Grandpa's Gun Rants

A brief personal commentary on the various guns of Aliens: Fireteam Elite, including the ones from Pathogen DLC

Foreword

Be advised, this rant is a sandwich made from first hand experience, personal preference and bias, "feels", and arbitrary opinions on top of the actual crunch. So don't take this as THE definitive guide to weapons, but as one man's personal take on them.
This will also not really say how to acquire it. If it's not in the store assume it's a mission drop.
But thanks to Voxel, I have now included personal choice of attachments for each weapons for you to jeer at.

And with that out of the way, let's get right into it.

Rifles: Autorifles

The generalist guns, able to take on any threats from babies to DA KWEEN herself. You cannot go wrong with having one on you, but building it wrong can also cost you the run. There are 5+1 guns in this category. Yes I know that makes 6 but I will explain why in a bit.

1. EVI-87 Zvezda Plasma Rifle
I consider it an smg masquerading as an autorifle. Fires fast, Reloads a bit slow. With respectable mag size to compensate for low dmg. The only thing about it is that it has big damage dropoff, and is unaffected by most Range modifiers (so far I've only found Recon's Down Range to have noticeable effect). Great for self defense and brawling when things get hectic and you don't have a CQW on hand. Though I recommend some reload speed attachment to get the overall agility up.
Personal choice of attachments: Laser Sight, Expanded Reserves, Slide Compensator

2. L36 Halberd
I can see why the empire chose this gun. It is all around a very agile gun without the range issue of the plasma rifle. Granted the autorifles are quite closely balanced but if you want to go for the light and fast option. This gun will take you through waves and waves of runners no problem. I personally go for weakpoint dmg mods as it's the most accurate gun in the bunch, not counting the Zvezda.
Personal choice of attachments: Green Dot Sight, M17C2 Kolkata Eviscerator, Precision Brake

3. M41A2 Pulse Rifle
Ew, it's the starter gun. Haha, just kidding. This is a solid "true mid" gun and the definitive Auto Rifle experience. Sure, there might be nothing exciting about the old thing, but you could build it any way you like and it will work for you.
Personal choice of attachments: Green Dot Sight, M17C2 Kolkata Eviscerator, Precision Brake

4. Type 88 Heavy Assault Rifle
On paper, it should not be good. In practice, it is surprisingly decent. This was my go-to gun when I was running autorifles. I once got my ADS stuck off and it still performed well enough with hipfire. It's got the best sound in the bunch too so that's an up. Some of you may find issues with the ammo and stats, but it somehow feels right for me especially with some extra fire rate.
Personal choice of attachments: Red Dot Sight, Casket Mag, Assault Brake

5. Kramer Assault Rifle
A lot of people swear by this gun and I see why. It is strong and accurate, but the slow fire rate makes it feel quite clunky for self defense use (ala demo). Even though the fluff says that it isn't effective at long range, I'm rather inclined to plink off far targets with it due to how hard it hits and decent crit dmg.
Personal choice of attachments: Hybrid Sight, Casket Mag, Assault Brake

+1. 4C2 Astra
This new indian gun ain't an auto rifle. Why? Because it actually fires in bursts! Well, auto bursts!
This thing uses all small attachments and feels like a mid point between SMG and DMR, but disregarding that, it is a fast and accurate gun capable of "bursting" down a weakpoint with surprising effectiveness. If you're considering taking a full fledged burst fire DMRs as a Gunner, consider taking this one instead. And if you have some money to spare, invest in the new muzzle that slows enemies on 3rd hit. It is perfect for that gun.
Personal choice of attachments: Hybrid Sight, Tactical Mag, C36B5 Karachi Overwatch

Rifles: Burst Rifles

I do not have very high opinions about the burst rifles, mainly because I find them unwieldy and sit in a niche, awkward place between autorifles and precision rifles. But still, I said I would cover all the guns and I shall deliver. These 4 count as DMRs but I chuck them into their own category due to how they behave.

