Shadow or Impetus?

Discussion in 'Infiltrator' started by AvalancheZ250, Aug 13, 2017.

  1. AvalancheZ250

    I'm been looking into getting a semi-auto rifle for short-mid range shooting for a while, since I quite like the Battle Rifles on the Medic (burst firing, which I assume is similar to tap firing at 20m or so) and I'm playing Infiltrator more and more. I main NC, so I only really have 3 choices here, but I don't want the Vandal because all the NS weapons look kind of boring... (except the revolvers).

    I'm just asking which should I get. So far, I've come to the conclusion that the Shadow is easier to use and much better at hip firing, while the Impetus is much cheaper and more consistent (always 3 shots to the body). But even an testing in VR can only go so far, and an active Trial period of 30 minutes is not a lot to go on.

    Which is better in their current states?

    Thanks
  2. Campagne

    I've never used the Shadow myself, but going off of the stats and my personal experience with the Impetus, I'd recommend the Shadow.

    The Impetus has a very terrible accuracy when firing rapidly or even in bursts, and must be fired slowly and in single shots to maintain any sort of accuracy due to being classified as a "sniper rifle." As far as I'm aware, the Shadow doesn't suffer from this issue.

    Additionally, the Impetus does not always get kills in only three bodyshots. Nanoweave, auxiliary shields, a suppresser, heavy overshield, and even a few implants can easily increase the shots to kill on average.

    Really, both weapons are decent and in the right hands can be very powerful weapons, though in my mind the Shadow is just a tiny bit better.
    • Up x 1
  3. Demigan

    Impetus is a low-scope variant of the gauss spr, which is the standard sniper rifle the TR and VS start with. Only the Impetus misses 50m/s.
    Personally the Impetus isnt bad as long as you remember to use it as a long-ranged semi-auto with good CQC ADS visibility a pinch. But for actual short to mid-range, get the Shadow.
  4. Cymric

    If you want a comparison between SA scout rifle and SA sniper rifle, there is a guide here:
    http://iridar.net/close-range-sniping-guide-by-davregis/

    Not exactly sure what you mean by burst firing, but if you are comparing the burst variant, gauss rifle burst, to semi automatic weapons, they are very different. Semi automatic weapons are much harder to use than burst weapons.
  5. RockPlanetSide2

    Do the Shadow.

    I played with this forever, and I always liked laser sight, 4x scope, and no barrel attachment.

    1) Laser sight makes it so you have a chance CQC for panic firing... it is not as good as the vandal, but when you aim down sights, the forward grip RARELY gives you any real advantage.

    2) Compensator: It just makes the weakness of the Shadow's terrible hipfire that much worse and does not really add anything for getting off 2 rapid headshots long range... you can do that just fine with out it.

    3) 4x Scope: I found that I was often in that 4x range far more than I was in the 2x range... if you are running around inside a base with the Shadow out you are just a fool... it's SMG time then.

    Putting a silencer on the Shadow means you are going to have to be way to close to fights for the weapon to be of any use. The Vanu NYX with zero bullet drop when you use a silencer is great... but on the shadow you are basically firing bowling balls at that point and it is just terrible.
  6. Erendil

    Another vote for the Shadow.

    Both weapons share 2-headshot kills at all ranges. Which is a good start for both.

    The Impetus kills in 3 bodyshots vs unarmored opponents and 4 bodyshots vs Nano5 at all ranges,. OTOH the Shadow takes a 4th shot >15m vs unarmoured targets a 5th shot vs Nano5 >40m. So that's a nice advantage for the Impetus to be sure, but that's really all it has over the Shadow.

    The Shadow, OTOH, has:
    • much faster velocity (570m/s vs 500m/s
    • Access to a 6x scope (the Impetus only has 4x max)
    • slightly faster ROF (255 vs 231)
    • +2 rounds per mag
    • tighter moving ADS COF (.25 vs .55)
    • tighter crouchwalking ADS COF (.15 vs .2) - important for Catlike users like me :cool:
    • smaller bloom (.3 vs .8)
    • tighter hipfire (.3 vs .6)
    • lower vertical recoil (1.0 vs 1.3)
    Source: http://www.planetstats.net/data/weapons/?id=24008,24002,24007

    The Shadow also has identical COF and bloom stats to the Warden, so if you like how Battle Rifles handle you'll like the Shadow, and the skills you've made using the Warden will mostly transfer right over to the Shadow. The only real difference is you have to slow your ROF a little bit more below maximum in order to control its COF Bloom than you would with the Warden (whose bloom isn't as bad).

    So basically, the Impetus will kill faster with body shots past 15m (or 40m vs Nano5), but you need to be stationary or crouchwalking to really take advantage of it. The Shadow is much more versatile, more forgiving, more accurate at long range (due to 6x scope and faster velocity), and easier to use.