Pistol

General Information

The standard issue X-COM pistol is a high caliber semi-automatic handgun with a 12 round clip. It is very fast and reliable, but lacks stopping power. Of particular interest to gun enthusiasts is that it is nearly as powerful as the X-COM standard rifle, only faster.

Unlike most modern handguns, the standard pistol unfortunately lacks the ability to fire in short bursts. This is not a great disadvantage as it is still the fastest single-shot weapon in X-COM's entire arsenal - and only the Laser Pistol has the speed to match it.

As the pistol is one of the most elementary of weapons, it is not designed for high precision shooting. Studies show that to get an 18% inrease in accuracy, soldiers have to spend almost two times as long to fire the weapon.

Due to its simplicty, and cheapness, the pistol is the best weapon for any soldier to improve their marksmanship, be they new recruits or hardened veterans. It takes effort to improve any skill, and the pistol certainly forces a soldier to put in a lot of effort!

The pistols are most effective against Sectoids, Floaters and Snakemen. All of these aliens wear little to no armour.

Heavily armoured enemies like the Mutons, Ethereals and most of the terror units wear a lot of armour, rendering the pistol almost useless. This also extends to the standard rifle. This weakness can be turned into a strength when arming soldiers that you think may be panicked or easily influenced by Sectoid mind control. Soldiers in powered armour won't feel a thing, while the pistol is strong enough that enemy Sectoids will.

Pistols, being one handed weapons, are best used as a complimentary weapon rather than as a primary weapon. They work best with grenadiers and scouts. Soldiers with heavy weapons may also want to carry pistols as a backup weapon. The pistol also works well when combined with the laser pistol or the plasma pistol beacuse each of these pistols are unique and build on the weaknesses of the other. Where the pistol works best for firing rapid shots over medium to long distances, the laser pistol or plasma pistol are far better suited to short range burst attacks.

All in all, the pistol is an okay weapon, but its low strength means that it will often be put aside for more powerful weapons, like the laser pistol or plasma rifle.

Weapon Stats

Pistol

• Firing Cost:
  • Auto: N/A
  • Snap: 18%
  • Aimed: 30%

• Firing Accuracy:
  • Auto: N/A
  • Snap: 60%
  • Aimed: 78%

• Weight: 5

• Width: 1
• Height: 2

• Cost: $800
• Selling Cost: $600

• Production Costs
  • Build space: Nil
  • Engineering Hours: Nil
  • Build Cost: Nil
  • Build Resources:
    • Alien Alloys: Nil
    • Elerium: Nil

XcomUtil users: Please refer to the XComUtil section for information on the 'enhanced' pistol

Ammo Stats

Pistol Clip

• Type: Armour Piercing
• Stopping Power: 26
• Ammo Capacity: 12

• Weight: 3
• Width: 1
• Height: 1

• Cost: $70
• Selling Cost: $52

• Production Costs
  • Build Cost: Nil
  • Build space: Nil
  • Engineering Hours: Nil
  • Build Resources:
    • Alien Alloys: Nil
    • Elerium: Nil

Usage Notes

The following lists how many times a soldier can fire the gun by shot type continuously in any given round and the remaining percentage of any left over TUs that cannot be spent as a shot.

• Aimed: 3 Shots, 10% left over TUs,
• Snap: 5 Shots, 10% Left over TUs
• Auto: n/a, n/a

Special Notes

Pistols are prioritised so that they will always be the last weapons to be selected by your soldiers.

There is also a rather unusual culture amongst the X-COM troops regarding pistol-type weapons in general. At times they will be distributed normally. On other occasions, only one person will take a pistol and will load themself down with as many pistol clips that can be carried. This is only a minor annoyance if the team is carrying only a few handguns, but it is a major logistical annoyance when the whole squad is meant to be armed with them and one soldier ends up carrying all the ammunition.

"Arm a soldier with a pistol and you will be laughed at. Wipe out a whole squad of extra terrestrials with ultra high tech weaponry that's literally out of this world with a pea shooter, and you really have to stop and think twice, if only for a second." - Stupid made up Proverb