In trying to discover what is the best equipment setup for each PSII character for my hack, I bumped into this problem for Rudo: Guns or Vulcans? Here's a list of all of PSII's guns.
The guns damage one monster for the following damage:
Bow Gun - 5
Sonic Gun - 7
Poison Shot - 10
Acid Shot - 20
Cannon - 28
Laser Shot - 35
Laser Cannon - 53
Pulse Cannon - 60
Neishot - 100
The "Vulcans" are fired multiple times and spread the damage around:
Shotgun, 2 shots, 10 damage each = 20
Vulcan, 3 shots, 16 damage each = 48
Pulse Vulcan, 4 shots, 18 damage each = 72
The two most important comparisons are: 1. Laser Cannon vs. Vulcan and 2. Pulse Cannon vs. Pulse Vulcan.
I suppose it depends upon the enemy groups in an area whether you want Rudo spreading damage to all enemies or pouring it into one. I always liked the Laser Cannon vs. the Vulcan, but I see they both have their uses now. Would you ever use a Vulcan over a Laser Cannon?