Orion is one of the best if not THE best lmg in the game. The flare in my experience is complete trash, and I imagine there's way too much attachments on there that would make it confusing and a cert drain for a player I assume is relatively new (you). In general, the start weapons are the best. I would update my abilities, such as adrenaline shield and medkits, then grab a good pistol such as the pilot/underboss/commissioner and finally a proper launcher (decimator). I'm not sure why you want to force a choice between 2 poor guns after you were given sound advice. Game descriptions are far from accurate and in many cases misleading, which is why you turned to forums for advice.. In any case, the flare is better in cqc if you land headshots, as it's a 3hk. Otherwise you're going to be left at a disadvantage since the fire rate is quite low. The polaris boasts better fire rate so it will be easier to use in cqc if you have trouble aiming for the head. In any case they are both bad weapons, there's much better options in the VS arsenal out there. Only reason you would have to switch from orion is to unlock the betelgeuse, which I warn you is a worse orion. Here are the weapons I would recommend for it: Orion NS-15 SVA-88 URSA or MAW PULSAR LSW Those are the easiest and most fun to use weapons, wouldn't recommend straying outside of that. It sounds like you've got enough certs to buy something new but certs are hard for you to earn and you don't want to wait until you eventually get 1000 certs to unlock something better so you turn to guns that are "expensive" but still affordable for you. I would advise you listen to others and suit your abilities and stuff first, because those will increase your survival and effectiveness, a new weapon will not. In any case if you're still stubborn about it, I would suggest deciding yourself: compare stats, try them in vr, test them for 30 mins on live, and see which one you like the most. https://planetside.fandom.com/wiki/VX29_Polaris https://planetside.fandom.com/wiki/Flare_VE6
if you want a general use LMG the Orion is simply good enough i personaly took the pulsar as my second for simple reason of access to extendet mags which to my knowledge the polaris doesn´t have supposedly being a squad support weapon ... soo more dakka if you want a ranged hard hitting NC gausssaw equivalent then rather take the ursa (gonna get me that one sometime later) over the flare ...
I am going to give a more detailed answer so you will have some yardstick to measure whether a certain LMG is good for a specific scenario or not. But in general, do not trust the weapon descriptions on PS2 because (a) the weapons have been tinkered and changed over and over again alongside the years (b) the quality of those descriptions (as pointed out by others) is not up to scratch. "I want a CQC oriented LMG or Carbine or AR": CQC is chaotic fights, enemies seen at the very last moment (or not seen at all), not so much time to aim, lots of reaction fire and frantic misses, maybe you'll have the time to go ADS, maybe not, so: 1. you need high RPM over low RPM, because you may have a lot of misses (high RPM implies low DMG and vice versa) 2, you need good HIP firing characteristics because you may have not enough time to go ADS 3. you need fast reload because the next enemy can be just behind the corner 4. you need accessories like laser sight to reduce the HIP cone of firing and SPA (Soft Point Ammo) 5. you do not need a large magazine. Either you killed your enemy or you are dead long before you have fired all your rounds. 6. you do not need a weapon that can fire for long period of time (manageable recoil, Cof and Bloom). See above 7. you do not need a HVA, the enemy is close 8. you may prefer a weapon with 0.75 ADS speed the standard 0.5, you'll be more mobile 9. bottom line: you need raw firepower over precision "I want a long range oriented LMG or Carbine or AR": You will always peek, go ADS , aim and shoot. You may have misses due to the distance so you may need to shoot several burst or have a duel with your enemy and your weapon must be capable to fire for longer times, so: 1. you need low RPM over high RPM: it will be easier to keep your weapon on the target 2. you need good ADS firing characteristics because you will always (or almost) go ADS 3. you don't care about a long reload, because you may disengage and reload at leisure if needed 4. you need accessories like vertical grip and HVA (High Velocity Ammo). Possibly compensator (but there are different views here) 5. you need a large magazine (especially if you have a long reload time) as you may engage more than one enemy 6. you need a weapon that can fire for long period of times with good recoil and Bloom 7. you do not need SPA 8. you may not prefer a 0.75 ADS speed over the standard 0.5, you are far away 9. bottom line: you need precision over raw firepower Hope this will help...
