STILL S-Tier?! Vetterli 71 Cyclone Mastery | Hunt: Showdown 1896

Intro

Hi guys, Rex here!
Back in my original Vetterli mastery, I mentioned that I wanted to make a dedicated video about the Cyclone — because while it technically belongs to the Vetterli family, it plays very differently from the rest. And after spending more time with it, that statement has never been more true. The Cyclone isn’t just “another Vetterli.” It’s something else entirely.

For anyone unfamiliar, the Cyclone is the only semi-automatic rifle in Hunt: Showdown 1896. It has a spring-loaded internal magazine with four rounds, and the moment you fire it, you immediately understand why people love this thing. The follow-up shots are extremely fast and consistent, which makes the Cyclone one of the strongest and most forgiving two-tap rifles in the entire game.

Crytek did nerf it recently — specifically the bullet velocity, which was reduced by ten percent, and the reload animation is now slightly slower.

The base velocity now sits at 370 meters per second, down from its previous value of 410.
The drop-off range, however, was not changed, and still sits at 100 meters by default.

But even with these changes, the rifle still punches incredibly hard. Two shots to the body will reliably kill at close and medium range, and depending on your aim and ammo choices, you can still secure two-tap kills at impressive distances.

Speaking of ammo, the Cyclone gets several options — but realistically, only a couple of them fully unlock the weapon’s potential.

The ammo I used the most was High Velocity. This takes the sluggish 370 m/s base velocity and boosts it all the way up to 460 meters per second, which makes a massive difference when you’re trying to track moving targets or land hits across compounds. On top of that, your effective drop-off range increases from 100 meters to around 120, which makes it easier to land shots on longer distances.

With HV ammo, the damage drops slightly, but the Cyclone will typically kill with two taps anyway, so the tradeoff is absolutely worth it. It is worth noting that you get a bit less ammo with HV, so stacking ammo types with your sidearm is recommended, and potentially even bringing an ammo box if needed.

The other standout option is Incendiary ammo. This will ignite hunters on the first hit up to 20 meters, and with two hits you’ll ignite at any range. You lose penetration power, but what you gain is incredible pressure: forcing heals, revealing positions, and punishing mistakes — and the Cyclone’s fast follow-up shots makes it extremely easy to finish burning players.

FMJ is available too, and it does come with a couple of genuine strengths. You gain much better penetration power, which means you can kill players through more solid cover like metal plates, wallbang more reliably, and generally punish people who think cover will save them. FMJ also retains damage better over distance, which increases the two-tap potential on longer ranges.

The tradeoff is velocity, which drops from 370 to 315 meters per second, and your drop range shortens slightly to around 95 meters. This makes long-range fights noticeably harder, and because the Cyclone relies so heavily on fast, accurate follow-up shots, losing that bullet speed hurts the weapon’s main strengths. FMJ works, and the penetration is legitimately useful, but in my opinion it’s simply outclassed by High Velocity and Incendiary for practical use.

Subsonic is the slowest option at 240 meters per second, and on a loud weapon like this, it serves almost no purpose.

Regular ammo is fine, but once you try High Velocity or Incendiary, there’s really no point in using that either.

With all of this combined, the Cyclone ends up being one of the most versatile and lethal rifles in Hunt: Showdown. It has the fire rate to dominate up close, the accuracy to land long-range taps, and the consistency to win fights against multiple opponents. Whether you’re playing solo or in teams, aggressively or defensively, the Cyclone performs exceptionally well.

In this video I’ll be putting the Vetterli Cyclone to the test using both High Velocity and Incendiary ammo. For my sidearm I chose the Pax Trueshot, which is perfect for stacking extra ammo since it shares the same caliber and ammo types that I’ll be using.

At the end of the video I’ll share my thoughts and recommendations for the Cyclone, so stay tuned — but without further ado, let’s dive into it.

Thoughts & Recommendations

After having played the Cyclone for a few days, I can confidently say that this rifle is still incredible — even after the nerf. The velocity drop and slightly slower reload are noticeable on paper, but in actual gameplay they barely affect the weapon at all. It still feels fast, reliable, and extremely oppressive in the right hands.

What makes the Cyclone so good is its consistency. The two-tap potential is ridiculous, and the fast cycle rate lets you challenge multiple enemies without feeling overwhelmed. Even in 5- and 6-star MMR, the Cyclone holds its own easily. You can take aggressive peeks, swing corners, and delete players before they have time to react.

Compared to the other Vetterli variants, the Cyclone is in a completely different league. The regular Vetterlis are fine — they’re “very mediocre,” as I said in my first mastery. They do everything reasonably well, but nothing exceptionally well.

The Cyclone, on the other hand, is S tier. It’s easily one of the best rifles in the entire game right now. It’s more versatile, more forgiving, and far more dominant than the rest of the Vetterli lineup.

Personally, I found myself using High Velocity most of the time simply because it makes long-range fights feel effortless. Incendiary is extremely fun too, especially if you enjoy applying pressure or forcing enemies to reposition. I didn’t see any meaningful reason to use FMJ, Subsonic, or even Regular ammo — High Velocity and Incendiary just outperform them in almost every situation.

The Cyclone was already one of the best rifles in Hunt — and even after the nerf, it still holds that crown.

To sum it up:
the Cyclone is powerful, consistent, and incredibly fun to play.

If you haven’t tried it yet — or if you haven’t revisited it since the nerf — I highly recommend giving it another shot.

But now I want to hear your opinion! What do YOU think about the Cyclone?
Do you agree that it’s S-tier, or do you prefer the other Vetterli variants?

Let me know in the comments — and until next time,
I’ll see you in the bayou.