Pistols

Pistols have a high rate of fire but limited range and damage potential. They are best used in short range engagements, such as the second part of an establish base mission. All the pistols in the game use the handguns skill.

FN Browning

Weight: 1.3 kg
Ammo capacity: 13 rounds
Damage type: soft

Aimed mode
Max range: 17 metres
Damage: 48
Rate of fire: 1.1 rounds per second

Burst mode
Max range: 14 metres
Damage: 144
Rate of fire: 6.7 rounds per second

The Browning is possibly the worst performing pistol in the game. It has the worst range in aimed mode, and only the Colt has worse range in burst mode.

If it is early in the game and you have very few weapons, give it to a soldier who has good handgun skills but lacks the strength to carry the heavy ammunition for the Colt 0.45. Otherwise, forget about it.

Desert Eagle

Weight: 2.0 kg
Ammo capacity: 7 rounds
Damage type: universal

Aimed mode
Max range: 22 metres
Damage: 100
Rate of fire: 0.8 rounds per second

The Desert Eagle has a slow rate of fire and it lacks a burst mode. However, the damage potential in aimed mode is significantly better than that of most assault rifles and sub-machine guns in a medium range engagement.

If a soldier has good handgun skills and poor rifle skills, the Desert Eagle is a good substitute for a rifle in urban combat against the transgenants.

Glock 19

Weight: 0.6 kg
Ammo capacity: 19 rounds
Damage type: soft

Aimed mode
Max range: 21 metres
Damage: 48
Rate of fire: 1.1 rounds per second

Burst mode
Max range: 16 metres
Damage: 144
Rate of fire: 7.5 rounds per second

A pistol with average specifications and a useful all rounder as handguns go. There are a couple of situations in which it is particularly useful:-

If a soldier rounds a corner or opens a door, there is a risk that he will come face to face with a balloon fish or a sporeblower. In these situations, the high rate of fire of pistols such as the Glock 19 give your soldier a better chance of taking out the transgenant quickly than an assault rifle would.

Also, the acid that a plecton spits at your soldiers is powerful, but it is slow moving. If your soldiers try to stand their ground with assault rifles, they will often be mauled. However, it is possible for a soldier with a Glock 19 to safely fire one shot at a plecton and then run to a new position and fire another shot, and so on until the plecton is disabled.

FN Five-seveN Tactical

Weight: 0.6 kg
Ammo capacity: 20 rounds
Damage type: hard

Aimed mode
Max range: 24 metres
Damage: 34
Rate of fire: 1.4 rounds per second

Burst mode
Max range: 19 metres
Damage: 102
Rate of fire: 10.0 rounds per second

The 57-tactical is possibly the best human pistol in the game. It has good range, even in burst mode, and an impressive rate of fire. It also fires hard (often called armour piercing) rounds. The disadvantages are that the damage potential is lower than that of other pistols, and the high rate of fire means that you will quickly use up your supplies of ammunition.

This pistol is excellent in close combat against the Reticulans. Reticulan armour gives effective protection against soft and universal rounds, but it offers comparatively little protection against hard rounds.

Avoid using this pistol against the transgenants. The high rate of fire largely compensates for the low damage potential, but your ammunition supplies are limited and this pistol is more effective against the better armoured Reticulans.

When you start a new campaign, your first experience of hard rounds will almost certainly be a transgenant armed with a 57-tactical. Unfortunately, your flak jackets provide absolutely no protection against hard rounds, and if you do not have any assault rifles you will be both out-ranged and out-gunned. In this situation, you should either use the available cover to sneak up on the transgenant with a grenade or find a place where you can ambush it.

Colt 0.45

Weight: 1.1 kg
Ammo capacity: 7 rounds
Damage type: universal

Aimed mode
Max range: 20 metres
Damage: 75
Rate of fire: 1.0 rounds per second

Burst mode
Max range: 13 metres
Damage: 225
Rate of fire: 5.0 rounds per second

This model, which was first manufactured in 1911, is one of the few items available in infinite quantity in your arsenal at the beginning of the game.

The ammunition is heavy at 1.1 kg for seven rounds – loading the pistol doubles its weight. This makes it a poor choice for soldiers with average or below average strength. Also, the powerful recoil makes it inaccurate, especially in burst mode. However the weight of the ammunition gives it a damage potential that exceeds that of many assault rifles at close range.

The unlimited ammunition supplies make the Colt useful in the early missions. Later on, a soldier who is better with handguns than rifles may find the Colt useful in the second part of an establish base mission.

HK USP9

Weight: 0.7 kg
Ammo capacity: 15 rounds
Damage type: soft

Aimed mode
Max range: 22 metres
Damage: 48
Rate of fire: 1.2 rounds per second

Burst mode
Max range: 18 metres
Damage: 144
Rate of fire: 7.5 rounds per second

This is a useful all round pistol. The range and rate of fire slightly exceed that of the Glock 19, so it should be used in preference in the same tactical situations if you can spare the ammunition.

The USP9 is also useful as a secondary weapon for a soldier equipped with a rocket launcher.

Alien Laser Pistol

Weight: 0.7 kg
Ammo capacity: 12 shots before power cell depletion
Damage type: laser
Uses alien power cells. Improved alien power cells give 25 shots before depletion.

Aimed mode
Max range: 28 metres
Damage: 35
Rate of fire: 2.0 rounds per second

Burst mode
Max range: 22 metres
Damage: 35
Rate of fire: 2.5 rounds per second

This is the most basic laser weapon in the game. You can expect to encounter it in your first few missions against the Reticulans, but they will soon phase it out in favour of deadlier weapons. Later on, some transgenants will be armed with alien laser pistols.

