Flat or percentage oils in SULFUR: the base-damage breakpoint

A flat oil adds its number to the base damage; a percentage oil multiplies the base plus all flat bonuses. With nothing else applied, +F flat beats +P% when the base is below F ÷ P. For Add Damage Oil (+15) against Damage Oil (+20%) that is 75: on a 60-damage 9mm gun the flat oil adds 15 and the percentage oil 12, on an 80-damage gun the percentage oil already adds 16.

The breakpoint moves with the oils you already have

Percentage oils on one stat add together (the community model; SULFUR’s code has not confirmed it). Every percentage already on the gun therefore multiplies the next flat bonus too, and divides the share a new percentage adds. With a pool S of percentages already applied:

• a new +F flat adds F × (1 + S),
• a new +P% adds P × (base + flats).

So the breakpoint becomes base + flats = F × (1 + S) ÷ P. After Great Oil and Heavy Oil (+60% each, S = 1.2) a +15 oil beats a +20% oil on any gun below 165 base damage.

Which wins on each stock gun

Base damage	Guns	Alone	With Great Oil + Heavy Oil (+120%)
50	Augusta, Neuraxis F22, Unknown	Add Damage Oil	Add Damage Oil
60	CYB47, Catacoil Rapid X, Cavalier, Drifter 9, Flicker, Klein Bauer, P38 Dirk, Ploika Compact, Socom 9, Songbird, Star & Witness, Vrede	Add Damage Oil	Add Damage Oil
66	Beck 8, M3 Termite, Ripox Mowlock	Add Damage Oil	Add Damage Oil
72	Socom ACR, Valet	Add Damage Oil	Add Damage Oil
80	Chimera Rapid, Gravekeeper	Damage Oil	Add Damage Oil
90	Bronco 89	Damage Oil	Add Damage Oil
96	Corpsemaker, Deathstar PG, M11A2 Fisk, Snut .38	Damage Oil	Add Damage Oil
100	Duhar, Hell ‘N’ Back, Rektor 100rd	Damage Oil	Add Damage Oil
104	Terrier URB.	Damage Oil	Add Damage Oil
105	Nightlily 318	Damage Oil	Add Damage Oil
120	Chat-Pardeur 98, Knop .22, Salamander, Type 80 Typhoon	Damage Oil	Add Damage Oil
128	Palehorse Topclipper	Damage Oil	Add Damage Oil
160	Tailor Marksman MKII	Damage Oil	Add Damage Oil
176	Farsight	Damage Oil	Damage Oil
192	Death’s Toll	Damage Oil	Damage Oil
200	.357 Balthazar, M182 Pierre-Fusil, Rokua .308	Damage Oil	Damage Oil
300	Ferryman	Damage Oil	Damage Oil
320	Blackwater	Damage Oil	Damage Oil
400	Impala Gravita, Longboy	Damage Oil	Damage Oil
500	D4RT, Dolphin 99	Damage Oil	Damage Oil

12Ga guns are left out: their flat bonus is divided by 8, so the per-pellet breakpoint is 9.4 and every shotgun pellet (40) is far above it. See shotguns and flat damage oils.

Flat damage oils compared with a +20% oil

Oil	Flat damage	Equals +20% at base	12Ga equivalent per pellet
Disposable Oil	+50	250	31.25
Solid Oil	+40	200	25
Big Oil	+35	175	21.88
Potshot Oil	+35	175	21.88
Ascetic Oil	+30	150	18.75
Brute Oil	+30	150	18.75
Discharge Oil	+30	150	18.75
Late Boom Oil	+30	150	18.75
Seated Oil	+30	150	18.75
Frugal Oil	+25	125	15.63
Judgement Oil	+25	125	15.63
Sender Oil	+25	125	15.63
Expander Oil	+20	100	12.5
Fidget Oil	+20	100	12.5
Kicker Oil	+20	100	12.5
Add Damage Oil	+15	75	9.38

What to do with this

• On 9mm and Energy Cell guns (50 to 72 base damage), put Add Damage Oil in before Damage Oil. On a gun with 80 or more, the +20% oil is ahead until the percentages already applied reach base ÷ 75 − 1: +7% on an 80-damage gun, +60% on 120, +167% on 200.
• Once Great Oil and Heavy Oil are on a gun, a flat oil beats Damage Oil on every gun below 165 base damage. The optimiser put a flat damage oil in the best set of 26 of the 54 guns; the best oils record shows which.
• Under multiplicative stacking the breakpoint would stay at F ÷ P no matter how many percentages are applied. The calculator’s stacking switch shows both.

Test a pair in the build calculator.