I own all the lmgs (and certed attachments for all of them). I have been using all of them. Here's my insights about some of the close calls: GD-22S vs EM6: I prefer the EM6 since it has slightly higher ROF (same damage per bullet) and larger magazine which is very useful when you sneak up on multiple enemies. For longer range engagements, the GD-22S is more accurate when crouched and has slightly less recoil, however the recoil is top-right diagonal rather than straight up for EM6 so i find it harder to use. It should also be noted that both these weapons have relatively low bullet velocity so another advantage to EM6 since it can have HVA ammo. EM6 vs EM1: The higher ROF of the EM1 has many advantages. Because it is more likely to land a hit, this means you have higher change of getting a head shot or at least making your opponent flinch. I also find the recoil to be much more manageable on the EM1 compared to the EM6. However, the amount of bullets required to kill someone with EM1 seems to yield a higher COF bloom so for longer range the EM6 can put out more damage in a burst. Combined with the fact that the EM6 has higher DPS than the EM1 and less damage degradation over distance, I find myself to be more successful with EM6 than EM1 since it's more well rounded. NC6 GAUSS SAW VS GAUSS SAW S: Here's your long range options. Although the NC6 has more damage per shot and less damage degradation over distance than the SAW S, I find the NC6's recoil to be unmanageable at long range for anything but single fire. For long range this would give an advantage to the NC6, however I find that I can switch from single fire to burst from further away with the SAW S than the NC6. Furthermore, the SAW S has slightly higher projectile velocity (one of the highest of all weapons actually) than the NC6 so it makes leading targets a bit easier. For the extra versatility, I prefer the SAW S.
too bad with the spray he is jolting my aim and my high recoil and slow fire is not making him jolt his aim thus he wins SKILL?
Not sure why you think the EM6 does less damage per shot than the Gauss SAW S. According to the spreadsheets, the bullets hit for the same amount of damage. Or am I missing something? Also, the SAW S has more recoil, not the EM6...
Yell at SOE for including twitching. That's not a balance issue, that's a WTF IS THIS TWITCH MECHANIC issue.
Like you said, there's no "best" gun. There are guns that perform well in different situations, but no clear winner that prevails in everything (or almost everything, like the TR CARV). If you have the SAW upgraded and you like mid-to-long range combat, then you're fine. If you want something more generalist, the SAW S or EM6 will serve your purpose. The GD also has generalist appeal, but carries with it less staying power, and that's really a matter of personal preference. If you can deal with the lack of magazine size, then the GD works great. Some people don't mind it, and others (like me) find it restrictive. That's the beauty of the NC weapons; they are all really true sidegrades. There is no clear and away winner for every situation. They provide different means of engaging enemies in different situations and that's it. Also, as an aside, I'd like to thank everyone for their input and support of this post. It's discussions like these that will help keep the game forums a good place for information and new players. The more people that play this game the better!
Been messing about a bit with the Anchor on trial. Handles very much like the GD-22, same default hipfire cursor size, same 50 round magazine size (despite what the description says), a noticeably faster reload time (think Gauss AR reload speeds), and a higher RoF (but still a bit lower than the EM1). Does not have a single shot mode, if that's important to you, and it's a bit less accurate when tap-firing than either the GD-22 or EM1, with more first-shot deviation. All in all, with Advanced Laser Sight and the option to run Soft Point, this thing should do better in CQB than the GD-22, and would be competitive with the EM1, do decent at mid-range. and that fast reload speed will suit the compulsive reload-after-a-kill types (like me). Since I already have a certed-up SAW S, GD-22 and EM1, I'm probably going to pass on the Anchor for now, but had this been out a couple weeks ago, it's good enough close-to-mid range that I probably would have ran with just the default SAW and the Anchor and saved several hundred cert points (and some cash).
