Final MCG analysis and possible solutions

Since this patch is going to hit live this week, I guess this is the final chance to fix the MCG.

On the PTS, the MCG has a fixed ADS COF and the hipfire COF is capped so early that it might as well be fixed too. The problem is that with the ADS COF, it is the same as the maximum COF you can reach while ADSing on live server. I'll have a gallery of pictures depicting it below. My solution is to just tighten the ADS COF a bit to justify cutting your movement speed in half. As it stands now, the JACKHAMMER has a longer effective range than the MCG, and that just doesn't make any sense. And that's not even mentioning the fact that it only fires at 844 rpm at full spin now with the BRRT attachment, but that's fine since they made it do 143 damage even with BRRT equipped, unlike before. I was just commenting on the fact.

Another subject I want to touch upon is the BRRT attachment itself. Without it, the MCG is just as bad as it ever was, but with it, it actually makes the MCG somewhat competitive. The problem is, you'll be gimped if you ever decided to NOT run the BRRT on the MCG, so I think it should be moved to the muzzle slot. This way you can still have a competitive MCG and you can even have extended mags so the mag doesn't disappear so quickly or laser sight if you want to make what rounds you have count while hipfiring.

I would also like to add that the PTS MCG only has a 1.5x headshot multiplier. It's literally a pure DPS gun at this point but if the bullets can't hit you're in a pretty ****** spot.

That's about it, I think. The MCG is just one or two steps away from being a great gun. We can't stop now when it's so close to being what it should be.

Gallery

PTS MCG hipfire and ADS COF comparison. Hipfire on the left and ADS on the right. This VS dummy is 10m away.

Comparison between the PTS MCG in ADS and the live MCG at max ADS COF. It's the same, I just wanted to point out that you're losing out on the pinpoint ADS accuracy of the live MCG and gaining nothing in return.

Comparison between hipfire and ADS COF with the laser sight attachment on the PTS.

The left picture is hipfire, the right is ADS. I repeat, the left picture is HIPFIRE. The laser sight doesn't even decrease the cap for the COF, it blooms to the same level it does without it so it gives you just an extra split second of slightly better hipfire. Not worth it in the least, IMO.

My thoughts:-

Cone of Fire is fine
Default Magazine needs a x2 or x1.5 buff.

Ammo reserve accordingly.

I remember when the FART was still around, the MCG seemed good out to about 30-40m. Which was great, as it had a better effective range than shotguns but deteriorated massively at range (I think I had a 2.5s TTK at 60m compared to MSW-R with 1.5s TTK at 60m).

The current PTS MCG has an ADS cone of 1.5, which we can see equates to an effective range of about 10m. You are right in that the weapon does not have that great reach, and the cone should be tightened up.

The real question is how far should the MCG reach? The Live version can "reach" out to 80m, but it is horrible at it. Ideally, the loss in maximum range would equate to a solid and consistent close-mid range performance.

Its optimal range should cap at just under 20m, so tightening the COF to 1.25 or even 1 would be the best choice. As it stands now, it starts to miss a large portion of its shots at 10m. At all ranges 20m and under, the MCG is outperformed by the Jackhammer, sadly. I'm fine with the Jackhammer doing better at CQC, but the MCG should at least have some more of its rounds hit at ranges between 10m and 20m to balance it out. It's just silly that a shotgun has better range than it does.

Yeah, It should have at least the range of the Jackhammer, because when your shotgun reaches farther than your chaingun, you know something is wrong.

Well to be fair, the Jackhammer is the best shotgun in the game and next to the Canister it has the tightest spread.

That's a big disappointment for me. Higby said that the MCG would be higher than the lynx's 896 (now 904?) rpm, but now it's practically a TRV with a larger ammo magazine but spinup time and a poorer COF. I was hoping the MCG would be one of PS2's signature ROF guns, even at the cost of its 143 damage.

Which each iteration of the MCG, SOE just seems to make it worse, not better.

20 m is still ridiculously bad - I'd like to see some usability beyond that range, at least reaching 30-40m.

The spin up mechanic is just dumb and doesn't work in PS2, not when the TTK is so short/low. Wish they'd remove that entirely even.

My thoughts - make it 900 rpm, 125 damage, no spin-un or attachment for that, tighten the COF.

