Hi all! These are the two LMGs that I have been using lately, they are both basically for the same type of combat but they are two very different weapons once you start using them. Mainly I think the NS-15M is better at long range and the Flare is better at closer mid range. They are both rather versitile though.
I'd like to point out that the Flare isn't considered a long range gun by everyone (that'd be the Ursa), but more of a close range never-ending rambo gun thanks to being able to mount SPA and ExtMag. This is reinforced by the Flare having the worst accuracy stats of any 167 gun out there.
The Flare can't hit the broadside of a barn past 50m. The Ursa is Grandpa Vanu's gift to outdoor combat. The NS-15M is an amazing LMG that does well both indoors and out, with excellent accuracy at range, and the shortest reload (for an LMG) for CQC.
Yeah that was a bit of my point. The way I see it the NS-15M is a long range monster, because it's accuracy is very good (at a cost to dps - which limits it in CQC).
"Can't hit the broadside of a barn" is an exaggerating expression. Yes you can hit things with the Flare past 50m, but like your video says, it's unreliable. The NS-15M is fairly reliable past 50m, and the Ursa is buttery smooth at medium to long range. The Ursa is a reliable no-drop A-D-A-D-A-D counter sniper as well. I've Auraxiumed the Ursa, Flare, TMG-50 and SAW. Out of that group of LMGs, the Flare felt the least accurate/reliable past 40m, and seemed better suited for indoor combat.
That's an easy call. I looooooove the TMG-50 and I've always regarded it as the "King" of the LMGs. It's accurate, it hits for 167, it's got a good magazine size, and most importantly it fits my most common play style. I play Engineer a lot, so I'm used to hanging back and being 'support', and the TMG-50 excels in longer range engagements. Obviously if you're looking to quickly clear rooms the Orion or any of the higher RPM LMGs would probably do a better job, but the TMG-50, hitting for 167 isn't a slouch in CQC either. If you can learn to control the SAW it's a great gun, and the Ursa is fantastic outside, but neither are able to fully match the TMG-50, probably because of it's superior Recoil Decrease. The EM6 is also close, but not as smooth at medium/long range due to it's higher RPM. TMG-50 > Ursa > SAW > EM6 > Flare - For Medium to Long Range Outdoor Engagements
Having auraxed the Flare twice over it's really not suited to mid-long range engagements. It absolutely wrecks in CQC though which is where I always use it now (even over the Betelgeuse) while I use the anniversary NS-15 as my mid-long range LMG of choice.
for me the Flare always was a CQC unlimited ammo bolter. just point in the direction of the enemy and watch as the 150bulletmag slowly drains 1 bullet at a time with head seeking recoil pattern and the praise of RNGesus
Great video, Matti. I'm working on the Flare right now for the directives. It has a nice feel to it, though I'm not entirely satisfied with its performance in long-range, even though that's how I use it. I prefer the Ursa for long range. I must ask, however, about the forward grip on it. I've tried the Flare with forward grip and without, and I can't see much of a change in its horizontal recoil. It doesn't seem to have much horizontal recoil to begin with, though that could be noobsauce talking. What are you thoughts on that forward grip over extended mag?
Not the OP but 2600 Flare kills later I really prefer ex-mags over the grip, which is weird since the Flare has the worst horizontal recoil stats of all 167 damage guns in the game... but coming off the Orion and SVA-88 which have similar recoil stats but a much higher ROF it feels buttery smooth even without the grip. The fact that I can also fire it for 9 continuous seconds before reloading with ex mags in addition to not having the extra equip time has saved me more than I can count, especially if I have to medkit tank.
Great Video as always, about the CARV I just Auraxiumed it and for the last few hundred kills after the patch I noticed that I was getting a lot more long range kills with it, though whether that's due to the change or me just getting better with it is anyones guess. Even though you can get a few kills at range it mostly due it large mag allowing you to burst fire it until you get a kill than its accuracy at range. Edit: As for feedback on the video I liked it, and I think you should do some more similar videos.
Like the above posts would suggest, the Flare is a pretty versatile weapon. Use it with SPA + ext mags and you have a neverending room-clearing bullet hose. SPA + laser gives it serviceable hipfire ability while still letting it perform as a good close/medium range skirmisher. Give it a Comp + foregrip + 3.4x and it becomes pretty good at long range too. But what bugs me to no end is that both NC and TR have almost the exact same weapon, only better, in the form of the SAW S and TMG-50. https://docs.google.com/a/efsllc.co...=577&sortcolid=1&sortasc=true&rowsperpage=250 Of the three, the Flare has the worst horizontal recoil, horizontal tolerance, FSRM, and muzzle velocity - all of the key stats we look at when weighing a weapon's long range accuracy. In addition, the SAW S also has access to the Adv foregrip, where the TMG-50 has the fastest recoil decrease of any LMG (15, tied w/ the NS-15m), making them both even more accurate at range. The only merits that the Flare has are its barely lower vertical recoil (.44 vs .45) and access to ext mags. In reality the Flare is basically a B grade SAW S / TMG-50 that didn't pass inspection and the VS picked up for cheap at a surplus store. I would trade it for either of the other two in a heartbeat.
First of all, the SAW-S has access to ex mags and SPA so that's not unique to the Flare, the TMG-50 though looses out on both. Secondly, if you want a hipfire VS LMG the Polaris is where it's at since it's hipfire bloom is 3.75 vs. the Flare's 4.25 in addition to the adv. laser and vertical accuracy so good you don't need a compensator which also effects hipfire bloom. Of course, then you're using a 143/652 as a hipfire weapon in CQC but that's VS guns for you.
Thanks for feedback! Honestly I haven't tried it without the forwar grip and I also made the mistake of trying to use this weapon at longer range than it's actually good for. It might actually be better to have the extened magazine in a lot of cases
Thanks for making me even more depressed about the Flare. WTB used SAW S.... It's not so much that I want a hipfire LMG as that I just want it to be good enough at hipfiring should I need it. I use the 2x Reflex on my short/medium range Flare loadouts, and its awkward for me to ADS with the 2x at <7-8m. The laser gives me enough hipfire ability to cover that range. Anything past that and I ADS. From your vids it looks like you've already figured out what's holding it back at longer ranges - its high horizontal recoil (.2) combined w/ its high Horiztonal Tolerance (.75). Both of these are higher than any other 167-damage LMG in the game and the Tolerance in particular is what gives it the feeling of being "unreliable" (to me anyway). But you've also already figured out the solution, which is shorter bursts. With 4-6 shot bursts I find the Flare + comp + foregrip to be accurate out to ~100m or so, which pretty much covers all of the targets in the 2 Flare vids of yours that I've seen. That said, IME the Flare is accurate enough w/in ~50m to go without the foregrip. Like Wampa-one said, we VS are already used to the Orion, so the Flare seems a lot more controllable by comparison. Flare + Ext mags feels about as accurate to me overall as the Orion + foregrip. Any time there are lots of enemies around and I think the engagement range won't go past 50m I equip ext mags + SPA, and it works pretty well since it lets you keep pressing forward.
