IMO destructive is the best pve talent flat out I usually start there for all pve weapons but since EAD is so good for PvE I usually use an AR over SMG too.
For example.. My pve DPS build I tried to capitalize on EAD and DTE as much as possible and it works like magic. 2 striker, 2 D3FNC, savage and ninjabike.. sometimes use M4, sometimes ACR both have destructive and ferocious on them giving me somewhere close to 60%EAD and 45%DTE. Both hitting over 150k critical headshots without any booster shot or scan pulse on elites.
dont become mislead by thinking destructive would add about 15% damage on every npc.thats wrong.not all npcs have armor and it only works on armored enemies.its that simple.
destructive lowers the armor damage mitigation of your enemy(pve/pvp).you can take your own value for calculation purposes. lets take 33% damage reduction and your raw per bullet damage with an smg is 18000, so its:
18000-33%=12060 without destructive
18000-28,05%=12951 with destructive (because 15% of 33 is 28.05%)
so you see it isnt 15% damage boost , because 15% damage ontop your base 12060 per bullet damage would be 13869, but we have 12951.
the pvpplayer modifier has not been taken into account here, thats a different topic and calculation then. just for your raw understanding how destructive works
i use destructive on all my pve guns added with ferocious and predatory...why predatory? because you can fire at them and take damage while refilling your health back up especially when fighting rikers and lmb's...plus i use 3 piece d3 fnc and 3 piece final measure, which gives me 30% protection from elites and 10% damage to elites added with all the damage to elites stat from gear pieces i have 51% damage to elites and 41% EAD...im shredding lmbs when i solo challenge russian consulate
you sure NPC in pve have armor damage mitigation? In pve bodyshot damage to an elite NPC with armor should be weapon_base_damage * (1+EAD) * (1 * DTE) * (1 + total damage boost). EAD in PVE is totally different in pvp.By the way in PVE elite enemy will always have armor as part of total HP.Originally Posted by JenoVa.Projekt Go to original post
Yeah I tend to concur. I use weapons with destructive and ferocious on with my skill builds mainly to increase the EAD and DTE done by skills but the weapon damage I put out against NPCs is significant given my low FA. If I was only reducing armour mitigation I don't think my damage would be anywhere near as good.