1. X45 Bombard
Seemingly the "combat" oriented gun of the bunch. Lower damage, faster fire rate, more ammo. I'm going to put it close to the L36 in terms of performance, but the singular burst fire is a bit jarring in brawling situations. It is a somewhat weird gun, I probably would have liked it better as autoburst gun, but alas.
Personal choice of attachments: Green Dot Sight, M17C2 Kolkata Eviscerator, Ported Compensator

2. M41A3 Burst Rifle
I found the choice for large optics on this gun odd, I figured that it might supposed to be the precision choice. At least the extra zoom helps it engage targets further away. In my opinion this is what the burst rifles are supposed to do. As it picks off distant targets with respectable accuracy and still performs okay (just okay, not good) in self defense.
Personal choice of attachments: Tactical Scope, M17C2 Kolkata Eviscerator, Precision Brake

3.StG 24 Storm Rifle
On paper, it's a sidegrade to M41A3, in practice, it doesn't feel good. That bit of slower fire was irritating to use for self defense, and the accuracy would do better fighting synths than it does xenos. It just somehow feels clunky and weak unless you score crits, and that can be hard with how the gun behaves.
Personal choice of attachments: Green Dot Sight, M17C2 Kolkata Eviscerator, Slide Compensator

4. AM-16 Gruppa
The only good burst rifle apart from the Astra in previous section. This one shoots hard and handles well enough in both close range and precision shots. It also shoots in auto bursts so you can hold down the trigger in a panic! Fluff says smaller mag size and longer reloads are a problem but who gives a ♥♥♥♥. Not me, that's for sure. If you're thinking about grabbing a burst rifle for a mission and that new Astra hasn't dropped for you yet, take this one. I endorse it.
Personal choice of attachments: Green Dot Sight, M17C2 Kolkata Eviscerator, Vented Flash Hider

Rifles: Precisions

The DMRs and Snipers of the game. For when you want that bastard dead and you want it dead right now. There are 2 semi-auto DMRs and 3+1 Sniper Rifles as of current. Yes, there is an outlier.

1. Twilight V,4
The "light and agile" option, both the stats and the feels for this gun are quite good. You will take this one as a Doc or Recon who aren't on big boy duties, but favour some long range engagements. It does 400dmg a shot and that almost equates to a burst from the autos, with high crit it could comfortably contend with the green enemies.
Personal choice of attachments: Tactical Scope, Extended Field Mag, Counterbalanced Brake

2.M42A2 Scout Rifle
The "heavy" DMR. Giving you the taste of sniper duty without the ammo and handling constraint of actually wielding one. You WILL find the slow fire rate jarring especially when you did not score a headshot kill (damn thing's damage is just short of oneshotting runners), and I accordingly recommend you remedy that with attachments. Otherwise it does get you to aim well and make the shot count. Kinda like training wheels before you go up to the big guns.
Personal choice of attachments: Green Dot Sight, Assault Magazine, Anti Materiel Brake

3. X46 Ballista
That small step up from the scout rifle into sniper territory. An "entry level" sniper per se. It is powerful enough to kill runners in one body shot on Intense, and is overall a matter of taste between this one and the scout rifle. Either you want it to hit a bit harder, or be a bit more agile.
Personal choice of attachments: Tactical Scope, Assault Mag, Counterbalanced Brake

4. M42A3 Sniper Rifle
The real ♥♥♥♥. This bad boy is one of the three pinnacles of per shot dmg (the third, somehow, belongs to P.649 HEL) and in the right circumstances damn near one shot everything short of the orange boys. Slap on the tanker muzzle, tactical scope, and armour piercing rounds. Grab all the rifle training perks with crit dmg on them, grab recon's Down Range, and sit at the beginning of the room. You need less than 2 mags to kill anything with head weakpoint to shoot at. 1k raw dmg and 400% crit is nothing to scoff at.
Personal choice of attachments: Tactical Scope, AP Rounds, Tanker Muzzle Brake

5. L33 Pike
The second real ♥♥♥♥ for the guys who love reloading. It offers a more consistent damage profile as you don't need long ass reload of a mag, just slap one round in and go. The bane of all synths that could clear any engagement pronto with a wee bit of finesse. Even better that it is on sale in the store, too! If you do not already have it you must purchase it right away.
Personal choice of attachments: Tactical Scope, Rapid Dispersal Unit, Tanker Muzzle Brake

+1. Svat-92 Sokol
The odd one, it is an auto advertised as a sniper rifle. Like the fluff text said, it is a gun that tries to be many things at once, excelling in none. The auto fire is just a bit higher than what Twilight V4 is capable of unless you buff it, its damage sits between the two other DMRs, and it has lower crit multiplier. I have a feeling that this gun works best in the hands of the Gunner rather than a dedicated marksman. As a sort of heavy battle rifle.
Personal choice of attachments: Radar Enhanced Optic, Alloyed Mag, Anti Materiel Brake

Heavy: Launchers

One thing about bombs in this game is that the explosion radius is always just a bit smaller than you expect it to be, and it always catches you off guard. The 6(+1) launchers should be played with this in mind. Do not trust your casual sense when it comes to the radius.

