NC - Default is best by wide margin TR - Default is best by wide margin VS - Havent played enough to be 100% sure, but default seems like the best (by wide margin) Hope it helps
Choose between the Mercenary for all-around, AX-11 for mid-long and Cyclone for CQC deathmurdering for NC. Not familiar with TR's arsenal as much, but I know the Jaguar is basically a straight upgrade to the Trac-5 with better recoil, x.75 ads speed, advanced laser and SPA. For VS, the Pulsar C is great at mid-range, and the VX6-7 has the best hipfire in the game after it's advanced laser is added. All others are mediocre.
The thing is, there isn't any real "best gun" for Light Assault, all guns are pretty equal in power and are supposed to be side-grades and you should try all of them because they're all good, however, as player who plays LA on all factions I can give you a few recommendations : For TR, the most widely considered best carbine is Jaguar. It has great stats all-around except for the reload, it's very easy to use and it only gets more powerful the better you get. Great gun, must own if you like playing light assault. If you're planning to fight at range, both T5 AMC and Cougar are good mid-long range carbines. For NC it's a bit different. When you start the game and up until you get pretty good, the default Mercenary is the best as it's good both in close range and and long range due to having decent DPS and good accuracy. Once you feel that you've stepped up your game, you have a few choices : AC-X11 - Mid-long range carbine with amazing accuracy while aiming down the sights meant for long range combat. GD-7F - Fast firing CQC gun with great hip-fire and fire rate, and surprisingly good accuracy. Cyclone - The best CQC gun for NC, and you can use it on all classes. Bandit - NC's version of the Jaguar that's slightly harder to use. Choose which one you like more when you get good enough. As for VS, it's complicated. The starting carbine Solstice, while good enough, is a mediocre gun for starters due to the insanely high first shot recoil, therefore it's pretty hard to use at range, but also other guns have higher DPS so it also gets outclassed in CQC and requires a bit of practice to get used to, because your most effective range is 15-40m. There are two pretty cheap yet great carbines : Pulsar C - Basically a straight upgrade over the Solstice. Most accurate Vanu carbine, super short reload and hip-fire is good for a long-range gun. Serpent - A GD-7F with a different recoil pattern and a higher first shot recoil. It's a super fast fire rate CQC gun. That's basically it.
No, for VS not the default. No no no no. I have Auraxium'd most VS carbines (except Solstice SF and Solstice Burst) and, no, not the default. Not by a long shot. For VS there's a distinct difference in long range and CQC. Anything outdoors/roofs Pulsar C is your way to go. For indoors there's 2 options, depending on preference: VX6-7 and Serpent. Serpent will give you the most 'oomph' but requires you to be really close. It's kinda an SMG disguised as carbine with really good damage. VX6-7 trades in a bit of ROF for a much more controllable gun that can be useful outside hipfire range as well. In CQC ranges shotguns are a decent alternative too. Can't comment on TR or NC since I own only 2 carbines on those factions.
The Jaguar is the best ES Carbine for the TR. The Cougar and Lynx are great at long range and CQC respectfully. My favorite Carbine is in NS-11c, but I mostly play Engineer. The best shotgun, in my opinion, for the LA in either the standard Barrage, or the Nighthawk Auto-shotgun.
For someone who's auraxed all carbines, you sure don't seem to remember them that well. The VE3 is an excellent all-arounder. If you had to only use a single carbine, that would be the one. The Pulsar C does offer more range than the VE3 but if you're really looking to gain a range advantage, the Solstice Burst is what you want. Between the VX6-7 and the Serpent, the Serpent is the one that is easiest to control. The VX6-7 has a ridiculous FSRM and hard right recoil, limiting its range, while the Serpent has some really smooth left recoil. Personally, my three favorites are VX6-7, VE3 and Solstice Burst, from close to long range. However, it's not like they're all that different. You could also go Serpent, Pulsar C and Solstice Burst and get pretty much the same results.
