advance/early chapters : p atreon.com/Ritesh_Jadhav0869
Unlike other newcomers who rushed into their second and third matches immediately after finishing the tutorial, Ace plunged into the training camp and armory after being forced to complete his first match.
It was just who he was. His channel "TheXclusiveAce" had always been about one thing: understanding systems. Whether it was card games, puzzle mechanics, or strategy titles — Ace had a habit of digging into the numbers, testing every variable, and finding the optimal path. Flashy plays weren't his style. Data was.
And this game? Delta Force was unlike anything he'd ever seen. Which meant there was a lot to figure out.
The three-day test period was precious, and faced with a dazzling array of firearms, he had to make choices.
Sniper rifles were temporarily not considered. These long-range weapons didn't require extensive modifications — as long as the barrel and scope were chosen correctly, they were mostly similar.
It was the early stage of the closed beta, and he needed a weapon that was cost-effective, versatile, and could provide a certain advantage.
After repeatedly comparing data and testing at the firing range, his gaze locked onto the AK-12.
"The base damage of 27 isn't high — even somewhat average. But the armor-piercing damage of 41 is too high..."
Ace looked at his notes panel on the other side of the screen and compared them.
In the early game, when most players wore Tier 1 or Tier 2 armor, 41 points of armor-piercing damage meant extremely high armor destruction efficiency.
A fire rate of 735 rounds per minute was also decent for an assault rifle. The recoil was relatively controllable, and it could be used effectively at medium and close ranges.
In close-quarters combat, as long as he didn't encounter a submachine gun, the AK-12 could go 40/60 or even 50/50 with most other firearms.
As for why not 60/40?
The AK-12's stats were clear: very high armor damage but too low flesh damage. Achieving 40/60 in close-quarters gunfights was already quite good.
Its playstyle should be more about wearing down other players' armor durability from a distance — or even breaking it directly — which would then provide an advantage in close-quarters engagements.
Otherwise, with full durability armor, even if the AK-12 could break the enemy's armor faster, the low flesh damage would result in the armor breaking but the person not dying.
Of course, a bare gun was absolutely out of the question. The AK-12 was very average in its stock state.
For specific attachment choices, Ace was even more meticulous, striving to spend every HAF wisely.
The muzzle was the AK Practical Compensator (Blue) — an exclusive accessory for the AK series, with attributes even surpassing purple accessories.
Recoil control +7!
Perhaps that's hard to understand, but the AK-12's base recoil control was 49. That meant an increase of 1/7 of its recoil control.
Although it sacrificed 2 points of handling speed — which is aim-down-sights speed — the AK-12's base handling speed of 57 was already not low.
Coupled with the AK Polymer Magazine he specifically purchased, the total handling speed reached 60.
60 minus 2 equaled 58 points of handling speed, and 58 points of handling corresponded to an ADS speed sufficient for most engagements.
This blue accessory was very cost-effective, but unfortunately, it was exclusive to the AK series. If other firearms could also use it, he could have configured an even more cost-effective modification plan than the AK-12.
The sight chosen was the XRO Quick Response Sight — a red dot sight.
Because assault rifle engagements mostly occur within 50 meters, this basic red dot sight was completely sufficient, offering a clear field of view and quick response.
Although installing a scope would reduce handling speed, it was playable as long as the handling speed didn't drop to thirty or forty points.
The grip was the RK-0 Foregrip, which could further optimize recoil and improve stability during firing.
As for other accessories... he temporarily left them untouched.
Positions like the stock, laser, and side rail either offered limited improvement or came at too high a cost.
Ace's principle was very clear:
The AK-12's combat power only justified this much investment in HAF. Further modifications would offer improvements, but the HAF spent would be too much — it would be better to modify other, superior firearms.
The total cost for this setup was approximately 116,000 HAF, but its performance was quite outstanding.
Although the Bizon and UZI only cost 13,000 HAF to buy, and even fully modified only cost around 130,000–140,000, these two guns were essentially bot guns.
Ace's assessment of these two basic submachine guns was that full modification was meaningless.
There was almost no difference between a fully modified Bizon and a stock Bizon. Adding a 64-round drum for entertainment was about it, and the UZI was the same.
Getting back to the main topic — he tested it in the training camp: using Tier 3 bullets against a Tier 4 training dummy's armor, it only took 0.4 seconds to break the armor!
Tier 2 bullets against Tier 3 armor also only took 0.43 seconds!
This armor-piercing efficiency was absolutely a killer in the current environment.
Moreover, with carefully matched accessories and a bit of recoil control technique, the AK-12 had almost no recoil within 10 meters and could fire controllable bursts at 50 meters.
Ace was certain of one thing: the difference between most fully modified guns and stock guns in this game was absolutely very, very large. Only a small number of bot guns had little difference.
Now, it was time to test the practical value of this strategy.
He didn't choose the more popular Longbow Valley, but returned to the more familiar Zero Dam.
Longbow Valley had many outdoor encounters, and his AK-12 didn't have a significant advantage in medium-to-long-range gunfights.
However, Zero Dam — especially the Admin Building area — was dominated by medium-to-close-range combat. This was where the AK-12's armor-piercing advantage could be best utilized!
At medium range, he would first wear down or even break armor, then see if he could get a direct kill. If not, he would look for an opportunity to get closer.
Even if the AK-12's flesh damage was indeed low, if he had armor and the enemy didn't, even low flesh damage provided an advantage.
Ace first tried Classified Dam. Hmm, as expected, no one was there — he couldn't get in even after queuing for several minutes.
He then switched the map to Standard Dam and got in instantly.
It seemed that players at this stage still preferred Standard Dam and Standard Longbow Valley... Classified Dam and Classified Longbow Valley probably hadn't been entered by many people yet.
[Standard Dam — Matchmaking Complete]