Am new to Zer0 and am liking him so far but only in the gun role…not really into melee. Just not me but I am trying it a bit as I go along.
Anyway, you experienced Zer0s probably know this already but I just can’t seem to find any satisfactory answers.
I get that Kunai, Death Blossom and Death Mark are HUGE for Melee attacks buuuuut…
as I said, I really don’t melee much at all, and I am interested in how those skills could affect a gun only Zer0.
For instance, can I throw Kunai, Death Mark a Target then hit him in his marked Crit spot with a gunshot? And this would get the additional 20% bonus damage from"additional sources" from Death Mark along with the Deception gun Bonus? Similar to Wilhelms skill Laser Guided where he can mark a target and then engage for a distinctive bonus?
If so, what could be considered a max effective range to throw Kunai?? 30 meters?, 50?, 100?
Kunai with Death mark is a corner stone for each and every single Zer0. Every one.
Have you patched the game to current version? The buff used to be 20 % and could be applied multiple times but now it’s a flat 80 % extra damage. The debuff stays on for a few seconds.
As for the range, I dunno about meters since the game doesn’t tell you that stuff but it’s easier to hit up close to medium distances but if you are using Decepti0n far away it’s better to try throwing the kunai than not trying, doesn’t cost you anything. Experiment with it a bit.
And yes, you can mark the target and then hit their crit during the same Decepti0n. Very effective.
The spread just gets unreliable at distance, so you’ll want to check the spread falloff at your leisure. I’ve marked that Constructor that spawns below Henry’s roost from Blake Bridge, for example; all of the Kunai went wide but one, but it only takes one to apply the mark.
For lethal gunplay, as in, lining up a shot to kill, here’s an example of what I do: put points into Be Like Water, Execute, Death Mark, Death Blossom, Ambush, and whatever else you want. Unf0rseen rocks, but it usually kills them on its own, and sometimes I’d rather shoot them.
De-shield and/or slag an enemy from a normal combat range, and throw Decepti0n. Throw Kunai to apply Death Mark and maybe soften them up some more. Execute into them. This will force them to flip around and face you (exposing their crit spot), and will stun them momentarily to line up the shot, as well as apply Be Like Water to buff the following weapon shot.
I would never consider not to spec into DM + DB, especially when you are using Shotguns or Pistols, as the marks + slag can push their damage over the top. Also it is a flat 80% bonus as other have stated.
To put it bluntly, the Death Mark/Death Blossom combo is virtually essential to every single Zer0 build out there, be it melee, gun or sniper. Period. A lot of his damage output - if not most of it - comes from that combo. For a long range sniper Zer0, the effective distance of the kunai can turn into a problem sometimes (although the kunai range really isn’t all that bad), but you’ll be thankful you have it when in the heat of battle. For shotgun, pistol and SMG focused builds, the combo is just as effective as it is to melee builds.
I would also go down the Bloodshed tree to get Execute, even on a non-melee build. The first left-hand skills on the melee tree, such as Killing Bl0w, Grim and F0ll0wthr0ugh can be very useful for a gun Zer0, and Execute is great for strategic movement and finishing off enemies. Execute is kinda like B0re. You should take B0re even if you’re playing melee Zer0 and you should take Execute even if you’re playing gun Zer0.
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