Hey guys. I'm planning to gear up my NC characters, and I'd like your opinion on the NC's weapon arsenal. What is the best Heavy LMG for short to medium ranges? Currently I'm using the default SAW and it's really amazing at medium ranges, but I remember trying what I believe was a modified weapon of the SAW in VR (its name eludes me) with 75bullets or so, and it seemed pretty awesome as well. Also, what kind of Shotgun would you guys recommend for CQC action? Pump-action? Semi-auto? Any gun in particular? Slug or no slug? Any opinions on a short-medium rifle for the Engineer/Light Assault? How's the Mercenary? Are there any better? And last but not least; are any of the NC SMGs worth getting?
The weapon you're referring to is the Gauss SAW S. It's performance is close to that of the EM6, which is slightly better at what it does. In my opinion, if you ADS a lot, the EM6 should be your first pick because it's a great all-round weapon. It's cousin, the EM1, does worse that the EM6 in ADS but has slightly better hipfire accuracy. You should give them a try in the VR training and see if you like how they handle. For shotguns, these actually are the same as for the other factions. They may have different names, but they have the same performance. The pump-action shotgun is capable of gibbing infantry up close, the Piston is our automatic shotgun, and I'm afraid the semi-auto's have fallen behind since the pump-action shotguns have been released. I'm not sure though, but I do think they have better reload speeds than those two shotguns. For a Carbine, try the GD-7F for CQC. It has the highest ROF of any weapon in the game, and tears through infantry like a hot knife through butter. The mercenary doesn't perform bad. As in, it'll outperform the GD-7F in medium range but lose in close range. The Gauss S is our weapon with the underbarrel attachments, if that's your cup of tea. It has slightly lower stats than the mercenary, but the lots of attachments are there to make up for it. The NC smg's are definitely worth getting I'd say. We have few weapons with high ROF and good accuracy, the SMG's fill that role and are able to be used on all classes. You can test their actual performance in the VR before getting them of course. The most important part of getting any weapon is still seeing if you like how it handles. A weapon you have a feel for will outperform any weapon you don't in your hands.
Give the Anchor a shot in VR with Advanced Laser and see how that handles for you. Equip it with the 1x reflex and see how it performs at the ranges you want to use it in. Importantly, it has Soft Point ammo, which is a boon. The EM6, as mentioned above, is also good. It is much weaker at hipfire (the Anchor and GD22-S have better values when moving and shooting too), but 100 round magazine and easy to handle recoil with the grip makes it reasonably at any practical range really. The NC6S Gauss SAW S is the 75 round magazine LMG and also has Soft Point ammo, but has a worse rate of fire at the same damage than the Anchor and EM6 and higher base recoil (lower 1st shot than the Anchor though). Both NC SMGs are very different unlike the other empire's two that are more similar. The Cyclone sort of straddles the borders between a Carbine and SMG, while the Blitz is your standard bullet hose SMG and more similar to the other faction SMGs. The Cyclone is the only 652 RPM 167 damage gun IIRC. Soft points IMO help the lower ROF weapons more (the extra bullet needed to kill when damage drops off hurts lower ROF more in theory, so extending that range helps them more relatively), so it probably helps the Cyclone and Anchor more than something fast firing like the GD-7F or GR-22, though I'm sure it helps those too. Watch out when using a suppressor, as it begins the damage fall-off sooner than an unsuppressed weapon. I don't have any exact values, but testing on the VR range using single shots shows this quite obviously.
NC6, geared out with adv. handgrips, x2 optic and Compensator. The gun becomes quite effective at all ranges. At distance the NC6 is a sniper, in close, it requires a bit of aiming and what not, but its sheer power will mow guys down. Been feeling like a cheater the last few days using the tricked out NC6.
best short to medium LMG is the Anchor, put an adv. laser dot on it. Horizontal recoil only goes in one direction so you don't really need a forward grip.
