I've been playing mostly with my TR char, but I've been going to NC lately. I'm not sure which gun to go with though... The GD-7F (I think that's what it is..) would be comparable to the Jaguar, I think, but it's also 1,000 Certs.. How's the Razor? Or should I go for the Gauss Compact S? I'm kinda fond of the NS-11C, but I wanted to give the NC's flavor of guns a go. I've got the AC-X11, but so far, the gun seems meh, to me. Sure, it's got 200 dmg per bullet, but the rof is lacking. To be fair, I have no attachments for it yet, either.
Honestly, you can go pretty far with just the default mercenary. It's a very well rounded weapon. The AC-X11 is great but it's pretty much the complete opposite of what you're used to as a TR player, so I would say that's probably not the best one to start with. The GD-7F is pretty much the least NC weapon in the arsenal so you won't get much faction flavor from it but all the same a ton of people use it. If the AC-X11's RoF is a concern the Razor isn't going to be much faster and has a very similar style to it where you're using the high damage and low RoF to place your shots more accurately to make up for the lower DPS. But my personal recommendation for a player coming from TR would probably be the Bandit. It's about halfway between the default mercenary and the GD-7F but if you're worried about the cert investment then that might be an issue as well.
The Razor you get for completing the survey is a very solid weapon, think about it like a long range mercenary, and as an engineer theres where you should be, awaaaay from battle.
AC-X11 is rather hard to use so I'd avoid it for a while. You can get back to it after a you will get accustomed with the NC gunplay. IMO Razor is a perfect all-rounder. I run it on my LA as a dedicated marksman weapon with x4 scope, HV and forward grip and it's still effective in hipfire CQC . It's one of the easiest NC weapons to use and it will be ok in almost any situation. But if your Engie play is less offensive and more support-focused or if you often find yourself in CQC encounters, GD-7F is a better choice. It's a TR-style bullet hose and with adv laser sight mobile hipfire play will win you most CQCs. It can't do jack past 15 meters though, so if you plan to provide fire support, you can ignore this one. Can't say much about shotguns, as I never use them but I guess you're familiar enough with them as they are rather similar across all empires.
Stick with the Mercenary for a while. It's a very solid gun, and there are better things to spend your certs/SC on.
The Merc is a good all around default carbine. The razor, slower ROF, higher bullet velocity, shorter reloads, lower first shot recoil multiplier, and same damage tier as Merc. It is basically a more controllable merc, less ROF means less recoil, and higher velocity means less leading targets. The GD-7F is a bullet hose, worthy of TR. Short range, high ROF, low damage, very TR like weapon. I only use this on my engineer, as it blows through ammo so fast I need to have my own ammo supply to use it.. The AC-X11, while it has 200 damage, it lacks in bullet velocity and mag size, so if you don't headshot with it, you are going to die.. I see no reason to use an AC-X11 on an engineer, they can use Battle Riffles if you want to plink at dudes from range. I have the GD-7F, the AC-X11, and the Razor, I recently gave them all up and just run Cyclone SMG on everything now.. Unless I am going into a longer ranged combat, then I equip a long range gun.
you should also consider the af-4a bandit it is my personal favorite engineer carbine. i mean it took me some getting use to buy i,m ready to Auraxium it. but i,m going to do my lmgs first before doing my carbines. http://planetside.wikia.com/wiki/AF-4A_Bandit
I thought about the AF-4A Bandit, but that 1,000 cert cost makes me shy away from it. Too much other stuff first.
Personally, I just picked up the AC-X11 today for my NC alt (my main is VS) and I'm loving it. It takes some getting used to, since it has a lot of recoil, and you have to be 100% accurate or you'll die, but that 3 shot headshot kill in CQC is brutal. I went on a 6 killstreak today with my LA, and I didn't reload even once before I died. (Granted, not ALL my shots were headshots, but most of them were, since I had the height advantage).
The AC-X11 is basically the true definition of the NC, slow heavy hits other than a rain of light punches. Trust me when i say that this gun is just as good as the Trac-5, it's just requires better accuracy to use. If your looking for a good carbine on your NC engineer, the Razor is a good choice for the guy who runs his mags dry often, with the fastest reload time and best bullet velocity of the NC carbines, but do note it will take that extra bullet to kill that guy in front of you from it's lack in RoF (50 bpm less than the Mercenary). It's a good training tool for the weapon set available.
