Something I've been playing with is the simple observation that crit keeps getting better the more you have of it, since the crit damage part of the damage product typically looks like this:
1+crit chance*(1+cc modifiers)*(crit damage*(1+cd modifiers) - 1)
which if we rearrange it, has a term of modified cc * modified cd. That is to say, stacking crit exhibits polynomial growth, which is better than the linear growth of stacking base damage.
Per the title, Secondary Outburst gives us a way of stacking huge amounts of crit chance and crit damage to take advantage of this.
That said, we do need to put Outburst in its proper context of different scaling techniques for secondary weapons:
- additive Galvanised Shot with Secondary Encumber = 16.6x
- multiplicative Secondary Shiver with Hornet Strike = 14.4x
- Cascadia Flare with multiplicative Galv. Shot <= 34.56x
- multiplicative Galv. Shot with Encumber and Hornet Strike = 41.6x
- multiplicative Cascadia Accuracy = ? (I need to sit down and digest this one)
- Cascadia Flare and additive Galv Shot (IPS+two element) = 10.8x
- Additive Secondary Shiver and Galv Shot (IPS+two element) = 10.5x
- Acolyte arcane and additive Galv Shot (IPS+two element) = 9.6x
You might think that Outburst is highly dependent on the weapon's base crit stats, but in fact the bonuses are so big, just over half of all weapons beat the reference "acolyte and additive gshot" multiplier. The strongest weapon in my calculations that shouldn't run raw Outburst is the Velox Prime, but note the emphasis on "raw"...
Incorporating Arcane Avenger into an Outburst build yields an overwhelming amount of power, only beaten by certain multiplicative arcane setups such as multiplicative Cascadia Accuracy, or the multiplicative Galv. Shot builds. Certain frames with flexible Arcane allocations can also afford to run Arcane Precision to push this even further.
One final note is that crit often is less attenuated than raw damage, so for instance Outburst builds will significantly outperform base damage stacking builds on the appropriate enemy types.
How do we take advantage of Outburst? I have three builds around it: the first is to use Rauta with Frostbite and a large magazine to max out Outburst before swapping to my secondary. I use this so I can keep using my Praedos for mobility. The second is to use a good Crescendo stacker, like the Venka Prime, a Zaw with a finisher riven (I use Balla and Dehtat) or a strong finisher weapon like the Innodem. The final is to just use a gunblade and the old forward-neutral High Noon loop technique; fast combo rackers like the Incarnons Dual Ichors or Sibear could also be an option. Theoretically, Rising Storm on Ash might also be an option.
Who uses Outburst well? The usual suspects with big crit buffs, naturally: Zephyr, Yareli, Ivara, Frost, Sevagoth, Harrow, Ash, Dagath, Citrine, and Gyre. I would also say base damage buffers benefit as well, so count Limbo and Chroma.
What are some of my favourite Outburst carriers? The best users are the Deathtrap Trigger incarnons: Lato, Vasto and Kunai; Dual Tox; Lex; Akarius Prime; Atomos; Synoid Gammacor; Epitaph Prime (Dystopia--not our one AFAICT--has a multiplicative Accuracy build though); Athodai; Furis; Onos. Honestly, the sky's the limit.
It's wild to me to think that the Stahlta and Stropha came out five years ago and they're still some of the best weapons in the game.