As shown in a previous post, the Pistol with Master Marksman has a higher damage per second (DPS) rate than the assault rifle (AR).
The soldier and infiltrator's commando specialization, Medical Exoskeleton X armor mods and the Pistol Expert achievement will all help reduce the Master Marksman's cooldown to the point that you can keep master marksman activated at all times. Thus, the pistol is the soldier and infiltrator's overall best weapon.
The soldier and infiltrator's commando specialization, Medical Exoskeleton X armor mods and the Pistol Expert achievement will all help reduce the Master Marksman's cooldown to the point that you can keep master marksman activated at all times. Thus, the pistol is the soldier and infiltrator's overall best weapon.
However,
even though pistols have a higher potential DPS, it does not mean the
AR has no use. The Advanced Marksman and basic
Marksman ability last less longer than Master Marksman, and it's not
possible to reduce the cooldown short enough to keep the Advanced
Marksman or the basic Marksman active at all times. Meaning that in order
for pistols to be good, you must invest the entire 12 points into the
pistol talent to unlock the Master Marksman ability.
On
the other hand, the AR is still useful when you do not want to invest a
full 12 points into a weapon talent. In truth, you never want to put more than 11 points into the AR weapon skill. The final 12th point only unlocks the final level of the overkill ability which reduces
heat production, but heat isn't a problem at high levels. Unlike the Pistol, the AR does well with only 6-11 points invested into its talent.
