4Game

No.

Congratulations, you can scroll to the bottom and write how wrong I am so that no one can hurry up and read it.

Now that the people allergic to thinking are gone lets get into the MATH of why, quite frankly, the Mutant was never as good as people made it out to be (and its really simple to): the ammo and the guns. Before we get into there is a caveats we have to address: if you think m4a1s, hks, 5.45×39 aks, DT MDRS and FALS are OP then that's an entirely different discussion about balancing around making fictional armor feel more valuable (and probably more realistic) which is definitely worth exploring, just not here.

So why isn't a 650 rpm "laser beam" that fires 7.62 BP a problem? Because it fires 7.62 BP… I feel like I shouldn't have to explain this because but FINE here we go: overpowered is not a constant state any part of a game can exist in inside a vacuum because it can only be measured by items relative to it.

Remember that caveat we discussed earlier? That's because there's this problematic element called MATH we have to take into account when we discuss how "Overpowered" something is. That math when dealing with guns and ammunition is: 1. How long does it take to kill the thing I'm shooting at (time to kill), 2. How easy is it to use the gun I'm shooting, and 3. How much does it cost?

First time to kill: 7.62 BP shot at 650 rpms TTK through Class 6 is 3-5 rounds (.0923… time per round) for a total of time to kill range of .2769… to .4615… for the thorax, with the most likely result being 4 rounds or .3692… You also have to take into account that the flesh damage of this round is 58 (which is quite high) so in a situation where one of the rounds hits an arm it will sometimes not make a difference, probably somewhere in the eyeballed park of 20% of the time. Since the blacked limb overflow change, and how bullet can go right through your arms now (finally) arm tanking isn't anywhere near the issue it used to be. Now lets look at our other options: 995 is 3-4 rounds through class 6 at a fire rate of 850 rpms (or 800 for m4a1 but its a marginal difference) (.0705… time per round) for a range of .2117 to .2823 seconds, with .2117 being the most likely; m61 at 650 rpm (or 700 but DT MDR is far more common than SA-58, and marginal differences still) is always 2 to the chest so .1846 and, interestingly, due to the high flesh damage offers a wider margin of error since it'll outright black a limb in one shot and deal some overflow making it an extremely versatile round; 7n39 (igolnik) is 3 to the thorax always fired at 650 rpm or .2769… seconds. So, obviously, the round isn't even close to the best due to a high variability leading it to pretty much always be a slower time to kill than other rounds in the game.

So it must be the mutant itself? Well, the answer to this should be AGAIN and obvious no because the AK-103 can currently get nearly identical stats (the big difference being mutant can do it while suppressed) and, obviously, the 103 isn't a problem. But lets talk about the laser beam M4A1s with 26 vertical recoil… actually lets not because that's been talked to death, but the point being no its NOT the easiest meta gun to currently use again by a wide margin. But is it competitive to the MDR or SA-58? Or even the AK-74N? Well the AK-74N just flat out gets better stats unsuppressed, and has a significantly better round, so no there; and as for the DT MDR or SA-58, in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to handle those guns or recoil control tricks (tap-tap-spray for example) yes, it is better, but for everyone else no… no its not even close.

How about cost? We'll discount crafting because everything gets a discount from crafting, obviously, and BPs craft got nerfed fairly significantly so its mostly equal at this point; BP is the cheapest round I've mentioned by a significant margin at 987r per round from Prapor, whereas the "meta standard" of 995, I would say, is twice that at around 2000r on average. Additionally, due to the lower fire rate. you'll also use up about half the ammo per raid (and bring half the amount) meaning the cost of the rounds is significantly lower. I would say, on average, I'd bring about 90-120 rounds of BP in my gun and rig, and 180-240 rounds of 995 in my gun and rig, bringing the cost differential to 271,400r to 361,920r difference. Huge difference, right? However, this again is where experience comes into play where I tell you to keep only 1 spare mag in your rig and the others in your gamma because they're cheaper than your CMS and stims. Really, BP just lets you brain off a little easier, I guess. That trick brings the investment difference cost/loss potential WAY down to around 160k, so at this rate when you're already 600k deep usually not that big of a difference. What about the cost of the meta guns? Well, meta mutants USED to cost as much as meta m4's thanks to being able to use their parts but now, with the nerfs, they're generally around 75k-100k cheaper depending on the day. So, the mutant is about 200kish cheaper to run than the M4a1 while also only taking an extra .15 seconds on average to kill faster? So, sounds like a bargain right? Except that the entire kit of a DT MDR is usually around 400k cheaper when you craft your own M61 because you aren't bringing in as much ammo (and should be doing the mag trick as well), and the gun is vastly cheaper, making it the premier top tier budget for rifles but lets ignore that thorn real quick.

High rate of fire is KING in Tarkov due to the current meta of sprint-tap peaking, jiggle peaking, and every bullet that encounters any part of your face killing you instantly (without RNGesus on your side, ofc). Being able to dump an extra 2-3 rounds accurately in the course of a peak makes a MASSIVE difference in high end play. Its probably why I see more sweat lords spamming M4s than I do Mutants now, but incidental experience is a TRAP! And, we haven't even gone into muzzle and round velocity to demonstrate how Mutant falls behind every single gun mentioned making it significantly worse at range than every other round in this post! And gun!

Lets just be honest about this, its just another Vektor. Its not OP: its TTK isn't better than the competition, its not as versatile as other guns and rounds listed, and its cost reduction isn't even the best in the category nor does its performance for cost ratio make a dramatic difference. It was just popular because, just like the Vektor, it was the first new significant update in months. And when somethings popular everyone complains nonstop. First it was the M4s, then the DT MDRs, then the Vektor, and now the Mutant. There is no mathematical argument that can be made, nor gameplay experience one based on evidence and not "impressions", that can be made that can demonstrably demonstrate that the Mutant is too good by any conceivable comparable metric.

So stop whinging on about what everyone's enjoying because its novel experience in a game people have been playing with barebones updates in 2 years. And, also, when you say somethings "overpowered" actually use some EVIDENCE rather than your feelings, holy moly.
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Note: I didn't even go into the best tier one budget option, the MP7a1/2, with FMJ SX. Hell, I didn't even touch on the Klin PM SP7 round with a FASTER TTK than the Mutant! Point is, this rabbit hole goes deeper than I'm willing to dig for pulling out evidence that's demonstrable to my point.