Hey Forumside, another SMG thread to give you a headache but I'm picking up infiltrator again and was hoping for a good choice, I don't care if they are empire specific or not, I just need something that works. Any overviews or comparisons are appreciated.
Check out SMG section of my gunplay guide: http://ps2guides.besaba.com/mechanics#SMGs It has tips and reviews, though not Infiltrator-specific.
You are just all over forumside Iridar! thanks for the guide. I do plan on using my smg on most my classes but I infiltrate 90% of the time, would the armstice still fill that roll for CQC and minor mid ranges?
Armistice definitely will work on an Infiltrator. You'd want to get as close as you can, even if sloppily - Armistice's super high DPS should carry you. Just remember that as an Infiltrator your main tools are your head, radar detection and cloaking - in that order. Weapon is the least important thing. I consider SMGs to be underwhelming overall, which is I assume intended - developers are really careful about giving cloakers effective automatic weapon for obvious reasons. Though Armistice is one of the better ones. At least it can outDPS most primaries. Armistice's effectiveness against remote target pretty much depends on random - how lucky can you get with horizontal recoil, and how unskilled the enemy is to actually stand and tank your tickling shower of 84 damage bullets
Hailstorm? What Hailstorm? TR got only one SMG, sorry. Oh, you mean Failstorm. Sorry, that's actually a general's kid's fish hunting toy that was classified as an SMG to bypass some paperwork. I actually consider NS SMGs to actually be best, but mostly due to their headshot potential and longest effective range, which makes them a bit more versatile. Some people even say they fulfill the job of a full auto scout rifle better than a full auto scout rifle. PDW is definetely worth looking at, especially considering you can get it just for 2 bucks. MKV is pretty much the same thing, though slightly worse at range. More info is in my guide, I can't really say anything I haven't said there already.
I'll put in another vote for Armistice. The NS SMGs have awful close-range DPS, which makes killing heavies a serious uphill battle. The NS SMGs may be better at range than the ES guns, but they're still worse in that regard than practically all Carbines, assault rifles, and LMGs. The Hailstorm is really only worth considering if you're a spray-and-pray kind of player. The large magazine is the only plus side. Its close-range DPS is almost as bad as the NS guns, but its medium-range DPS is quite a bit worse.
I had hoped Iridar would chime in here, he's got great info. I played a lot with the Armistice on an older TR character I have pretty much abandoned and really enjoyed it. Slap on the extended magazine and let them bullets fly! Just remember you never want to go head to head with anyone as a cloaker, catching them off guard or running the opposite direction is the best.
i like to say an couple of words about the "failstorm" i know a lot of people don't like it but if you have good aim and are an sneaky bastard this is the best smg off all factions the weapon still have the most kills for me with an accuracy over 45 % no other automatic weapon have the same or better stats for me i challenge you all to give the hailstorm an second chance when i started out with the hailstorm i also thought this is an waste off 1000sc now i given a 1000sc and wanted auraxium, never have i been more happy by not giving up on the hailstorm best weapon ever in PS2 i do have to say the armistice comes second with my kills and 40 % accuracy
The Armistice is very good, but you really do need the extended mag. I recently Auraxiumed the Armistice so I've switched to the Hailstorm and I have to say I LOVE it. The 60 round mag gives you almost HA-like ability to take on multiple enemies. Throw an EMP grenade into a crowd of enemy and just clear them up with your hail of bullets. Stats-wise the two guns are similar, just the Armistice has a higher ROF.
Iridar already posted good information on the SMGs, but I'd like to offer another dissenting opinion in favor of the Hailstorm. While the Armistice is certainly the best for direct CQC fights, the Hailstorm is extremely capable when flanking, sometime giving me the ability to go through 3+ targets in a clip. Hailstorm has best-in-class bloom recovery, so pair it with a flash suppressor then the obligatory SPA and Laser Sight. When you get a group spotted lead with an EMP grenade. It drops their shields and lets you take them down all the faster. The flash suppressor coupled with their EMP-blurred vision makes you very hard to locate, while the great bloom recovery will let you hip-burst the group down. Not to say that the Armistice isn't a great gun and likely overall better, but the Hailstorm does very well itself if you have the proper playstyle for it. CQC is Armistice, flanking is Hailstorm, and long-range is NS-7 PDW.
I have some decent experience with both the Hailstorm and the Armistice (I also own the NS7-PDW). The Hailstorm was the only one that I actually bought with certs (Armistice is gold variant, and NS7 is from fresh-meat starter pack). When I bought the Hailstorm, I thought that having those extra rounds would make it a viable competitor versus other weapons. However, I can say now that I regret buying it. It does not win in close quarters against other higher DPS weapons. The Armistice however is a much better weapon (although I find an extended magazine necessary). Even though it has a higher recoil than the Hailstorm, the greatly increased rpm means that burst-firing is still effective over longer ranges. In short - if you must choose between the hailstorm or the armistice, choose the armistice (after trying them first of course).
It's not bloom recovery, it's recoil decrease. It matters only while aiming down sights, and determines the speed at which the crosshair returns to original position after firing. High recoil decrease values make bursting easier. For SMGs it's an unimportant statistic, as they're ineffective at range regardless, so +/- 10% recoil decrease doesn't matter in the slightest. Cone of fire decrease speed - "bloom recovery" - is same for all guns in all stances, as far as I know. So super high damage per magazine of Hailstorm is its only advantage, but it's simply too unreliable at killing for it to mean something.
I'm kind of an outlier, so take what I say with a grain of salt, as always. The Hailstorm doubled my K/D to 3.5-ish. I didn't expect much from it, and I did notice how the low DPS can let you down in head-to-head engagements. I still came out on top in many of them, though. However, the recoil allowed me to put rounds into people's faces reliably, and mow down unsuspecting groups of EMP victims. After I rax'd the Hailstorm, I went to the Armistice-G, though I had already rax'd the normal Armistice. 900 kills in, I'm still not used to it. The mag evaporates ridiculously fast, so for a non-MLG player such as myself, a moment of time-off-target pretty much robs you of the kill. Extended mags will help, but I've been using a forward grip to improve headshots. Also I'm not using it on my infil anymore, going for Engineer Rax Armor now. Basically, I wouldn't drop the Hailstorm too quick, try it for yourself. Still, your certs, so it's probably better to go with common opinion. I've been buying all infantry weapons with certs because I have nothing else to do.
Alright, a bit of an update, I grabbed the armstice and I find her truly to be a beautiful weapon, however if I were to describe it I would say Shotgun in SMG form would be fitting. Fun weapon and reliable close up but after about 15-20m she starts getting pretty wonky (which is to be expected) might be picking up advanced laser sights after I get more used to the weapon with extended mags. Thanks for the suggestions guys !
And to this post, you've gotten me intrigued in the hailstorm and after I auraxium my Armstice I think I'll give the so called "failstorm" a try. Update: Trialed it, definitely liking it as it fills a completely different role than the armstice. I would describe it as more of a carbine than say an smg.
