Yes, by the rules it would cause 1d4 points of damage but not necessarily GREATER harm. You could roll a 1 on damage and an 8 on healing and that's a net of 7 hp regained. It's a 5/8 chance (roll a 4,5,6,7,or 8) that you negate weapon damage or heal some HP on a max damage roll.
As soon as you hit level 2-3 wealth by level you'll be easily affording healing serum mk 2's for 3d8 healing per dart.
You could also put the merciful fusion on it if you are worried about killing people while trying to help them.
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At first I thought myself clever, that I could load a needler pistol with health serum and "shoot" members of my party from a distance to provide benefit. But seems more likely, based on a literal application of the rules, that while (at level 1 serum) it would boost 1d8, the pistol itself would cause 1d4 damage. Meaning, to use the needler in this way could actually cause more harm to an ally than help.
Any ideas, advice, ruling?
Unclear and I've been debating the same thing. As I read it, yea, you have to damage allies to heal them via the needler pistol. Though it should still function if the target's DR is greater than the actual damage dealt.
The key thing here, that I've determined, is that the Pistol Damage applies to their SP first, while the healing can only heal HP (as per magical and technological healing on page 251). So, in theory, they could have SP to spare, but lack HP, and you could use the pistol in this manner.
The other key thing here is that you still have to shoot your ally in order to make this work. You don't auto-hit as far as I read, so armored allies may be near impossible to heal this way.
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You could also put the merciful fusion on it if you are worried about killing people while trying to help them.I've been unclear on this. Needler Pistol has an Item Level of 1, so I can't apply a Merciful Fusion (Fusion level 2) because it exceeds my item level. Right?
Correct. One of the biggest "missing" rules right now is how to up-level an item for a fair price - you ought to be able to make an L2 Needle Pistol, even if it's not sold on the market, with no stat improvements at all beyond being L2, once you have 2 ranks in Engineering, but we have no idea what the UPB cost would be.
You could also put the merciful fusion on it if you are worried about killing people while trying to help them.I've been unclear on this. Needler Pistol has an Item Level of 1, so I can't apply a Merciful Fusion (Fusion level 2) because it exceeds my item level. Right?
Actually I think you are correct. I am still getting use to the item levels and their various interactions.
Correct. One of the biggest "missing" rules right now is how to up-level an item for a fair price - you ought to be able to make an L2 Needle Pistol, even if it's not sold on the market, with no stat improvements at all beyond being L2, once you have 2 ranks in Engineering, but we have no idea what the UPB cost would be.You could also put the merciful fusion on it if you are worried about killing people while trying to help them.I've been unclear on this. Needler Pistol has an Item Level of 1, so I can't apply a Merciful Fusion (Fusion level 2) because it exceeds my item level. Right?
Yeah this is actually something I am working through on homebrew. The equipment section is hopelessly convoluted and simply bad.
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Meh, I don't see a big issue here, at least regarding the Needle Pistol/Rifle. Doesn't really need a better item level.
At higher levels, the Needle Pistol will still do low damage, but you will be able to afford better serums which reliably heal much more than the damage dealt.
And I don't think the Needle Pistol/Rifle is really the best method for a healer to deliver healing. Seems like one of the more expensive ways, since each "miss" with the weapon wastes the serum.
I will note that there is strong potential for use of the "Called" fusion (level 1) with a needle pistol loaded for each situation in your backpack. Need a MK 3 serum? Just "Call" it to your hand as a swift action and shoot.