Seems like the EM1 gets alot of hate so I'm just say some stuff about it. I've used the EM6, Gauss SAW and EM1 plenty now and I think the EM1 is a great gun in close quarters, my favourite one in fact. I put 1x Scope + Soft Point Ammo + Adv Laser Sight + Flash Suppressor and I get a gun that's pretty much a 100 bullet carbine that cost altogether 530 certs. The small cone of fire (no need to aim down sights are -15m), 100 bullet magazine, fast reload, next to no recoil makes it a great all rounder at close ranges. Granted, EM6 and God SAW wins easily at long range engagements(80m+), this gun is great for people prefer medium to close ranges, I never liked long range fights because it's usually pretty hard to kill targets far away without them taking cover somewhere. I think this gun is very versatile like the Trac-5 and AF-19 unlike shotguns and other LMGs which are too oriented for short range or long range. It's great option fighting at bases have to fight in both open ground and indoors like Ti Alloys, The Crown, Tech plants even Bio Labs (If everyone isn't using boomsticks) I'm definitely not the first one who realized this. Some tips when using the EM1 with that setup, aim for the head at all times, never aim down sights at -10m and strafe left and right lots. Even though it's good at short range, if you're in a tower, using a shotgun is probably better. I'm not saying this gun is best gun of all LMGs or that you should use it all the time, but it's definitely alot better than people make it out to be. Experience : Have Auraxium for NC01, S6, NC6, EM6, AF-19, T9, F1, EM1, Shrike, Titan-150 HEAT, Breakers, M14, PPA, Thanatos, Orion. BR 76 on NC.
SPA increases the gun's performance drastically. I'd say it's more important to have that than any single rail or barrel attachment.
Feels like Anchor is a straight upgrade. Lower TTK and better accuracy outside of close ranges. Better moving and stationary starting CoF, lower horizontal recoil. Even has better hip fire. I don't really seen any area where it isn't better than the EM1 other than vertical recoil being higher, but that's something you can compensate for unlike CoFs and horizontal recoil. Oh, and it does have lower velocity, but 600 is more than enough.
I personally haven't gotten the Anchor cause of the 50 bullet magazine. I run out of bullets for the Orion alot (both reserve and magazine). In contrast, I almost never run out of bullets with the Gauss SAW cause of its super low RoF
Luckily for the Anchor though it also has a slower rate of fire to balance it's 167 damage model, so you don't need to swap mags as often as the Orion and get more kills along with it I love the EM1 myself, nice supression LMG that can melt bad guys if you get close enough. It might not be my God Saw, but it has a special place in one of my loadouts
Yes its good! Whats wrong with you people?!! Dont see anyone posting threads saying that rocketpods are good, that orion is good, etc. Its obvious!
I'm not sure about good, but ok certainly. Its biggest problem is that something else is always better (in both the context of using something else and in facing something else).
The annoying firing sound is reason enough to not use it. The 143 damage feels not NC and it has no exceptional ROF to justify it. -.-
Having auraxiumed it myself I would say the gun is great for indoor combat, but I still think that the Saw-S and EM6 are better suppression tools for the medium - short range fights you advertise its use in. EM1 simply does not work very well when you try to shoot someone not in the "sweet spot" before damage dropof.
Am I the only person that thinks the EM1 is incredibly underrated at medium-long range? I also think it's better than the Anchor. The low recoil, above-average muzzle velocity and high RoF make it an incredibly versatile weapon in the hands of a skilled player. I think what makes people believe the EM1 is a bad weapon is the 143 damage it does. When you go from a 167 damage weapon and ESPECIALLY the Gauss Saw's 200 damage, it feels like an eternity to kill people. When I first started using it, I almost always lost fights because I took my finger off the trigger a split second too soon. I think it is one of the best NC guns in the game.
For some reason extended mags (200 rounds) on this weapon make it really good for me. IRNV, get a good defensive posision and just keep hosing em (go fore heads with the little recoil).
The bullet damage isn't the issue, it is the DPS (i.e. bullet damage x RoF), and as such it simply doesn't have a particularly great TTK. It has got a reasonably low skill ceiling though, but honestly if you practice enough with something like the Anchor (or EM6 - or even NC6 for that matter) it's likely to be significantly better.
i use the extended mag LMGs on all empires in my Demoman loadouts. Decimator, C4, AV nade, bandolier: Ultimate Loadout for Destroying everything and you will not need to reload once.
