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I’m being asked a lot in TS these days about which gun is best for certain classes in BF3 and what attachments to use etc. Since I’ve been watching a ton of videos about this on youtube (LvlCap and Rival xfactor mostly), I thought I’d just summarise a few that I use, so I can refer people here as well as use it for myself in future 🙂
Before I go into detail though, let me just say that when you pick a gun, then the most important consideration is what you’re comfortable with. This game was a bit of a learning curve for me as the gun mechanics are considerably different compared to BF2, and while DICE have kept the BF feel to the game, the aiming system is very COD like imo, and given I have very little COD experience, I think that’s why I (and a few others) initially struggled to get to grips with it. I initially settled on the SCAR-H on release, as it fitted in perfectly with my playstyle, and I got quite handy with it, however I look back on that now as a mistake as it limited my all round experience, cornering me into a particular niche which made adapting to different game modes and tactics that bit more difficult. If you’re comfortable, as I was, with a particular weapon, then don’t let anyone tell you something else is better, but if want to expand your horizon’s as such, then have a look at some of what I’m about to suggest. Also if there’s a gun I’ve not listed here, and you want an analysis, just ask and I’ll add to the thread as we go along.
It’s also worth adding that while a lot of this will be familiar to most of you, when I started this post (a few weeks ago), I thought I had a good understanding of what was at work in the game as well, but tbh I’ve learned quite a bit while doing this, so hopefully there will be something in here that may benefit you. In particular it may help you explain some of your deaths, allowing you to analyse games more accurately as they go on, and maybe encourage a change in your thought process when considering a response.
Anyway if you currently whore one particular weapon, then once you decide to take the leap and change up your kit, the first thing you need to understand are the mechanics at work, and when certain characteristics are strengths, and when the same characteristic may be a weakness. Some guns will gimp you at close range, others gimp you at range, but to make a decision on what’s best for you on a particular map, you need to understand the practical implications of the stats, so I’ll look at these first, then list a few of my favourite kits in a few posts further down.
Rate of fire (ROF) – To win a fight you want to be putting damage on a target as quickly as possible, so obviously the faster you fire the higher your damage output, however high ROF weapons are often balanced with high recoil stats, so it’s important to look at that as well. This stat is most important when considering the close range strengths of a gun, for example; do you ever wonder why you always die to an AEK or MP7 in the face? It’s often because their ROF stats are amongst the highest in the game (900 for AEK, and 950 for the MP7) – although recoil and hip fire accuracy also come into it.
Recoil – We all know what this is, but do you understand the mechanics at play in gameplay terms? The best way to demonstrate it is to take a few steps back from a wall sometime in game, line up a shot aiming down your sight, and drop the hammer, emptying your clip. You’ll notice the bullet pattern on the wall drift up and towards the top right or left corner (most guns that I’ve tested drift right). The extent to which your bullets deviate up is determined by the vertical recoil stat of the gun, and the extent to which it drifts left or right, is determined by the horizontal recoil stats (aka side to side). The reason the drift is to one or other corner (normally) is because horizontal recoil has two stats, a figure which pulls it left, and another that pulls right, and these are normally different.
I don’t know exactly how recoil is calculated by the game’s engine, but note that if you pick a gun like the SCAR-L which has identical left and right horizontal recoil (0.225), it will give you a roughly vertical bullet pattern on a wall. It’s not a perfectly straight line because individual bullets will deviate as you fire, which is important to note if you’re looking at a gun such as the KH2000, which also has identical left and right horizontal recoil figures, but at 0.4 each direction, your vertical pattern won’t be as tight as with the SCAR-L. You would therefore consider a foregrip for the KH2000, which I’ll talk about in a bit.
You may also want to perform the same test when not aiming down sight, firing from the hip, and pay attention to the extent of the bullet spread. The hip fire accuracy stat determines how tight a pattern you see here. In both cases you can control the tightness of the pattern with a combination of recoil control via the mouse, and firing in bursts. Perform either test at different ranges, and alter your bursts until you see the tightest pattern which allows you to put as many bullets on the spot in the shortest time, and this should be the burst you use at those ranges in game.