I love the lynx personally, because its high RoF burns through nanoweave and the effects of damage drop. I do wish it had a 45 round mag to make up the lost damage sometimes, but that's a small price to pay, especially after the inquisitor buff. at range, it get's hit harder by nanoweave than others (+3 instead of +2 due to it's minimum damage) so it's something to keep in mind. The cougar is also a beast when you're feeling outdoorsy or need to get another LA off of a tower or something. The jaguar is best for transitional environments, like in biolabs where you can be taking back a point one minute and shooting from the roof of the point building all the way to the rocks, crescent building, or tower in the next. trac5shot is unworthy of mention. putting a laser sight on a gun that needs a grip isn't all that. for NC once you get the fortuna there's no looking back. I personally feel the 167/600 profile sucks without SPA due to the way damage drop breaks it. Due to nanoweave similarly breaking the damage v.s. firerate war you need to get your headshots to circumvent that, and once you both have the same headshots to kill (4) it becomes a joke if you're still too close for accuracy to matter but they have over 50% higher RoF... that being said, until you unlock that there's GCS w/soft point, ACX11 for further out, and the GD7f which is an old favorite, also the bandit. for VS, solstice burst master race lol. The pulsar c is a slight upgrade from the solstice, but not enough to forego infinite ammo when you get the eclipse vx6-7 is the bee's knees. The serpent, like the gd7f, is good at doing what you would grab a pump action for, but better in every way outside of 6m.
I will not deny that the default Solstice is an OK weapon, but I cannot take you serious when you recommend the Solstice Burst. That weapon does not have the damage or the accuracy to be a competitive long range carbine. Tapfiring an NS-11C/Pulsar C will get more results. And Pulsar C will help you much better in more situations and is much more noob friendly. There is a reason why the Solstice Burst is the least used Carbine - yes even less used than Solstice SF! VX6-7 is also my favourite carbine (for indoors). Outdoors I take Pulsar C. Or I would, if I weren't trying to auraxium the NS-11C first VX6-7 is the carbine I run to if my K/D is staying too low for too long. And yes, it has been a while since I touched the Serpent. But I do remember having a hard time using it effectively, and I do remember wishing to never touch it again, unlike the VX6-7 and Pulsar C. Also, don't use Zenith. If you need 5 Carbines, in order I recommend: VX6-7 Pulsar C Serpent Solstice NS-11C Zenith Solstice Burst. Solstice SF would be a gimped solstice with underbarrel attachments, so I suppose it could do as 5th instead of NS-11C. The Solstice SF is the only carbine I don't own, so I can't say for sure.
This guy has it pretty much on the money, but I'll fill in the TR blanks. Jaguar for close-mid, Cougar for mid-long (or well paced flanking), Lynx or Armistice for CQC.
The Solstice Burst can be compared to CQC bolt action sniper rifles. In the hands of the average player, they're trash. They're highly situational and pretty much everyone tells themselves they're better off with a semi-auto, a scout rifle or an SMG. Yet, in the hands of a skilled player, a CQC bolt action rifle is a terrifying weapon. Similarly, the Solstice Burst, while it may take some getting used to, far outranges both the Pulsar C and NS-11C. You're right that the Pulsar C is more versatile, though, so it's all about knowing what you're getting into and staying in a position that favors your weapon. Perhaps you simply prefer the upper-right recoil pattern of the VX6-7 over the almost flat left recoil of the Serpent. On that, we mostly agree. The SF's advantage is mostly that you can fit many roles on a single weapon. Putting a compensator and adv. foregrip on it will net you a performance at range similar to the NS-11C. SPA and a laser sight will make it serviceable in CQC. Smoke / Grenade / Shotgun rail attachments offer variety for specialized or gimmick builds. ( Smoke LA or Grenadier, for example). I found playing with the Zenith to be the worst experience I've had with carbines. Its accuracy was meh, the DPS was meh, the reload speed wasn't impressive, all for a .75 ADS. That's just it, really, it's a VE3 that took a hit to all stats for .75 ADS, and overall is just a bad Jaguar.
Currently I have a pair of carbines for LA and Engie. One is high RoF for CQC and the other is a burst carbine for long range. They are: VS = VX6-7 and Solstice Burst NC = GD7F and Gauss Compact TR = Lynx and TRAC5 Burst Making sure I've chosen the right one for a particular battle or can swap easily is not too hard for Engie but I have just started playing LA more than previously and it is not so easy. So I am trying out what may be a more versatile all-round type for NC (the Bandit) and I may go back to my trusty TR Jaguar for the same reason. Not sure about VS. Personally I find them all a bit disappointing compared to other faction weapons but I can't work out quite why. I will probably go back to the Solstice VE3 - a nice weapon because easy to use.
