Autopistol

The autopistol is a light, single-shot firearm in RimWorld which deals a moderate amount of damage per shot; a very short time between shots; moderate range and moderate overall accuracy.

Acquisition

Autopistols can be crafted at a machining table once the Blowback Operation research has been completed; from 30 Steel, 2 Componentss and 5,000 ticks (1.39 mins) of work. A crafting skill of at least 4 is required.

Autopistols can also be purchased from outlander and orbital combat suppliers, outlander settlements, or obtained from the following raider kinds:

Raider Kind	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Scavenger Gunner	25.72%	Normal	40-110%
Pirate Gunner	14.55%	Normal	70-230%
Villager	19.97%	Poor	20-200%
Town Councilman	43.31%	Good	100%
Town Guard	10.35%	Normal	60-200%
Mercenary Gunner	6.65%	Normal	70-320%
Ancient Soldier	5.15%	Normal	100%

Analysis

The autopistol has a solid rate of fire for a single-shot weapon, actually having the shortest warmup/cooldown cycle out of all ranged weapons in the game. Short-distance accuracy is also somewhat respectable. With both of those characteristics combined, the autopistol is a good weapon for low-skilled shooters. Another strength that the autopistol has is that it's easy to acquire due to its very low manufacture costs and popularity amongst early-game raiders.

Its use is primarily in the early game, and thus it should be compared against other early game weapons. Compared to the revolver, its is largely superior with identical maximum range and better DPS at all ranges. The revolvers slightly higher damage does give a small increase to AP, however during the time this weapon will be in use this will largely be irrelevant. By the time it would be at least somewhat relevant, this weapon should have been replaced. The autopistol doesn't have a high enough stopping power to stagger advancing humans or human-sized mechanoids - one advantage the revolver has over the autopistol.

Compared to bows, it is between the Greatbow and Short bow in range, and tied with Recurve bow. It has significantly superior touch and short range DPS to all bows of equivalent quality, and slightly inferior DPS to Greatbows beyond that. Thus it is generally advisable to upgrade from bows to the autopistol whenever possible. Possible exceptions exist for if the maxmium range of the greatbow is required or when a higher quality recurve bow is available, as it has superior AP.

The last early game weapon, the Bolt-action rifle is less clear cut. The autopistol is significantly superior within short range, while the rifle is both significantly superior beyond this and has a significantly longer range. Rather than direct competitors, this makes them naturally complementary with each other, each covering their effective ranges.

The autopistol is significantly inferior to both the Machine pistol and Pump shotgun within the later two's admittedly shorter range. Despite this shorter range, it should be replaced as soon as possible by these more effective weapons. The autopistol is thoroughly outclassed by more advanced weapons, such as the Heavy SMG. It retains a viable niche as a hit-and-run weapon due to its very short warmup/cooldown cycle, however.

Against an unarmored human, an autopistol 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 (~14 seconds average) to incapacitate that human from pain shock.

Attack table

Ranged

Autopistol			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%	64%	56%	32%	24%	6.92	4.43	3.88	2.21	1.66	70
Poor	10	15%	72%	63%	36%	27%	7.69	5.54	4.84	2.77	2.08	104
Normal	10	15%	80%	70%	40%	30%	7.69	6.15	5.38	3.08	2.31	139
Good	10	15%	88%	77%	44%	33%	7.69	6.77	5.92	3.38	2.54	174
Excellent	10	15%	96%	84%	48%	36%	7.69	7.38	6.46	3.69	2.77	210
Masterwork	12.5	18.75%	100%	94.5%	54%	40.5%	9.61	9.61	9.13	5.19	3.94	345
Legendary	15	22.5%	100%	100%	60%	45%	11.54	11.54	11.54	6.92	5.19	695

^{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

Autopistol			Grip (Blunt)					Barrel (Blunt)					Barrel (Poke)					Human: Left & rigth fist (Blunt)					HP	Value
Quality	DPS^[1]	AP^[1]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	HP	Value
Awful	3.98	11.6%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	8.33%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	8.33%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	8.33%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 37.5%	100	70
Poor	4.07	11.82%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	20%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	20%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	20%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 20%	100	104
Normal	4.4	12.75%	9	2s	13%	4.5	25%	9	2s	13%	4.5	25%	9	2s	13%	4.5	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	139
Good	4.74	13.73%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	25%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	25%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	174
Excellent	5.08	14.7%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	25%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	25%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	210
Masterwork	5.92	17.14%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	25%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	25%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	345
Legendary	6.59	19.09%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	25%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	25%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	695

^{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

Melee Combat

Tool	Attack	Damage Type	Power	AP	Cooldown	Likelihood	Base DPS
Overall	-	-	9	13%	2.00s	-	4.50
Grip	Blunt	Blunt	9	13%	2.00s	50.00%	4.50
Barrel	Blunt	Blunt	9	13%	2.00s	25.00%	4.50
Barrel	Poke	Blunt	9	13%	2.00s	25.00%	4.50

Autopistol vs. Comparable Weapons

This section goes over how well the autopistol fares against comparable weapons (similar value, tech level or similar characteristics) in 1 vs. 1 combat.

Methodology

All testing is semi-automated which allows for large sample sizes to be gathered per set of results with ease
All pawns have skill levels of 14 in ranged and melee
No pawns have any traits that affect combat performance
All pawns are of at least 18 years of age and completely healthy
Pawns are divided by walls to prevent stray shots from skewing results in any way
Weather is always kept clear
No cover is used for either team

Results in the tables below are the percentages of battles that autopistols either won or tied against the weapon listed in the first column of said tables, with a sample size of 2,000 battles per result. Higher percentages are better.

Unarmored

For the unarmored testing, all pawns wore normal quality plainleather pants, plainleather button-down shirts, plainleather dusters and plainleather cowboy hats.

Other Weapon	3	7	12	18	25	32	40
Machine Pistol	19.34%	25.82%	33.07%	36.20%	-	-	-
Revolver	64.84%	59.91%	55.11%	56.19%	55.59%	-	-
Pump Shotgun	48.66%	45.16%	36.78%	-	-	-	-

Armored

For the armored testing, all pawns wore normal quality flak pants, flak vests, plainleather button-down shirts, flak jackets and steel simple helmets.

Other Weapon	3	7	12	18	25	32	40
Machine Pistol	18.51%	24.36%	33.65%	37.08%	-	-	-
Revolver	60.82%	58.70%	54.27%	54.79%	52.49%	-	-
Pump Shotgun	51.44%	46.94%	38.14%	-	-	-	-

Version history

Alpha 17 - Split from the pistol. Although the autopistol uses the old pistol's sprite, the revolver is functionally closer to the old pistol.
Beta 19 - received a slight accuracy nerf and range buff