I much prefer the SVA-88 over the Orion, even though the TTK is a bit lower, the bigger magazine makes up for it.
Exactly, and with a bit of practice Im able to land all 3 rounds in burst fire on target at 50m and farther. I have tried with our other rifled and just cant do it. Even in cqb which Im terrible at the rof of the 88 is fast enough that I can pound a heavy with its shield up and generally get the kill so long as I started with full health.
I use the Flare with HVA. This is to improve the speed of the bullets while retaining the damage per bullet. I also use the compensator and forward grip to compensate for the recoil which HVA induces. Long range is still a problem with the Flare even with HVA though.
To the O.P. My tips as a Vanu Heavy Heavy: Your original gun is the Orion. Pay 100 (yes only 100) Certs to get the (pular?) LMG with 75 'bullets' per battery/clip. THE NEAR LACK OF RECOIL IS AMAZING and you get another 25 rounds per clip. It's bar stats are indistinguishable from the Orion's. Best cert purchase I have made in the game so far.
The thing is, all the other factors are all in favor of the Orion as well. It's only - only - downside is the 50/150 ammo count. Which honestly isn't that much of a problem, other classes are doing just fine with 30/150.
Yeah the orion has the highest fire rate but smallest clip size. I have the pulsar LSW I prefer to the orion but tend to use the flare wtih compensator+high velocity ammo + extended magazine giving 150 in the clip. But that's my play style, press F, jump into the middle and spray everything.
I'm a Pulsar LSW guy currently. It's an Orion with a slightly longer TTK and 75 rounds in the magazine. I can take out 3-4 people before reloading, which I find more useful for defending.
Thats very true, but when played effectively the HA shouldnt die nearly as often as the other classes making it more dependent on ammo capacity. Even with the 88 I find myself running around with the pistol looking for our eng for ammo because Ive lived long enough to run out of all ammo.
My advice would be to trial a few of the others. I have met a lot of people who absolutely swear by the Flare, surprisingly. Sometimes the stats don't tell the whole story - TTK stats are usually under ideal (point blank, no shots miss) conditions. In real combat, you might find that a theoretically inferior weapon actually offers more reliable kill rates.
So I guess the ironic phrase "first world problems" in this game would be "vanu problems" ? You have problems that sound redicules to the non-vanu.
Yeh Orion is good, after getting my Auraxium medal with it, I switched over to the Flare. It's pretty cheap. The extra 25 round per mag and overall ammo pool is great. Hits pretty hard with the soft point ammo. I won't be going back to the Orion.
two reasons: -low ammo capacity -low attachement variety Given that high ammo capacity is the ONLY advantage of lmgs over assault rifles, this is pretty bad actually. Assault rifles beat LMGs in every other area and even carbines are better in many stats. So when using the Orion you basically give up the LMGs only advantage to get some other stats a little higher. In other words: the Orion is a nerfed down AR for players that want to use an AR when playing HA for some reason.
Well, you just said LMGs are like AR but worse, and then you wonder why someone would pick an AR-like LMG over an LMG? I miss LMGs from BF2142. They weren't actually just bigger, more awkward ARs, they had their own strengths and weaknesses.
the SVA-88 is the VS version of other empires S weapons (e.g carv and carv-s). you trade about 6-7% damage (less if you use HV ammo) for more ammo, mag or "battery" size (75) and a compensator plus you get 630 bullet velocity by default. Its a good trade to boost an already good weapon so worth the upgrade. best weapon ingame statswise (still baffles me why VS lmgs get a 0.75 ads movement speed) but after the fate of the carv, who knows for how long.
Well.. not exactly. I sometimes use the Orion myself. I just wonder why someone would play HA if he doesnt want the only advantages of LMGs. The Orion, while being the LMG closest to an AR is still a good deal worse than the AR, while mostly giving up the only Advantage of LMGs. If you really need an AR, you should play medic.
I suppose the majority of people play Heavy for the Shield or the Rocket Launcher. I like my Orion, it's a great allround weapon; in base fights, killspeed often is everything. But killspeed isn't theoretical ttk. If another weapon offers softpoint ammo and a compensator, that makes it better at base fighting range due to increased accuracy and damage. If the enemy is jerking around or you have to fight at long range, high ammo capacity is great. And mostly, those 200 rounds don't last a life. It's great to have choices, and I like being able to fit a gun to a playstyle. Currently using the Pandora, and the CQC Killspeed is definitely superior. As in, mow down a half Sunderer of Infantry within 2 Seconds superior. Just is it a superior weapon, thanks to it's great ttk? Nope; it's useless above 10m, and I have precisely TWO reloads. SVA-88 is really great for that reason, thinking about replacing the Orion in my LMG loadout so it's notable different from the shotgun. Also thinking about the Ursa, but trials without attachments might as well not exist. It's all your choice.
Yeah exactly, it's beastly at medium range, you can burst anyone down especially w/ high velocity ammo. I feel like with the Orion I have to reload all the time, but the SVA-88 I can get 3-4 kills before having to reload.
