DS1 Pulsar
| DS1 Pulsar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Smg |
| Type | Power |
| Ammo | Handgun Ammo |
| Headshot | +100% |
The DS1 Pulsar is Darra Polytechnic's compact Power submachine gun, and it fires bullets at a very high rate. It is a common gun in shops, and it fills close targets with bullets. It takes a scope and a muzzle attachment, and it has mod slots. It can be set up for stealth or for raw spraying power. It works best in a Reflexes build that likes to keep moving and swap guns often. Buzzsaw is its Iconic variant. The DS1 Pulsar is an early-game submachine gun. Weapon vendors across Night City sell it, and enemies carry it.
Combat
The Pulsar fires in full auto at a very fast rate. Submachine guns have the lowest damage per shot of any gun type but the highest fire rate. The Pulsar fires especially fast, even for an SMG. Its Power rounds can ricochet off walls, so a burst into a tight room usually hits something.
The downside is control. Recoil is the main thing to manage on a full-auto gun, and long sprays drift off target. Short bursts at close range keep most of the magazine on the enemy. A muzzle brake reduces the recoil. A silencer makes the Pulsar a quiet gun for clearing rooms, which helps when a stealthy approach turns into a fight.
Submachine guns work best at close range when enemies push in. The Pulsar does that job well. It works well alongside a longer-range gun in the other weapon slot.
How to Get DS1 Pulsar Guide
- Buy the DS1 Pulsar from weapon vendors across Night City.
- Loot it from enemies who carry one.
- Craft it from its crafting spec.
DS1 Pulsar Map Location
The map shows the 2nd Amendment weapon shop in Little China, one of the weapon vendors that sell it.
DS1 Pulsar map location:
Map credit by Map Genie.
Compatible Mods
7 scopes, 9 muzzles and 11 weapon mods are compatible with DS1 Pulsar.
| Name | Image | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Add-Vantage | 
|
Adds zoom and effective range |
| CQO Kanone MINI Mk.72 | 
|
Adds zoom and effective range |
| Handyman | 
|
Adds zoom and effective range, more headshot crit chance at top tier |
| Hyakume | 
|
Adds zoom and effective range |
| Kanetsugu | 
|
Adds zoom, effective range and crit chance |
| OS-1 GimletEye | 
|
Adds zoom and effective range |
| Type 2067 | 
|
Adds zoom and effective range, lowers bullet spread |
| Name | Image | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| CS-1 Taipan | 
|
Silences shots and raises stealth damage, lowers base damage |
| RC-7 Aswang | 
|
Lowers recoil angle and direction, slightly lowers crit chance |
| RC-7 Ifrit | 
|
Lowers recoil, slightly lowers crit chance |
| RC-7 Strigoi | 
|
Lowers recoil |
| RC-7 Varkolak | 
|
Raises ricochet chance and ricochet angle |
| RC-7 Zaar | 
|
Lowers recoil angle, slightly lowers crit chance |
| TSX Tocororo | 
|
Raises stealth damage, lowers base damage |
| XC-10 Cetus | 
|
Raises stealth damage, lowers base damage |
| XC-10 Strix | 
|
Raises stealth damage, lowers base damage |
| Name | Image | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Better Half | 
|
Raises crit chance with the second half of the magazine |
| Big Mag | 
|
Bigger magazine, slower reload |
| Critochet | 
|
Raises crit chance with ricochets |
| Equalizer | 
|
More damage against Elite enemies |
| Firecracker | 
|
Shoots explosive rounds |
| Focus Fire | 
|
Tighter hipfire spread, shorter effective range |
| Pax | 
|
Makes the weapon non-lethal, more damage outside combat |
| Pyro | 
|
Turns part of the damage into Thermal damage with a chance to Burn |
| Ready Steady | 
|
Lowers recoil, more so when aiming from cover |
| Shuffler | 
|
Drawing the weapon refills part of the magazine |
| Swiss Cheese | 
|
More armor penetration, higher Stamina cost per bullet |
Crafting Spec
The spec lets V craft DS1 Pulsar in the crafting menu. Every spec in the game is listed on the Crafting Specs page.
The table shows what crafting DS1 Pulsar costs at each tier.
| Tier | Components |
|---|---|
| Tier 2 | 30 Tier 2 components |
Upgrades
A stronger Pulsar comes from a higher tier, either bought or crafted from its spec. Crafting costs components. Higher qualities also have more mod slots.