Vertical recoil is the easiest to control, pulling straight down with your mouse, horizontal is slightly tricker as you have to learn the angle to pull down and whether it’s to the left or right. While both figures will affect your ability to hit targets at range, you may find the horizontal recoil figure more significant here.
How damage works – Each gun has a maximum and minimum damage figure which applies at different ranges. If you take the naked M16A3 (i.e. no attachments) as an example here, you apply 25 damage per hit within the first 8 metres, and beyond this “drop off point” there’s a linear decrease in your damage out to the gun’s “drop off range” where it hits the minimum figure off 18.4 damage per shot (50 metres for the M16). Beyond your drop off range, all your shots will hit for 18.4 damage. In a nutshell what this translates to is that within 8 metres, you can kill someone with 4 body shots (2 to the head), after 8 metres your target will require 5 shots to kill out to about 39 metres where a target will then require 6 shots, and 6 body shots will be the minimum required to kill someone at 100% health for any range after that. Attachments modify these ranges and it’s important to understand how when chosing one.
The difference between normal and hardcore – In normal you start with 100 health, in HC you start with 60. The weapons stats are the same between the modes, but the health difference means you’re talking a 3, 4, and then 5 shot kill at the distances above (with most assault rifles), rather than 4, 5, and 6 shots. Anyone who cries about having to empty an entire clip into someone at close range while playing normal mode, is therefore complaining that their accuracy is approx 13% (based on a 31 clip). Hardcore also permits 1 shot sniper kills (for 5 of the 11 sniper rifles), and decreases the minimum shot required on some other guns to 2 hits, for example the G3A3 which does 34 dmg per shot before drop off starts.
One final point regarding damage is that a headshot gives you a times 2 damage multiplier, therefore a 25 damage shot becomes 50 when it hits the head.
First shot accuracy multiplier – Don’t ask me too much about this, but your first shot on all guns receives an extra kick to it’s recoil.
Aiming Down Sight (ADS) – When aiming down sight you get an accuracy bonus, but be aware that different attachments modify your bullet spread while you ADS. Also note that while moving from side to side there is a negative effect on your ADS bonus. Finally, when you’re ADSing the bonus to accuracy decreases the longer you continuously fire.
Muzzle Velocity – Basically this is how fast your bullets travel, but in gameplay terms, the higher this is, the less you’ll need to lead a target.
Attachments – I’m not going to go through every attachment here, just the one’s relevant to the rest of this post.
Heavy Barrel – increases the damage fall off, which put simply means that you can apply the highest amount of damage over a longer distance. If I refer back to the example of bullets required to kill with the M16A3, this attachment increases the 5 bullet kill distance from 39 metres to approx 59. The other benefit is a huge decrease in ADS minimum bullet spread – i.e. much more accurate fire aiming down sight. As a trade off, using a heavy barrel makes hip firing more inaccurate by slightly increasing hip fire bullet spread, and increases your vertical recoil slightly. I believe the muzzle velocity is also increased by this attachment for some guns, in particular carbines.
Foregrip – This decreases your horizontal recoil while increasing ADS bullet spread. This attachment is probably the least understood in BF3 and is often chosen because people feel it looks like a natural addition to your gun. Note however that if you have low horizontal recoil on a weapon to start with, then you will only nerf it by additing this attachment, due to the increased bullet spread ADSing. It’s also worth noting that the extent to which the benefit and trade off applies, differs per gun.
Suppressor – Decreases vertical recoil and ADS spread, but massively reduces the drop off range so you’ll be requiring more bullets to kill people much closer. It also massively increases your Hip fire spread and decreases muzzle velocity. It used to be a first choice attachment for many, but has been nerfed virtually into oblivion.
Flash suppressor – Reduces vertical recoil while increasing hip fire spread. I don’t use any guns currently that I feel this is necessary on, so I’ll barely mention it in the rest of this post, but if you have a gun which kicks back heavily, and you struggle to control it, consider this attachment.
Bipod – Again I’ll not be mentioning this again but it’s worthy of at least a few words as it has absolutely no negative effects other than when in use, you’ll be vulnerable to sniper fire. It gives huge benefits almost across the board.
Laser Sight – Hugely reduces hip fire spread (50% for almost every gun). The only drawback is that it obviously makes you more visible, though it blinds slightly when someone’s looking directly at it (within 5 – 10 degrees).
