Rifles

__NOWYSIWYG__
== A Sniper's Guide to Rifles ==
Naturally accurate, with a good base chance for critical hits and a respectable damage output shot-for-shot compared to many other weapons, Rifles serve well as ranged looting weapons and are effective in most builds due to their inherent strengths. Like Pistols, Rifles do not increase aggro but still draw the attention of the zombies on your screen, who will hear the shots and attack you.
Rifles are roughly divided into 2 categories: Carbines and Bolt Action:
*Bolt Action Rifles are characterized by their Very High Accuracy and high damage per shot, and only 1 round per second fire rate. These provide the highest DPH in the game and thus are ideal at 1HKOing high HP zombies in endgame zones with minimal damage boost, at the cost of being mediocre against everything else.
*Carbines are characterized by their High Accuracy and lower damage per shot, but higher 1.5+ rounds per second fire rate. These are comparable to Revolvers and thus provide better crowd control than Bolt Actions, but not as much as Semi-Automatics.
Low tier Rifles are extremely powerful compared to Melee Weapons and Pistols, with the caveat being the expensive ammunition they use and their higher Critical requirement (112 instead of 79). This poses a significant handicap for lower-level players who cannot loot ammo in sufficiently large quantities, as opposed to Pistols whose ammunition is available in an abundant quality, and Melee Weapons which require no further upkeep at all. As proficiency goes up, however, all of these gradually fade, to the point where late-game Rifles perform and cost practically the same as late-game Pistols.
=== Requirements ===
Rifles have no strength requirements. The first rifle available, the Beretta CX4/RX4, requires 10 proficiency points to use. The Farmer class starts out with a Mini-41, along with 80 rounds of 5.5mm.
Early-game Rifles require 112 Critical Hit, while late-game Rifles require 79 Critical Hit to reach optimal performance. High Accuracy Rifles require 59 accuracy for Reliable Aim On-screen, 69 accuracy for Perfect Aim On-screen/Reliable Aim Off-screen, and 79 accuracy Perfect Aim Off-screen. Very High Accuracy Rifles require 44 accuracy for Perfect Aim Off-screen, which can be achieved simply through weapon MCs.
=== Looting/Scouting ===
Since they only draw aggro from zombies currently on-screen, Rifles are ideal for scouting and looting runs in the Inner City. Some general tips:
* Rifles can easily hit distant zombies with relative consistency. Try to snipe them before they get close.
* Stay in the open. Due to their low rates of fire, Rifles are not the best weapons to use in close quarters, especially against large mobs, and a single missed shot can be costly. With a high critical stat, this is not as big a concern, provided the Rifle is one of the faster-firing ones.
* Be ammo conscious. With relatively slow reloads (unless one has high Reloading), learning to reload whenever you get a quiet moment is important. As with any weapon, one trick is to hit "R" just before you transition to another screen, as this results in an instantaneous reload once you reach the next block.
=== Aggro Combat/Boss Fighting ===
Rifles are for the most part not as good as Pistols at aggro combat, due to their lower firerate and crowd control capability. Regardless, they can be effective at fighting retreats, and make for great boss hunting weapons thanks to their high accuracy, single target DPS and ammo efficiency.
* The standard method to boss fighting with Pistol/Rifle is to run laps around the entire block without stopping. Eventually, the aggro will be left behind, leaving only the boss to be focus fired on.
* Alternatively, find a length of wall/fence to trap the horde behind. As long as no trapped zombie is killed, the game will not attempt to spawn more and allow you to solo the boss in relative peace.
==Advantages and Disadvantages==
Advantages
* Early-game Rifles are significantly more powerful than other weapons.
* Rifles are relatively silent and do not cause aggro spike, allowing it to be used extensively during looting.
* Rifles naturally starts out with the best accuracy in the game, meaning there is little need to put points in increasing accuracy.
* Most Rifles have a large magazine capacity.
* Bolt Action Rifles have the greatest per-shot damage of all weapons, allowing for 1HKOing endgame zombies with minimal damage boost and granting supreme ammo efficiency against bosses.
Disadvantages
* Early-game Rifles uses hard to find, expensive rounds, and only have High instead of Very High Critical Hit chance.
* Rifle ammunition has smaller box sized compared to handgun ammunition (1,200 per box compared to pistols having 1,600 per box).
* Bolt Action Rifles have the lowest fire rate in the game, which results in slow killing speed almost no crowd control against hordes. Further exacerbated with high damage boost from Drugs/Implants which allows Pistol to reach 1HKO thresholds for tougher zombies, but does almost nothing to low RoF Rifles.
==List of Rifles ==
The Damage values in brackets indicate the averaged damage that can be achieved with the maximum critical hit chance. The Scrap values in brackets indicate the scrap price with Master Crafted (MC) items.
Some unique rifles are not available in this article. Instead, they are listed in the Special Equipment article.
===Lootable/Craftable===
===Limited Edition/CS Only===
===Dusk/Dawn===
===Event===
Category:Weapons