Weaponry in DummyWar is not a long list of guns with damage numbers. The roster you deploy matters more than what any single soldier is holding, and the tools to shape that roster are in your hands.
Build the roster in the faction editor
The faction editor lets you edit the existing factions to fit your playstyle or build one from scratch. You can change the weapons your units carry and add your own units to the roster. An army of snipers, a squad armed with nothing but shotguns, a mixed force with an RPG gunner up front — all of it is available before the first soldier spawns.
Shooting itself was reworked in the same update that brought the editor, and the developer re-recorded the gunshots afterwards. Weapons are supposed to feel distinct, so a roster of identical rifles is a roster you are wasting.
The RPG-7
Every team fields an RPG gunner carrying an RPG-7 with five rockets in his backpack. The controls are short: press 3 to equip the RPG and R to reload.
The rocket behaves realistically. After launch the motor kicks in with a smoke trail, the rocket accelerates, and it gradually drops along its trajectory instead of flying flat. A hit punches through a wall or a person and sprays shrapnel at whoever happens to be behind them. That is why the RPG is the answer to a bunker, to a sandbag line, and to an armoured vehicle.
Never stand behind the gunner
The backblast burns. Do not stand behind an RPG gunner when he fires, and do not fire indoors — the backblast fills the room with smoke and dust and blows the windows out. The AI is careful about this in a way that players are not, which is a good reason to watch a bot fire one first.
Shotgun and the anti-drone class
A dedicated anti-drone class arrived with a shotgun. His job is to protect the infantry from the air: buckshot is far more effective against small, fast targets than a regular rifle, so squads now have real protection from drones rather than just hoping for a lucky hit. If your enemy is running the FPV operator, this is the answer.
Grenades
New grenade types have been added, and both infantry and the bomber drone operators can use them. They are the cheap answer to a position that a single soldier cannot clear, and against the drone classes they are often better value than a rocket.
The PKM
The machine gun got some attention as well: the ammunition belt moves with every shot, empty links fly out along with the casings, and the front sight becomes visible when you aim. It is the weapon on the buggy turret and in the BTR turret, so the difference between a suppressed PKM and a visible one is the difference between a long range threat and a wasted magazine.
Armour is not the same as protection
This is the single most important rule for loadouts. Armour stops rifle and machine gun rounds. An RPG is a serious threat to armour. So:
- Against infantry with rifles, a vehicle is a safe transport.
- Against a squad with an RPG gunner, a vehicle is a target with a countdown.
- Against drones, a shotgunner is worth more than another rifleman.
- Against a dugout or a sandbag line, grenades and rockets beat rifles by a wide margin.
Put those four answers together and the faction editor starts to make sense: build for the opponent you expect, not for the soldier you like.