Choosing a sight –
Since I’m really only going to look at the kits I use, I’ll not be covering any recon guns, so long range scopes are not worth going into. For almost every gun I use, I prefer the Kobra sight. The reason for this is that it’s field of view is probably the highest of all the sights, and the time to ADS with it is joint lowest across the board (except for basic iron sights which are marginally quicker – but it’s not worth going into this).
The basic RDS and the two holo scopes (holo and PKA-S holo) are joint with the Kobra in ADS speed, however there are some differences which I feel makes the Kobra better in most cases. The holo sights for example have a 1.5 zoom, so you’re limiting your field of view while ADSing with these scopes. Since I don’t really need to improve my accuracy at range, I choose not to use them for this reason.
The basic Red Dot Sight is pretty much the same as the Kobra, though with some guns I think there’s a little more metal of the scope obsuring the view so I generally move off it once I have the Kobra unlocked. The dot is nice though for accuracy.
Just a final point on scopes, if you’re using a sniper kit, and like to play objectives, consider using a 3.5 scope as you avoid the glint which gives your position away. The glint, and I think also scope sway starts applying to all scopes with a 4x zoom and above.
Right then onto weapons starting with Engy kits.
M4A1 –
ROF – 800 rpm – joint highest carbine with A91
Damage – 25 in close quarters, 14.3 at drop off range (therefore 7 bullets at range).
Reload time – 1.9 secs with bullet in chamber, 2.6 secs if empty. Fastest of all the carbines.
Recoil side to side – tied lowest of all the carbines.
Vertical recoil – 3rd lowest of the carbines.Attachments – All you need is a heavy barrel which will increase your 5 shot kill distance from approx 27 metres to approx 39, and your 6 shot from approx 43 to 64.
Verdict – This is the go to weapon for the engineer class. The recoil is extremely managable and the combined ROF and Damage in close situations puts this gun on par with assault rifles in terms of DPS. It’s not the most accurate at range, and not the best option for hip fire, but it’s high up the list there in both categories, which makes it the most versatile engy gun in the game. If you’re ever in doubt about which gun to chose for a map, take this.
G36C – Giving this a mention because I know a few guys in XDC use it, and I quite liked it as an alternative to the SCAR-H before I stopped playing at Christmas. Since I’ve been back though it’s dropped off my radar.
ROF – 750 rpm
Damage – 25 in close quarters, 14.3 at drop off range (therefore 7 bullets at range).
Reload time – 1.9 secs with bullet in chamber, 2.8 secs if empty.
Recoil side to side – 0.3 both directions which is middle of the road and right on the line where a foregrip may be beneficial.
Vertical recoil – Also 0.3, which is again middle of the road.Attachments – A foregrip isn’t really required for this unless maybe if you’re in a CQ map when ADSing is less likely, as the benefits are pretty much balanced out by the penalties. There’s virtually no gain from using one that I’ve been able to find. A heavy barrel is pretty much a go to attachment for all carbines, since it increases your drop off and also boosts your muzzle velocity, improving your effectiveness at longer ranges.
Verdict – There’s nothing wrong with this weapon, and it’s a bit like the M4A1, in that it’s quite versatile on paper. The only consideration is that the M4A1 is better at pretty much everything. The G36C does have a slightly better first shot accuracy modifier, but that’s about all it has over the M4A1. The differences are slight, but with this you’re basically using a gimped M4A1.
A-91 – hip fire death machine
ROF – 800 rpm – joint highest carbine with M4A1
Damage – 25 in close quarters, 14.3 at drop off range (therefore 7 bullets at range).
Reload time – 2.62 secs with bullet in chamber, but a massive 3.3 secs if empty.
Recoil side to side – 0.5 both directions which is high.
Vertical recoil – 0.2 – joint lowest of all carbines.Attachments – This needs a foregrip due to the high side to side recoil, and while a heavy barrel has all the usual benefits, which increase the guns effectiveness at range, this is by far the best engy gun in close quarters, so fit it accordingly, using a laser sight.
