Introduction
Disclaimer: This is a combined port of three original posts by Loot Turtle from the old gearbox forums that are no longer directly available through the gearbox archive. The original three posts provided a clear, simple explanation of how to distinguish between the three different barrel types that could be found on the Fibber. The original post included both level 50 and 61 examples, but not higher level 72 gear. I’ve added that information where possible.
I noticed that many players still don’t fully understand what is going on with the Fibber. The Fibber does a lot of weird and wonderful things and I’m going to explain them to you.
Barrel Types
The Fibber has 3 types of barrels:
- “Pistol_Barrel_Bandit _Fibber_2” is the first barrel that fires 7 slow-moving pellets.
- “Pistol_Barrel_Bandit _Fibber_3” is the preferred one that shoots a fast-moving pellet that splits on ricochetting.
- “Pistol_Barrel_Bandit _Fibber_4” fires slow-moving arching bullets that ricochet with +700% Critical Hit Damage Bonus.
The 2nd type (“Barrel_Bandit _Fibber_3”) is the most sought-after by players. The problem is that all 3 barrels look the same in-game. The only way to tell them apart is by trying them out or looking at the displayed stats. Even though the stats lie, they can be used to identify the barrel type (although elemental versions will have lower damage than their non-elemental equivalents).
Type Damage Value Notes
Lvl. 50 Lvl. 61 Lvl. 72
- 4-digit 5-digit 5-digit ‘x 1’ value multiplier
- 5-digit 6-digit 6-digit
- 3-digit 4-digit 4-digit
Other typical indicators are a high fire rate (FR) and reload speed (RL) as compared to type 1 (high FR but RL < 1) or type 3 (both FR & RL < 1) Some typical values for level 72 follow:
- Stat Type 1 Type 2 Type 3
- Accuracy ~98% ~90% ~70%
- Fire rate ~30 ~30 0.2
- Reload sp ~0.7 4-7 0.1
- Ammp cap. <100 1500 2000
Here, for example, are the cards for level 50 and 61 type 2 barrel Fibbers:
There are also images of type 1 (level 61 741) and type 3 (level 50 684 and level 61 322) available.
Dat Barrel
It’s the barrel type that makes The Fibber such an interesting weapon. Each type can have a number of unlisted pellets that fire in a distinct pattern, as well as a distinct trajectory and behavior. Note that this is the special effect of the barrel; it has nothing to do with its prefix or its accessory.
- Type 1 fires 7 pellets at slow speed, becoming invisible at some point
- Type 2 splits into 9 pellets after ricochetting off any surface
- Type 3 leaves long parabolic trails and also ricochets off multiple surfaces
The type 2 barrel will deal very little damage when fired directly at a target. However, the bullet splits into 9 pellets after ricocheting off a surface. This works particularly well with certain skills such as Gaige’s Close Enough and The Nth Degree, or Zer0’s B0re.
The shot pattern produced consists of 1 pellet in the middle with the other 8 pellets surrounding it, as shown here:
In contrast, the type 1 barrel has a more random pellet pattern:
The “Redundant” Prefix
The “Redundant” prefix is applied when a Hyperion pistol is equipped with a Laser Double Accessory. This makes the pistol fire extra projectiles per shot at the cost of increased ammo consumption. It also gives that ‘x2’ multiplier in the displayed damage stats. (Note that this replaces the ‘x1’ for the type 1 barrel; this may still be distinguished by the magnitude of the base damage and the firing pattern, however.)
Here is a type 2 barrel Redundant Fibber:
The prefix coupled with the 2nd barrel produces a shot pattern of 2 pellets in the middle with 16 pellets surrounding it, for a total of 18 pellets per shot:
The Fibber and The Bee
The legendary Bee amp shield is well-known because of its high amp damage and zero drain 136 characteristics. Although the amp damage is divided between the listed pellets of multi-projectile guns (i.e. those listed as x2, x4, etc.), it does not get divided between unlisted pellets.
Since the extra pellets produced are not listed, each of the pellets from a regular type 2 Fibber will receive full undivided amp damage. For the Redundant Fibber, the amp damage is divided by 2 but then multiplied by the 18 pellets. This means that the type 2 Fibber (Redundant or not) will receive 9X the amp damage per shot. This is the same on all platforms.
