TRASH Or TREASURE? Mako Mastery | Hunt: Showdown 1896

Intro

Hi guys, Rex here! The Mako is probably one of the weapons I see the least in Hunt: Showdown. When you look at its stats and unique features, you’d think it would be the other way around – so why is this weapon not more popular? The Mako is a long ammo rifle that comes with two main variants – the regular iron sight and the aperture. The great thing about the aperture is that you can flip the sights up or down as you please by pressing the “switch weapon mode” key, which is bound to X by default on PC. This means you have access to both regular iron sights and aperture if you go with the aperture variant, and since it barely costs more, it is probably the best option overall – at least if you enjoy aperture sights. The Mako is a lever action rifle, and you can therefore use it with the levering trait for faster hip fire shots in closer ranges, but the hip fire spread is not great for this weapon, making it somewhat unreliable.

With regular ammo the mako deals 128 damage, putting it in the sweet spot where it can one shot a hunter to the torso if they are missing a health chunk. The velocity is 540 meters per second, which is a bit lower than similar options like the Krag, Mosin or Lebel, but still very decent, and the drop range is 115 which isn’t bad either.

The Mako can only run two special ammo types: FMJ and Explosive ammo. FMJ has increased penetration power and damage retention over distance but loses 135 velocity which is significant. With FMJ, the drop range is just 95 meters, and the recoil is slightly higher. Explosive ammo deals about the same damage as regular ammo but explodes on impact and deals damage in a small area. This ammo type loses 108 velocity compared to regular ammo, and the drop range is just 85 meters, making it best suited for close to medium range encounters. Because the mako can be levered, explosive ammo is an excellent option for close range encounters, although this is more of a meme than a viable loadout in my opinion.

I ran the Mako for a couple of days, and this video features my best rounds. For my sidearm I chose the sparks pistol silencer with half regular ammo to boost the ammo pool for the mako, and half fire ammo for utility and the option to refill from both regular and special ammo boxes. I ran the levering trait when I had enough points for it, and I even ran a few rounds with explosive ammo and levering for the memes. At the end of the video, I will share my thoughts and recommendations for the Mako, and whether I think the weapon is worth running or not, but without further ado – let’s dive into it!

Thoughts & Recommendations

After a couple of days of playing the Mako, I have to say I am a bit surprised. I haven’t played it much recently, but I seem to recall really liking it when it was introduced to the game. After all, the stats, features and even the iron sights are quite good on this weapon, but for some reason it just didn’t click for me most of the time. I expected the Mako mastery to be an easy one of the easier ones to complete, but it ended up taking much longer than I anticipated. I had great moments and good fights with it, and one absolutely crazy round with the Aperture, but overall, I found it very hard to perform well with this weapon.

The Mako somehow feels slow and clunky compared to most other long ammo rifles, and I seem to be missing a lot of shots in cases where I normally wouldn’t, but I haven’t quite been able to put my finger on why that is. The Mako is an expensive rifle, costing 360 hunt dollars for the regular variant, which is just slightly cheaper than the Lebel, and slightly more expensive than the Krag. This doesn’t quite add up, considering both rifles are significantly better in my opinion, but could possibly be explained by the fact that you can lever the Mako, which is technically a bonus over the other two, or is it?

Honestly, levering the Mako is very unreliable given the relatively large spread. It came in clutch a few times but seemed to let me down just as often. With explosive ammo, it’s a different story though – and I would highly recommend you give the explosive mako levering meme a spin! So, what is the final verdict? How good is this rifle really, and is it worth the money? Up until the last game I played with the Aperture, I would classify the Mako as one of the most mediocre long ammo rifles in the game, however – just as I was ready to tell the world how terrible the Mako is, I completely popped off with it and had a great time, suggesting maybe I just need more time to get used to it, just like I did with the Drilling.

I’m a bit torn on the price of the Mako. In one way, I would rather spend roughly the same amount on a Krag or Lebel, which has been more consistent for me in the past. On the other hand, I feel like I got a lot of value out of the Aperture variant with my best round, and having the option to switch back and forth was a unique and different experience, making me want to give it another go soon, despite never having been a fan of aperture sights.

On a final note, I think the Mako needs a buff to its cycling speed to bring it up to par, and possibly a buff to the hip fire spread as well to make the levering more reliable, but what do YOU think? Do you agree with my assessment of the Mako? Is it better than I am giving it credit for? Let me know in the comments, and until next time, I’ll see you in the Bayou!