I picked up the Hailstorm for my Infiltrator, but decided to try it on my Combat Medic and REALLY liked it.. the strong hipfire makes it pretty nice, and makes me far more mobile. I'm wonder if I'm just super gimping myself by using it?
Not at all, I've done blitz and cyclone medic, plus tempest though not for long. It's a legitimate build.
I prefer an Assault Rifle medic, but the MK-V Suppressed on my Medic is a decent alternative (only SMG I have at this time)
SMGs can be good for self defense. I.e. you're reviving someone with your med tool out, and somebody jumps on you, and you can quickly return fire with an SMG. But other than that it's not very effective weapon class, ARs are way more versatile, and generally have acceptable hip fire as well. Failstorm is easily the worst primary in the game, so yes, you **** yourself by using it.
If it's gimping then apparently I have a lot of potential. I had a really good time using a hailstorm as a medic, got about 30 revives in a fight and about 12 kills with no deaths if I remember correctly. It was a fun fight, and if it was with an Armistice it would have ended sooner.
In the two hours I played after getting the Hailstorm I racked up 29 kills and a bunch of rez/healing mixed into that, I focus more on support than fighting, but I still have enough certs to pick up the Armistice as well and try that out. Just returning to the game from release so I had like 6k certs when I logged in hah! Question: Should I run the Adv Laser Sight or the Extra Ammo on the Armistice? I know the bloom is really bad on it because of the RoF, but 10 extra shots is pretty big also.. especially in such a small magazine to begin with.
I'd recommend ALS for Armistice. It gets the least benefit from Ex. Mags: +1250 damage. Cyclone, for comparison, get 1670. But due to strong bloom, multiplied by super high rate of fire, Armistice gets the most out of ALS. I'ts true that mag size is low, but it's workable, and generally enough to deal with one target at close range. Armistice does require good accuracy from the user, but rewards with very fast kills. It's one of the stronger, yet harder to use SMGs.
It's not the worst primary. It's definitely lacking beyond belief, but it's not the worst. For that I raise you the Gauss Rifle Burst. It has a 2.15x FSM that applies to every second round. This kills it's use at range. And for hipfire you're INFINITELY better off running a Reaper DMR with the Compensator and HVA over a GRB with any attachments you are best with for CQC (for CQC I like a suppressor and laser sight personally). The GRB is without a doubt the most difficult auraxium I ever got. (The Mag-Scatter and both Phoenix launchers have NOTHING on how long the GRB took.)
Burst weapons are generally underwhelming. I don't count them as real weapons, hence they don't enter the competition.
I don't think anyone should run ALS on a 1st gen SMG like the armistice unless they are really comfortable with SMGs and even then I personally wouldn't do it, but I can see why some people do. The extended mag is much more useful imho. That being said, you should reconsider trying the t1 cycler (your default medic gun) if you like the hailstorm. The T1 is borderline OP atm, and you can play it very like the hailstorm. The TAR is also a good alternative although with more of a kick, but with ALS it plays pretty much like the armistice.
I have it. Among burst weapons SABR is definitely the best, but the simple truth is that it would be much, much better if it had a full-auto mode, or at least fired in bursts of 3 shots instead of 2. As all other burst weapons it is held back by its burst mode, so why even have it.
It fills the roll of DMR, and honestly for being a AR it fills the roll better then the actual DMRs do, save the cqc semiauto sniper. It's like the TRAP, it fills the role of another weapon category.
pdw 7 is better for hip fire imo. But as a medic there are so many good assault rifles that i wouldnt even bother with an smg.
Hailstorm is an interesting choice, as you can tell from the responses there aren't many that would take it over any other available SMG. I don't generally like NS gear but I think even the PDW or the MKV would be a more effective alternative because of accuracy, damage range and generic sound profile. Magazine size is literally the only thing the Hailstorm has going for it. With regards to rail attachment for the Armistice, I ran extended magazines for the longest time, which works okay, but that CoF with the ALS is not to be sniffed at. If you can aim/lead okay it will drop targets hella fast. Requires some trigger discipline though. There's also the .075 ADS bonus from the SMGs which is really handy. The only Terran assault rifle to have that is the TAR, and even then that's more geared towards hipfire. The TORQ-9 is probably the closest thing to an SMG in the AR department, but even then its hipfire isn't that good. If you're going ADS you might as well use the Cycler TRV. 143 @ 845RPM is just... mental.
