What's the weapon meta for Expert/Expert Realism?

[Neonetik]

I'm curious as to what weapons are generally considered as the best choices for Expert Realism, and what weapons are considered the worst.

For example, I've heard from most that the M16 is (relatively) total trash in Expert Realism thanks to the drastically lower DPS (Damage per second AND damage per shot) having a particularly strong impact on performance on higher difficulties (and on lower ones honestly, what's the point of using anything other than an AK when it comes to assault rifles on easy/normal, really), plus the fact that it runs out of ammo absurdly fast makes most other weapons preferable choices. Hell, even the damn Silenced SMG outdoes it, since it has a higher DPS, as well as a drastically higher total damage. It's kind of embarrassing for the M16, really.

Which weapons are good to use, and which are not? Are shotguns still applicable (can't even crown on realism)? Sniper Rifles? Magnums? Melee?

I'm not sure about advanced either but I figure it'd be similar to expert, if a bit more lenient.

Cheers.

[Raiman]

It's true that AK has more damage but M16 is more accurate.

For expert realism it's best to get a magnum because it is the only gun that can 1 hit normal zombies from a distance.

Auto Shotguns are just preferences, deals good damage to tanks and special infected

[Seno]

magnum and autoshotgun/sniper

[Flariz]

Magnum, to the extent some people don’t like using it on Expert Realism because it "ruins the challenge".

This is how you know the weapon is good.

[Demonstrat]

My go to on realism expert is Military/Hunting (next will be AWP and scout once the update drops) to snipe some SI and headshot stumble witch, and secondary is fireaxe/machete for tackling hordes

[Bakim The Looter]

We will see what will happen with the meta when they add krieg, mp5, scout and awp

[Neonetik]

Originally posted by Raiman:

It's true that AK has more damage but M16 is more accurate.

The higher accuracy of the M16 is only a decent pro in the face of numerous overwhelming cons. Sadly it does not even come close to making up for the M16's downsides. When you're literally beaten out by damage per second and damage over time by like 40% by a tier one weapon, you know you've done something wrong. At least the scar has extreme accuracy and still has pretty high total damage. If only the M16 had a higher capacity, it might be worth considering, but as it is? It's a damn joke.

Originally posted by ☢︎Zorga:

We will see what will happen with the meta when they add krieg, mp5, scout and awp

I doubt it'll change that much. I haven't played with them, but checking out videos and stats seems to paint a pretty clear picture.
The knife is the best melee by far (from what currently exists in the game anyway, not taking into account the brand new melee stuff). It's faster, does less harm to teammates, registers hits better, and has good swing arcs.
MP5 is still kinda overshadowed by the Silenced SMG in terms of sheer damage per second (though it probably beats out the regular SMG, which only really has a faster firing speed but same DPS in the end), but may be considered if accuracy is more valued.
Commando seems like it overshadows the M16 in all areas except a minor reload speed downside, but that scope will at least give it a niche use that the M16 currently lacks.
Scout is damn near an objective downgrade from the regular rifle due to the ridiculously slow firing speed whilst still having the same damage per shot. It's 4 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ times slower, with the only pro being an even higher accuracy while running, which, to be honest, doesn't even come close to making up for that enormous loss in fire-power.
AWSM seems to be much the same. Even slower firing speed than the Scout, and only a slight power increase. So hey, you can choose either of the regular sniper rifles that do 90 damage per shot at a 240 rate of fire, or about 360 damage per second, or a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ awp that does 115 damage per shot at a 57 rate of fire for about 110 damage per second. This is in a game where the VAST majority of enemies die in a single shot from the Sniper Rifle. So, what the ♥♥♥♥.

[Nescius]

About knife it's getting a nerf. Which is actually a good thing
- Decreased Knife attack speed by 10%
- Knife swings in diagonal arcs

And scout damage will be increased to 105

[Neonetik]

Well hey, if they are getting some nerfs/buffs, then I'm all for it! Balance is key here, after all.
In that case, meta could shift quite hard! We'll see!

[Bakim The Looter]

If they are nerfing the knife, then scout and awp will be buffed

[Flariz]

Yep they are going to rebalance stats....
Which I am not a very big fan of, to be honest. I hope they don’t touch the original guns *too* much with how they are currently, and instead, balance the CSS guns around them.

[Neonetik]

The only normal non-international gun that 100% needs a buff is the M16 in my eyes. I can provide some detailed math regarding why it's so awful, but I'm pretty sure most people already know for a fact why it's such a downgrade.

I mean, honestly, I'd also kinda like to give the tier 1 shotguns at least kind of a better niche, since they are outclassed in every way by the tier 2 shotguns. Tier 1 machineguns still retain some cool stuff over the tier 2 ones (especially over the M16), but the shotguns don't. That's pretty minor though, and again, may be more of an issue of the M16 is particular just being that bad.

Whatever. As long is stuff is practical and balanced, and weapons still have some unique qualities, I'm happy.

[Red™]

Meta is an incredibly stupid concept in l4d2, honestly. If you want to be an efficient teammates and player, don’t just only main a single weapon because “ITZ DA BESSTT !!”. Choose because it fits your role and it aid your team. If your team is running full ak47, then you want someone with a shotgun to lead.
tldr
There’s no such thing as best weapon in l4d2. even scar is pretty good.

[Flariz]

Originally posted by Red™:

Meta is an incredibly stupid concept in l4d2, honestly. If you want to be an efficient teammates and player, don’t just only main a single weapon because “ITZ DA BESSTT !!”. Choose because it fits your role and it aid your team. If your team is running full ak47, then you want someone with a shotgun to lead.
tldr
There’s no such thing as best weapon in l4d2. even scar is pretty good.

Honestly, this is like the one thing I don’t really observe.

I watch my 3 teammates like a hawk, and even watch their items and see what they do with them etc, but I never really pay attention to their weapons... interesting... it simply never really crosses my mind.

Also, I main Shotguns but I hardly ever lead.

[Neonetik]

Originally posted by Red™:

Meta is an incredibly stupid concept in l4d2, honestly. If you want to be an efficient teammates and player, don’t just only main a single weapon because “ITZ DA BESSTT !!”. Choose because it fits your role and it aid your team. If your team is running full ak47, then you want someone with a shotgun to lead.
tldr
There’s no such thing as best weapon in l4d2. even scar is pretty good.

Not quite that stupid. Some tools are just objectively worse than others in 95% of situations, and you're gimping yourself by using them. EG, if you have a choice between a crowbar or a machete, it's always going to be better to pick up the machine. If you have a choice between a shotty and an auto shotty, it's always going to be better to pick up an autoshotty. If you're playing on normal, picking up an AK is basically the only choice out of the assault rifles. Ect.

And yes, of course it's important to see what the team is running, and to adjust accordingly, but this also highly depends on your team and their ability to understand what each person's strengths and what they should be doing. EG, if you are on hard rain, and only one person has an autoshotty, then they should be crowing witches, obviously, but honestly, most of the time, any combination of weapons can work well enough as long as the team coordinates, though whether or not this happens is kinda up to chance in pubs. But there are some weapons that far exceed others, especially depending on what difficulty/mode you choose.

[Conky]

From my experience playing expert realism, you want to abuse the magnum since it one shots common infected regardless if its a head shot or not. For main weapons, I typically avoided the hunting and sniper rifles since not only does the magnum function somewhat similarly, but also due to scoring head shots on common infected with those guns being tricky in many situations. I always stuck to the assault rifles and auto-shotguns since they can easily head shot large hordes of zombies.