LET'S PLAY WITH THE ZHUKOV NUK17!
I didn't initially plan this to be "Scout Week" at Coffee and Deep Rock, but it turned out my Dives, Mission of the Week and the Solo video that I had previously scheduled to drop were all Scout. So I decided to do a Bonus Video to Spotlight the dual wield ZHUKOV NUK17 alternative to the Boomstick and maybe just show a quick solid build for it for those that may have just unlocked it or are having trouble making them effective (and I have ALWAYS had troubles with getting comfortable with the Zhukovs). Usually I spotlight a specific OC, so this time I just wanted to go with a flat weapon demonstration and explain my build in detail. While I used overclocks, they were fairly clean straightforward OCs that don't fundamentally change either weapon I used.
Many Hoxxes moons ago, the DRG player base asked the devs for a dual wield weapon, and this is what they got. Not an obvious choice for an alternative for our mighty Boomstick. The fundamental problem I always had with them is that I tried to use the Zhuks like I did the Deepcore since they're both assault style automatic weapons, but I found that I needed to adjust my thinking and try to use them more like the Boomstick. Zhuks are devastatingly effective when you land your shots right, not so much when you don't, so when managing grunt swarms face hits are critical. You need to wield and aim your shots just like you would the boomstick. Fire in short bursts to preserve ammo and accuracy and just don't lay on the fire button waiting for the enemies to go down or you will be completely out of ammo before you have enough nitra for the first resupply. Ultimately, this is why I paired the Zhuks with the Deepcore: two automatic weapons, one for distance, one for up close so I can always be firing the right one when I need to be.
My recommendations for a total and solid Zhukov/Deepcore build are below - don't skip the section on my grapple hook build. A good scout always has the grapple immediately available to switch to and I have a build recommendation on mobility.
Egg Hunt: "Bleak Dawn"
Biome: Crystalline Caverns
Cave Complexity: 1
Mission Length: 1
Secondary: Gunk Seeds
No Warnings/No Anomalies
Beer Buff: None
Video: Max Settings/21:9/1440P
SCOUT:
DEEPCORE GK2 (did not build display screen in the video)
MODS: 1-2-3-3-3
OC: COMPACT AMMO
Tier 1 - Accuracy is Key with Deepcore
Tier 2 - With the additional accuracy, I took ammo bump over damage
tier 3 - larger magazines, again over additional damage for sustained fire over - the less you have to reload in solos swarms the better
Tier 4 - Bumping up the fire right to compensate for the lower damage and larger mags
Tier 5 - Stun is always solid choice, especially with scout where you're always backpedaling with enemies closing in
OC: Compact Ammo - A solid, vanilla OC that gives you a slight advantage like less recoil, but no fundamental changes to the effectiveness of the build
ZHUKOV NUK17 SUBMACHINE GUN
MODS: 1-2-2-3-2
OC: MINIMAL MAGAZINES
Tier 1 - Ammo efficiency with the Zhukovs is just terrible, it's needed
Tier 2 - Faster reloading - when you're using the Zhuks you're probably already in some trouble and need every active second
Tier 3 - Again, more accuracy since the Zhuks are an inherently inaccurate weapon. If you want even decent medium range skill, take the accuracy
Tier 4 - Again, the ammo hungry Zhuks over the other options
Tier 5 - Again, more mobility is better - and it's generally the better option on this tier. It's noticeable when it kicks in and I like this option
OC: Minimal Magazines - I wanted to stay away from the fancy OCs for this run because they aren't that great, this just gives a bit faster reload and rate of fire. So if you run this build with no OC, you'll have a slightly slower experience, but no fundamental changes to the build
THROWABLE: CRYO GRENADES - Frozen Enemies fall quick with the Zhuks
Other Mods for this run (all personal preference)
Pick Axe: 1-1 | Flare Gun: 1-2-2 | Grappling Hook: 1-1-1-3 | Armor: 3-2-1-1
GRAPPLING HOOK:
I usually only run this Grapple Build with Zhukovs. First, I'm used to using Special Powder on the Boomstick which basically doubles my mobility, so without it I compensate by tricking my grapple with less recharge time on Tier 1 and faster cooldown on Tier 3 so I can use the grapple more often. It helps immensely
PERKS FOR THIS SOLO RUN:
Passive: Thorns, Resupplier, Deep Pockets
Active: Dash, Beastmaster
"BOSCO" - APD-B317 MODS: 3-1-3-2-3
Went with Faster Digging on tier 1 since I planned to have Bosco dig the eggs. Always a tough choice between that and additional damage on this tier.
Tier 2 is always a wash
Tier 3 I went with the extra rocket rather than additional light. First, with Scout, I don't need the extra light, and second, in big swarms the extra rocket can come in handy without a true power weapon on this class
Tier 4 Armor Break - soften praetorians a bit to help finish them off
Tier 5 I just have always loved the electric effects of Bosco's bullets with the slowing effect
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