Best tool for hunting?

[ousire]

Now that Alpha 8 is out, the wiki seems to be out of date on weapons: http://rimworldwiki.com/wiki/Weapons

My question for everyone is, what weapon/s is the best for hunting animals with? So far I've been using spears that my colonists craft, but I'm unsure if things like maces or swords would be better, and they all take so long to craft I don't want to make one of each to test them.

[RawCode]

Due to faulty AI driver best weapons for hunting are long ranged rifles (that have best accuracy on long range).

When (IF) AI driver will get a fix, best weapon for hunting will be normal pistol - due to XP gain rules (100 per shot) and damage calculation formula.

If both XP and AI driver will be fixed (shooting from optimal range and XP bound to weapon difficulty and hit result) burst weapons will shine - pointblank shot from machine gun will be lethal in most cases.

Melee weapons inferior due to battle wounds received from animals.
Animals like mega scarab able to kill colonist in single bite if hit head.

[Goo Poni]

I generally send out the person with the Lee to hunt. It seems sensible, hunting with an unscoped bolt action rifle. Running in with an M16 or M24 always seemed overkill and who the hell goes hunting with a pistol anyway?

[UrbanBourbon]

Short answer: I'd say shotgun currently (Alpha 8). The R-4 is efficient as well.

Expanded analysis: Hunting in RimWorld is currently pretty ridiculous, even broken. Hunters fire dozens of rounds with complete disregard while at the same time all the other colonists have the same disregard for their own safety. Animals don't really flee when shots are fired at them, and hunters do not move closer in order to finish off an incapacitated animal. Hunters often change their firing position after aiming, being sometimes unable to choose the right range. Animals also move around quite hectically, which contributes to that. It's all quite ugly, but understandable (just alpha being alpha).

So, those facts in mind, you'll want a weapon with a short range, but not too short. I'll expand on that later on. You'll also want to avoid extra long aiming times, which means you'll want to avoid the M24 and Lee-Enfield. The M24, however, could be great against muffalos and other large animals because they are easier to hit (there's a clear to-hit bonus against them). You do not want to use the M24 to hunt small quick animals. That being said, choose a weapon based on what you're going to hunt and which colonist will be doing the hunting. Now, the worst possible combination for a hunting weapon in RimWorld is a weapon with short range and high aiming time because then the hunter is most likely to not fire off many rounds due to the animal moving constantly out of range. That's the theoretical worst case IMO. In practice, however, long range and high aiming time result in most repositionings. Long-range weapons become a curse if the animal gets incapacitated - a downed animal is harder to hit and the hunters don't change their position based on a really bad hit chance. The number of bullets in a burst is also a concern. If you're going to hunt a pack of muffalos far away from your colony, then go ahead and grab that minigun.

As for melee weapons, they are risky. BUT, right now I'm curious if a skilled melee colonist with a legendary level plasteel sword could instakill most animals. If you can get a melee hunter who can instakill, then you have a clear winner. You can't ask for better than that - no aiming time, completely safe, zero chance of bullet-related hunting accidents. Then again, it depends on the target animal as well. Rabbits and squirrels might go down reliably in one strike, but muffalos might fight back and they can deliver some serious hurt.

Shotgun
High damage, single shot, short range. A great, if not the best, overall and all-around hunting weapon for even a bad shooter, and no matter what you're hunting. Risky to use in the middle of a busy colony due to its high damage. Great for both manually directed hunters and automated hunters alike. Some chance of animal moving out of range, causing an occasional repositioning.

Pistol
Lower damage, single shot, short/medium range. Half decent for manual farming zone pest control. Even if you accidentally hit another colonist, the damage is likely non-permanent. Superior weapon for training up the Shooting skill. Sometimes a bad choice for automated hunters. Low damage could result in multiple incapacitations, leaving the hunter shooting mindlessly from a bad spot. But it trains the shooting skill, though...

R-4 Charge Rifle
High damage but burst fire. Highly efficient in the hands of a good shooter. Potentially dangerous in the hands of automated hunters who are assigned to kill every animal on the map. Marvelous for skilled manual hunters when you need to get meat as fast as possible.