1. M12 RPG Launcher
This gun can be summed up in 1 word: Disappointment (no, not "disappointing", but Disappointment itself). The fluff says it shoots HEAT warheads intended for light Anti-vehicle and Strongpoint penetration. It does a whopping 2k dmg on paper, and single rocket in a mag all led to the assumption that it was the prime anti-orange tool. Only in practice it was not so. The damage was underwhelming against the intended target and you will find yourself continuously laying into it until it closed the distance enough for the splash damage to get you too, and it would still be alive and angry ready to serve your ass on a silver platter. And do not even get me started about the atrocious accuracy. The amount of times the rocket would whiz by the target as if they got plot armour on when you move or your reticle is slightly off is quite maddening.
Personal choice of attachments: Deep Railed Armature, Miller Twist Rifling, Rapid Dispersal Unit

2. M12A1 Rocket Launcher
Now that is more like what the big booms are supposed to be. Respectable damage and radius. Just do not shoot it at the big ones, if the earlier M12 stood no chance then this one would not. Ohwait, actually you should, because damage is still damage. Just don't let the splash hit you.
Personal choice of attachments: Kinetic Enhancement Harness, Ratchet Rifling, Expanded Reserves

3. M95 Grenade Launcher
Do you like wallbanging? Are you looking for the ultimate trickshot experience? No? Put that gun back in its case then. The grenades from this gun bounce, and oh they do. If you're not good with playing the angles and are not careful, the environment can and will yeet that ball back at you at every turn. Sure, you can try, but your team should be wary of it for good reason.
Personal choice of attachments: Deep Railed Armature, Miller Twist Rifling, Field Reserves

4. M94 Impact Grenades
After you put that M95 down, take this one and use it instead. This is the traditional, no-nonsense grenade launcher. There is nothing extra to be said about it. It's almost as classic as a shotgun.
Personal choice of attachments: Deep Railed Armature, Hammer Forged Rifling, Field Reserves

5. Microburst
On paper, it looks like a missile machine gun, in practice, it is an ammo waster. The gun's splash redius is almost nonexistent, it is not exactly that accurate, and projectile speed means you could not engage xenos at long range because they will have already ♥♥♥♥♥♥ off by the time it hits. It looks like a machine gun trying to be a missile launcher and doing a bad job at it.
Personal choice of attachments: Bracing Armature, Hybrid Rifling, Flared Breech

6. 2B1 Vajra
Do you like machine guns? Do you like grenades? Do you like suppressive fire? Then this bad boy from Alphatech is for you! With 32 grenades in a single mag, splash radius almost means nothing as you continuously rain down hellfire upon the incoming swarm. It is a true area saturation weapon especially when paired with Ammo Hoarder card and a good Overclock from a gunner, turning the gun into a joyride of constant explosion that could almost rip apart everything! Definitely have this one in your inventory. It is in the store.
Personal choice of attachments: Deep Railed Armature, Miller Twist Rifling, Rapid Dispersal Unit

+1. P.649 HEL
The bespoke laser cannon and one of a few weapons with charging mechanic. It doesn't seem to have any splash damage so you could treat it as a heavy rifle. One uncharged shot costs 5 ammo and full charge costs 12, that means you could potentially sling out 5k(!!!) crit dmg ten times each reload, and an uncharged shot is enough to kill a runner. It's got a respectable fire rate and somewhat generous ammo supply, too. The downside being its long ass reload that should be modded against, but otherwise this is the prime anti orange ordinance demos and lancers could ask for.
Personal choice of attachments: Bracing Armature, Progressive Rifling, Rapid Dispersal Unit

Heavy: Machine Guns

Ahh, so you want that big dakka huh? Well let's grab yourself an Ammo Hoarder card or that recon guy over there. Or both, both is good. Because all of these 4 guns either have only a few mags in reserve or chew through the ammo supply really quickly.