The alien laser pistol has a greater range than human pistols. Laser weapons in the game tend to have greater accuracy than equivalent projectile weapons because they have no recoil.

There is no true burst fire mode with the alien laser pistol. Burst fire involves telling a soldier to shoot faster, thus causing accuracy to fall off.

The low damage potential makes this the least threatening weapon the aliens have. It will only pose a real threat to your squad if you make a serious tactical error or if you are heavily outnumbered.

It is rarely worth equipping your soldiers with this weapon. You need to research laser weapons operation before you can use it, and by that time you should have some of the far more powerful alien laser guns.

As with all laser weapons in the game, the alien laser pistol is more effective against transgenants than the Reticulans. The armour used by the Reticulans gives particularly good protection against laser weapons. However, you should not issue laser weapons to every member of your squad for a mission against the transgenants. Lasers are ineffective against a few transgenant species, particularly the balloon fish.

Advanced Alien Laser Pistol

Weight: 0.7 kg
Ammo capacity: 25 shots before power cell depletion
Damage type: laser
Uses alien power cells. Improved alien power cells give 50 shots before depletion.

Aimed mode
Max range: 30 metres
Damage: 50
Rate of fire: 2.0 rounds per second

Burst mode
Max range: 25 metres
Damage: 50
Rate of fire: 3.3 rounds per second

This is an improved version of the basic alien laser pistol. Range, damage potential, power cell capacity and reload time have all been improved. However, it still has many of the drawbacks as the original.

The advanced alien pistol first appears when the Kasputin Yar mission appears on the map. The Reticulans usually use it as a backup weapon for soldiers equipped with heavier weapons with limited ammunition. A lot of the humanoid transgenants will be equipped with these as well.

The advanced alien laser pistol can be useful as a secondary mission in combat with the transgenants, but you should not consider giving it to a soldier as his main weapon.

Laser Pistol

Weight: 0.5 kg
Ammo capacity: 20 shots before power cell depletion
Damage type: laser
Uses hybrid power cells. Improved hybrid power cells give 40 shots before depletion.

Aimed mode
Max range: 30 metres
Damage: 40
Rate of fire: 1.7 rounds per second

Burst mode
Max range: 24 metres per second
Damage: 40
Rate of fire: 3.3 rounds per second

This is the simplest application of hybrid human/Reticulan technology in the game. It is designed as a substitute for the basic alien pistol to be used in the same tactical situations.

Your engineers cannot precisely replicate the complex biotechnology involved in the production of alien energy cells; the closest they can manage is the hybrid power cell, which powers all the hybrid laser and plasma weapons in the game. It frees you from dependence on captured alien power cells; however you have to acquire the files from Area-51 before you can develop hybrid power cells and weapons.

One disadvantage of hybrid power cells is the relatively long reload time compared with other ammunition types. Reloading a hybrid laser pistol takes 5.0 seconds, longer than any other pistol in the game.

The hybrid laser pistol offers slightly improved range and damage potential over the alien model, but it is still outclassed by the larger alien laser gun. By the time you can build the hybrid laser pistol, you should have captured several alien laser guns and plenty of spare alien power cells. Build one hybrid laser pistol so you can build the more advanced version later on if you really want one, and then forget about it.

Enhanced Laser Pistol

Weight: 0.5 kg
Ammo capacity: 20 shots before power cell depletion
Damage type: laser
Uses hybrid power cells. Improved hybrid power cells give 40 shots before depletion.

Aimed mode
Max range: 35 metres
Damage: 60
Rate of fire: 1.7 rounds per second

Burst mode
Max range: 31 metres
Damage: 60
Rate of fire: 3.3 rounds per second

This is an upgraded version of the hybrid laser pistol. Range and damage potential have been improved over the original.

The enhanced laser pistol is useful as a secondary weapon in missions against the transgenants, however it should not be used a primary weapon as it is still outclassed by the basic alien laser gun. Also, by the time you can develop advanced hybrid weapons, you should have much deadlier weapons to choose from, and the soldiers to take advantage of them.

Alien Warp Pistol

Weight: 1.0 kg
Ammo capacity: 40 shots before power cell depletion
Damage type: warp
The power cell cannot be replaced or recharged during a mission.

Aimed mode
Max range: 20 metres
Damage: 200
Rate of fire: 1.1 rounds per second

Burst mode
Max range: 16 metres
Damage: 200
Rate of fire: 2.0 rounds per second.

This is the most basic warp weapon in the game. All warp weapons require you to research warp weapon operation to use.

The Reticulans often use warp pistols from the middle of the game onwards. They are sometimes used as primary weapons, although the Reticulans are more likely to use warp assault rifles for this purpose. The Reticulans are fond of using warp pistols as secondary weapons for soldiers equipped with alien plasma guns, alien rocket launchers or psi-projectors. Warp pistols are often used by the transgenants in the later stages of the game.

The alien warp pistol has a greater damage potential than other pistols. It is also more effective against heavy armour. However, the limited range means that it is useless in open terrain by the time it appears in the game, as a human or Reticulan soldier equipped with one will be killed before he can get close enough to fire. It is best used as a secondary weapon in short to medium range combat.

One weakness of every warp weapon in the game is that when the power cell is depleted, it cannot be replaced or recharged until the mission is over. The Reticulans get round this by issuing their soldiers with a couple of spare weapons, and you should adopt the same solution.