I posted this elsewhere first, but wanted to include it in the LMG thread. Before Game Update 1, on paper GD-22 was best LMG at 30m+ and EM6 was best LMG at <30m. I have spent 400 certs customizing my EM6. While it's still a great gun, the Anchor combines the EM6 and GD-22 into one package at the cost of magazine capacity. Since I found myself reloading at somewhere between 70-80 rounds a LOT more than at less than 50 rounds, the Anchor seems like a complete and total UPGRADE to the GD-22 and EM6. Bottom line, it has the same DPS as the EM6 in 0-30m battles, and it is more accurate giving it more estimated DPS than the EM6 at 30m+. It's recoil is right-heavy rather than centered, but that's a minor learning curve. The switch between EM6 and Anchor, for me, will come down to whether I want the Anchor's Soft Point Ammunition damage increase from 10-15m at the cost of projectile velocity for ranged targets. That is, if I intend to use the Anchor predominantly in the EM6's optimal range and remain disinterested in long range combat, then the Anchor is better. Currently, I run EM6 with Suppressor + High Velocity Ammo (yes, the combo is as good as it sounds). The Anchor doesn't have HV ammo.
Somehow your arguments here make more sense in this thread than the other one (I posted a question about these weapons in another LMG thread and found what I needed here) I don't really like the magsize of the anchor at all, I found myself needing the extra bullets more often than not with the saw. Though the reload speed is incredibly slow compared to the anchor I imagine... Based on your experience I think I'll grab the EM6 when I have the cert points. Thank you for the post.
The only difference, according to the stats, between the EM1(faster reload) and EM6(better accuracy) is reload speed and accuracy. For me the EM6 is superior because accuracy it extremely important - what good are your shots if they don't land on target - and the 100mag means reloading is not always an issue if you handle your ammo properly. Both are good and extremely versatile weapons that should perform well in any situation. LMGs like the GD-22S perform better in certain scenarios and require a bit more skill in others. For example the GD-22S is great at long/med range but its ROF suffers for CQC(Close Quarters Combat). Not impossible to win, you just need to work a little harder.
After Game Update 1, just use the Gauss SAW in CQC and bunnyhop. It works extremely well now using this tactic. Enemies can't headshot you, lots of bullets miss, and for some reason the gun feels just as accurate as if you were standing there spraying. It's probably hitting its inaccuracy cap quickly and making up for it with the superior damage per bullet. Most other enemies will still be moving at a crawl so hitting them is easy.
If bunny hopping saw users are killing you then my guess is they are probably aim botting. Also, please try and keep this a productive post oriented towards discussion of NC LMGs, not as a place to complain. Make your own thread for that.
I think whatever data you're looking at is from the last few days of beta where the EM6 and EM1 were indeed very similar. This is no longer the case since launch. You can check out some of the weapons data that have be reverse engineered from data files by a member of the community here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...OSWNaanFqSUVxLWc&f=true&noheader=false&gid=12
Please point out anywhere in my post where I complained. Anywhere. I'll wait. Give up? Good, because I stated that bunnyhopping is now an effective tactic with the SAW from FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE, not by way of death. I've always been a strong advocator of the SAW for its intended purpose (long range) and was testing how the patch changes affected things. What I found and shared with my outfit/server is that it's highly accurate while mobile now, and most of the elite players on our server are using it this way now, which is exactly what the patch altered, it's mobile accuracy. The thing about bunnyhopping as any shotgun user would know is that it relies on having the strongest per bullet hit, not the best spraying TTK. Hundreds of NC are learning the same thing: the Gauss SAW is now GOOD at CQC. You can agree or disagree, it won't change how we plan to use it and it certainly won't alter how effective the strategy has become. Please try and keep your own posts productive and towards discussion of the LMGs, not flagrant attacks against other users.