1.L56A3 Smartgun
Ah, yes, the classic smartgun. The auto-aim gun betrays your behaviour by getting you to not aim in order to reach full potential. You simply have to hipfire while keeping the enemies relatively close to your reticle and the gun will lock on on its own. Its big and known problems are that it has quite short range. It fires quickly thus burns through ammo fast, and it does not do crit. Yes, no headshot bonus or anything. Use the gun as mob control and pick another for big one killing duty.
Personal choice of attachments: Max cap. Armature, Polygonal Rifling, Anti Materiel Brake

2.L59 Minigun
The minigun in this game isn't the fire rate king, it actually fires like an average auto rifle. The catch being there's an unavoidable delay before firing and the mag size is 120, which if you mainline autorifle isn't much at all. This is why I told you to bring ammo enhancements and additional supply. 240 shots worth of non-stop fire can be quite a joyride.
Personal choice of attachments: Max cap. Armature, Miller Twist Rifling, Anti Materiel Brake

3.M41E4 Heavy Pulse Rifle
It is exactly what it says on the tin, a heavy pulse rifle. It shoots hard with a little crit sprinkled in, good for whatever the autorifles do. But ammo penalty on intense and above usually leaves it with abysmal ammo count and is probably best used against the green names.
Personal choice of attachments: Max cap. Armature, Miller Twist Rifling, High Velocity Brake

4. Thunderbolt Mk2 Autocannon
Whatever that bastard Microburst can do, this new gun can do better. It features much bigger magazine (and only slightly bigger reserve), much faster projectile speed, and explosive bullets. Sure the stats might say otherwise but this is how it feels in my hands. Not to mention how machine gun mechanic means it is actually much more accurate than the Microburst (reverse bloom, the machine guns get more accurate after a few seconds of continuous fire). Slap some slowing and knockdown mods on it and let the thunder rock. Also bring those extra ammo because the shortage is more severe with this gun than with any other guns in the category.
Personal choice of attachments: Bracing Armature, Polygonal Rifling, Counterbalanced Brake

CQW: Shotguns

The classics! THE CLASSICS! NOTHING IS MORE CLASSIC THAN SHOTGUNS! These bad boys clock in at 7 flavours of vermin skeeters to choose from.

1. M37A3 Pump Shotgun
The best, period. The first shotgun you get is a no-nonsense traditional shotgun that does highest per shot damage out of them all. It is powerful enough to one shot runners on any difficulty so the pros verified this gun as legit best shotgun to have around. Just probably chuck some reload speed mod in there for greater agility so you won't be caught reloading.
Personal choice of attachments: Hybrid Sight, Field Reserves, Assault Brake

2. Heirloom Standoff
DLC exclusive shotgun, I've heard that it's got the highest stumble chance out of the bunch (clocking in at about 46%), but knowing my luck it doesn't really matter for me. I personally use it as an agile alternative to the M37.
Personal choice of attachments: Hammer forged rifling, Launch Accerelator, High Velocity Brake

3. DT-57 Medved
The old Double Barrel. It is the Pike of shotguns in that it almost entirely relies on reload speed. With a bit of patience and finesse it could equally compete with M37 for the best shotgun. Plus the style point if you pair it with the revolver and cowboy hat for that old timey loadout.
Personal choice of attachments: Hybrid Sight, Rapid Dispersal Unit, Precision Brake

4. Type 21 Tactical shotgun
A weaker one more suited for hectic trash cleaning and brawling. Remember what I said about being caught reloading on the M37? This one fixes that by having mag reload instead. It is good for self defense and rear guard duty, but doesn't really compete with the OG at taking down the greens and oranges.
Personal choice of attachments: Red dot sight, Alloyed mag, High Velocity Brake

5. Type 76 Auto Shotgun
Leaning further into the niche, this auto shotgun is fun, but comes off as weak "shotgun". But if you focus on the "auto" part and play accordingly, its power and appeal rise greatly. Thanks to Voxel, I've given this gun another chance, and it actually makes for a decent self defense weapon (I'm gonna say 65% shotgun 35% SMG). But it could become a deadly tool in the hands of a gunner with overclock build. With a bit of dedication in the setup, it shreds both the swarms and the orange boys on intense surprisingly well.
Personal choice of attachments: Holo Sight, Casket Mag, Ported Compensater/High Velocity Brake

6. M51 Breaching Scattergun
Because of course there's a burst gun in every category that isn't heavy. I would wager that this gun sits a bit higher than Type 21 due to superior damage and double tap burst. It could both take on a swarm and kill singular xenos, but burst fire means running out of ammo quite fast and changing mags often.
Personal choice of attachments: Holo Sight, Casket Mag, C36B5 Karachi Overwatch