M16
Long range, burst fire, low damage... Not for automated hunters, unless you go after large animals maybe. Great for defense however when multiple animals go berserk. Whether defense counts as hunting is debatable (it doesn't) but you are still killing animals in both cases, and M16 is great for engaging incoming animals at long ranges with its decent aiming time.

M24
Long-ass range, murderous damage, infinite aiming time. You do NOT want to get a hunting accident with this weapon. Bad choice against small animals, especially so for automated hunters. Potentially freakishly good and nerdishly thrilling against large animals. A great way to waste time and effort is to put an unskilled hunter with the trait 'Careful Shooter' or 'Trigger-happy' to hunt for small animals with an M24, preferrably during an eclipse. Is it hunting if you keep shooting but can't kill anything? That's your daily zen.

Charge Lance
No. Too inaccurate at long ranges. Unsuitable for automated hunters. Hunt manually with this if you must.

Lee-Enfield
Worse than M24 due to its lower damage. It is more accurate though. A pain to use even for manual hunters, IMO.

Uzi
Eh? Burst fire, inaccurate, long range. Risky to use. Meh. Hunt a muffalo with it if you must. Possibly good at defense.

LMG
Same as Uzi.

Minigun
Use against remote muffalo herds only if you absolutely insist using Minigun as a hunting weapon. Want anarchy? Assign every animal on the map to be hunted and give your hunter a minigun. Who are you to dictate where the bullets should or should not fly?

Grenades
When you don't care about the meat or carcasses, just pure elimination and destruction. Not effective aganist fast and mobile animals. Is it hunting if you kill animals without the intent of consuming the meat? What is the definition of hunting?

Molotov Cocktails
Useless, unless you wish to invoke rain. Potentially hazardous to the hunter.

T-9 Incendiary Launcher
See Molotov. Less risk of getting burned.

Bows, Pila, Stones
Likely inefficient or useless. Not tested.

Unarmed
When you hunt unarmed, you aren't actually hunting but providing training to your doctor.

[Shinzy]

Someone mentioned melee as very good hunting method
I tried it in my last alpha colony and it works mirculously well!
but you'll need a brawler with powerclaws and deck them up in the best armor you can find (and you probably still can't take down bigger animals without injuries)

So I'm still all for shotguns =P least fatalities in own ranks with that weapon

[Nietzschean]

Just got a chance to try out the melee hunting. I got to say it worked really well vs a boar. The person had the brawler trait, powerarmor, and a (good) steel longsword. One to two hits is all it took. Also, her melee skill was only 4.

Just tried vs a muffalo, took some damage. Lost a toe and got two scratches.

[lokarn]

I had a tribal encounter very early in the game and wanted to see how a bow and a pila would work for hunting. It's pretty good actually, both weapons seem to kill smaller animals in a hit or two. Muffalo take a couple more depending on skill.

The range on moth is a medium distance and they have short aiming times. Bows can remove limbs fairly easily, be careful.

[Kinakin]

Oersonally i prefer fast fiering short ranged weapons.

The rapid fiere to compensate for low accuracy and the short range because it means less room for random pawns to walk into the line of fire and catching stray shots.

[mrofa]

I find that short bow is grate for hunting, but its only my opinion

[ZestyLemons]

Lee Enfield has to be my favorite. It has the highest average accuracy out of any weapon, and hits hard enough that'll kill animals but only knock out colonists (without the risk of organ loss).

[ThreeMartiniLaunch]

I typically use a great bow. If I have a brawler, he gets the (normal) plasteel gladius. He takes scratches against muffalo, but nothing permanent.

Note: I use the Prepare Carefully mod and forgo the pistols and rifle at start. I start with three plasteel gladii or three plasteel knives.

[StorymasterQ]

...three plasteel gladii...

OT, but this sounds like the start of viruses vs virii

[ThreeMartiniLaunch]

Since the gladius is the quintessential Roman weapon, it deserves the quintessential Latin plural.

[StorymasterQ]

Since the gladius is the quintessential Roman weapon, it deserves the quintessential Latin plural.

I agrii.

[ThreeMartiniLaunch]

Since the gladius is the quintessential Roman weapon, it deserves the quintessential Latin plural.

I agrii.

I would like to post a series of emoticons to express my exasperation. But I don't know how to do that.