Some of this is stuff others have already said, but it's all true enough to be worth saying again. GR-22 has been one of the few choices I made in the very beginning and still think it was a good idea today. I have both the laser and fore-grip rail mods for it and swap them out as needed. (Laser gives it a closer range bias, grip gives it a longer range bias.) I would add to this though that if you ever find yourself looking at the battle-rifle and wondering if maybe you'd like some long-to-extreme range in your arsenal, skip it and start unlocking mods for the default Gauss SAW. It has 2 tiers of fore-grip, and when taken with the compensator barrel mod, it is essentially a TR sniper rifle that carries 100 rounds. (Totally my kind of gun, straight out of all the ARMA 2 - Benny Edition shenanigans of loading MG36 drum mags into marksman rifles...) For optics I use either the boxy, minimalist 4x if I think I might have to use it at closer ranges, or the 6x that comes default on the sniper rifles and fire single shots. The damage fall-off is pretty minimal, and you will still wreck people out to the edge of spotting range... In fact, it can double as a ghetto Burster in a pinch. Take it to VR sometime and light up one of those ESFs sitting out in the field. I strongly recommend the pump-action. Never been very impressed with the earlier ones. Comes with slugs already unlocked, and there isn't a real big damage drop from using slugs instead of buckshot. If you're also thinking of buying a carbine as well, at this point in the game's balance I would recommend skipping carbines entirely and getting the Blitz SMG instead. I have a few carbines that I used to swear by, and both SMGs, and I have to say that the newer one with the higher cap mag is just an all-round solid weapon. The laser module has 2 tiers, and with that you really don't need to aim-down-sights at anything in your optimal range. Alternately, you can take fore-grip to give it a longer range bias. (Like with the LMG.) Given how solid a weapon it is (good from CQC out to mid range, and can even contribute to kills at long, somewhat anemically) and that it can be used by all infantry classes, I strongly recommend buying that instead of a carbine. To give you an idea, most of my NC loadouts right now are set up as, "1. SMG, 2. Class Weapon, 3. Pump-Shotty." One point of note for all these guns though: Short , rapid bursts. For some reason the guns in PS2 have always felt to me like they were intended to spray and pray, but in terms of how they actually perform, they're wildly more effective in rapid short taps. If you have any other questions, please let us know. I'm sure I'm not the only one that would be glad to help.
Ok soldier lets get you killing the enemy. For Heavy you really want three setups: 1. Long range - Obviously the Gauss SAW, nothing can compete with it short of a sniper rifle, get some recoil control on it (you want the adv foregrip for sure, don't need the HV ammo, I use compensator but flash might well be better). Always fire in 2-4 round bursts unless within about 10m, it loses accuracy fast but starts of amazing so keep reseting the accuracy (you need only stop for a millisecond but do stop). (I will get the Phoenix for this long range setup). 2. Close range - A shotgun or an SMG if you prefer, I would choose a shotgun myself. HA cannot pick its fights like LA so you need to be able to kill multiple people between reloads. All shotguns can do this but I would avoid the auto (piston on HA), your best bet is either the pump or the sweeper (the mauler/sweeper are extremely similar but I prefer the bigger mag for HA (sweeper) and the faster reload for LA (mauler)), the sweeper is MUCH more forgiving/less frustrating but the pump is possibly superior with practice. Personally I do not believe a heavy needs a fast kill time because of the shield so I would say sweeper shotgun or blitz smg if you hate shotguns. (I use the decimator with this because I just need an anti MAX launcher, no need for lock on - the default shrike is fine too). 