7.EDS-93 Zadak Plasma Discharger
A new addition from Pathogen DLC, this shotgun has a brief charge up to tighten the spread for that concentrated critical hit. I personally like this one better on intense as it could still kill runners in one shot, and render the accurate strike against the tougher enemies with the same gun. The shame being long ass reloads that need improving if you're not keen to run away while getting your 9 shots ready again.
Personal choice of attachments: Red dot sight, Rapid Dispersal unit, Anti-Materiel Brake

CQW: SMGs

Close quarter combats can be a bit clunky with shotguns, SMGs offer full auto solutions to such a problem. The 5 guns fill the same niche but work a bit differently.

1.LEM MP11 Stormsurge
The smaller version of the StG24 which I hated is...okay, I guess? It is certainly accurate enough for precision shots, but I don't really like the burst fire too much especially in closer range.
Personal choice of attachments: Green Dot Sight, M12E1 Patna LiteMag, Precision Brake

2.M39 Submachine Gun
Do not step on this one, for the grouping is surprisingly tight on its fire rate, you could easily pump a poor sucker's head full of lead should it get too close, and you don't even have to aim too hard because the gun will shred the targets regardless, unless they're the big ones.
Personal choice of attachments:Hybrid Sight, Tactical Mag, Multiport Compensator

3.PPZ-49 Vol
I personally use this as "heavy" smg for longer range engagements, Short controlled bursts could net good accuracy over range and full auto is still there for brawling. Although mainline use also comes with ammo issue and I tend to run it dry.
Personal choice of attachments: Reflex Laser Sight, Inhibitor Rounds, Multiport Compensator

4. X43 Barrage
The M10 for SMGs. It is both fun and effective gun and surprisingly accurate. When you pick up this gun you want to hurl a mass of bullets at your enemies, and you want them to die from it. I quite literally have a CQW madness gunner build just for riding the dakkaforce with this gun. You WILL love this gun and if you don't then you're just not shooting it fast enough.
Personal choice of attachments: Hybrid Sight, Tactical Mag, Slanted Brake//Flash Hider

5. 6A Jaipur
A new addition from Pathogen DLC. This gun is 70% SMG and 30% Shotgun. Its projectile splits into 4 out of the barrel. On paper it looks like dog spew, but in practice it is a surprisingly solid gun. The 57 dmg turns into 228 raw dmg when all 4 pellets hit (yes the grouping is pretty tight, but still, you gotta be special to see how it works and deciding to long range it). And handling is manageable enough to stay on target in brawling situations.
Personal choice of attachments: Hybrid Sight, Casket Mag, Recoil Booster

Handguns: Hand Cannons

"Hand Cannons" Are exactly what the name suggests, big ass powerful handguns capable of killing a xenos in but a few critical hits (why yes, finesse must be exercised to land those shots effectively). With 6 flavours to choose from.

1. Kramer .50 Magnum
Your starting handcannon is decent enough to nail a runner in a single headshot. Just gotta mod it up a little and be accurate. I personally recommend the mag that refunds a round on kill, if you're good enough shot you could potentially clear a whole engagement without reloading.
Personal choice of attachments: Green Dot Sight, Quickloader, Vented Flash Hider

2. Frontier Revolver
Are you a cowboy? Do you feel lucky? No? Take this gun anyway. It reloads quite fast and is the undisputed most powerful handgun around. You simply have to contend with the fact that it is not a long range gun and that it reloads one round at a time. Mainlining this while wearing a cowboy hat also nets you a generous amount of style points.
Personal choice of attachments: Hybrid Sight, Launch Accelerator, Vented Flash Hider

3. N79 EVA Laser
A sniper in the form of a pistol, slow firing but powerful at long range (longest actually, if you slap Down Range on dmg falloff actually goes up). The gun actually fires decently fast, but it works on overheating mechanic and takes a few seconds to cool down which disables your weapon switching. So slowness must be exercised by the user to keep the gun firing.
Personal choice of attachments: Green Dot Sight, Vent Brake

4. Twinhammer
This is an odd gun, working on two round burst/double tap fire mode. It is balanced well enough for it to be a little forgiving on body shot, but landing both shots on the head can be tricky. I do not really have a strong opinion about this one other than I find it odd and do not use it quite often.
Personal choice of attachments: Micro Dot Sight, Drop Magazine, Vented Flash Hider

