HVR vs Basic Bolt

Hi peeps,

I've been looking at my numbers on a couple of different Mercenary characters.

The basic bolt always out DPS the HVR. I know HVR has Penetrate and knock back, which is why I assume it has a smaller DPS?

I've found that the higher level you go, the bigger the gap.

Would there be any recommendations to get more juice out of HVR?

I mainly use this for single target, the penetration does not bother me, but the numbers are making me want to play the basic bolt more?

Cheers