Im starting to wonder the use of machineguns in RO2.
Rarely I see people occupy this class and when they do, they get picked off quite easy by guys using rifles thanks to the new zoom mode.
Ofcourse sometimes people are quite succesfull at using the machinegun from points where they are hard to spot, ( let's say a building with a lot of windows ) but these situations are not always there because the game mainly revolves around close quarter combat.
Any questions?
Another aspect of the game im questioning is the use of machineguns to suppress and the whole idea of suppression.
That is because you are thinking of fake game "suppression" rather than real world suppressive fire. That doesn't mean you aren't trying to kill them. In the SS above, the dead guy was camping the cap zone that a few of my team were trying to cap. That kill helped to secure the cap. I was moving around that area, killing anyone I saw, or shooting at any location I saw movement or fire from.
3 round bursts always. With the DP-28 the rate of fire is slow enough that you can let the trigger go after one shot. With the MG34 it has a single shot mode on the melee button. Then they are just as accurate as any rifle if not more so.
Is anyone actually really using this instead of aiming for the kill?
Not if they know what they are doing.
Share your thoughts with me
If you see several guys go into cover and you want to suppress them, take a shot at the cover they are behind. Think where you might be if you were them and aim at them. Fire a three round burst and watch the fall of shot. You might see them try to move, if you're not firing and obscuring your own vision.
Any time something moves, shoot it. Not AT it. Try to hit it. This means being as accurate as you can. Don't worry if there is cover in front of it, shoot anyway, aiming through the cover if the target is concealed, but just a 3 round burst. You can do this about 15 times before you need to reload.
A lot of "cover" is actually "concealment" and does not protect the enemy from machine gun rounds. They pass through and kill anyway. Even if it is solid, you want the enemy to know you know exactly where he is, and if your bullets are missing, he will think you are not sure, and might pop up and take a shot. If you are firing wildly when he does that, he will likely kill you. If HE doesn't, someone nearby might.
Always try to stop in a location where you can see no more than 45 degrees of "no man's land" at once, or where you can do a lot of lateral movement in complete concealment, like the location I am at in the SS. There I deploy and move forward to observe. I will look for targets that threaten me first, then targets that threaten my squad next, then finally targets that threaten my team (that is, the rest). The difference is basically range.
By being as low as possible in the terrain, I am trying to skyline my enemies to make them easier to see and target, and to try and lose myself in the ground clutter. So I don't move forward until I can see the whole battlefield at once immediately, I slowly move forward, revealing more and more of "enemy territory" a small slice at a time, just enough that it doesn't take too long to scan, but that I can also move as little as possible at this stage. I'm trying to stay invisible, so movement isn't good.
This is another reason short aimed bursts are important. Once you fire he will know exactly where your head is, and know he can shoot it. You need him to be dead, or to stop shooting before he can aim properly. So I evaluate the targets quickly and shoot for the easiest to hit, most threatening target. If I'm shooting long like in the SS I might do 3 bursts from there, crawling back and then sideways a little bit each time, moving back and forth over about 2m of frontage.
After that, I move somewhere else at least 10m away and do it all again. Trying to only be visible when I am ready to fire, and only to people I am ready to fire at.
The game "suppression" is not only fake, it's dangerous. If you are spraying wildly, you are hoping they will fear moving because a bullet might hit them. They will only fear that if the bullets are actually coming near them. All good so far, the game mechanic simulates the fear in an immersive way, but there is a problem.
One of the advantages of the MG is its psychological factor. When it fires, everyone on the battlefield thinks it's firing at them until they know it isn't. It's a survival instinct, and it's what you're trying to use against the enemy. A whole group of enemies can be pinned if they think THEY are being shot at. The game "suppression" mechanic let's them know whether or not your bullets are actually coming close. No effects, no bullets, which they take to mean it's safe to pop up and shoot you.
Never rely on game mechanics, even realistic ones. Your tactics are what is important. The ultimate "suppression" is death, and you have the ultimate killing machine in your hands if you use it correctly.
Beware, no tactic ALWAYS works, but what I'm saying is what is taught to real soldiers to maximise their effectiveness while minimising their risk. Be stupid not to use realistic tactics in a realistic tactical shooter.
Really!