5. Type 95 Combat Pistol
Rejoice for there is a pistol equivalent that is not the little sidearm! This one is well and truly an all rounder pistol. It's got generous ammo supply and mag size, good accuracy, and good agility to make up for the lack of firepower. Not on top of your game with headshots and want something easier to use? Pick this one.
Personal choice of attachments: Hybrid Sight, Tactical Mag, Vented Flash Hider

6. U1A2 GL Conversion
Pocket Grenade Launcher bringing explosive fire support to those who do not have it. Only that it's bad. Sure the gun reloads fast and has okay ammo reserve, but like the gripe with other explosive weapons, you would feel like you're not hitting anything unless you score a direct hit, which is annoying as hell since it's got projectile curve and you have to make skillshots if the target isn't right in front of you.
Personal choice of attachments: Miller Twist Rifling, Field Reserves

Handguns: Machine Pistols

The other side of the handgun life, the machine pistols offer a more generalist/mainline defense choice of 4 guns

1. M10 Machine Pistol
Do you like dakka? Do you like shredding? Do you ejaculate to the thought of superior fire rate emptying a magazine in seconds? Look no further, the M10 is for you! With almost 30 rounds per sec raw and almost up to 40 modded, 50 rounds per mag, and a ton of reserve, no runners would survive a brief, point blank blast from this bad boy. This thing's most obvious downside is the spread, something this fast can't be pinpoint accurate now, can it?
Personal choice of attachments: Reflex Sight, Tactical Mag, Slanted Brake/Flash Hider

2.Mark 7 Mod 2 CQB Pistol
I officially shill for this burst fire pistol. You only need one or two bursts to take down a runner (at close range, all 4 rounds could go into the dome and hit crits), and the ammo reserve will last long enough to keep any marksman medic safe from ammo box to ammo box. Buy it, use it, love it, that simple.
Personal choice of attachments: Hybrid Sight, Tactical Mag, Assault Brake

3.Type 78 Burst Pistol
I consider this one a long range burst pistol, since all 3 level unlocks are effective range. A midpoint between Hand Cannon and Machine Pistol. It is a decent gun for mainline use and I do not have any real downside to say about it.
Personal choice of attachments: Green Dot Sight, Tactical Mag, Flash Hider

4. 8A7 Dambulla Machine Pistol
A new addition from Pathogen DLC, this gun is an SMG masquerading as a machine pistol. It's got that short effective range, and other stats line up with it being a heavier alternative to the M10, It serves its purpose well, but the mag seems a bit small to me.
Personal choice of attachments: Holo Sight, M12E1 Patna LiteMag/Tactical Mag, Assault Brake

Handguns: Riot Guns

Basically, the mini-shotguns. There's just 3 of them covering each aspect, and there's not exactly much to say for any of them. You just pull it out, blast the fools, reload, and move on.

1. Kramer Short-Barrel
Mini pump action. 5 shots, fires fast, reloads fast, decent damage. Kind of competes with the M37
Personal choice of attachments: Reflex Sight, Field Reserves, Assault Brake

2.Rapid Responder
Mini auto shotty. Funnily enough, I find it superior than Type 76 in every way.
Personal choice of attachments: Hybrid Sight, Drum Magazine, Assault Brake

3.DKT-59 Misha
Almost literal sawed off shotgun. Again, it is superior to the big version in every single way.
Personal choice of attachments: Hybrid Sight, Rapid Dispersal Unit, High Velocity Brake

Flamethrowers

Last but not least. Flamethrowers. 3 guns existing across 2 categories. I am putting them in their own section since they don't fit well anywhere else.

1.Type 99 Incinerator
It is a simple short range flamer, exactly what you think you would find in a game. It shoots out a jet of flame that deals continuous damage and leave a bit of DoT. People hate it, and honestly there are better things to use in the CQW section unless you're expecting a swarm of pathogen poppers and no one is bringing an effective crowd control.
Personal choice of attachments: Miller Twist Rifling, Riser Mount MDS, Phosphorous Munitions

2.OCAP-91 Volcan
Bigger, Badder, Longer, Harder, Stronger. If you're going to bring a flamer (that isn't a turret), may as well go for the big one. It is a heavy weapon, but it is quite obviously superior than the little one in every way.Oh, it also shoots a bit further.
Personal choice of attachments: Deep Railed Armature, Miller Twist Rifling, Rapid Dispersal Unit

3. X1 Fireball
Why if it isn't a grenade launcher disguising itself as a flamethrower. It behaves like an incendiary grenade that leaves a patch of flame on impact. Yes, that means you have to throw it so that it lands a direct hit or close to deal that hit of damage. It's novel, but it's not that good when put to the test.
Personal choice of attachments: Miller Twist Rifling, Holo Sight, Phosphorous Munitions

Extras and Ending

And since we are almost done, might as well do the last thing every players have in their possessions by default...

