Dodo's Small Arms

Overview:

Ever felt that handheld ammo is way too expensive compared to ship ammo? Have you wondered why we have depleted revolver rounds, but not shotgun or rifle ones? Or have you ever thought that a grenade launcher just isn't packing enough boom for you? Well, then this mod is for you!

In general, normal ammo is pretty much unchanged from vanilla, with the exception of almost universally being many times cheaper than vanilla (But still more expensive than ship weapons!). Special ammo types can give you a big buff if used correctly, but don't expect to be killing endworms with shotguns!

To add to this, I have handmade every single sprite used in this mod as close to barotrauma's artstyle as possible.

Most handheld weapons have these ammo types now:

FMJ - normal ammo, slightly tweaked for balance. (re-naming overriden items is a bit buggy at the moment) Flechette - better armor penetration, slightly lower damage, more expensive. Expanding - nearly no armor penetration at all, high damage, not that expensive. Depleted - similar to vanilla, have even higher armor pen than flechettes. Less instant damage but added radiation poisoning, very expensive. Special - certain weapons, like the HMG, Assault Rifle and the new Recoiless Rifle have extra unique ammo variants. These often require rare and/or alien resources to make but are quite drastically different from vanilla.

Current ammo types per weapon:

Revolver, Shotgun, SMG & Rifle:

• FMJ (Called Buckshot for the shotgun)
• Flechette (Universal name)
• Expanding (Called Birdshot for the shotgun)
• Depleted (Universal name)
• Rubber ! - Currently only for the shotgun, good for crowd control and trolling teammates

Assault Rifle

• FMJ
• Flechette
• Expanding
• Enriched ! - Special ammo type devised by Separatists with less penetration and damage than regular types, but excessively radioactive (Currently available everywhere, still trying to remove it from Coalition stores)

HMG

• FMJ - Drastically MORE expensive than vanilla, to compensate for its very high damage potential
• Flechette - The be-all end-all to mudraptor incursions
• Expanding - Extremely lethal ammo type, Even armored targets don't fare that well.
• Volatile ! - Special ammo type that required new mini-IC4 capsules, extremely expensive but causes tiny explosions on contact. Effective against unarmored targets, armored targets and everything in-between, though not effective against bankruptcy.

Ammo & weapon changes:

• Revolver round - stack increased from 12 to 18
• SMG mag - capacity decreased from 21 to 20

Weapon tweaks:

• Revolver - Slight fire rate increase
• Machine pistol - fire rate increased from 5.7 to 9, recoil increased
• SMG - fire rate decreased from 5.26 to 5, multiplier decreased from 1.3 to 1, accuracy increased
• Deadeye Carbine - burst ROF increased, multiplier increased from 1.1 to 1.5.
• Riot Shotgun - no changes
• Boomstick - no changes
• Autoshotgun - no changes
• Rifle - fire rate increased, accuracy slightly increased
• Assault Rifle - accuracy slightly increased
• HMG - no changes

New items:

Subcaliber carbine

A two-handed rifle that holds 18 revolver rounds in it's internal magazine. As a semi-automatic gun it has a respectable fire rate, and the small rounds don't cause much recoil (or damage!). Useful for not wasting costlier ammo on crawlers and such.

Breaching grenade

Sticky grenade that has a much smaller radius than a frag grenade but causes much more damage to structures and doors. Can breach doors & hatches in a single well-aimed throw!

Recoiless rifle

A grenade launcher on steroids. Takes up a lot of space and has a very limited ammo pool. Expensive and ill-suited for close quarters. Current ammo types:

• Solid - non-explosive depleted fuel sabot fired at very high speeds
• Explosive - slower projectile with a big warhead filled with explosives. Not very effective against armor.
• Volatile - similar to explosive, but added Incendium creates a huge fire on contact. Not very effective in water.
• Primed - special shaped charge designed to pierce even the strongest of armors. However, it isn't very effective on soft targets whilst being immensely expensive.
• Nuclear - a madman's shell, has a very big explosion that inflicts radiation poisoning. Very expensive and extremely dangerous, use it wisely. It can also use MLRS ammunition from Ssparky's gunnery!

Float lamp

Small lamp with an integrated battery and ballast. Floats in water and provides lighting, like a reausable flare. Kind of cumbersome to use, will probably re-do it in a misc. mod.

Planned changes & features

• This mod is pretty much finished. If I find a good idea I may add it here, but for now, no new items are in the works.

FAQ:

Is this compatible with X?

• I do not know. Should be with almost anything. If you find any incompatibilities please let me know!

Will you add more ammo types or weapons?

• No. I want this mod to not take the front stage of every encounter in the game, but to allow more flexibility when it comes to engagements.

This item doesn't work the way it should!

• Report it in the comments and I'll take a look at it.

Can I suggest features?

• Absolutely, I'd love more ideas!

Can I translate this mod?

• Sure, just credit me.

Latest update:

February 19th 2026 Version 1.4.1 - Explodey capsules

Changes:

• Mini-C4 and Mini-IC4 capsules now explode when thrown. The latter will start a medium sized fire. Neither do much hull damage, nor are a perfect grenade substitute.

Fixes:

• weird density issues with t he mini-IC4 and C4 capsules

Known issues:

• various item names not displaying properly, no clue how to fix
• later-game ammo types spawning very early in the campaign
• items in general spawn much more often than they ought to