Picking Out A Pistol

[Archpaladin Zousha]

If I'm playing a character who prefers to fight using small arms (especially with the Double Tap feat), and I select a handcannon to deal with KAC, what would the best, general-purpose kind of pistol to deal with EAC be?

More planning to use one gun at a time instead of dual-wield.

[Metaphysician]

I'd lean to the standard series of laser pistols. They give you the best bang for your buck, energy wise, having decent damage, the best range, and efficient ammo consumption. Yes, there are the downsides to lasers ( smoke acting as cover and fire resistance being obvious and relatively common ), but you already have a "backup" weapon in the hand cannon. You would only have trouble if the enemy is defended effectively against *both* lasers and kinetic projectiles, and if they are, you probably should be switching to a supportive role anyway ( its suggestive of some kind of super tank ).

[breithauptclan]

The shock pistols also work. Some of them are a bit higher battery usage cost than the lasers though. But they don't have problems with smoke.

Don't be deceived by the nonlethal trait. It still does damage just fine. If you happen to be the one that finally takes the enemy down, then it will still be alive, but unconscious. Other than that - damage is damage. It still deducts HP the same as normal.

[Ventnor]

breithauptclan wrote:

The shock pistols also work. Some of them are a bit higher battery usage cost than the lasers though. But they don't have problems with smoke.

Don't be deceived by the nonlethal trait. It still does damage just fine. If you happen to be the one that finally takes the enemy down, then it will still be alive, but unconscious. Other than that - damage is damage. It still deducts HP the same as normal.

Except against enemies like undead which are immune to nonlethal damage.

But then, if you're also keeping a kinetic pistol on you, it's not as big a drawback.

[BigNorseWolf]

Sonic. Not the most damage but definitely the most reliable.

And not to be snarky, but asking how do i fight with a pistol in starfinder is kind of asking "how do i pet a tiger" Before saying how I have to advise against it in general...

[Master Han Del of the Web]

If we're interested in having a range of damage types on hand, I'd suggest the Wave Modulator line of pistols. They EAT charges (4 per shot) and their range isn't great but they have the Modal property so they can switch between fire and sonic.

[Corsair17]

The Plasma Claw in Armory does E&F damage, only has a range of 20' though.

[Garretmander]

Corsair17 wrote:

The Plasma Claw in Armory does E&F damage, only has a range of 20' though.

Plasma damage is somewhat shafted if the target ever has E & F resistance. Not super common last I checked, but far more than sonic OR fire is.

Especially since this character uses a kinetic primary, the wave modulators are probably close to ideal, with an emergency lower level shock pistol and/or disintegrator of some sort.