E1. Sidearm
Do, not, ♥♥♥♥, on, sidearms. The little things are actually quite beefy and could down runners with a couple of headshots, they also have unlimited ammo. ♥♥♥♥ there's even a whole ass challenge card that makes you beat a map using just them.

E2. Melee
Again, melee is underrated. You could interrupt runner attack with a well timed melee, and with some phalanx perks that buff the damage you could outright oneshot them on full stack. Besides, if latency is on your side, meleeing a runner then executing it with a handcannon shot is an effective way to take down surprise strays.

And there we have it. All the guns from day one up to present. Got something to add, any advice from your view, or talk trash about it? Feel free to do so.

[holy-death]

LEM MP11 Stormsurge (and Type 78 Burst Pistol) were kind of meh for me until I got "Short, Controlled Bursts" perk. It turns these weapons (as well as M41A3 Burst Rifle) into incredibly accurate guns that can be used for weak point damage focus.

[Dynamite Chimp (Messedupotato)]

I will say one thing about the LEM StG24 Storm Rifle. When combined with "Short, Controlled Bursts" and "Let's Rock", it has perfect accuracy, and recoil so minuscule that the act of clicking the mouse is enough to counteract it.

It's funny when you pull the trigger and the crosshair doesn't move at all.

[Grandpa!]

Oh, yeah, The smart gun autoaim does work on hipfiring, The difference (that I've seen) lies in the "blind fire" ability and the aiming zoom (might be a placebo effect, but I feel like the lock on area on hipfire is slightly bigger due to lack of zooming).

I would come to the same conclusion as you did, as aiming helps you see a little bit better and conserve ammunition in longer range engagements where they come down a long corridor, otherwise I would hipfire it in a brawling situations. To each their own though, give it a spin and see which way feels right for you.

Feel free to ask if you have any more question, and I shall find the answers for you.

[Jeslis]

To confirm; you ARE finding that the hipfire on the smart gun does 'try' to assist the aiming through the smart function?

Or is that part of the aim assist stat on some builds?

I'm still not 100% as to if the actual smart function is working on hipfire at all.

Sorry to bother you bout this, just trying to figure out if hipfire is worth it or if I should be primarily trying to ADS with this gun and only hipfire in 'shotgun face range' type scenarios.

[Grandpa!]

I went and tested it again, Seems like you have to keep the target relatively centered regardless of aiming down sight or not in order for the gun to lock on. But you are correct, aiming down sight keeps the gun from firing at nothing rather than letting loose like on hipfire. I however, personally found that aiming down sight with it to be a wee bit jarring with the gun not firing unless you lock on.

[Jeslis]

Hi Grandpa, I'm unsure if they've changed the smartgun(Heavy), or I am misunderstanding something (I'm a newer player) -- it seems that the smart function of only firing when it'll hit an enemy will only work when ADS. If you are hip aiming, the smart function appears to do nothing//you can fire without aiming at anything at the moment.

[Grandpa!]

I went and tried it out. I gotta agree! The combination really brings the gun to be a proper primary and alleviate a sizeable part of the ammo constraint.

[Shadow Dracul]

I would argue on the P.649 HEL that Phosphorus munitions, Hybrid rifling and Max capacity armature are better. This gun Chews through that ammo and the 25% chance at a fire pool proc's pretty often also a bit better charge speed leads to better orange killing as you certainly won't oneshot it. it works even better that way on the lancer because you can ignore reload for a bit and also use it as a primary weapon for non hordes or taking them out at range Also you need to take the ammo you have and divide it by 5 which really cuts down on what you have. That and with the Bracing armature you have to worry about standing still rather than having the ability to move around when needed and still fire. Just my personal preference there and while 100 dps doesn't sound like much when you are constantly killing chaff those numbers can add up to your teammates getting kills that they would otherwise be an extra shot off.

[Grandpa!]

Glad I could help Sauceman

[LAMB SAUCE™]

Your guide helping me a lot, mate. Thank you!