What exactly does "bloom" do?

[jam201984]

Well why not just call it recoil to save all this confusion
.

[Amnesia]

Recoil is something else---it describes how the barrel moves (usually vertically?) as a result of pulling the trigger.
What we're describing is more like "accuracy".

[jam201984]

well call it anything else but (bloom) as thats the confusing part acc/rec would suffice

[Hiero Glyph]

Think of it like a flower. As a bud it is very small. As the flower 'blooms' it increases in size and takes up a much larger area with its petals. Basically 'bloom' describes the deviation of the bullets within the targeted area. It it not recoil.

[Jad]

Bloom =/= recoil. Bloom is how much wider your crosshairs gets after continued fire, recoil moves the croshair center around with each shot. Snipers have high recoil, it sends your crosshairs up. SAW LMGs have high bloom, the crosshairs get wider and wider the more you shoot. There is one LMG which has negative bloom, like the one in borderlands. Overcharge nullifies recoil but you are still affected by boom while active.

Black Talons description is accurate. When you first fire your gun your site is a certain size. The higher the bloom value, the bigger that site size gets as you sustain fire. So you would see the effect on an automatic fire weapon and not a semi.

The real world effect is that the longer you auto fire your positive bloom weapon, the less accurate your aim is.

[Duckforceone]

just think of bloom = spread

the more you fire, the higher your spread of bullets around the crosshair, instead of it staying close to the crosshair like the first shot.

[RushNlowZ]

If what you are saying about it being spread then

Bloom = BS

cause during the beta I had a light machine gun with lower bloom than almost any of my guns and it was inaccurate as hell. The bullet spread made using it at any mid to long distance firefight completely useless. Yet I found a magnum with ridiculous bloom (like almost 4.00 or something) that I could peg guys at range no problem. Definitely something they should explain a bit more clearly.

[Warspawn]

If what you are saying about it being spread then

Bloom = BS

cause during the beta I had a light machine gun with lower bloom than almost any of my guns and it was inaccurate as hell. The bullet spread made using it at any mid to long distance firefight completely useless. Yet I found a magnum with ridiculous bloom (like almost 4.00 or something) that I could peg guys at range no problem. Definitely something they should explain a bit more clearly.

Bloom only applies to sustained automatic fire. If you fire one shot per trigger pull, you will maintain accuracy.

[Vertis]

Bloom and recoil are two different things. There is a lot of misinformation in this thread. Read this post for the correct answer.

Bloom = Increasing bullet spread during sustained fire. Think of a circle where bullets land getting larger and larger while you hold down a trigger.

Recoil = The vertical pull of weapons during sustained fire. This is what makes your crosshair pull upwards when you hold down the trigger.

[Duckforceone]

i was single shot sniping with my SAW.... but when i went full auto, i could not hit the broadside of a barn up close to me...