Light Machine Guns

Just like with the Battle Rifles, we’ll need to separate Light Machine Guns, but not depending on their medium prowess, but the situation. The main difference between LMG’s - is the playstyle. Two primary playstyles with LMG’s are 

• Aggressive and agile close to mid-range firing with lesser magazines in exchange for greater damage and hip accuracy.
• Positioned gameplay withholding/clearing essential chokepoints like door arc onto the control point, having a great rate of fire and large magazines, sacrificing hip accuracy as well as damage.
• A mediocre mix between two.

Now let’s look at the best of available weapons separately, since Light Machine Guns have differences amidst their representatives.

Better for chokepoints

T9 Carv (TR)

Many players love TR stock LMG, because of its enormous rate of fire combined with a really large magazine. It’s one of the best weapons out there for well-positioned gameplay since it has a good, controllable recoil. Of course, for better performance, you should aim down the sights because its hip accuracy leaves much to be desired. 

Of course, its traits are compensated by decreased damage, but I assure you, its TTK (Time to kill) is well balanced by the weapon’s rate of fire. If you need to hold or clear a chokepoint, TR’s stock LMG is one of the best choices you got. 

MG-H1 Watchman (TR)

Its name speaks for itself. Its design is inspired by the famous Lewis gun. The watchman will be one, if not the best choice to hold a point. It's the rate of fire that literally shreds enemies to pieces, even if it sacrifices raw damage for it, it does compensate for it. It is extremely accurate, not as accurate as the T9 Carv, but at the same time, it shoots faster and has an additional 25 rounds in its magazine.

It also has quite a long reload, so be aware of your positioning when you’re out of ammo.

It also gives the shooter a better hip accuracy, making it a better option for panic situations than T9 Carv

MGR-L1 Promise (NC)

Some NC players may not like it for the mere fact its damage is similar to T9 Carv, and its RPM isn’t even close to the mentioned LMG. But, what’s really great about this weapon is that it’s the weapon with one of the lowest recoils in the entire game. A bit absurd for an NC, but it exists, and it’s actually quite good for withholding crucial chokepoints because of the mentioned trait. You may even shoot on greater distances, it will have a damage dropoff, but you will surely be able to deliver a good portion of short bursts because of its small recoil.

Better for aggressive|agile gameplay

Many love Orion because it’s a great weapon for more aggressive gameplay that is unlocked from the very start if you’re playing VS. It has the same rate of fire as T9 Carv, same damage, but has less ammo in exchange for twice as fast reload speed as well as greater hip accuracy, giving it a good fluency in close-range combat. 

LA1 Anchor (NC) and GD-22S (NC)

Now here we got 2 weapons at the same time, why so? Well, because they are officially considered as analog weapons, and have the same damage model, accuracy, and magazine sizes. Although they do have their advantages and drawbacks, and each of them has an advantage that compensates the drawback of another, and a drawback that compensates the advantage of another. Overall they are two sides of the same coin.

LA1 Anchor 

advantages:

• Better cone of fire (pattern of rounds forming upon being fired)
• Higher rate of fire, and thus DPS

Disadvantages: 

• Cost: 1000 certificates | 699 DC (Compared to GD-22S 325 certificates | 250 DC)
• Longer reload compared to GD-22S
• Lower muzzle velocity compared to GD-22s
• Harder to control recoil compared to GD-22s

GD-22S advantages and disadvantages are vice versa to LA1 Anchor.

Both of them have decent DPS and decently controllable recoil, making them a good choice for aggressive, mobile gameplay.

MSW-R (TR)

MSW-R is quite similar to the previously mentioned Orion and LA1 Anchor. Although MSW-R is actually more similar to stock T9 Carv. They share the same damage and rate of fire, and even though MSW-R has slightly lower muzzle velocity and magazine size, it has twice as much faster reload speed and better hip accuracy. As well as noticeably easily controllable recoil.

A mix of both

T32 Bull (TR)

Bull provides a good balance between T9 Carv and MSW-R LMG for TR. It has a reduced rate of fire, which lowers its damage output, in exchange for maintaining relatively fast reload speed as well as accuracy. It also has a wide variety of attachments, which can improve its advantages, such as good hip-fire accuracy. Overall, it’s a good balance between positioned and aggressive gameplay. A very adaptable weapon 

Pulsar LSW (VS)

Just like in the situation with T32 Bull - it’s a great mix of a weapon that is capable of shredding enemies in aggressive gameplay, due to having a 75 magazine size. 15 more rounds than Bull has! Although it does sacrifice its hip accuracy for it. Its rate of fire is quite decent, same with the damage which is similar to T9 Carv. Thus being said, this weapon is quite adaptive to the situation and can save the shooter in a variety of scenarios.

VE-H Maw (VS)

Now, this is an interesting weapon. It’s definitely not your first choice when you are searching for a mix of chokepoint holding and aggressive gameplay, since it has less effective stats than other options, such as Pulsar LSW for instance. But! It does have its unique features. Weapon’s uniqueness lies within its special attachments 

Its first unique attachment is Vented Power Core, which removes the speed penalty when reloading an empty magazine. What does it mean? That means it will reload with the same speed regardless of the magazine’s capacity when normally the player reloads longer when reloading an empty magazine. Although it makes recoil less stable, so be aware.

The second attachment is Unstable Ammunition, which increases the size of projectiles fired, making it much easier to hit the target, especially on longer ranges, but it greatly decreases headshot damage, making its multiplier to do just 80% of bonus damage, which is a great drawback since it means it will require an additional bullet to the head to take down the target, and it’s not great. On the other hand, you’ll be able to hit more accurately since your bullets will be larger.

To sum up, it’s not the best option, but it’s the attachments that can outbalance some of this weapon’s flaws, making it adaptable even more than it already is.