Verdit – With foregrip and laser sight, the hip fire accuracy will become insane on this gun, and you’ll just not need to ADS with it, which gives you a massive advantage in all CQ situations. The only downside you need to be aware of, particularly in CQ situations, is that your reload time could get you killed a few times.
ACW – mentioned as I see some top players using this, but it’s only really good for certain maps.
ROF – 850
Damage – 20 max damage, and 16.7 minimum.
Reload time – 1.85 secs with bullet in chamber, and 2.5 secs if empty.
Vertical Recoil – 0.2
Recoil side to side – 0.1 left, 0.3 rightAttachments – Heavy barrel only.
Verdict – the gun excels at long range due to it’s high minimum damage, fast ROF, and low recoil. It’s max damage is low at 20, and it’s magazine size is small for a gun with such a high ROF, although the ROF will still allow you to compete in CQ situations, but you will be out damaged by a M4A1 until about 38 metres or so. It’s best used on open maps, but I’ve still to get the hang of it so I’m reserving judgement on it for the time being.
SCAR H –
Only mentioned because it was the first gun in BF3 that I became comfortable with, however I’ve barely used it since looking at depth into other weapons.
Verdict – The best thing about it is that it has the highest damage of all carbines, however it’s vertical recoil is high, and while I would recommend using this with the heavy barrel, you could justify a flash suppressor for it as well if you struggle with it’s kickback. It has a slow ROF and tiny clip size, but if you’re accurate with it, you can 4 shot someone out to around 28 metres with a heavy barrel, and 5 shot them at any distance you can land hits. In Hardcore, you’ll 2 shot people out to 8 metres, and 3 shot them at any other distance you can hit them at. The muzzle velocity is low however, so you’ll need to lead targets slightly further at range. It’s also worth noting that the first shot accuracy penalty on this gun is amongst the lowest in game, so at least you can make that small clip count.
Assault kits.
M16A3 –
ROF – 800
Damage – 25 max damage, and 18.4 minimum.
Reload time – 1.8 secs with bullet in chamber, and 2.37 secs if empty.
Vertical Recoil – 0.25
Recoil side to side – 0.1 left, 0.3 right.Attachments – Heavy barrel only.
Verdict – This is the M4A1 of assault rifles, being the most versatile weapon, making it arguably the best choice for any map. The gun is expected to receive a slight nerf in the armoured kill patch, but this is thought to be a change to the guns vertical recoil only, which shouldn’t change it’s status as the best weapon overall. You will be outshot in close quarters by several high ROF weapons, like the AEK, F2000, MP7 etc, but none of these weapons perform as well as the M16A3 at Medium to Long ranges.
AEK –
ROF – 900
Damage – 25 max damage, and 18.4 minimum.
Reload time – 2.5 secs with bullet in chamber, and 3.0 secs if empty.
Vertical Recoil – 0.2
Recoil side to side – 0.5 left, 0.3 right.Attachments – This needs a foregrip, and you can’t go wrong with a heavy barrel. A laser sight is a viable alternative to the heavy barrel.
Verdict – This is primarily a close quarters and medium range weapon so in the bigger maps you’ll probably want to avoid this gun, but it’s certainly a viable option for other maps. It’s a gun that has been tweaked several times by DICE, and having been nerfed out of use for a period, it’s seen a bit of a comeback recently. It certainly competes with the M16A3, especially at close range, but with the high side to side recoil you’ll start to struggle landing shots at longer ranges. The vertical recoil however is still better than the M16A3, and this helps it at medium range, so you may still land some good headshots with it. Aside from the side to side recoil, the other big disadvantage over the M16A3, is the reload time which is a good bit higher. In close quarters maps you can fit a laser sight and hip fire accurately with it, saving the ADS time from your time to kill. One final thing to note is that the side to side recoil on this gun is higher towards the left, which means you may struggle to adapt to it’s recoil control if used to other weapons. You need to pull down and towards the right slightly to counter it.
F2000 –
ROF – 850
Damage – 25 max damage, and 18.4 minimum.
Reload time – 2.65 secs with bullet in chamber, and a massive 3.6 secs if empty.
Vertical Recoil – 0.26
Recoil side to side – 0.5 left, 0.4 right.Attachments – A foregrip is a must for this gun, and as you should only be using this in close quarters, attach a laser sight.
