Minigun

For the unique variant of this weapon added by the Odyssey DLC, see Unique minigun.

The minigun is a very heavy, multi-shot ranged weapon that puts a lot of damage downrange in exchange for a move speed penalty.

Acquisition[edit]

Miniguns can be crafted at a machining table once the Multibarrel weapons research project has been completed. Each requires 160 Steel, 20 Components, 60,000 ticks (16.67 mins) of work modified by the general labor speed of the crafter, and a crafting skill of 7.

They can also be purchased from outlander and orbital combat suppliers, and outlander faction bases. They can also be found on the following raider kinds:

Raider Kind	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Heavy mercenary	36.73%	Normal	70-320%
Cataphract	?	?	70-230%

Miniguns also spawn on all centipede gunners, including those gestated by a colony. However, it is not possible to obtain one from them as they will not drop it on death, downing, or complete loss of manipulation like other weapons.

Summary[edit]

The minigun fires 25-shot bursts of rounds which deal a moderate amount of damage each; a short delay between each shot; a slightly longer time between bursts; slightly longer range and very low overall accuracy.

When equipped, a minigun reduces the pawn's base move speed by −0.25 c/s. As offsets such as these apply before multiplicative effects such as from Moving capacity, the actual impact on move speed can be larger or smaller than this value. For example, a pawn with 125% Moving would have their speed decreased by −0.3125 c/s, while a pawn with only 50% Moving would only have their speed decreased by −0.125 c/s. See Move Speed for details.

Analysis[edit]

The minigun takes what the LMG has and cranks it up to eleven. Pre-accuracy DPS is, by far, the highest out of all non-explosive weapons in the game. It's over double that of the chain shotgun. However, it is widely inaccurate and has a long firing time, making it impractical in many situations. In addition, if the original target is killed, damage will be wasted as the minigun user will stop firing.

The minigun is clearly meant to deal with crowds, as missed shots in RimWorld can hit nearby enemies. Even low-skill pawns are bound to hit things with so many bullets. It can perform very well in minigun-centric killboxes. Still, it is not without its faults. The long warmup/cooldown cycle, as well as the reduced movement speed, make it rather inflexible. If forced to fight out in the open, minigun pawns are vulnerable. Also, as mentioned, killing the original target will stop the firing. Aiming at a backwards target will mitigate this issue to some extent. One strategy, particularly with low accuracy pawns, is to place a spot at the end of a killbox and have the minigun user target it. Spots cannot be destroyed by damage, thus ensuring the minigun gets a full burst.

Against single targets, the minigun technically has more DPS than a charge rifle past 12 tiles, but the minigun's inaccuracy and slow firing time make it highly inaccurate. By the time a minigun starts firing, a charge rifle would have already completed a burst. This represents a rather high chance that melee enemy would reach the minigun-wielding pawn before a single shot is fired. Overall, weapons like assault rifles and heavy SMGs are more reliably good against a lone target.

Therefore, miniguns are best used inside a well-defended emplacement, like a killbox, against large, clustered crowds of enemies. Note that they are expensive; not just costly in both production time and resources, but also in research requirements. They won't appear from raiders until the lategame. Also note that a minigun will reduce movement speed all day. It is possible to unequip a minigun and requip it when a raid happens, although this is not recommended due to center drop pod raids and infestations requiring immediate action.

Stats[edit]

The minigun itself is most accurate between 12 and 25 cells range, though the exponential accuracy application from Shooting skill means that the minigun is likely to hit its highest accuracy at between 0 and 14 cells, depending on Shooting level (it requires at least Shooting 8 for the best accuracy range to be anything other than 0 cells, however).

Against an unarmored human, a minigun can kill with 4 hits to the torso, 3-4 hits to the head, 3 hits to the neck or 1 hit to the brain; cripple or destroy limbs in 3 hits; and cripple or destroy eyes and digits with a single hit. It'll generally take around 7 hits (~9.8 seconds average) to incapacitate that human from pain shock.

Attack table

Ranged

Minigun			Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
Quality	Dam.	AP	Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
Awful	9	13.5%	16%	20%	20%	14.4%	37.5	6	7.5	7.5	5.25	580
Poor	10	15%	18%	22.5%	22.5%	16.2%	41.67	7.5	9.58	9.58	6.67	870
Normal	10	15%	20%	25%	25%	18%	41.67	8.33	10.42	10.42	7.5	1,160
Good	10	15%	22%	27.5%	27.5%	19.8%	41.67	9.17	11.67	11.67	8.33	1,450
Excellent	10	15%	24%	30%	30%	21.6%	41.67	10	12.5	12.5	9.17	1,740
Masterwork	12.5	18.75%	27%	33.75%	33.75%	24.3%	52.09	14.06	17.71	17.71	12.5	2,900
Legendary	15	22.5%	30%	37.5%	37.5%	27%	62.51	18.75	23.75	23.75	16.88	4,160

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality. Values shown in Red indicate the weapon is out of range at the reference point for this range band.
The value is provided due to the interpolated nature of accuracy between range points.}

Melee

Feature	Toggle
Attacks

Minigun			Barrels (Blunt)					Human: Left & right fist (Blunt)					HP	Value
Quality	DPS^[1]	AP^[1]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	HP	Value
Awful	3.95	12.6%	9.36	2.6s	14.4%	3.6	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 37.5%	100	580
Poor	4.08	13.4%	10.53	2.6s	16.2%	4.05	33.33%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 33.33%	100	870
Normal	4.42	16.5%	11.7	2.6s	18%	4.5	75%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	1,160
Good	4.78	17.85%	12.87	2.6s	19.8%	4.95	75%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	1,450
Excellent	5.13	19.2%	14.04	2.6s	21.6%	5.4	75%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	1,740
Masterwork	6.03	22.58%	16.97	2.6s	26.1%	6.53	75%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	2,900
Legendary	6.75	25.28%	19.31	2.6s	29.7%	7.43	75%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	4,160

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality.}

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Note: This is the actual base average derived from the melee verb system updated in 1.1.2610, it may sometimes disagree with the listed value in the in-game infobox.
It may also change depending on the stats and the melee verbs available to the wielder if the weapon is wielded by some other than a baseline human.
↑ Chance for attack to be selected, assuming the weapon is wielded by a baseline human. It may change depending on the melee verbs available to the wielder

Version history[edit]

0.3.410 - Can now spawn on pawns
Beta 19 - forced miss radius removed allowing it to hit single targets; to compensate accuracy has been nerfed. Also received a buff to damage and a nerf to fire rate; the overall damage is slightly higher.
1.4.3523 - New weaponTag added to uniquely identify it for use by a specific centipede variant.
1.6.4518 - Cooldown reduced from 2.3 to 1.5 seconds, touch range accuracy increased from 15% to 20%.
Odyssey DLC release - Added unique version.