[Discussion] Gladius

NS smgs deal the same damage at range, and with a much higher rpm. The MKV is a little more unwieldy than the Gladius, but the PDW is nice and controllable. I still think that the only reason to use the Gladius is for doing sneaky silenced ****, otherwise the PDW wins at range and just about everything beats it up close.

Harder hitting at long range? No, it's the exact opposite.
SMG DPS at long range:

SMG-46 Armistice: 1254
NS-7 PDW: 1250
Blitz GD-10: 1183
Sirius SX12: 1183
MKV Suppressed: 1181
Eridani SX5: 1138
PDW-16 Failstorm: 1120
VE-S Canis: 917-1112
AF4 Cyclone: 1087
MG-S1 Jackal: 1000
MGR-S1 Gladius: 974

And on top of this, Gladius has worse ADS accuracy than every other gun on that list.
If you want an SMG that is serviceable at range, Gladius should quite literally be your last choice. Except maybe Tengu, which is a shotgun.

I'm aware of the DPS drop. I meant it in terms of damage per-shot, but admittedly, I should have phrased it better.

Like I said before, the gladius's stats allow it to be highly accurate at the edge of SMG effective range ( principally thanks to its recoil) though it loses effectiveness quickly afterwards. Its one the the few SMG's that I consider as being likely to have its practical DPS approximate its theoretical outside of 20 meters.

How do you figure? Gladius has harsh recoil and the worst accuracy (worst starting CoF and worst CoF bloom) of every other SMG in the game. And high-damage, low ROF models are inherently the least desirable option for applying consistent DPS, because misses are far more punishing.
This is on top of the literally bottom-tier DPS, even assuming perfect accuracy.

But yes, it does have 12% better damage per shot than other SMGs.

All things considered, for range, I'd take the NS-PDW first (by a mile), and the Gladius last.

Its got some of the best recoil on offer for an SMG. Since SMG's have inherently bad horizontal recoil, finding one with moderate pershot kick and a low firerate makes for a very low recoil package by comparison.

Plus, within the typical SMG effective range limit of 35 meters, 0.35 cof is of very little concern. Beyond 45 meters, yeah, its definitely a problem, but within 45, its not a huge issue.

Interestingly enough, this is more or less how the rest of the faction SMG's that are meant to have longer effective ranges are set up ( like the jackal and to a lesser extent the cyclone). They tend to be lack luster in terms of DPS, but boast superior recoil to allow for more concentrated fire.

I will also say this for the record. I am not saying that the gladius is not in need of a buff. It could probably stand one, especially to its initial dispersion ( probably to match it to the SMG 0.3 standard). I'm merely pointing out that it is not a complete trash can weapon.

meh...Those highfalutins always rage when they get killed by a Gladius.