Hey guys, I haves saved 500 certs and I want to know is the TRAC 5-S worth buying it after the nerfing to the Underbarrel grenade launcher or should I save the certs and by a Lynx, Jaguar or some shotgun. If TRAC 5-S is worth buying, which attachments should I used for close - mid range combat?
Yes it is worth it, it will probably be the best main weapon you get in terms of versatility. UB GL and UB SG are both great attachments for it, they are 1 shot kill for medium range and point blank respectively. I prefer using a 1x or 2x reflex and compensator on it along with SPA. It makes the weapon decent out to medium range without destroying it's short range capacity. UB shotgun makes the best attachment if you want better CQC capabilities. The versatility of the weapon trumps all others when properly certed out.
Definitely worth it. Under barrel grenade launcher has saved my rear on many occasions on my VS LA. You should test them all out in the VR training area before you buy though. See what matches your playstyle. I've been running on my TR LA with a Jag and adv laser, and it's accuracy outshines the Trac 5 S to be honest. But, the Trac 5 S shines in it's versatility of the attachments.
The biggest advantage of the S variant carbines is they allow a LA with 2 sticks of C4 and an underbarrel grenade launcher to take out a full health sunderer on his/her own. A Lynx or Jag will outperform the Trac 5 S in raw killing power, even with grenades.
For the Engy it's the best weapon ever. You can spam an infinite amount of grenades with the ublauncher and each one can ohk everything, even a shielded heavy. And they do light damage to vehicles, kinda like the Fury's grenades. Of course, you're screwed if you have to fight head on an enemy without relying to the underbarrel weapon, in that case that's the worst weapon you can have as it's difficult to control, fires a bit slow and doesn't do much damage. That's why i used to use a TRAC-5 with laser sight and silencer for CQC and a TRAC-5S for every other situation. Now i switched to other weapons because i have the auraxium medal for it, but i still use it on my LA when i have to go hunting for sunderers and on my engy when i have to support my squad with smoke or mortar fire.
It's a great weapon and very versatile. A word of warning, though: don't get it just for the UBGL. It's not nearly as good as it used to be, and I find that simply using the foregrip is a better method for netting kills than the grenade launcher nowadays. However, it is nice for doing a bit of extra damage to Sunderers your attempting to kill. I'd say it's the best ranged weapon that LA's get.
Also, the UBGL won't always explode. It will just bounce around and do nothing, it's a tad buggy. One thing I have noticed though is if you shoot it at an enemy close range, it will NOT explode but it WILL one shot them.
It will not one-shot if the enemy is at full health. The grenade projectile will only deal about 700 damage if passing through undetonated.
Trac-5S is really good. Even the gun part fires really well (S weapons are generally a bit nerfed from the default weapons, as they have more attachment flexibility). You can use it with your engineer as a defacto grenadier too. LA can get grenades where they matter though; they work better in the actual game than VR, as there's no collision explosion in VR.
If you want a real gun for your TR LA get the Jaguar. The 5s is only good for sundy hunting or spamming nades in a biolab. That being said I have over 2k kills with it and I still use it everyday in certain situations. But if you don't have a "real" carbine yet get the Jag and don't look back. The 5s WILL get you killed in many MANY situations where the Jag will let you come out the winner. To the guy who said the grenade was "buggy" and didn't explode sometimes thats because there is an arming range to the projectile they added to stop people from just one shotting guys in the face with it point blank. I believe it's somewhere from 8-10 meters..I think it was originally 10 then they lowered it to 8. Someone correct me on this because I don't feel like looking it up. The real hurt to the gun was the nerf to the projectile's velocity and arc. It USED to be a grenade launcher, now it's worse then a potato launcher. The reticule is WAY off and really the only way you will get consistent kills with it is if your flying above your opponent and drop them down on his head. I know people will say "oh i camp behind a rock and lob these over cover now!". Congrats on being a lazy engineer...we are talking about LA here. tl;dr Get the Jaguar first then get this to fill niche role in sundy hunting.
Depends on your playstyle. I prefer LC2 (soon i will try LC3) because of its fast fire rate. I never tested the shotgun of the TRAC-5 S but its only one shot + long reload time. The Nade Launcher is fun but you only have two rounds.
Good input on both sides of the -S isle. As others have said, it depends on your playstyle and goal. -S for hunting vehicles, Jag/Lynx for hunting people. Some other uses for the UBGL. It will 1-shot a flash. Don't waste it on just any flash. When you come across a flash with scout radar, that is your priority target! That 1 little flash is lighting up every friendly on the map. You're a stealthy LA, right? Not with that scout radar putting a red dot on your head for all the world to see. Got your -S with UBGL? Flash problem solved quick and easy. UBGL is also nice for finishing off a fleeing tank. Your C4 got him burning, but didn't finish the job? Now the target is driving off at full speed, leaving you in the dust. Arc a grenade onto his *** and BOOM! Sure, the UBGL does *only* 650 damage to a vehicle. When that vehicle has < 650 health, you can get the job done. If you have a Jag/Lynx, just watch in frustration and get ready for the tank to come back fully healed.
I wouldn't get it. TRAC-5S is the perfect weapon for Engineer, but 2 grenades just aren't worth it if you could get the Jaguar/Lynx instead. The problem with the 5S is that, as LA, you'll be alone quite often, hence have no engineer pack near you to reload those grenades. So, while you wait for an engineer to come by to kill enemies, you could have already floored them with a Lynx/Jaguar. Both of those are killing machines.
Shotguns are very good in a tower fight and whenever you can get close enough to your enemy, but a Lynx and especially a Jaguar is a solid choice that shines in cqc but is still very effective in medium range. Also, shotties are always riding the thin line between OP and UP, while carbines are generally very balanced in the overall game, so the formers could change in every moment even if you go for the less effective semi-autos. In my opinion the Jaguar is the best of the two, thanks to its mobility and manageable recoil.... An upgrade to the TRAC-5 for a couple of minor downsides, basically. The Lynx is also very good, but you lose even more damage than usual at midrange (it goes from 143 to 100, instead of 143/112) and recoil control for just a bit less ttk. Good on a LA, but if you're looking for a all-around weapon that shines at cqc the Jaguar is your best bet.
