Zoom

Zoom is a weapon stat that is the factor of magnification granted when aiming down sights. A zoom value of 20 can also be expressed as 2.0x, or double the base magnification.

Introduction

A gun's zoom is equal to the combination of its base zoom (typically due to its gun type) and its scope/sight. In other words:

Zoom = Base + Scope

Here are the gun types I've looked at so far:

Gun	Zoom
Auto Rifle	1.6
Grenade Launcher	1.4
Hand Cannon	1.5
Pulse Rifle	1.7
Scout Rifle	2.1
Shotgun	1.25
Sidearm	1.25
SMG	1.25*
Sniper Rifle	see below

Barrel Mods/Sights for Sidearms/Hand Cannons/Shotguns/Grenade Launchers/SMGs give no bonus to zoom. Other guns with barrel mods may have a fixed zoom that is higher than the base zoom of the gun type.

There is one oddity to this formula that Destiny 2 seems to have introduced. SMGs with barrel mods typically have a 1.25x zoom. SMGs with scopes have zooms given by the formula:

Zoom = 1.0 + 1.25 * Modifier

What Does Zoom Do

In addition to increasing the size (visual zoom) of objects on screen, zoom has a couple other notable effects.

• Higher zoom reduces the effective (angular) recoil of a gun. Basically the recoil of a specific gun type in pixels/distance on screen is set by its stability stat. Higher zooms to not impact this recoil, meaning the actual angle the gun has recoiled is less. This is a major reason why high-zoom scopes are useful for long-range battles, especially on pulse rifles.

• Zoom reduces damage and accuracy falloff by an amount proportional to the gun's zoom factor. Damage falloff starts at 20 meters while hip firing with a hand cannon? Then damage falloff would start at 30 meters when ADS (1.5x zoom).

Scope/Sight Zoom Values

Error should be plus/minus 0.05 for all of these except the ones with an asterisk (*) which may be off by more. I really need to get some more Häkke weapons to fill this out--yikes.

Gun	Zoom	Guns Tested
Red Dot ORS 1	0.4	Cuboid ARu, Bayesian MSU
Red Dot ORS	0.4	Cuboid ARu, Bayesian MSU
Red Dot Micro	0.4	Nightshade
Red Dot 2 MOA	0.4	Nightshade
Rifle Scope ST	0.9	Nightshade
IS 5 Circle	0.15	Call to Serve, Scathelocke, Lincoln Green
Model 8 Red	0.6	Call to Serve, Scathelocke
Mark 15 Lens	0.8	Call to Serve, Lincoln Green
Mark 10 Glass	0.75	Scathelocke
Model 6 Loop*	0.55	Lincoln Green
SLO-21 Point*	0.2	Resonance-42
SPO-28 Front	0.5	Swift Ride, Resonance-42
SRO-41 Ocular	0.8	Swift Ride
SRO-52 Ocular	0.9	Swift Ride
SLO-10 Post	0.1	Tone Patrol
SPO-57 Front	0.6	Resonance-42, Tone Patrol
SPO-37 Ocular	0.7	Tone Patrol
SLO-12 Post	0.15	Refrain-23
Impulse MS3	0.8	Mannanan SR4
Candle PS	0.1	Mannanan SR4
Spark PS	0.15	Uriel's Gift, Out of Options
Flash HS5	0.65	Uriel's Gift
Torch HS3*	0.5	Out of Options

Examples:

• Nightshade + Rifle Scope ST = 1.7 + 0.9 = 2.6x.
• Resonance-42 (SMG) + SPO-28 Front = 1 + 1.25*0.5 = 1.625x.

Sniper Scopes

It should be possible to do sniper scopes using the same language, but for now since there are so few in the game I'm just listing the total zoom for each. Note that the zooms tend to be significantly higher than they were in D1...another reason why snipers are more difficult to use now.

ATA Raptor || 6.3

Sniper Scope	Zoom
ATA Scout	6.2
ATB Long Range	6.7
Zoom 10 Point	5.7
Zoom 30 Focus	8.0
SSO-05 Sniper	6.3
SSO-07 Sniper	5.9
SSO-08 Sniper	5.7
Widow's Bite	5.1
The Long Walk	5.7

Misc

Gun	Zoom
Sunshot	1.5
Rat King	1.25
MIDA Multi-Tool	2.25
MIDA Mini-Tool	1.625
Black Tiger 2SR	2.2
Sand Wasp 3AU	1.75

• The Häkke Antiope-D SMG has a zoom of ~1.6x with GB Iron and 2.1x with SC Holo
• Suros slug shotguns have the same zoom as normal shotguns

Source

• u/gintellectual via Reddit

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