900 rpm and 125 doesn't really work unless the MCG has a larger magazine size or can equip BRRT and ext. mags at the same time, preferably with 925-950 rpm to go with it.

The cap for the MCG's ranged power should be 20m. 20m-30m should be *possible*, but not optimal. As it is now it has no features whatsoever that the Jackhammer isn't just plain better at.

Even with the upgraded attachment, I don't see how it's that much better than live. It suffers heavily in accuracy, as has been stated, at anything beyond 15-20m. Not really worth it, IMO. Just get an SMG or Carv and close in with the enemy, at least you'll be able to take out one of 'em while you get shot to pieces, instead of just getting instagibbed by someone with a SMG.

This is the sad thing. Even though the MCG has been through many changes in the past week, it STILL doesn't do anything better than current weapons, nor does it have a niche at which it performs better at than even a default gun like the CARV. The MSW-R will still be much better for close range than the new MCG will be, and you can even use it well at range.

It's a damn shame. I really hope this version isn't the finalized one.

I'd just get rid of the BRRT and spin-up entirely. Just faster RPM, 125 damage, and put on extended mags if you want to.

Up to 30m non optimal sounds reasonable.

Suppressive fire.

What they can do is that, make the BRRT a fire mode and not an attachment.
The other fire mode will make the MCG as it currently is, that is far more accurate.

Exmags can be put on as an attachment.

Why did people have to complain that the attachment dropped the damage in return for the extra firerate? As if that is not a balanced and reasonable idea? It was great before, and the fire rate boost was huge. It actually felt fast. Now what you get from the attachment is a very minor rate of fire boost in return for half a mag size (by neglecting the extended mag option), which makes it very OP in very close ranges, but with less projectiles flying per unit time/more reliance on fewer projectiles, it has less chance to hit at ranges where its accuracy is bad, making the MCG a very loud SMG. Congratulations, you whined until it got made worse, now suffer.

-an MCG lover who loved the FART and hates the post-whine BRRT

I actually like the BRRT.

It makes the spin-up unnoticeable if you turn off your sounds.
Starts off at something like 750 RPM, and takes 5 bullets to reach 850 RPM.

The problem isn't the attachment, honestly. It's fine, just needs to occupy the muzzle slot. The problem is that you NEED it to be competitive and that the MCG has bad enough ADS COF that shotguns have better range than it does.

Because at 125 damage and 920 rpm, all it did was burn through the magazine faster with a higher TTK. It basically gave you smaller magazines with no tangible benefit. And if you think the MCG is "OP in very close ranges", then you should see the Cycler TRV, Serpent, or GD-7F, which all are 845/143, far more accurate, have more effective range, and they even have full x2 headshot multiplier damage, where the MCG only has 1.5x headshot multiplier.

If anything, the current MCG is garbage. It needs to fire in a tighter spray since it doesn't do anything better than ANY CQC option, SMGs, shotguns, anything. As it sits now, I would have more success using a Hailstorm on my heavy assault than it. The MCG just has the factional pride going for it and that's the only reason it ever gets used. If it was just a regular LMG no one would ever use it.

I do think all of those weapons are very to ridiculously OP. I don't think any 143dmg weapons should have a fire rate greater than 750, it's just bad balance.

All 143 weapons that have higher than 750 rpm have drawbacks that limit their range. If you think that they're OP then you must think the Jackhammer is the new ZOE MAX.

Non-default weapons are meant to be specialized to their roles. Weapons such as the TRV, Cyclone, Serpent, and so on are meant for CQC but give up their effectiveness at range. On the other hand, the Razor, Corvus, SABR, and related weapons are meant for range but aren't good in CQC. Is it OP that they perform well at their intended range?

Edit: It really doesn't matter. I'm not going to derail the discussion to argue other things. Let's stick to the subject of the MCG.

I'm terribly dissapointed about that as well, higby could at least have the courtesy to re-tweet the change.

Why don't they just make the BRRT (/ FART/ whatever they wanna call it on the barrel) a barrel attachment that increases the COF to what it is right now with the current "no increase if you ads" system but only when you have the attachment on. Essentially why don't they just make this an attachment so you can kind of switch it between a CQC weapon to a OMG SNIPING CHAINGUN OP gun like it is now depending on the situation and what the player wants.