Fox Gaden
Immortal Guides
4355
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Posted - 2014.09.25 12:52:00 -
[1] - Quote
Q) Is the Delta Burst HMG OP?
A) No.
Q) Is the Delta Burst HMG broken?
A) No.
Q) Is the Delta Burst HMG UP?
A) Not if you adapt your technique to the changes.
Q) Does the Delta Burst HMG have a defined role which is different from the HMG?
A) Yes. The Delta Burst HMG is king of 1 v 1 fights. (Duels)
Changes:
10% nerf to damage:
This is noticeable but not crippling. The Burst HMG still has more stopping power than any other automatic weapon.
Increased heat buildup:
The Advanced Burst HMG now overheats on the first round of the 6th burst. If you donGÇÖt take your finger off the trigger on or before the 5th burst you will overheat. Interestingly, if you overheat the first time, you will run out of ammo just before overheat the second time and go into a reload cycle rather than seizing up. This is preferable as you can interrupt a reload to sprint or switch to your sidearm.
The Proto Burst HMG overheats part way through the 6th burst, which is a 1 burst nerf from the Charlie version. That last half burst might be enough to finish your attacker off before your gun seizes though.
Reversal of the dispersion progression:
Normally an HMG starts with a high dispersion and becomes more accurate as it winds up. The Burst HMG now starts accurate and the dispersion increased with each round fired. The effect does not seem to be very noticeable. I am not sure if it resets at the beginning of each burst or not. If not, then manual bursting might make you more accurate at longer ranges.
Narrative:
In 1 v 1 fights the Burst HMG is still king! Only a well-placed round from a Forge Gun or Plasma Cannon will beat it for stopping power. However, the Delta Burst HMG provides less margin for error than the Charlie Burst HMG, and the Charlie version did not allow much margin of error to start with. Like the Forge Gun and Plasma Cannon in CQC, if you miss you will lose. The skill floor on the Burst HMG was raised noticeably in Delta.
Chain killing is where you will really feel the Delta nerfs. One of the great joys of the HMG was following an enemy squad into a room and seeing how many you could pick off before the survivors realized you were behind them. The Burst HMG is no longer an appropriate tool for that job. For chain killing you will want to use the standard HMG.
In Charlie if you paused for a fraction of a second after each kill while you lined up the next shot, you could disperse enough heat to get 6 bursts off using the Advanced Bust HMG without overheating, and it did enough damage to easily kill 3 medium frame suits in 6 bursts. In Delta it appears on paper that you should still be able to get two kills before overheating, but in practice after 5 matches I have not yet chained two kills without a significant pause between to cool my weapon. This is due both to the 10% damage nerf insuring that you need two to three bursts for a kill unless you get a head shot, and due to the increased heat buildup requiring more down time for cooling. Chain killing 3 people with the Burst HMG will now be an achievement on par with head-shotting a falling merc with a sniper rifle as he drops from the MCC.
Handling engagements with multiple enemy while using the Burst HMG:
1)Kill one, switch to your sidearm to kill the next one, switch back to your Burst HMG, and repeat. Or fire 3 bursts, switch to your sidearm and fire for a length equivalent to 3 bursts, and then switch back to your Burst HMG to fire 3 more bursts. Repeat until both weapons are out of ammo. (Try to be in cover by the time that happens.)
2)Run in, kill one enemy, run back out, reload, and repeat.
Hand/Eye coordination cannot be taught. For everything else there is the Learning Coalition.
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