Range

**Range** is the attribute of a weapon that defines the weapon's chance to hit depending on distance between the attacker and the target. It is described by either two or three numbers, separated by "/": examples are **4**/**6** or **2**/**3**/**8**.

Distance 1 means a cell next to the attacker. Distances are measured as a straight line distance, not by number of squares of movement required.

The double-number notation ***e***/***m*** or triple-number ***c/e/m*** expand into the following:

* ***c*** is the **Minimum** **range** of the weapon. This is the lowest range before a target is too close for full accuracy.
* ***e*** is the **Optimal** **range** of the weapon: This is the maximum range before any accuracy is lost to distance.
* ***m*** is the **Max** **range** of the weapon: This is the maximum range the weapon can possibly hit an enemy at.

The double-number form means there is no minimum range: ***4/6*** has the same meaning as ***1/4/6***. Minimum ranges are found on the Rifle and Launcher classes of weapons. Optimal and Max ranges are better if higher, whereas a lower minimum range is better.

## Range and Accuracy

The chance to hit given by the range is the base accuracy before other modifiers such as enemy cover and aim bonus are applied If the accuracy from range is 0%, no other modifiers can raise it. Barrels and Walls can still be hit with accuracy 0%, which can be important when firing rockets.

If your target is:

* Closer than the minimum range, accuracy is 50%
* Between minimum and optimal ranges, inclusive, accuracy is 100%
* Above optimal range but no more than max range, accuracy scales from 100% down to 0% evenly across this range
* Above max range, accuracy is 0%. This holds even if optimal is larger than max.

As a formula, shooting at a target at distance ***t***, with a range of ***e/m***, the squares between ***e*** and ***m*** have a base accuracy of

t
−
e

m
−
e
1

{\displaystyle \frac{t-e}{m-e+1}}

Alternatively, for every cell that exceeds ***e*** the chance-to-hit decreases by

100

m
−
e
1

{\displaystyle \frac{100%}{m-e+1}}

In both of these formulas, the term

m
−
e
1

{\displaystyle m-e+1}

refers to the length from the optimal range to one past the maximum range, or the number of squares to get from 100% accuracy to 0% accuracy.

## Examples

This is the base accuracy to a target at distance ***t*** for some common weapon ranges.

## Shotguns

Shotguns always hit all enemies in their targeted area. The accuracy value given by range does not give a chance to hit, but rather a multiplier on the damage dealt. As a result, increasing either the optimal or max range of a shotgun will increase the damage it does to targets past the current optimal range.

This example shows that at longer ranges, a lower damage but higher range shotgun has better performance, but at close range, the weapon's Damage is more important.

## Increasing Range

The range values of a weapon can be increased with weapon perks. This will change the displayed range when viewing the weapon. Mods on armor, helmets and amps can also increase the range values used for calculation, as can some Traits, but these are not displayed on the weapon range and may only apply to some weapon types or in certain conditions. Increases to range from different sources stack additively. Since a lower minimum range is better, mods that affect minimum range do so by decreasing it.

Increasing Optimal range:

* "Calibrated" or "Auto-calibrated" perk on a weapon
* "Target tracking" perk on other items
* Eagle Eye L2
* Son of a Gun L2 (pistols and SMGs)
* Gunslinger\* L2 (pistols and SMGs)
* Army of Darkness L2/L3 (shotguns and launchers)
* Gunrunner L2

Increasing Max range:

* "Stabilized" perk on a weapon
* "Long range tracking" perk on other items
* Eagle Eye L1
* Son of a Gun L1 (pistols and SMGs)
* Sharpshooter L1 (pistols and SMGs)

Decreasing Minimum range

* "Balanced" perk on a weapon
* Eagle Eye L3

\*Note that Gunslinger L1 give -2 to optimal range.

For non-shotguns, reaching an optimal range of 6 makes max range irrelevant for targets within sight radius.

## Historical notes

Before the update 0.8.3, the range was known as distance.