3. Something in between - I use the SAW if I am in a siege line, a shotgun if I am in a building complex or this loadout if I am moving up on a complex. I have fully certed the Anchor/EM6/EM1/GD-22S and have come to love the GD-22S. Whilst the anchor may seem slightly better overall the 3 advantages of the GD are very important to me personally (2x scope available, single shot mode available, very low initial recoil - I rapid burst like crazy). I decided that what I really wanted was a gun which was accurate whilst scoped in and moving, the anchor and GD-22 both do this, anchor is superior if you prefer a laser sight, GD if you like foregrips. I use the lock-on AA launcher with this (because it can be dumbfired if I need it). Valeh has covered the carbines for you (My LA uses Mauler/pump - in building, GD/SMG - approaching building, Razor/Merc - rooftop assassin as my 3 setups). Medic. Use certs to buy the GR-22 for close range, this gun might be the best gun of all factions/classes in the game, it does not sacrifice much ranged power in exchange for considerable CQC advantages. The Gauss rifle outperforms ALL TR/VS ranged options already (get a FG and flash suppressor and burst burst burst - seriously fire at wall rapidly bursting compared to full auto). For your 3rd setup you can either use a shotgun for close work ( I would use the full auto - you won't be flanking and you don't have health so you need a FAST kill, the pump is also fine IF you can use it) or take the Reaper DMR and really have a ranged advantage over the other factions (this gun will need at least a 3.4 scope to really shine and does need HV ammo). SMGs. Blitz is better currently. Cyclone reloads faster and has easier recoil but the massive mag and super laser sight of the blitz make it far superior. Shotguns. If you only want one then I would get a semi-auto, it's your preference for reload vs mag size but keep in mind that the mauler has a higher velocity (good for slugs) and slightly tighter spread (good for about a 1m extra range...). The pump is theoretically superior to all shotguns if you can use it (combining the high kills per clip of the sweeper with the killing power of the piston with the good reload of the mauler (if only reloading after each kill)) but personally I prefer the easier to use Mauler. Snipers. The longshot is obviously better than the default but not by such a degree that I would includ eit in my budget if you only want a few guns. An SMG is a no brainer. For a mid range rifle, both semi auto's and the low zoom bolt action are cheap to get with certs if you want one - I like the impetus myself but this is so preference based that I can't really help. Overall my priority would be: Use SC to unlock these essentials: 1. Mauler/Sweeper. 2. GD-7F carbine. 3. A ground to air option or 2 (Hawk/Burster). 4. Second MAX anti-inf arm (I use scatcannons because hacksaws would cost twice as much). 5. A long range Magrider counter (crow or the new phoenix). Possibly use SC to unlock these desirables: 1. Blitz SMG (ONLY if you want to play smg infil a lot/you didn't buy a shotgun, otherwise don't bother). 2. Longshot sniper rifle (ONLY if serious about long range sniping). 3. MAX anti tank arm (ONLY if you want to play MAX a lot, also some new ones seem to be on the way so I would wait on this). 4. Decimator (This is superior to the shrike in any situation where you would want a dumbfire launcher but like the longshot it is not really needed, wait for a half price sale at least). Use Certs to buy: 1. GR-22 Assault rifle (250). 2. GD-22S LMG (100). 3. Mid range sniper rifle (100, 250 or 500 depending). Those are the essentials I think, that's 5-9 700SC unlocks which is what 35-70$. If a double/triple sale comes around this easter thats 17-35/12-23, bargain.
Strongly disagree against the Sweeper or Mauler shotguns in their current state. Unlike their TR or VS equivalents, these guns took a massive hit from the nerf bat when GU04 hit. Their recoil is immense - so much so that firing the Piston semi-auto is considerably easier. Hoping they fix this tonight with the GU05 update. Fingers crossed.
Well I am going on the assumption that that was unintentional and will be bug fixed out. I think they were hit by a coding error not a nerf bat.
Seriously.... Ok as someone who plays Heavy on NC, like all day err day. I am really starting to love.....hear me out on this ok.....LOVE the Anchor with foregrip, SPA, and a Mark IV x4 scope or IR/NV scope. I **** you not, if you can overcome the wonkiness that is Anchor this thing destroys mid range as well. It may not be your go-to weapon for long range engagements, but that's why you have the Lawl Saw. Use the Anchor and boost your mouse sensitivity while ADS. The Mark IV scope on this gun is actually pretty useful, if you can cope with recoil.
Thanks for the replies guys, it has given me a lot of information to process. By the way, if I buy a Camo, can I apply it to >everything< (uniform, vehicles, weapons), or do I have to buy a unique camo for all three?
What about the SAW S LMG? It seems like it is pretty much the default SAW, but with a little higher ROF(and possibly more accurate too?) at the cost of 25% of the magazine. It seems pretty much like an upgrade unless you really love huge magazines.
