It's in the stats. Compare it to a carv, it may have some minor stat boosts from it but the big thing to look at is the rate of fire. Same bullet damage, but almost 100 less rate of fire. Meaning it doesn't quite compete with the others factions default guns at close quarters. It has a vague niche somewhere between what people would consider mid and close range. But it loses out at actual mid and long range to our other weapons. The anchor is competitive with it at close range whole being arguably better at mid ranges. The only biggy about it is the 200 round extended mag. But the EM6 can get this too and considering the EM6's damage per bullet advantage. It also means it has more potential kills per mag than the EM1. Regardless of what you're trying to use it for. There's something much better at that job than it.
I use Em1 for flanking with a suppressor, soft point ammo and adv laser sight. Never would I go for something else. For 650 certs, I have soft point ammo, adv laser sight, suppressor and a LMG tha'ts not so bad. As I never intend to go in fights from the front, but always use every tactical option of the bases, I found it really awesome in towers for example, be it at close or medium range. True, you can't compete with a shotgun, you lose against NW 5 but whatever, I use Flak and nearly never shotgun. I like it when it's rough. Srsly, for 250 certs, don't bother with something else if you want a reliable weapon. In this opinion, ASMR, polaris, serpent, FAT, HV45 are mostly the only things I use, never cared to buy anything more expensive, these get the job done.
Hot ****, I think i might have to recant what ive said about the T16. I VRd it tonight. I for one LOVE its iron sights. G3 Assault RIfle optics...god those are beautiful. I want them on a NC gun fo sho. THe T16 is absurdly accurate to. No bullet spread, very controllable. I might honestly have to give that another go on my toon. Plus I think it kinda looks cooler now. As for EM1, It might have its own niche but I cant justify ever using it, given the insane effectiveness of the EM and NC6. NC6 im quickly falling back in love with it. Its been ****** people left and right. It might not be ideal for CQC, but idk what it is, I make it work.
The EM1 is a love it or hate it gun. I love it. I don't know where people are getting their accuracy issues, honestly. I feel the T32 Bull has more kick to it - which is bizarre by the way. I swear nearly 70% of all NC have a problem with handling recoil and the other 30% know how to pull their mouse in the opposite direction. Ironically, I'm not a big fan of the T16 Rhino, but then, I do enjoy my fast reloads and adv. lasers. Except with the CARV. The CARV is me enjoying a sort of masochistic fetish.
The EM1 is a bit odd. I don't mind it, it's gotten me kills, but I prefer the 167x600s more. From a gameplay perspective, I even prefer the Cyclone to the EM1, as it fires just as fast, and deals more damage where it matters (close range for both of them). The small magazine size isn't so bad, I'm a Heavy, just duck and reload fast. Not really sure what some people saying about controlling it's recoil, as many other NC LMGs have sharper vertical recoil. Saying that people who use a gun with more kick and like that better are bad at recoil control of a weapon with less recoil is somewhat odd. Someone I know swears by it, and I know he does well with it, but in a straight up fight, other weapons will beat it, either at close range with firerate and comparable damage, or at range with more controllable recoil. Say you are fighting an Orion user, 1v1. No overshields, or assuming you both have the same set up, for fairness. You simply will not be able to beat him in a close range fight, and at long range, it's only even, as both of you will be bursting. Same thing with the SVA-88, etc, any LMG with the same damage model, which fires faster. The RPM difference will decide the close range fight, and controlled fire will determine the ranged fight. Then for example the T16, which will perform the same in a panic situation up close, but has less recoil overall at range, in which somewhat influences TTK, if both users are average at controlling their weapons. If both have mastered their weapon's recoil, then the one who doesn't need to adjust as much has a subjectively easier time.
While there is some truth to what you're saying, it's nowhere near a foregone conclusion that the EM1 user will lose to an Orion user up close. Assuming all else is equal (which in and of itself is a rarity), the Orion user's rate of fire gives him a very slight advantage at close range, but then again all he has to do is whiff one or two more shots than the EM1 user to put them on a level playing field again. This is well within the margin of error afforded to the vast majority of firefights in this game. IMO, far too much emphasis is placed on TTK by most of this game's playerbase, as we're generally talking about tiny fractions of a second, and many other factors make a much larger difference in the outcome of battles. This in mind, the EM1 begins to look much more appealing when you take away TTK as a factor (as I do). It's fairly controllable, can accurately maintain long bursts out to mid-range, has HUGE magazines, is good at hipfire, and reloads extremely quickly. While the NC's other LMG's may outdo the EM1 in some of these parameters, the EM1 will always make up for this by being superior in the others. It's a very good all-around weapon. Also, it's the single BEST LMG in the game in terms of mag size versus reload time. I know I've said that before, but I just cannot stress enough how important this stat synergy is, and it's a shame so few people value it. EM1 is good. I like it a lot.
