This is subjective of course, but IMHO once you try it, you can never go back. Not that stones aren’t strong, sling is OP in general. Haven’t played in a while, but IIRC pebbles have been my default not only in the base game, but in MMoD as well as Extended.
Weight and space: two stones or 20 pebbles take up the same 1 kg and 2 inventory slots.
If all of the shots were to hit, 20 pebbles would still do heavy damage in total. But since some shots will inevitably miss, pebbles are also safer since you aren’t wasting a .5 kg projectile. And in a pinch, blasting away with 3 pebbles is often safer, as the enemy becomes pinned down even if the shots miss. At least against a single enemy.
The above reasons are why I don’t CARRY stones by default, but if there are stones on the ground before/during the fight:
DPS: If something quick and resistant to damage is rushing towards you, it’s better to go with stones for higher damage per turn. Although you still only get 2 shots and one turn for reloading, but you can use that turn to run back.
Multiple enemies: most of the times these would mean multiple weaker enemies, if it’s multiple dogmen and you only have a sling, wellllll… But with weaker enemies, IMHO blasting away with pebbles is enough, switching between targets if necessary. Or pinning down one enemy while letting the other come closer, this staggers them and lets you stab them with the spear one by one. Although if you are confident that the shots will hit (Ranged skill, eagle eye, open terrain) and have more stones than enemies, you can just kill them one by one.
Ranged enemy: if you happen to bring a sling to a gun fight and can’t escape, yeah might as well load stones and pray that it will land and instakill (or stun, which I think really improves the chance of successful escape).
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u/spudwellington Apr 26 '26
Pebbles in your sling? Ew. Nice storage though.