I'm quite aware that the following is opinion, but it is based on extensive testing. Planet side 2 uses some odd classifications when it comes to ranges. 1) CQC (close quarters combat) refers to somebody in the same room where you would panic-hip fire your gun to kill them. 2) Short Range referes to where you are just in "I'll use my scope to get head-hits range". 3) Medium range is a wild heap of crap in Planetside 2 and spans from just past Short Range all the way to "I can barely see that guy" range. Gun effectiveness varies all over the place here due to gun recoil, bullet speed (for leading targets), and bullet spread. 4) Long range is sniper file "I'm up on a mountain" range. General Commentary: Suppressors: Yes, the NC suppressor is huge and makes guns look bad-***; however, for a Medic they are pretty horrible. Sacrificing medium-range effectiveness just on the off-chance you might not be seen on the mini-map or look cool is not a good trade off. Suppressors work well for Infiltrators because they can completely disappear - you can't. Just keep moving - that is your best chance to not be detected. Night Vision Scope: I personally find these to be incredible in any situation. Yes, they take getting used to. There are so many times where I will notice targets that I just would not have seen with other scopes. I find that any scope under 6x is pretty useless in this game as far as the Medic guns go as I can get the exact same accuracy with a 1x or iron sights (personal preference I suppose). Gauss Assault Rifle - The starting NC Medic Rifle. Notes: I have managed to keep a 2.1 KD ratio using this gun on my NC medic (as in I didn't get it from using a Tank then passing it off as assault rifle accuracy). While that is not incredible by any means it does show that this gun's effectiveness is just as good as any other option. Recommendation: I would use a laser sight. The forward grip on this model really does not increase the accuracy at med range, the gun handles just fine with out it. The laser sight on the other hand lowers the hip-fire cone quite a bit, and makes it in to a respectable panic-mode CQC weapon. Gauss S Notes: Completely inferior to the stock Gauss Rifle in every single numerical and functional capacity except that you get to use the under-barrel grenade attachment, which does once in a while, let you kill a Max instead of run away. Not worth it IMO. Smoke is useful if you are smart, but again hardly worth it for sacrificing the stopping power you will use the other 99% of the time. And you WILL NOTICE the decrease in over all effectiveness of the gun over time, as the "I should have killed that guy" excuses start to mount up. Recommendation: Obviously get the Launcher, then cert as you would the stock Gauss. Gauss Burst Notes: I personally believe that these models are worthless. IMO any benefit somebody sees from these is purely psychological and then complied on top of that is that regardless of how you feel they perform at med-rage they are horrifically bad in CQC. As much as I hate Burst Rifles, I think the NC one is especially bad, due to the fact that the NC Medics have access to the Reaper (discussed below). Recommendation: I would set up for max-medium range, as this is the only reason to even justify using these - 4x scope and forward grip. Reaper Notes: The Reaper is a max-medium range gun only. The Reaper's hip-fire cone is comically large and regardless of how you spend certifications to remedy this issue you will still randomly miss shots at point blank range when hip firing. On the flip side the Reaper fires 200 damage bullets, and if you use single fire mode and cert properly, it is almost as good as a the HA/Engineer's Warden. Recommendation: I would use 4x Scope, Advanced Forward Grip, Compensator, High Velocity Ammo, and single-shot fire mode - you will annihilate people at a a distance until they get in your face, where you are honestly better off using your pistol. GR 22 Notes: This is the super fast firing assault rifle variant for the NC. It has a small firing cone and can be hip fired well. It is meant to be a CQC weapon, at medium range it gets hard to control and has a funky bullet spread. However, IMO unlike the other factions variations on this weapon the NC Medics have access to the Cyclone - 167 bullet damage Sub-Machine-gun. I normally don't like the SMG, but the Cyclone does 167 bullet damage and simply has better CQC performance over the GR 22. The Cyclone and the GR 22 perform almost the same at medium range when certed to do so, but in the specific situations were the GR 22 shines the Cyclone shines brighter. Recommendation: Use a forward grip, the default cone is small enough that the advanced laser sight is a waste of certs - the forward grip will help this gun work better at a range past CQC. Carnage Notes: This is a bad version of the GR 22 that you can put different scopes and other cert options on. It has slightly different numerics, but in the end its just not as good. Recommendation: AVOID, it is simply worse than a GR 22 in any conceivable capacity. Shotguns Notes: Any Shotgun will work fine for Combat Medic. For the NC however, I find that the Cyclone SMG with its previous discussed high-bullet damage, works just as well. I think it is a mistake for a Medic to use one as the Assault Rifles are good enough in CQC and Shotguns are worthless past that range. Recommendation: Cert extended ammo capacity for maximum room-cleaning ability.
