Zeroing perk rework

[sand silo]

Right now it's more-or-less essential to take the zeroing perk as your active ability. It's so much more effective than any of the other options that it's negating what could be an interesting gameplay choice for players. Making the zeroing ability available by default and reworking the perk to be an advanced version of it could fix that.

The basic ability to choose a different zero (or to adjust elevation, which the perk more closely resembles) should be tied to the weapon/optic, not the player. All players should be able to do it on any weapons that have a real-world ability to adjust elevation (through flip sights, tangents sights, etc.) and on any weapon equipped with an optic that would be able to.

The current zeroing perk could be renamed to something like "Fine Tuning" and would give the player increments between the default ones, for a total of 5 instead of 3. For example, by default a scoped rifle may have options for 75, 150, and 300m; with Fine Tuning the player would be able to choose from 75, 100, 150, 200, and 300m. This would make it a valuable ability, but not so essential that every player would choose it. Some would be content with the default options and would use the opportunity to explore the other active abilities.

The idea of adjusting a weapon's zero could be preserved in the customization screen. There you could adjust the zeroing on weapons that can't be adjusted in the field, and for the ones that can you could adjust which option it starts on. I'm not sure whether this would work best as a standard ability or as one of the levels of the Fine Tuning perk.

On a related note, and even if you don't do any of the above, please make it so zeroing adjustments don't apply across all weapons. It's unintuitive and I've missed a fair few shots with a rifle because it slipped my mind that I'd previously adjusted a shotgun.

[thorn bolt]

Hmm. Personally, I'm used to, and satisfied with, having just 3 easy-to-switch-between zeroing possibilities.
It begins to sound complicated to a casual PC hunter like me, if some weapons can't be adjusted while in the field by pressing a button.
From my gaming point of view, and someone who have had my skill/perks set at the same for a loong time. I don't have a need for this.
IF this comes to fruition, I hope that as it functions now, will continue unchanged as the standard.

[sand silo]

Personally, I'm used to, and satisfied with, having just 3 easy-to-switch-between zeroing possibilities.

With what I've suggested you'd still have that for any gun with a scope. If you didn't want the 5 options, you could equip another active ability.

It begins to sound complicated to a casual PC hunter like me, if some weapons can't be adjusted while in the field by pressing a button.

I'm not sure I follow this. Compared to most games the ability to adjust zeroing in the field is the more complicated situation. In most games you cannot adjust them at all.

[thorn bolt]

Ok, Allthough I have 1264 hours in COTW (and 308 in the Hunter Classic), this is the only shooting game(-s) I do. I have no knowledge about how other games do weapons 😉
(edit: Also have next to zero knowledge or IRL interest in weapons, apart from what I see and use here in COTW and classic.)

[sand silo]

If you're interested: The "zero" on a weapon is the distance at which a shot will land exactly where the iron sights are pointing. Some guns have adjustable rear sights that are marked for different ranges, which basically move the rear sight higher for further targets. That means you have to tilt the gun up slightly to line up with the front sight, changing the bullet's trajectory and where it lands.

Optics like scopes can achieve a similar effect on your sight picture by adjusting the elevation knob (the other knob is for windage, or left-to-right adjustments).

Not all guns have adjustable sights, though, at least not those that can be adjusted in the field. And some, like shotguns, don't even have rear sights, only front, so it really doesn't make sense to adjust their zero on the fly.

[thorn bolt]

Ty. So that is how iron sights work.

[vocal valley]

I find myself using a couple of other perks instead of Zeroing; when doing bird hunting (like grinding for money on Hirschfelden) or doing a hunt where I want to be close, I take a double-barrel shotgun and equip the Boomstick perk so I can fire both barrels at the same time. I find that when animals are clumped together, like sometimes geese land, I can get 3 or 4 firing both barrels at the same time into a crowd. I also don't really need zeroing for that.

I tend to think of whatever the middle zero range is, is the default without the zeroing perk and just adjust as I normally would as if I were using zeroing and had it set on the middle range. It seems to work fine for me. Then if I want or need something like Boomstick or Startle Call, I have it

[sand silo]

Yeah, sometimes I'll go out with only a bow, in which case I'll switch to the windspeed ability. But my default for hunting with a rifle (which is the large majority of the time) is to have the zeroing perk, and from how you've described it it sounds like that's probably the case for you as well. I don't have the numbers to back it up, but I'd be willing to bet that most players swap the active ability even less. My impression is that for most players once they get the zeroing perk they set it as active and never change it.

[thorn bolt]

I really haven’t changed any skills/perks in a looong time. It doesn’t cross my mind anymore. I rifle hunt and use zeroing perk.

[narrow inlet]

If you do some testing on the range you will find you don't even need the zeroing perk. I only put it on when wanting to hunt with the muzzleloader really.
For example I mainly use the .303, at 300m you aim slightly below the spine and it's a perfect shot each time. Other than that there is no change from 75-250m on that round.
The .300 , and .243 are very similar. If you spend a bit of time on the range and know how it shoots zeroing isn't even needed.