Here's my two certs: NC6 Gauss Saw: Saw has a reputation for being the spawn of satan and harbinger of the End Times. This reputation is mostly deserved. Sure you can cert into it, getting a compensator and double grip to try and keep the ridiculous recoil under control, but it will still have stupidly long reload time, it will still have accuracy bloom bad even for an NC weapon(which are already worse than other factions) and it will still have worse movement ADS accuracy than any other LMG. Honestly, the only good thing about Saw is the fact that its default ironsights are very nice and useful even at night, which is great, because it means you can save the certs you'd spend on a sight to buy other, better, weapons. Gauss SAW S: Baby Saw doesn't try to rip your hands off when you fire it, though it still kicks pretty hard and does less damage than Saw with higher rate of fire. Fortunately all the other things - accuracy bloom, movement ADS accuracy penalty, reload time - are back to normal LMG levels. The defining feature of SAW(why is this one capitalized when the other isn't?) S is it very broad selection of attachments - all kinds of scopes, HV and SP ammo, suppressor and compensator, etc. The idea is - buy one gun, then only change the attachments depending on the situation. If that's your thing. GD-22S: First thing you will notice about this gun is - holy crap it's cheap. It consts only 100 certs - but don't let this price fool you, this isn't some nefarious Vanu plot to supply NC with firearms made by Space Chinese. This is a good weapon, a sort of "carbine" version of an LMG - smaller magazine size(but still 50, enough to waste several people in close quarters) with good reload time, very controllable recoil(same as AF-19 Mercenary! Pulls to the right though), and the icing on the cake - both the movement ADS accuracy and hip-fire cone of fire are above average, so it's not hard to figure out how this one should be used. The only real problem with GD-22S is this: Anchor: Anchor is like GD-22S, but better. It has slightly better rate of fire(with same damage), slightly faster bullet, and reloads faster with same magazine size. In fact, it's fastest reloading LMG you can have. The only downside is that the first shot kicks more which makes it harder to use at longer ranges, but you didn't pick this gun to have duels in the desert, did you? And here is where the Anchor delivers the coup the grace: it supports a double laser sight attachment, while GD-22S supports only one, and can use soft point ammunition, when GD-22S cannot. Oh, and of course it's ten times as expensive as GD-22S. EM6: EM6 is basically what Saw would be if it didn't suck. Better everything than Saw except for damage, but what's use for high damage bulelts if none of them hit? And it actually has higher rate of fire than SAW S and GD-22S which puts it on par with Anchor in damage per second, second place tie. Of course it kicks slightly more than Anchor and has no "mobile shooter" bonuses, and the reload time is pretty long - though that one is explained by the fact the mag holds 100 rounds. Slap a compensator on it, maybe some high velocity ammo too if you're comfortable with the recoil, and it's a very nice mid range weapon in a reasonable price range(500). EM1: Dude, this gun is weird as ****. Let's try to break it down. It has absolutely lowest recoil of all the NC LMGs. It also has lowest accuracy bloom. Hovewer it has worst first shot standing ADS accuracy, same as other empires. It has high kick on first bullet fired. It does least damage per bullet, but fires them fastest(the DPS is still the worst though). It has fast reload while still having a 100 round mag. And... it has attachments as if it was a CQB weapon, including the double laser sight. It seems like SOE wanted to make a gun that does everything at once, but then got scared of their own creation and nerfed it in several places so it won't be too good. Having worst(relatively) DPS kind of sucks as far as short range goes - it also has no movement accuracy bonuses by default - and first bullet kick and nerfed standing ADS accuracy kind of suck as far as mid-range goes. And what's the use for fast reload on a 100 rounds mag? I dunno man, I could sum up every other LMG with a single word(Saw: garbage, SAW S: tacticool, GD-22S: good, Anchor: better, EM6: midrange) but here I'm drawing a blank.
Thanks for this Herp. I plan on dropping 20 or 30 bucks on the triple SC friday and grabbing the Anchor to give it a shot. I love my EM6, but I'd like to be able to speak with authority on how the Anchor works before I start incorporating it into my guide, so any other perspectives that can be provided are great.
A video review (posting on request) of the Anchor. Less than 5 minutes of your time for as much useful info as I could provide
Thanks much for this Ariel! I'd like to keep this thread the central location for NC LMG needs. Just wish I could edit a link to your video into the main post.
I've been messing around with lot's of different loadout configs. Been using these for some time now: 1. Attack (main) EM6 - GD Reflex 2x, Compensator, Forward Grip - Mid range, ADS 2. Support NC6 - LX Mark IV 4x, Compensator, Advanced Forward Grip, HVA - Mid/Long range, ADS 3. Assault EM1 - Teklyte Reflex 1x, Advanced Laser Sight - CQC, ADS/Hip I've been pretty happy with the Attack EM6 loadout, mixed results, mostly positive with the Support NC6 and Assault EM1. I am curious any opinions, suggestions or advice. Especially curious about Longer range/Support options. Thanks!
I pretty much run the same loadout as AstroCat for my EM6 "Assault" class, but am intrigued to try my GD-22S that I haven't really used for more a CQB setup.
