Talk:Skullmasher (Borderlands)

Shotgun like effect?
- I got a skull masher, and it doesn't seem to have the effect of a shotgun at all. Also, I have not seen it knock enemies back either. What I did find was that it gave me a ridiculous amount of critical damage. It regular hits for about 700, and crits between 2k-15k, lvl 40 -


 * This is a wiki, please do not write in the first person.


 * This is a wiki, Please keep discussions on the discussion page.--BronzDragon 14:50, November 15, 2009 (UTC)


 * the Skullmasher shoots 6 bullets instead of just one, that is why your crits are so high, and I believe that the knock back effect is just from when you deal enough damage in one shot, but I have not confirmed this. --Saphireking65 17:26, November 15, 2009 (UTC)


 * The knock back is chance based. I have done several crits over 2k or 3k damage without knock back, as well as some crits that did knock back, and normal hits for only 500-900 that caused knock back. I don't know what the % chance is (very high) but damage has nothing to do with it. Also, the distance it knocks back varries. I've had it knock people a few meters as well as clear across the area I'm fighting in.

Drop Location
Does anyone know where this weapon is dropped? --BronzDragon 21:59, November 17, 2009 (UTC)
 * There is no drop location it is random like 99.9% of the weapons in this game. --Saphireking65 05:05, November 18, 2009 (UTC)
 * Alright, I just figured, since it had flavor text...--BronzDragon 12:33, November 18, 2009 (UTC)

Found one while farming new haven.

is there a specific place where they get dropped?


 * I just found two in New Haven on my daily runs, so assuming they can drop anywhere. Sera404 02:42, February 15, 2010 (UTC)

Pretty sure, with the exception of the few boss only drops, all weapons can drop anywhere in game and the drops are completely random generations. I think this weapon is only with expansion thouth right?

Elemental
Someone recently edited this article saying something about how it's assumed that, like Masher revovlers, Skullmashers cannot have elemental effect. This may or may not be the case. For Mashers, it's a sure thing. In the code, the weapon part that gives a Masher its signature shotgun-style bullets is an Accessory piece, specifically "gd_weap_revolver_pistol.acc.acc2_Masher". Since all parts that cause elemental damage are also Accessory-type parts, having an elemental Masher is impossible. However, the part that gives the Skullmasher its similar effect is a Barrel-type part, called "gd_weap_sniper_rifle.Barrel.barrel4_Jakobs_Skullmasher". In theory, a Skullmasher could also have an elemental Accessory, such as "gd_weap_sniper_rifle.acc.acc2_Incendiary". The semi-random weapon generation system Borderlands uses may or may not force all snipers with the Skullmasher barrel to not have any Accessory parts, but it is possible (by modifying a save file and changing what parts the gun consists of) to create an elemental Skullmasher. --Spaphrenchie 18:03, November 26, 2009 (UTC)

I think you're spot on regarding the game's gun generator not allowing Skullmashers to have the accessory that gives elemental effects. IIRC, each manufacturer has access to only certain gun components; thus, when a gun is assembled, the generator can only pick from certain parts, preventing guns from a particular manufacturer from having abilities beyond that of their manufacturers. Since Jakobs is the most old-fashioned and traditional of the game's manufacturers, it only makes sense they don't do fancy elemental effects, instead offering raw power and good accuracy. Consider that they only produce revolvers, shotguns and sniper rifles.--Mensahero 09:21, December 4, 2009 (UTC)

Now that I think about it, I have never seen any Jakobs guns come with an elemental effect. --Spaphrenchie 03:25, December 12, 2009 (UTC)
 * that would fit the old-fashioned theme. --Raisins 05:31, December 12, 2009 (UTC)

False. I have one-Gamerxguides

About damage reduction
'Third and lastly, they are weak against the Crimson Lance. The armor the Crimson Lance wear reduces damage from each hit against the soldier wearing it. Because the Skullmasher's power is rooted in its multiple projectiles, its damage is similarly reduced by this armor multiple times.'

Is this really true?

You've got a gun that does 100x6 damage (Skullmasher-like). You've got a powerful gun that does 600 damage. Both do the same damage without damage reduction and if all bullets hit (which is the case in this scenario).

Whether the Skullmasher in specific is weak against Lance depends on how the game reduces damage. Does damage get reduced by dividing or by subtracting?

Dividing: Let's say Lance have 2x damage reduction. (100/2)x6 = 300 (600/2) = 300 Thus: 'shotgun' and single bullet are both ineffective against armored foes, so being weak against Crimson Lance isn't specific to the Skullmasher.

Subtracting: (100-50)x6 = 300 (600-50) = 550 Thus: weapons that shoot multiple bullets are worse against armored foes than single bullet, more powerful guns, so the Skullmasher in particular is weaker against Lance than other weapons.

Which one is it? Is the article true or false?

BlizzardFenrir 16:17, December 23, 2009 (UTC)

Jakobs Skullsmasher vs. Armor
I did a little bit of an experiment with this gun. I wanted to test if the damage reduction of the crimson lance was based on a percentage, or a static variable. A jakobs skullsmasher (264x6 damage, 1570 total), when all bullets hit a Crimson Lance soldier, deals around 3045 damage on critical hit. (take into account that I have the critical damage increase perk, but performed BOTH tests with the perk active, so it should not be a factor), afterwards, I took an Atlas Pearl Cyclops(765 damage) and shot another Crimson Lance soldier of the same level and dealt around 2450 damage. According to the weapon stats, a Pearl Cyclops does 48% of the total raw damage of that of a skullsmasher. But according to the dealt damage on an armored Crimson lance soldier, the Pearl Cyclops does 80% of the dealt damage of the skullsmasher. If the damage reduction was a percentage, then the percentage to total damage vs. percentage of dealt damage should be equal, or very close to it, but that is obviously not the case. It could take some more testing, but I think that the multiple bullets of the skullsmasher does in fact multiply the resistance of their armor. I might do some more testing without hitting criticals as well, just so that I know i'm not missing any of the bullets from the skullsmasher.

--71.179.83.94 21:49, January 6, 2010 (UTC)The Pie Guy


 * I moved the off topic converstaion to the top of the page under "Drop Location". AVRakk3187 20:10, March 4, 2010 (UTC)

Either way the skullmasher is a very powerfull weapon and a critical should kill, regardless of armor.