relatively safe to shoot it with “anti-component” ammo.
Close rivals are Military series - accurate, hard to dodge machineguns, practical gas grenades and concussion rifles on shoulders won’t let you stay in cover for long. And tick trunks for additional annoynance. The only thing that keeps them from being apex predators is that they are not so tough - early game may make them too hard, but mid-to-late game gear can overpower these sodiers. Most high quality primary guns should rip off their 100% machinegun within single magazine, even without any ammo capacity mods.
After them there go FNIX hunters - they fell quite low from their Apr’20 grace. Even their better than military health ain’t helping. All FNIX hunters’ attacks have way too long telegraphs before attacks. (except may be for ticks - FNIX hunters love to sh*t ticks around). Target tick pods and shotguns, because they contain considerable chunk of health. This series are often require destroying both vents and gas can.
Prototype series are squishy themselves, yet their machine guns are still lethal, so tearing off MG is a must.

15

I often carry all kinds of ammo, except explosives.
Top 5:

  • .32 ACP FMJ for the Moller with extended
  • 12g Slug for the Sjoqvist
  • .50 BMG FMJ for the XPVG
  • 7.62mm FMJ for the XKVM
  • 9mm SMG for the COM-10

Ticks
Shoot. Do not think. Just shoot.

Seeker
If I’m trying to get the vision module I go for the jet.

Runner
Fuel Tank

Hunter
Normally I try to get them side-on then punch a .50 FMJ through the body with an Experimental PVG.

Harvester
DEFINITELY the Experimental KVM and just shoot pointlessly and expect the lightning to do the rest. maybe aim for some armour.
The Exp. KVM is best for hitting the hunters they summon.

Tank
First, the head plate
Second, the weapons
Third, All components on the legs (The boxes and the knees)
Fourth, the box on top of the head
Fifth, the leg connectors to the head

17

You go through a lot of ammo that way and takes longer to destroy machines. Which when in a swarm attack, you want to destroy as many machines as possible in shortest time with less reloads.
Even when I use a KVM 59 or a SMG I aim at exact spots and when they stop sparking move to the next spot. And can do this while running and dodging hunter leaps. Which they get lead up the can when I hear them.

For my level 5 and 6 weapons it is AP rounds for all machines but the tank gets the FMJ. And aim at things that spark, if it doesn’t or stops sparking, move to another target.

18

I tend to stick to FMJ when I can and focus on disabling weapons first. That means the big arm cannon on the hunters plus missile pods, MG’s, Rail Guns, Mortar, etc on the big guys like harvesters, tanks, and wolves. Then I can stop and take the time to target sensitive areas like eye sensors, heads, and vents with less concern about getting blasted into the next century.

On the smaller foes I try to go for the kill right away and target fuel tanks on Runners and the sensor eye on the Lynx’s. Their weapons are too small and the units are too mobile to effectively target them.

I’m experimenting with using AP on Wolf “helmets”, it’s such a big target that’s begging for special attention from AP ammo, but when the armour plating is off I’m back to FMJ’s.

Overall, I’m finding that firepower trumps special ammunition bonus damage. I can do more damage with a 7.62 rifle on semi auto firing FMJ’s than I can with something like the Algstudsare firing 270 win soft points in the same amount of time. Maybe the 270 is more efficient shot to shot, but time is a luxury I seldom have.

1 Like
19

With the AG4 I in general I give them full auto fire. With PVG, before I use the AG4 on short to medium distance:

Runners and Seekers:
fuel cell / turbine

Lynx:
Right into the ball

Hunter:
Their PVG/grenade launcher, air vents at the front, fuel cell at the back, switch to AG4

Harvester:
Missile pods, leg armor, switch to AG4

Tank:
Weapons, Face, top of the head, legs, fuel cell, switch to AG4

Wolf:
Weapons, healing components, the ball under the head, the compute unit behind the face

I don’t mind of which ammo type I’m using, as long as I have enough of it.

3 Likes
21

Or let it always start at 0 and count up instead of down from maximum, plus give an option to select all.

22

Mag for my KVM hold 250 rounds, if I can do accurate hits then I can take down 6-8 hunters and 5-7 runners before reloading verses spray and pray maybe 4 machines with the same 250 rounds? That is all but APOC machines, they take considerably more rounds and you can’t be as accurate due to having to keep more distance.

The AG4 and the KVM 59 both use the same rounds but knowing the max distance of each also brings down more machines. To far away from a hunter with the KVM and it may take 100 or more rounds and they are spread all over the place but switch to the AG4 and it may drop with less than 20 rounds. I get close enough to hunters and runners I can smell their exhaust gas and I will switch to the M46 and have overdrive smokin! Back when the grenades had shorter timers I would drop a few grenades in a gang of them as I ran for distance and to reload.

23

That’s the false way.
Since their flamethrower was revamped to like the lynx one is, you should stay closer. They don’t use the grenades but the flamethrower then. And I’ve never been hit by them since the revamp.

25

Runners and Seekers:
Fuel cell or turbine, yes

Lynx:
I literally line up 3 and clap em all with 1 Exp. PVG shot.

Hunter:
The 2 vents, then fire a PVG round through the body into the fuel can

Harvester:
The 3 collection boxes at the back then slam rounds after rounds into the body

Tank:
Remove the weapons then spray it down with Exp. KVM rounds

Wolf:
Spray it with Exp. KVM so I can take out the little rolly bois while im at it.