I use it as a "Poor Man's SMG" with IRNV, Foregrip and Supressor. It's average on close ranges/CQC, but it's the only usable situation for this rifle.
While I agree that we can't have perfect world, balanced fights that start and end based on numbers, it is the basis of much talk about opinionated "balance." You can find at least 10 people who have arguments formed on why X gun on Y faction is better than anything they have. Case in point, TR on the VX6-7 or GD7F. Those 2 have a fraction of a second faster TTK assuming perfect accuracy than any TR carbine, and boy do some TR like reminding the NC and VS about them. On the field, yes, the EM1 is somehow still workable. I like it, but not as much as others. But we like talking in kill times, and if we don't, people will pull out the stats and explain how it is to them.
EM1 is supposed to be a 150 round bullet hose. The problem is the CoF bloom for this type of weapon needs to be set to a very low max so weapon can remain semi accurate while firing a 100 round burst. Currently the CoF bloom for EM1 is to large. It doesn't need a low starting CoF just a average one. But that bloom needs to reach max very quickly and that max CoF bloom needs to the lowest max CoF bloom for a lmg. The same would apply to other factions versions of bullet hoses as well.
that's one way to use it (200 rounds, I think you mean)... but personally I find it more useful to use it with more finesse.
Suppressive fire, it's the highest ROF LMG the NC has with a 200 round mag and doesn't have a reload as long as the Vanguard cannons. It might not do the highest DPS, there will be guns with better COF or recoil but the EM1 is the only LMG that can put 200 rounds down range so quickly. There are a lot of situations were other LMGs are better and/or more versetail, but the EM1 is the only one capable of suppressive fire like that. Tough I'd love a A.Foregrip on it instead of a A.Laser sight.
EM6 with extended mags: slight slower ROF (8.6% or 10bullet/sec instead of 10.8) but more damages per mag (16% or 2400 dmges), better DPS (7.4% or 116 DPS more) and longer suppressive fire (8% longer or 1.6 sec more).
If I could make one change to the EM1, it would be to give it an ADS movement modifier of .75. I mean hey - NC is one gun short on that count anyway. If I could make a second change, it would be to give it a 2x scope. Man, that'd be a delicious and versatile weapon.
I've never bothered to comment on the forum, but after thinking the weapon sucked and finally using the EM1 for a pretty significant amount of time, I think it's a really underrated weapon with the advanced laser. Check out my stats with the EM1: https://players.planetside2.com/#!/5428010917270257681/weapons The stats (KPM, accuracy, headshots) are significantly better than all my other guns. Yeah, I know the weapon stats (RPM, bullet damage, etc) suck, but somehow I'm doing better with it than with other guns. It's not necessarily because I've gotten better. Check out my stats with the VS character I started around the time I started using the EM1; I'm not doing as good with SVA-88, especially accuracy and headshots https://players.planetside2.com/#!/5428077649096339329/weapons It seems like the advanced laser makes it a viable CQC gun which allows you to hipfire and headshot when you need to, evening the playing field against an non-headshotting Orion user, and the low recoil allows you to hit targets at range when bursting.
gratz SquattingPig, you figured out the gun and it seems to click for you. Your observations generally mirror what I've noticed.
que? the EM1 is like a laser compared to the anchor or saw! the weapon is ran for general purpose builds. It isn't particularly strong in any area, but the performance is very consistent and not particularly bad. DPS hardly matters, all LMGs are bad if that's the case. The perks of the EM1 are that you get 100-200 rounds with a quick reload, and about a 30 round burst before the COF blooms out of control. it could use a drop in horizontal recoil, from .2 to .1875, that's it tho, the higher horizontal recoil is made up for by the lower bloom expansion per shot. The EM6 is an upgrade in the hands of good players, but for everyone else the em1 offers similar performance or better. and even for a good player the lowered bloom comes in handy from time to time when you need to lay into 3-4 guys caught unawares. *edit* Use an adv. laser for a more close range oriented gun, or extended mag if you are more of an ADS user, I wouldn't recommend the grip, even with higher horizontal recoil the main enemy is bloom, which comes at you somewhere between 27-30 rounds regardless of if you use the grip.