Without The Bee:
With The Bee (+46678 Amp Damage):
When the game first released, the full amp damage from the Bee shield was applied to all pellets, making it (and similar weapons like the Conference Call) ridiculously powerful. This was fixed in Patch v1.2.0 (AKA “Bee Nerf Patch”), which also introduced a glitch affecting the Fibber. The glitch caused the Fibber to deal more damage than before. However, this issue was fixed in Update v1.3.1. Despite this, the Fibber remains a very powerful weapon.
Farming The Fibber
The Fibber is a reward for the final stage of the “A Real Boy” side quest series in Eridium Blight. After getting to the point of turning in this quest for the reward, travel into Ore Chasm and immediately back out again. You can now turn in the mission and force-quit (e.g. dash-board or sign out on console) if you don’t get the version you want. This gives you the most convenient respawn location. Be prepared for many restarts: on a recent run, it took 50 attempts to get a type 2 Redundant Fibber; if you want a specific elemental version as well, it could easily take much longer.
Examples and Damage Calculations
Because the type 1 or 3 barrels do not require a ricochet to get the most out of them, they are a little easier to use. The type 1, as noted above, fires 7 pellets (14 with the redundant prefix), while the type 3 shoots a single slow-moving pellet. To offset this, however, the type 3 offers one of the highet critical damage bonuses of any pistol in the game. (It’s surpassed by the Lady Fist since the boost to that gun was introduced with the 2014 Loot Hunt.) Here’s a more detailed look, taken from Loot Turtle’s other two Fibber guides and supplemented from Derch’s video.
Type 1: The One Nobody Gives a Sh*t About
Here’s the type 1 barrel in action:
So how does it work?
Bodyshot Damage with no damage bonuses 41: 26500 X 7 = 185k
Crit Damage with no damage bonuses 13: (26500 X 7) X 2 X (100% + 0%) = 371k
Maya can make use of this version through Phaselock, Mind’s Eye (boosts critical damage), and Chain Reaction (can land all the pellets as crits more reliably).
Crit Damage with 5/5 Minds Eye 9: (26500 X 7) X 2 X (100% + 0% + 25%) = 464k
Laser Double Accessory – “Redundant”: With The Bee amp damage is evenly divided among the 7 pellets from each shot. If it has the Laser Double Accessory attached, it will fire 14 pellets but the overall boost from The Bee will be the same.
Redundant Fibber type 1 body shot damage 24: 23643 X 14 = 331k
And with The Bee 8: 26500 X 7 + 169853 = 355k
TL;DR: The 1st barrel, the red-headed stepchild of Fibber barrels.
- It fires 7 pellets that are terribly sluggish. The “Redundant” version fires 14.
- It has no special Crit characteristics: Normal pistol Inherent Crit Bonus of 0% & uses the generic pistol Crit equation.
- Amp Damage is evenly divided among the pellets fired from each shot.
Type 3: Because 1 OP Fibber is Not Enough
As noted above, the type 3 barrel single projectile leaves very distinct trails. They fly slowly in a parabolic arc and frantically ricochet off surfaces too.
This Fibber’s forte is its insanely high Inherent critical hit bonus (provided you can land them given the drop and slow speed).
Bodyshot damage with no damage bonuses:
- Crit damage with no damage bonuses 18: 8386 X 2 X (100% + 700%) = 134k
- Crit damage with Zer0’s Legendary Hunter COM 23: (+29%) & 10/5 Headsh0t (+40%): 8386 X 2 X (100% + 700% + 40% + 29%) = 145k
- Just for fun, here’s the preceding with The Bee 34: (8386 + 46678) X 2 X (100% + 700% + 40% + 29%) = 957k
TL,DR: The Fibber with the 3rd barrel is flat-out freaky:
- Its bullet leaves visible trails, travel slowly in a parabolic arc, and ricochets off surfaces.
- It’s Hyperion so it becomes more accurate the longer its trigger is held.
- It deals insanely high Crit Damage that rivals the Hawk Eye due to having an Inherent Crit Bonus of +700%.
In my forthright opinion, the only reason why the 2nd barrel is more favored is that you don’t need to aim the damn thing. However, this is still an incredibly formidable gun. Sure, its body shot damage may not be the finest but the Crit Damage it deals is absurd. I’m just flabbergasted by the Crit Damage this thing deals. For fudge’s sake, GBX! Why?
