K31

Overview

Armed with solid base stats, and a Skill that provides a massive boost to ROF, K31 is able to achieve combat performance near, or on par with the staples of RF echelons such as SVD and WA2000. Unlike her counterparts, K31 does need to mind her Accuracy due to her Skill’s sizable debuff, but Commanders can expect excellent performance from K31 without many special considerations.

Strengths

Powerful ROF Buffing Skill

• Emergency Speed provides K31 with an exceptional 80% boost to her ROF, one of the best DPS boosts among currently released RFs.

Excellent base ROF

• K31’s base ROF of 39 synergizes fantastically with her Skill, making the task of hitting 116 ROF much easier.

Weaknesses

Skill Debuffs Accuracy 

• The tradeoff for K31’s large ROF buff is that she suffers a 35% debuff to Accuracy while her Skill is active, potentially hurting her DPS against high Evasion enemies.  

Slightly Longer Initial Cooldown than Average

• With an initial cooldown of 6 seconds, K31’s self buff and full damage output is delayed by one more second compared to her peers.

Full Analysis

K31 puts a bit of a spin on the self buffing RF formula, sporting a massive 80% buff to her ROF at the expense of 35% Accuracy. Thanks to this buff, K31 can nearly cap her ROF with only one ROF buffing HG even if placed in position 1. This is possible due to her solid base ROF that sits at 39. While her slightly lower base Damage of 126 coupled with her Skill’s Accuracy debuff means that K31 will fall slightly behind WA2000’s daytime performance, K31 is nonetheless able to hold her own very well and can perform similarly to SVD in most situations thanks to her incredible Rate of Fire.

K31’s Skill, Emergency Speed’s Accuracy debuff is less of a problem than it sounds, as conventional armored enemies have no Evasion and her reduced Accuracy is still an impressive 53, which is sufficient to land hits on the vast majority of enemies. Pairing K31 with Accuracy boosting units such as M950A or SAA can patch up this issue, and commanders should keep this in mind when using K31 in upcoming content featuring armored enemies with Evasion such as Doppelsoldners, and avoid deploying her against unarmored foes at night.

As a 4-Star RF, K31 provides a 15% cooldown reduction to HGs in the positions directly in front of her, and in front and above her with her Tile Buff. While K31 will only provide this buff to one teammate, this is not an issue in most formations thanks to flexible positioning, as K31 is able to provide her buff from position 1 or 7.

Ultimately, K31 competes with SVD and WA2000 as a prime choice for ROF buffing RF Echelons. Despite her Accuracy debuff, K31’s solid combat performance exceeds budget options such as VM59, making her a solid investment should a commander choose to train her.

Team Options

SAA

Stechkin

Astra

M14

SVD

WA2000

Lee Enfield

VM59

Grizzly

M950A

Gr Mk23

Welrod MKII

Five-Seven

Gr G28

T-5000

SRS

Px4 Storm

ROF/Damage buffing HGs

Like all self buffing RF’s, K31 appreciates HGs that compliment her Skill by further increasing her ROF. HGs such as M950A Calico, Five-seveN, and Stechkin are all great, with Astra serving as a budget option.

Thanks to K31’s high base ROF and Skill, she approaches ROF cap with the help of only one ROF-buffing HG, leaving commanders to tailor her other teammates to their specific needs.

Damage buffing HGs such as Grizzly, SAA, and Mk23 all are solid choices, with Px4 Storm being a standout if used alongside critical boosting HGs such as Five-seveN. A combination of Px4 Storm, Welrod Mk II and Five-seveN deserves special mention, with Five-seveN allowing both RFs to maintain 100% critical rate despite Px4 Storm’s debuff, while also pushing them close to ROF cap. Px4 Storm’s tile buffs offset Emergency Speed’s penalty, and Welrod Mk II’s enemy Accuracy debuff enhances the survivability of both tanks. 

ROF Boosting RFs

SVD pairs well with K31, as she desires the same type of HG buffs. Special consideration should be taken to avoid corpse whipping - a phenomenon resulting from two RFs with the same ROF always hitting the same enemy thus wasting DPS should the first RF fully kill the target. WA2000’s potent ROF buff makes her more likely to hit the same Rate of Fire as K31, so commanders wishing to use them together should test their echelon to ensure their setup does not suffer from this issue. It is for this reason that SVD is recommended, her lower ROF buff makes her less likely to match K31’s Rate of Fire. Other ROF boosting rifles such as T-5000 and VM59 can be paired with K31 as well, should SVD and WA2000 not be available. 

Damage Boosting RFs

K31 pairs well with Damage-boosting RFs such as M14, Lee Enfield, G28, and SRS. When facing a variety of enemies, this team composition can be more effective than RF echelons using the same type of self-buffing RF. Since Damage-boosting RFs are less likely to match K31’s Rate of Fire, the chance of wasted DPS diminishes greatly, as they are more likely to kill enemies in one shot where it may take two or more for K31 to finish a target, and therefore taking some weight off the tanks in the formation as a result.

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