Minigun

The minigun is a very heavy, multi-shot firearm in RimWorld which fires 25-shot bursts of rounds which deal a moderate amount of damage each; a short delay between each shot; a slightly longer time between bursts; slightly longer range and very low overall accuracy.

When equipped, it slows its wielder's move speed by −0.25 c/s

Acquisition

Miniguns can be crafted at a machining table once the Multibarrel Weapons research has been completed; from 160 Steel, 20 Componentss and 60,000 ticks (16.67 mins) of work. A Crafting skill of at least 7 is required.

Miniguns can also be purchased from outlander and orbital combat suppliers, outlander settlements, or obtained from the following raider kinds:

Raider Kind	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Heavy Mercenary	36.73%	Normal	70-320%

Analysis

The minigun takes what the LMG has and cranks it up to eleven. Raw damage output is by far the highest out of all traditional ranged weapons in the game; almost double that of the chain shotgun's and 2.5x that of the LMG's. This is combined with the range of an assault rifle, meaning that it has a notably longer range than the charge rifle and LMG.

Accuracy is very low overall though (especially at point blank), but due to the minigun's staggering 25-shot burst, this in fact allows for very good crowd control potential. Despite the aforementioned accuracy though, the minigun has the highest single-target damage output out of all traditional ranged weapons beyond short range, handily beating even the charge rifle in this area (though with noticeably lower armor penetration). However, the chain shotgun and heavy SMG still have a higher single-target damage output at "short" range (12 cells), and the minigun falls slightly behind even the single-shot autopistol at point blank (3 cells).

Note, however, that the accuracy values mean that even if its average DPS at moderate ranges is the best in the game, it is quite variable in this output, sometimes dealing considerably more damage, sometimes considerably less. What this means is that weapons like Charge Rifles, Assault Rifles, and Heavy SMGs can be viewed as more reliably good against a single target.

The minigun is most accurate between 12 and 25 cells range, though the exponential accuracy application from Shooting skill means that the minigun is likely to hit its highest accuracy at between 0 and 14 cells, depending on Shooting level (it requires at least Shooting 8 for the best accuracy range to be anything other than 0 cells, however).

Unfortunately, the minigun generally isn't obtainable until lategame due to research requirements and the overall production cost, and the only raiders that use miniguns generally don't appear in raids until lategame either. The minigun also has a low stopping power, being unable to stagger humans - though overall damage output is generally high enough that legs should be shredded regardless.

Due to the long warmup/cooldown cycle as well as its accuracy profile, miniguns are best use against large clustered crowds of enemies (for example, at the mouth of a killbox), from a well-defended stationary emplacement. While the DPS penalty from shooting level is identical on all weapons, low-skilled shooters will make the minigun's already heavily-variable output even more wildly variable against a single target. However, since missed shots against a dense cluster of enemies are likely to simply hit another target instead, miniguns are exceptionally powerful even in the hands of low-skilled shooters against large crowds of enemies.

In terms of use cases, the minigun is undoubtedly the king of crowd control at short-to-medium range, and is also extremely effective against large targets such as centipedes due to the accuracy bonus from their size. If you really wanted to, the minigun is also a somewhat decent hunting choice due to its moderate damage and decent range.

Against an unarmored human, a minigun can kill with 4 hits to the torso, 3-4 hits to the head, 3 hits to the neck or 1 hit to the brain; cripple or destroy limbs in 3 hits; and cripple or destroy eyes and digits with a single hit. It'll generally take around 7 hits to incapacitate that human from pain shock. Assuming the target is at "optimal" range (between 12 and 25 cells, the maximum band of accuracy for the minigun)

From a strictly primary-target perspective, at a relative short range of 12 cells, a Minigun is best paired with Careful Shooter up to Shooting level 13, and Trigger-Happy at 14+. At a moderate range of 20 cells, Careful Shooter wins up through Shooting 18, and Trigger-Happy at 19+. Careful Shooting wins for all shooting levels at a target range of 24+ cells. However, against crowds of enemies, where better accuracy is both unnecessary and potentially detrimental and the goal is simply to maximize the number of bullets going down range, Trigger-Happy wins at all Shooting levels and all ranges for rather obvious reasons.

Attack table

Ranged

Minigun			Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
Quality	Dam.	AP	Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
Awful	9	13.5%	12%	20%	20%	14.4%	33.08	3.97	6.62	6.62	4.63	580
Poor	10	15%	13.5%	22.5%	22.5%	16.2%	36.76	5.15	8.45	8.45	5.88	870
Normal	10	15%	15%	25%	25%	18%	36.76	5.51	9.19	9.19	6.62	1160
Good	10	15%	16.5%	27.5%	27.5%	19.8%	36.76	6.25	10.29	10.29	7.35	1450
Excellent	10	15%	18%	30%	30%	21.6%	36.76	6.62	11.03	11.03	8.09	1740
Masterwork	12.5	18.75%	20.25%	33.75%	33.75%	24.3%	45.95	9.19	15.62	15.62	11.03	2900
Legendary	15	22.5%	22.5%	37.5%	37.5%	27%	55.14	12.68	20.95	20.95	14.89	4160

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality. Values shown in Red indicate the weapon is out of range at the reference point for this range band. The value is provided due to the interpolated nature of accuracy between range points.}

Melee

Feature	Toggle
Attacks

Minigun			Barrels (Blunt)					Human: Left & rigth fist (Blunt)					HP	Value
Quality	DPS^[1]	AP^[1]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	HP	Value
Awful	3.95	12.6%	9.36	2.6s	14.4%	3.6	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 37.5%	100	580
Poor	4.08	13.4%	10.53	2.6s	16.2%	4.05	33.33%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 33.33%	100	870
Normal	4.42	16.5%	11.7	2.6s	18%	4.5	75%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	1160
Good	4.78	17.85%	12.87	2.6s	19.8%	4.95	75%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	1450
Excellent	5.13	19.2%	14.04	2.6s	21.6%	5.4	75%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	1740
Masterwork	6.03	22.58%	16.97	2.6s	26.1%	6.53	75%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	2900
Legendary	6.75	25.28%	19.31	2.6s	29.7%	7.43	75%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	4160

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality.}

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Note: This is the actual base average derived from the melee verb system updated in 1.1.2610, it may sometimes disagree with the listed value in the in-game infobox.
It may also change depending on the stats and the melee verbs available to the wielder if the weapon is wielded by some other than a baseline human.
↑ Chance for attack to be selected, assuming the weapon is wielded by a baseline human. It may change depending on the melee verbs available to the wielder

Melee Combat

Tool	Attack	Damage Type	Power	AP	Cooldown	Likelihood	Base DPS
Overall	-	-	11.7	18%	2.60s	-	4.50
Barrels	Blunt	Blunt	11.7	18%	2.60s	100.00%	4.50

Version history

0.3.410 - Can now spawn on pawns
Beta 19 - forced miss radius removed allowing it to hit single targets; to compensate accuracy has been nerfed. Also received a buff to damage and a nerf to fire rate; the overall damage is slightly higher.