Light Machine Guns in General:Light Machine guns are the big high capacity guns designed to be used in a stationary position. They all have 100 round clips, decent range/accuracy, and relatively low recoil. They're very good at mowing down multiple people at once and also have the capacity to lay down suppressing fire in a team support role. They're also the best weapons outside of the RPG on taking down copters, and have the most bullet penetration of any of the weapons.
Positives: Very large capacity. Good accuracy. Fully automatic. Large damage/rate of fire ratio. Great bullet penetration.
Negatives: Worst mobility of all weapons by far. Poor hip fire accuracy. High reload times. No silencing options.
Why use Light Machine Guns: There are quite a few reasons to use these. Generally you want to use these from a stationary position. You move slowly and the hip fire accuracy is poor, so sub machine guns and shotguns can outperform lmg's when firing from the move. However, if you surprise a group, the large capacity and damage can allow you to take out multiple people quickly at short to medium range. Their large capacity also allows you to shoot at positions to discourage enemy movement for squad support and you can use these to block choke points even against stun/flash grenades as you can fire through the durations of these. They also start out with 200 rounds without bandolier and you can take out a copter by yourself quickly with any of the lmg's and still have ammo to spare.
M249 SAW: This has a very high rate of fire with low damage. It's iron site is decent and the recoil is very low. Available off the start and a good solid weapon. Also has the best accuracy out of the group.
Perks & attachments: The grip greatly increases the effectiveness of the lmg's as it raises the accuracy and lowers the already low recoil. Since firing at fairly long range w/ fully automatic fire is exactly what you'll be doing with these weapons, the grip gives you a great boost. This lets you fire more bullets accurately without retargetting and effectively increases the range at which you can do this. Since you don't need bandolier with 200 starting rounds most of the time (you may consider bandolier if you're using suppressing fire or shooting a lot of copters), you're not giving up much by using this. You won't be as close as you are with sub machine guns or shotguns, so the grenade perks are less important as well. Stopping power is a no brainer here with the low damage. Deep impact is also very effective since shooting at targets behind cover is something you'll be doing very often.
RPD: This is the mid level weapon. It has middle damage and rate of fire between the 3 weapons. It's the least accurate, but it's a slight difference. It has the best iron site. It also has the ability to pump out the most damage per second out of the 3 weapons (important when taking down copters). It also has about the same recoil as the SAW, despite doing significantly more damage. These things, along with the ease of use w/ the grip (which greatly improves lmg's), makes this the best weapon of the group.
Perks & attachments: Use the grip on this as well. Stopping power is advisable over double tap as you want to increase the damage per bullet to conserve ammo. Deep impact to help mow down people behind cover.
M60E4: Only the pump shotgun and 50 cal sniper rifle have higher damage than this weapon. It has a low rate of fire, but is fully automatic. It's main drawback is it's poor iron site, which makes using the grip difficult. Without the grip, the already higher recoil makes it difficult to hit targets with multiple bullets. I think it's best use is as a very high capacity assault rifle, with a use similiar to that of an m14 or g3. With good range and accuracy, you can pick off multiple targets and have the advantage of a 100 round clip and superior bullet penetration, while still retaining it's fully automatic power against copters and medium range targets where the recoil allows you to go full auto.
Perks & attachments: Suggest the red dot, or the scope if you like using this, as the iron site's horrible. If using like I suggested as a semi-auto, you're better off with stopping power. Double tap will raise the overall damage better, so if you're going full auto, this is a better option. Deep impact is suggested either way.
Which gun?: I find the RPD superior in the normal role as full auto machine gun, as it's damage over time is the best, very low recoil and superior iron site allowing the grip. The M60 is effective as a very high powered, giant capacity, semi-auto assault rifle w/ the option of auto.
Using the Light Machine Guns: Best use of this is to kill multiple targets at medium-long range, while in a stationary covered position. This can mean helping your team push, or guarding a flank/stopping a push. It's very effective if you're on a losing team and having the opposing team continually push you. You can mow down multiple targets and not have to reload quickly. You want to make sure you're in a protected area when reloading as this takes quite a while. You should also be a primary copter killer on your team and aggressively target these. You do have room clearing ability, but you have to do this differently than you would with a sub or shot gun. You want to surprise a group and scope instead of shooting from the hip, and if you're surprised you can just spam and hope something hits (but anyone good with a sub or shotgun should win this battle with you most of the time). You also want to aggressively target anyone using cover as you can usually smash through and kill them anyway before they're able to move, and this is generally the best way to deal with close combat as well. You should be able to outgun anyone through light cover or a wall, so if you have the option of backing off and shooting through a wall instead of an at the hip fight at close range, do so. In a 1v1 situation, use your greater capacity to your advantage and try to get them to milk their clip while playing defensively, then kill them. That's about it. If you like having the biggest baddest weapon and being able to kill off a whole team before reloading, and don't mind lower mobility, then lmg's are a good choice.
Cliff Notes: RPD w/ grip, stopping power, and deep impact is a killing machine. Fire from cover/stationary and down the sites. Actively use bullet penetration. Kill copters.
(Guide by
|V|)