Character Builds
The Pulsar uses the Reflexes tree. Mind Over Matter cuts recoil while aiming, which matters on a gun with this much recoil. Ready, Rested, Reloaded lowers the Stamina cost of shooting and speeds up reloads. Sharpshooter and Shoot To Chill add accuracy and armor penetration with every hit. Spray And Pray lowers the Stamina cost of hip-fire. Gundancer removes the movement slowdown while aiming. Submachine Fun makes swapping to an SMG faster and reloads it on the swap. It also adds fire rate afterwards, which rewards switching between two loaded guns.
For cyberware, Immovable Force and Shock Absorber reduce the recoil. The Ballistic Coprocessor raises the ricochet chance of Power weapons. On a gun that fires this many rounds, the extra ricochets add up.
Its mod slots take Power and SMG mods. Ready Steady cuts recoil, and more so from cover. Swiss Cheese adds armor penetration, but each bullet costs more Stamina. Pyro turns part of the damage into Thermal damage with a chance to Burn. Critochet adds crit chance to ricochets. Better Half adds crit chance to the second half of the magazine, and Equalizer adds damage against Elite enemies.
Select a Build
The build plays as run and gun, shooting while sprinting, sliding and dashing. Air Dashes and Tailwind keep the character moving through a fight. Kerenzikov slows time when aiming during a Dash, so the shots stay precise on the move.
Attributes: Body 20, Reflexes 20, Technical Ability 20, Intelligence 3, Cool 18.
The perks, cyberware and weapon mods for this build are listed below.
| Name | Image | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painkiller | 
|
Body 4 | Slow Health regeneration in combat |
| Muscle Memory | 
|
Reflexes 4 | Reload while sprinting, sliding and vaulting |
| Multitasker | 
|
Reflexes 4 | Shoot while sprinting, sliding and vaulting |
| Dash | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Unlocks the Dash and makes it cheaper |
| Steady Grip | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Shoot while Dashing |
| Air Dash | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Dash in midair |
| Aerial Acrobat | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Better control in midair |
| Gundancer | 
|
Reflexes 15 | No slowdown while aiming |
| Air Kerenzikov | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Kerenzikov in midair holds the character in the air |
| Submachine Fun | 
|
Reflexes 20 | SMG swaps reload and raise fire rate |
| Tailwind | 
|
Reflexes 20 | Stamina back from Air Dashes and double jumps |
| Extended Warranty | 
|
Technical Ability 15 | Cyberware effects last longer |
| Ambidextrous | 
|
Technical Ability 15 | A second Hands cyberware slot |
| Cyborg | Technical Ability 15 | Shorter cyberware cooldowns with every slot filled |
| Name | Image | Slot | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kerenzikov Boost System | 
|
Frontal Cortex | Stronger Kerenzikov with free shooting Stamina |
| Immovable Force | 
|
Hands | Less recoil and tighter spread |
| Defenzikov | 
|
Integumentary System | Mitigation after Kerenzikov ends |
| Kerenzikov | 
|
Nervous System | Slows time when aiming during a slide or dodge |
Lore
The in-game line is grand for such a cheap gun: Pulsar, dawn of a legacy. Darra Polytechnic, the maker of the Umbra rifle and the Nova revolver, completes its range with the Pulsar.
Its Iconic variant, Buzzsaw, is crafted from a spec looted at a Suspected Organized Crime Activity in Northside. Buzzsaw's rounds can go through cover, and its own description warns that it may cause massacres.
Notes
- Buzzsaw is the Iconic variant of the DS1 Pulsar.
Weapon Categories
All SMGs
Every SMG is listed below. The Iconic weapons come first, then the standard ones.
Iconic SMGs
| Name | Image | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buzzsaw | 
|
+100% | 25% | Northside |
| Chesapeake | 
|
|||
| Erebus | 
|
|||
| Fenrir | 
|
+100% | Northside | |
| Guillotine x-MOD2 | 
|
Dogtown | ||
| Pizdets | 
|
+85% | ||
| Problem Solver | 
|
+100% | Badlands East | |
| Prototype: Shingen Mark V | 
|
+50% | Arroyo | |
| Raiju | 
|
West Wind Estate | ||
| Yinglong | 
|
+50% | Wellsprings |
Standard SMGs
| Name | Image | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DS1 Pulsar | 
|
+100% | ||
| G-58 Dian | 
|
+50% | ||
| Guillotine | 
|
+100% | ||
| HA-7 Warden | 
|
+50% | ||
| M221 Saratoga | 
|
+100% | ||
| Senkoh LX | 
|
+100% | Arroyo | |
| Shigure | 
|
+100% | ||
| TKI-20 Shingen | 
|
+50% |