A gun’s performance is determined by its pieces, and each gun has the same general breakdown of part types. You don’t have any control over the build of a particular gun—not over the brand and quality of the barrel, nor the type and severity of the added elemental effect, nor any aftermarket accessories and their supplemental effects. But knowing how the guns come together can help you appraise guns at a glance and also get more information and pleasure out of viewing the guns as they perform and on the Inspect portion of the Inventory menu.
Note that, when looking at weapons, what you see is what you get—no matter where the gun is. Whether on the ground waiting to be picked up, in your hands, in an enemy’s hands, on the Inspect screen—if you see a shotgun with a quad barrel and a drum magazine, then it’s simply a shotgun with four barrels and a big-ass magazine, the better to rapidly fire four shells with. If you see a scope on the shotgun, then it’s going to have a scope; a bayonet, then a melee damage bonus. What you see is what you get.
Each gun manufacturer makes several gun types, and each gun type possesses several levels of quality and different pools of components. Some manufacturers share certain components, and any given gun might come equipped with, say, the grip of a different company. The shared components, such as some multi-barrels for assault rifles, operate differently for different
manufacturers. A Dahl assault rifle isn’t going to perform like a Bandit assault rifle, for example, even if they share components in some places.
List of components[]
- Body
The base of the gun, this piece determines the main manufacturer of the gun and consequently its most fundamental characteristics. It sets the stage for the overall level of quality and finish the gun will have.
- Grip
As you might imagine, this is where the operator handles the firearm.
- Barrel
This is the part that the projectile travels through. Determines much of overall performance—long-barreled for accuracy? Multi-barreled for extra projectiles? An ultra-rare, experimental alien barrel, derived from ancient Eridian tech?
- Sight
White rarity weapons won’t have sights besides the iron sights innate to the gun’s body and barrel. Rarer weapons can have special optics attached to provide targeting assistance while zooming. Exceedingly rare weapons will always have sights, unless they don’t have them by design.
- Stock
Not present on every weapon, a stock helps with stability and recoil.
- Elemental Capacitor
Maliwan is the manufacturer with elemental tech on lockdown, and when you see elemental power in non-Maliwan guns, it’s because of Maliwan components inside them. These parts provide the drive to imbue the weapon’s bullets with Fire, Shock, Corrosion, or Slag. This is the same slot into which Torque’s gyrojet rocket technology can be fitted, as well, producing an explosive, rather than elemental, firearm. A weapon that lacks this component altogether simply fires normal bullets.
- Accessories
The possibility of optional supplements or aftermarket accessories showing up on uncommon weapons adds a lot to the variability of Pandora’s unspeakably vast arsenal. Accessories include foregrips for stability, bayonets to enhance melee damage, and other attachments that can alter various things. Orange and purple rarity weapons are guaranteed to have an accessory attached, and other non-white rarity weapons might.
- Material Quality
The material grade is the overall finish and quality of the aggregate. A gun identical to another in every way except in being made of better material results in, surprise, a better-performing, better-looking gun with better stats. This value is naturally higher with weapons of increasing rarity.