I'll go along with most of the other folks here, the default Merc is a very good weapon and an excellent way to get used to NC weapons. The only thing I don't like about it is the sound. If you've played with the Cougar on TR, the Razor is extremely similar. It has a fast reload, good accuracy, and excellent muzzle velocity but has a lower ROF than the Merc. The AC-X11 is basically a cut-down Gauss SAW, the handling is similar; it hits like a truck but IMO its drawback is the small magazine size (24 vs. 30 for most other carbines) and the poor muzzle velocity, plus it's terrible in CQC. The GD-7F is totally un-NC-like, it's basically a Jaguar, high ROF, low damage, and lethally accurate hipfire. It was the dominant CQC weapon (along with the Serpent) before the SMGs came along. The Razor is my personal favorite, but my only auraxium medal is in the Gauss Compact S because of the grenade launcher (back when it was good, before the nerfs UBGLs have taken). The Compact S is not a particularly good weapon overall though. I'd say give the Razor a try, and possibly the Bandit.
I honestly prefer the Razor, mainly because it doubles as a fantastic weapon to prop up as a LA with. Also, nice signature.
Merc is a great starting weapon, well rounded and a good starter gun to get used to how NC guns work. No cert investment required, just point gun and shoot man.
The Merc is a really solid choice, I used it as the ONLY weapon on my Engineer for almost a year. But now I use the Razor. It just works better for me because I can land headshots and track moving targets more consistently at all ranges. I used the Warden for a while too (and It's really good in open-field engagements and counter-sniping), but I like the versatility the Razor offers. It has a very predictable recoil pattern, slower RoF, and higher bullet velocity, so it's suited better for mid-long range engagements than the Merc, but still holds in own up close. Plus you get access to a couple attachments the Mercenary doesnt.
Ns-11c Average ttk, dps, but great accuracy and little recoil. I use it for mid range fights mostly. Bullet speed is a bit too slow for long ranged fights. Ac-x11 has doesn't damage fast enough for my tastes in mid ranged fights. Notice I don't mention technical stats. It's irrelevant to me. I just go by what my personal experience is and not what the math tells me. I hope this helps!
MY advice would be to stay clear of the AC-X11, I had a m8 that loved it. Stopped playing for a bit and remember I had one LA snipey fit that I had done well with in the past with the AC-X11. Also it seems cheap, but it is ridiculously expensive with attachments, which it needs or it is unusable imho. I tried it and was amazed by the garbage it was, the first shot recoil is so devastating that it becomes a single fire weapon if you expect to be able to ever have a chance of a head shot. I believe they gimped it a bit in my absence, not sure. Taking that into account, its stats are horrible single-fired and its handling worse. I notice that all the duck and cover play works a lot better with the mercenary that lets you lead your shot up into the body and resets quickly so you can actually put damage on a moving target at mid ranges. The only other carbines that share that are the Bandit and the GD-7F, and since we are talking engineers give the Warden a shot instead of the **** carbines. I've tried them only in VR but they're really nice, especially the bandit makes me excited to unlock later.
I'll give a sort of "review" of all of the guns I have for Engineer and how I like them. Mercenary: Nice gun, can be used in almost all scenarios, decent RPM and velocity. Short to mid range is good for this gun. Gauss Compact S: amazing gun for CQC, I prefer UBGL to anything else for rail attachment, allows for some good AOE coverage, and you can hit tanks for a small amount of damage. Gauss Compact Burst: Amazing Mid to Long range Carbine, have not fully certed this beast, but it's really good for ranged combat. AC-11X: Hard to use, but fun when you learn how to. Go for a 2x sight and no other sight, for control you need the AFG, Compensator, and the HVA. Razor GD-23: great gun for Short to Mid ranges, and just like the AC-11X, go for a 2x sight or a 4x, 3.4x is really weird for this gun. It can be used for long ranges, but not advised. MKV-Suppressed: A beast of a gun, almost no vertical recoil, and is KILLER for CQC due to it's RPM and Velocity for a suppressed weapon, If you know how to ambush people, this gun becomes a vital ambush tool, it also has a max of a 40 round mag, making it perfect for taking out 2 people before a reload, which is pretty short as is.