Verdict – While the AEK outshoots this and has slight more manageable recoil, the F2000 with foregrip and laser sight, is a hip fire death machine. Your cone of fire is extremely small and in CQ you’ll never need to ADS. At longer ranges the gun suffers, so understand that and use it to it’s strengths. Currently this is my favourite weapon for the close quarters expansion maps, however note that it has a horrible reload time, so make sure you’re in cover or you’re ready to quickly switch to your pistol, before reloading. You’ll also notice that like the AEK the recoil drifts left again, more than right, though not quite to the same extent. This shouldn’t be as much of an issue since you’ll be hip firing mostly with it.
AK74 –
ROF – 650
Damage – 25 max damage, and 18.4 minimum.
Reload time – 2.2 secs with bullet in chamber, and 3.2 secs if empty.
Vertical Recoil – 0.28
Recoil side to side – 0.2 left, 0.3 right.Attachments – This is one where I’m a little unsure about the foregrip, as on the AK you get a massive bonus to using one compared with other guns, which actually quite nicely balances the side to side recoil figures. The side to side recoil is however lowish to start with, so it really comes down to a matter of taste, and you can decide yourself whether the reduction in ADS accuracy is worth it. A heavy barrel is a must for when using this for it’s primary role, as a medium to long range assault rifle. It does actually perform ok when hip firing if you stick a laser sight and foregrip on it, but you have such a low rate of fire in comparison to other kits, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage doing this.
Verdict – With a heavy barrel, this gun is extremely accurate at range, with very manageable recoil, and one of the best 1st shot accuracy modifiers in the game. You’ll be out damaged at close range due to it’s low ROF, and take not of the massive reload time when the chambers empty, especially considering this gun has the 3rd quickest reload time with a bullet in chamber for assault rifles.
M416 – not one I’ve used a lot, but worthy of a mention due to how close it’s stats resemble the M16A3.
ROF – 750
Damage – 25 max damage, and 18.4 minimum.
Reload time – 1.9 secs with bullet in chamber, and 2.5 secs if empty.
Vertical Recoil – 0.28
Recoil side to side – 0.1 left, 0.3 right.Attachments -heavy barrel only.
Verdict – one stat not mentioned above is the first shot accuracy modifier which is really the only stat on this gun which is better than the M16A3, however the guns are both quite similar across the board. The differences there at the moment make the M16A3 the better choice, although the M416 may have the edge at longer ranges. Having said that, and depending on the extent of the M16A3 nerf in the next patch, this could be a gun to have a look at in the near future.
good write up fella, only thing i would say is just try the weapons and attachments until you find one that you enjoy using. i play most of the classes except recon (i do a bit but not a great deal) and i have certain weapons i like to use based on map, game type etc. medic i almost always use the M16a3, red dot sight, for grip and muzzle flash limitor. for engy i switch between scar and g36. for support i use 2 LMGs, the pecheneg and the m240b. both of which i use with the 3.4 x scopes whereas all the other weapons i use red dot or holo sights.
@crazy hippo wrote:
good write up fella, only thing i would say is just try the weapons and attachments until you find one that you enjoy using. i play most of the classes except recon (i do a bit but not a great deal) and i have certain weapons i like to use based on map, game type etc. medic i almost always use the M16a3, red dot sight, for grip and muzzle flash limitor. for engy i switch between scar and g36. for support i use 2 LMGs, the pecheneg and the m240b. both of which i use with the 3.4 x scopes whereas all the other weapons i use red dot or holo sights.
This made me realise a point further to what i’d said about picking a gun that your comfortable with because if you are using a gun with what i’d consider less than optimal attachments, i.e. The m16 with foregrip, and flash suppressor (although that’s an interesting combo to tbh), if you do change to any of what i’ve suggeted above, you will encounter a learnung curve and face a period adapting to the new setup. Also the margin between the optimal is quite small in reality and you will always get some benefits through experimenting.
I’m curious how that flash suppressor and grip plays so may try it later. At first glance it seems like an unecessary reduction in recoil all round at the expense of extra bullet deviatiin, but it really must reduce recoil to virtually nothing given the m16 starting stats. Maybe 0.1 each way, other than right drift, which may be 0.2.
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