I have been gone a while, I see HA has some new guns available... I have been using the flare for far too long, and get plain ***** CQC.. What gun would you suggest? I don't want to go the shotgun route, as I still want to be effective at medium range. Short and Medium is all I care about, not interested in long range. NS 15 I trialed seemed pretty solid, what about the SMG's? Thought and opinions? Appreciate it.
If you want to "hold your own" at close range against dedicated CQB weapons but still be able to engage enemies in the 20-30 metres range try out the NS-7 PDW. It's a little less powerful at .0 range than the other SMGs, but can beat them hands down after 20 metres. (still excellent at close range though) You can pick it up in the "Fresh Meat Pack" for a mere $1.99/199 station cash. (includes NS-7 PDW, a camo and an xp boost, which all together would normally cost $14.50). It's a great deal, and NS weapons are unlocked for all your characters when you spend real cash on them. It's the only thing I've ever bought in Planetside 2 and I don't regret it. Normally guns cost $7/700 SC, and I'm way to cheap for that. (I mean, why buy something that you can go out and get for free? ) Here's a video review by Wrel if you want to know more about it: Just a note: the fresh meat pack says it's only available for a limited time, and it's been around for a while so if you want to buy the NS-7+camo for cheap then it get it quick!
You have your Orion - what else may you wish? Its been nerfed, but its still very viable and good for close-range killing and some mid-range too. Also, SVA-88 as a universal weapon. Never tested it, but people like it.
For VS, the very best CQC LMG available is the basic Orion. The Orion also has better DPS at all ranges compared to the NS7.
Orion is the best at CQC SVA is also good I have both and used both alot but the Orion is more controllable and more devastating in typical engagements. SVA has 25 more rounds, but more recoil less ROF and longer reload. it feels more acurate though. I went from Orion, then used SVA but then went back to the Orion.
Orion for the fast ROF, Polaris for hipfire with advanced laser, but you will lose to higher rof weapons in CQC so Orion with laser is the best choice VS have for CQC as a HA.
actually you can be effective at medium - long range with shotguns if you unlock the slug rounds. i used to use my shotgun to out snipe snipers with a 4x scope. i like the Nova with the extended magazine (12 shots) 3 shots will drop most infantry at any range. it is semi-auto but it can easily fire as fast as you can click. hip fire with the Nova is horridly inaccurate in my experience, but aimed fire is incredibly precise.
Orion for sure or get a shotgun. Forget the SMG for heavy, it is inferior in all respects (except hipfire accuracy, but if you need that, get a shotgun instead). Flare is a long range weapon do not use it for anything else or you will get owned. SVA or Pulsar are both good weapons for any situation, but SVA has no flash supressor which is a deal breaker for me. Orion is not the best LMG for VS, because it does not have a 2x sight. After 30ms or so orion is starting to lose its edge.
Why use a slugshotgun on HA when you have access to Battlerifles? Battlerifles are incredibly good at range now, with the buff theyve recieved over the year. the HVA buff that's comming today will make it even more amazing Slugshotteys are for LA's and medics who want a makeshift DMR
The Orion is your best choice. SVA-88 if you're having trouble with the smaller mag and want more ammo capacity.
If by CQC you mean "hip-fire"... Even tho the Polaris is basically a funky Orion, it does offer one thing and that is a slower bloom, so when you just hold down full auto when you keep a clearner cone while firing from the hip longer than the Orion does, after about 2 second the Orions bullets are going everywhere, the Polaris keeps pretty steady till about 4 seconds of full auto. hip fire most of the time, you might look at the Polaris, aiming down sights the Orion beats it. Then again, if you JUST want to hip fire the Eridani submachine gun is even better than the Orion, for room to room CQC, because it has almost no bloom and does the EXACT same damage as the Orion for CQC purposes (I mean room to room combat). That is my main loadout for HA, Orion for medium work, Eradani for CQC... they are basically the same gun when you put them in those contexts each just a little better at the above roles. The Polaris would be the mixture of the two guns.
i don't know about the other factions but the slug rounds for the VS shotgun are much more precise than any of the assault rifles at medium or long range and if you maintain control slugs can easily kill targets much faster than assault rifles at pretty much any range without having to reload as often (as far as reloads vs. kills). in my experience the vanu rifles take about half a clip to kill most targets where shotgun slugs can do it in 3 shots (most of the time). when i was using my shotgun i averaged about 3 kills before having to reload. if your main goal is KD shotgun slugs are the way to go in my opinion. although currently i am using the lasher because it is the best infantry suppression weapon i have seen in the game even if it is horribly inaccurate and generally low DPS compared to any other main gun. (go here for my opinions and discussion on the lasher -> https://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/the-lasher.178973/#post-2587294 ) back to my original point though, with the shotguns you will need to keep an engi handy because it is very easy to burn all of your ammo very quickly. i am pretty sure my KD was at it's highest when i was using my Nova, but i was also perpetually hunting for ammo packs. it is very precise but you need to be very accurate because you have a lot fewer chances to miss shots and a similar rate of fire to most full auto weapons (as long as you can click fast).
I've started using the free Thanatos shotgun they gave out with the extra loadouts recently, and I was expecting something short-ranged, but after getting slug ammunition and some optics, I've been really surprised at the amount of reach the weapon actually has. With some zoom, taking people out at, say, 80 metres is absolutely no problem (and I've killed targets from much further away). It definitely has the SMGs beat in effective range. I've been running a generalist loadout with the CSZ 4x scope (because it has markings to help with adjusting for bullet drop, which the Vanu shotguns do have) and an extended mag along with the slug ammo, and it seems to be fairly effective in close combat as well, like you'd expect from a shotgun - the hipfire isn't as accurate as an SMG's (there's quite a bit of cone-of-fire bloom during extended fire) but the slugs have plenty of hitting power. You can do better with optics more tailored towards close quarters, obviously. I wouldn't recommend the laser sight, as the low magazine size (only 6 slugs by default) is a bigger issue than any lack of hipfire accuracy.
the nova is better for general purpose use because with the extended mag you can bump it up to 12 shots and i don't think it is that much weaker than the other shotguns. and even with the horrible hip fire if you ripple off 5 or 6 shots (which can be done very quickly) it is still usually enough to take someone out.
For CQC without being useless at longer ranges? Orion. For pure CQC the shotguns are directly overpowered (inb4 flamewar)
