Multishot is an added effect to firearms that affects the number of pellets (bullets, projectiles, bolts, etc.) fired per shot without consuming additional ammo. Not only will this increase the weapon's damage, but each pellet generally has an independent chance to proc Status Effects and/or Critical Hits.
Mechanics
Most firearms in WARFRAME fire one pellet per round of ammunition which accounts for the weapon's stats and mods upon firing. Multishot mods give the weapon a chance to spawn one or more additional pellets when fired, with each pellet being able to generate its own instance of a critical hit and/or status effect separate to the "main" pellet, but otherwise, behave identically to it. The effectiveness of Multishot is also affected by a weapon's Accuracy stat (see article for details).
However, this behavior is not universal to all weapons. In continuous weapons, the additional "pellets" spawned by Multishot do not generate additional instances of damage, but instead merges into the main beam's damage ticks allowing each regular tick interval (based on the weapon's fire rate) a chance to roll bonus damage in multiples of itself, similar to how Critical Hits function with a 2.0x multiplier. Because the amount of damage ticks overall does not increase, having Multishot on these weapons will not increase the weapon's Status Chance. This potentially makes mods like Hammer Shot more effective than Vigilante Armaments for continuous weapons. Critical multiplier also benefits off of Multishot damage, as the Critical chance is calculated after Multishot damage.
For example, the Amprex deals 22 base damage per tick. With Split Chamber, each tick will have a 90% chance of doubling the damage to 44. If Vigilante Armaments is also installed for a total of 150% Multishot, the Amprex will always deal 44 base damage with a 50% chance to deal 22 more damage, totaling 66. If any of these values crit, the weapon's Critical Multiplier will also be factored in, at the end.
When it comes to shotguns (or select rifles and pistols), they fire multiple pellets per shot and thus gain a bigger benefit from Multishot mods in the process.
Calculating Multishot
You can calculate a weapon's pellet count using the following equation;
Total Pellets = Weapon Pellet Count × (1 + Multishot Modifier)
Where:
- Weapon Pellet Count refers to the base number of pellets fired per weapon attack.
- Multishot Modifier refers to the total value of all related mods added together.
Should the total pellet count be a fraction, the fractional part will be a chance to fire one more pellet.
For example, a Hek with a base pellet count of 7 with Hell's Chamber will have the pellet count of 15.4. This means it will fire 15 pellets per shot with a 40% chance of firing a 16th pellet. Meanwhile, a Lex with 180% multishot will have a pellet count of 2.8. It will, therefore, fire 2 bullets with an 80% chance of a third bullet on that shot.
Note that the in-game UI will show the sum of all the pellets' damage, so actual damage may be lower on weapons with large spreads where some pellets may miss entirely.
Multishot Mods
In addition, Riven Mods with Sati or Can in their names will also grant bonuses to Multishot, but due to their randomized stats it possible to get a Riven Mod with negative Multishot instead. In that case, the negative Multishot gives the weapon a chance of firing a "dud" round that deals no damage, and based on the weapon's Disposition it's entirely possible to get a Riven Mod with -100% Multishot, making the weapon completely harmless.
Do note that Shrapnel Rounds is Conclave-exclusive and cannot be used in regular play, while Barrel Diffusion and Amalgam Barrel Diffusion are mutually exclusive and cannot be equipped simultaneously.
Pellet Counts
This section contains tables showing how multishot affects weapons with innate Multishot (that is, they fire multiple projectiles per shot. For all other weapons, consult the above equation). For brevity's sake, each Multishot percentage column refers to fully-ranked, non-Riven mods that grant Multishot, arranged by increasing Multishot value, followed by a combination of fully-ranked mods, again arranged by increasing value where applicable.
Shotguns
Multishot percent | 0%* | 60%* | 120%* | 180%* |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kohm ( Kuva) | 1-12 | 1.6-19.2 | 2.2-26.4 | 2.8-33.6 |
Convectrix | 2 | 3.2 | 4.4 | 5.6 |
Exergis | 3 | 4.8 | 6.6 | 8.4 |
Phantasma, Sobek, Tigris | 5 | 8 | 11 | 14 |
Corinth (Primary Fire), Sweeper ( Prime), Sancti Tigris | 6 | 9.6 | 13.2 | 16.8 |
Hek ( Vaykor), Phage | 7 | 11.2 | 15.4 | 19.6 |
Boar ( Prime), Tigris Prime | 8 | 12.8 | 17.6 | 22.4 |
Strun ( MK1, Wraith), Drakgoon ( Kuva) | 10 | 16 | 22 | 28 |
The table below refers to Scattered Justice, a mod that also gives multishot but can only be installed on the Hek.
Multishot percent | 0%* | 200%* | 260%* | 320%* | 380%* |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hek | 7 | 21 | 25.2 | 29.4 | 33.6 |
Primaries
Multishot percent | 0%* | 60%* | 90%* | 150%* |
---|---|---|---|---|
Quanta ( Vandal) | 2 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 5 |
Cernos Prime | 3 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 7.5 |
Artemis Bow | 7 | 11.2 | 13.3 | 17.5 |
Zarr | 10 | 16 | 19 | 25 |
Secondaries
Multishot percent | 0%* | 60%* | 110%* | 120%* | 170%* | 180%* |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kohmak, Twin Kohmak | 1-5 | 1.6-8 | 2.1-10.5 | 2.2-11 | 2.7-13.5 | 2.8-14 |
Twin Grakatas | 2 | 3.2 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 5.4 | 5.6 |
Fusilai (Alternate Fire) | 3 | 4.8 | 6.3 | 6.6 | 8.1 | 8.4 |
Angstrum ( Prisma) | 3-7 | 4.8-11.2 | 6.3-14.7 | 6.6-15.4 | 8.1-18.9 | 8.4-19.6 |
Ballistica Prime | 4 | 6.4 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 10.8 | 11.2 |
Bronco ( Prime), Akbronco ( Prime), Detron ( Mara) | 7 | 11.2 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 18.9 | 19.6 |
Brakk ( Kuva), Euphona Prime (Alternate Fire), Pyrana Prime | 10 | 16 | 21 | 22 | 27 | 28 |
Pyrana | 12 | 19.2 | 25.2 | 26.4 | 32.4 | 33.6 |
Twin Rogga | 15 | 24 | 31.5 | 33 | 40.5 | 42 |
See Also
- Punch Through, another bullet mechanic.