The way I spec is a bit different from yours. Gauss Rifle (Favourite weapon, 4000 kills and counting): - Grip, ironsights. Contrary to opening post's belief the grip does make a difference in tighter grouping during long (~4-8 round) bursts. I primarily use this gun for its awesome performance at medium-long range. Once you master the recoil and bursting you'll be picking off targets 100+ meters off thanks to its sniper-grade bullet velocity and great long range accuracy and damage. However if I hit a heavily defended Biolab I tend to go with one of the guns below. The Gauss Rifle can still kick some *** in CQC but it's best fit for outdoors battles. GR-22 (Dedicated CQC-only weapon): - Adv Laser, irons/IRNV, SPA. My dedicated CQC gun. It's no longer as good at range after the last balance pass but it's still a beast up close. It's not pricey either so I'd definitely recommend newbies to pick up. However those attachments aren't free so you'd end up spending at least 550 certs to have a fully upgraded CQC beast. Carnage BR (Versatile all-rounder with high RoF): - Adv Grip, ironsights. Basically a more mid-range oriented GR-22. It's not as accurate or effective at range as the Gauss Rifle but it's definitely more versatile. It's a killer up close without being a peashooter at range (like the GR-22), a well balanced gun for those who prefer fast firerates. The gun also has a compensator barrel attachment but personally I'd rather keep the tighter hipfire CoF at the expense of minimal recoil reduction when ADS. I wouldn't recommend any of the barrel attachments for the above guns, maybe a silencer for the GR-22 but the Gauss Rifle and Carnage BR are better off without them. As far as optics go they're all personal preference. I like the ironsights the most since they're the most versatile fit for both short and long range. The red dot sights are too big and bloated making them completely useless at range while the scopes zoom in too much at short range and aren't exactly needed for long range either in my opinion.
Gauss Rifle with laser and iron sights. That's it, that's literally all you need. Put your certs into max medic gun then healing aura then revive grenades. If you want up close work, use a Mauler. GR-22 isn't bad I guess but they're both cheap and only the Mauler is truly devastating. Or just hose people down with your laser sighted Gauss Rifle. For long range work, Gauss Rifle S is a monster that trades a bit of velocity and ROF for practically nonexistent first shot recoil. It doesn't need a grip either so you can either slap a laser on it or get 2 insta-gib noob tube shots in the underbarrel grenade launcher. Again, unnecessary as the default with a laser sight fills this role very well as well. No suppressors either, compensators or nothing. You're an NC damnit, we don't hide on the map (your healing aura gives you away like crazy anyway), we flip people off as we shoot them in the face because we don't care if they spotted us.
Also of note, the Gauss Rifle S is a very very good gun but I don't think it can get the laser afterall. It can get the underbarrel shotgun though, with is LIKE a super laser sight. Statistically, the Carnage is worse than the GR-22S in every single way but can be marginally better in one stat line at a time with a huge input of certs (on top of the greater cost) for accessories. It is a very confusing gun and I never quite got the point of it.
The Carnage has less damage drop-off over range, making it have higher damage per second from 35m onward. It has a shorter reload, a better cone of fire, a lower first shot recoil and it's easier to control due to its balanced recoil pattern. It also has access to the advanced forward grip. The only thing the GR-22 offers over it is the 50RPM higher fire rate and a bit less horizontal recoil. The Carnage is meant to fill the gap between the GR-22/SMGs/Shotguns and the more mid-long orientated options like the NS-11A or Gauss Rifle. The main problem with it is that it's high horizontal recoil stops you from landing shots at mid-long distances but it's still a great weapon.
The thing also has a really better first shot multiplier than stock Gauss, making it better for range work The underbarrel shotgun attachement has been shadowed by apparition of Commissioner, unfortunately. That said, I really like the S variants in these days of MAXside 2, because MAXes don't have access to IR vision. 2 benefits from the Burst variant : * medium / long range, you can move while firing without sacrificing accuracy. That's pretty unique for a NC weapon * The hipfire CoF is actually remarkably tight. I was expecting awefull in CQC department, it's really not that bad. Headshots do REALLY count though.
As I said the best weapon for the NC medic is indeed the stock Gauss Rifle. 167 close, 143 med damage... its TTK is the same as anything else. I have never noticed a gun like the GR 22 actually killing anything faster, yes it makes a rapid fire sound and you have a custom weapon, but in the end the Gauss will hip fire kill an enemy in CQC at the exact same speed. The truth again is that the Cyclone or any Shotgun is better for TTK if you are going building from building. The grip again for me does nothing on the stock Gauss, if you are trying to snipe with a Medic the Reaper is simply better than the stock Gauss, period. The TTK in this game is so short that I fail to see much need for any other gun. If I see you first the Stock Gauss will kill you even if you are an HA with an over shield, given that I don't miss every shot. A Burst gun or a rapid fire model won't perform any differently. If you are running around in an open field for whatever reason (I fail to see why you would EVER do this) a fully certed max-med range Reaper is a better choice, again, because it is as close to a battle rifle as the medic can get.
The Gauss Rifle is a thing of beauty. Standard loadout is just running it with a laser sight. Then I got bored and put together a flash supressor, tactieye, forward grip load out, just for the variation.
