Pair ranged and melee weapons

Decide where you want to stand and which weapon you expect to use first. Check your ammunition before leaving.

Choose a fallback you can use confidently under pressure. The beta adds a four-second draw when replacing your equipped weapon with one from inventory. That is different from simply cycling your already equipped primary and secondary weapons; use cover before changing the loadout itself.

Record recovery between attacks and what happens after a miss. Compare numbers using current game tooltips; community tables can disagree.

Choose the distance at which you intend to start an encounter. Check the weapon’s ammunition and recorded handling requirements before treating its damage number as the whole build.

Choose a melee option you can control when space becomes tight. Practise the actions available to your current character rather than assuming a clip with different Masteries applies to you.

Check whether the pair leaves you a practical way to disengage. A second expensive weapon does not replace medicine, ammunition or a route out.