MW3 Improvement #10 Sniper Rifles, LMGs and Shield Set-ups

OK, we're on the last section of weapons. Since the snipers and LMGs are both two of the under used classes in MW3 I'll be lumping them together along with the shield class, then we'll go on with future editions.

Some things to know before we go into the sniper rifles. I suggest you always run the following perks with each and every one of these weapon. Run blind eye, assassin and marksman. You want to stay alive longer and without being noticed and with the ability to spot targets at long range. All three of these perks allow you to do this.

So we'll begin with the sniper rifles and attachments and proficiencies:

1.)BARRETT .50CAL- Not really known as one of the better sniper rifles in the game, the Barrett is the first sniper given to you. It is tied for the highest amount of damage among the sniper rifles. It really isn't too bad of a weapon, and I enjoy using it. Most people favor the last couple of sniper rifles, but I like this one just fine. It does have an incredible amount of weapon sway when looking through the scope, but that is easily avoidable by using your BREATH ability every few seconds or so to just keep the weapon still. When using this weapon I run with kick until I unlock stability. Stability is the better choice, but it does take some time to get to. Since this gun is a semi-auto the kick works fine for those few times you'll have to spam the trigger to get a kill. For attachments I run with the extended mags or heart beat sensor. The mags is because on certain maps you'll be able to live a long time, and having a ton of ammo is helpful for getting the most out of the weapon. The heartbeat sensor is for staying away from up close encounters, which is where you'll more often than not lose battles using this weapon.

2.)L118A- This is one of the two weapons you'll see people running around with and quick scoping on the maps. It is a bolt action, so the fire rate is slow, but since people quick scope with it, that doesn't matter so much. It has decent power and very little kick for a sniper rifle and allows you to run around as fast as an SMG or shotgun guy. I've noticed quick scopers tend to run around with the speed proficiency and the acog scope. If you find you can't handle the quick scoping, I'd suggest running kick with the extended mags. The extended mags are because this weapon only has a 5 round clip, and the reload rate is sllllllooooowwwwww. The larger clip will help you fire a bit faster.

3.)DRAGUNOV- This is by far the worst sniper rifle out of the group. If you can help it, stay away for it. People who run it hate the scope, which is not your regular crosshair scope, but is set-up like an acog with distance and lead markers. That is rediculous in this game seeing as how there is no need to lead your target or adjust for distance in anyway. Those things just occlude your view of the battlefield and make finding targets a bit more difficult. The good thing about it is it has very little recoil. It isn't the least amount of recoil, but it is very slight. If you were to use this weapon, I'd suggest using it in hardcore gametypes. You will always struggle with it in regular games.

4.)AS50- This is the other sniper rifle which is tied with the BARRETT for the highest damage in the game. It behaves a lot like the BARRETT but doesn't have as much kick and what kick it does have is a bit more predictable, with more kicked shots heading to the right than all over the place, so if you run across someone and must spam the trigger to get that hail mary kill, ain slightly to the left of the guy you're shooting at. Stability is the proficiency to run here, and extended mags are must for this weapon because it does have a small clip.

5.)RSASS- This is the weapon the DRAGUNOV should aspire to be. It is super accurate (you almost don't have to aim it), has a ton of ammo in a clip and even when hip firing this weapon the spread is really small. It may have the same stats as the DRAGUNOV but it is a far superior weapon in every way. Use the attachment proficiency so you can double up on the attachments. This is because you don't need kick...you don't need stability...you don't need focus. The gun is that accurate. Run extended mags with this puppy. You'll find the initial mags are large, but there is only one extra one as opposed to the two extra ones you normally get. Having an extra 20 rounds with this weapon is really helpful. Then, depending on your situation, run either a silencer (for hardcore games especially) or the heartbeat sensor. This weapon shines in hardcore games with assassin pro. Just keep still and fire from cover and you could live throughout the entire game. It doesn't suffer much in regular gametypes either. Because the second, third and fourth shots on this weapon, even if you spam the trigger as fast as you can, almost always land on top of the first shot, you can usually get your kill in one or two shots.

6.)MSR- This is the weapon everyone seems to love. It does everything well, but is still not the best in every category, which you really don't need for a sniper rifle anyway. Quick scopers love it. As a bolt action it does the same as the L118A, but it has a quicker reload time. As a regular sniper, It almost has the same one shot one kill ability the BARRETT and the AS50, which is all you really need. The only drawback to this weapon, besides being bolt action, is the fact the kick on this gun is TREMENDOUS. You are almost forced to quick scope with it because if you're just sitting there waiting for the kills, you might get one guy heading across your screen, but the two guys running behind him will get to where they're going. Quick scoping this just has more advantages over camping with it. Here's the difference with this class and the L118A though. I'd run kick with it and an acog. Do kick because that will allow you to recover from shots quicker. Speed is good to have, but the one shot ability of this weapon means being able to fire as fast as possible should take precedence.

OK. We're done with snipers.

A note about the LMGs. They spit out the most lead, and as such are not super accurate. They are also the slowest class you can run, so don't expect to be rushing in an popping caps in people asses with this weapon. It just won't happen. This is a "hold the flank" type weapon. Stay to the sides of the map and help keep the enemy contained. You are also forced to run kick or grip with them (not steady aim). You don't run steady aim because that doesn't help you when you look ADS. Grip and kick do. Good perks to run with this group are sleight of hand for quicker reloads or extreme conditioning to make up for that crap movement speed, blast shield or overkill(especially if you decide to go with extreme conditioning over sleight of hand) with another LMG in tow and Marksman.

Let's turn to the LMGs:

1.)L86 LSW- This is onoe of the first weapons you are given in the game, and it feels like it should be. It's pretty average in most every category, but it does fire bullets out at an amazing speed. It has a faster than average reload time (for LMGs at least). The grouping of this weapon when just holding down the trigger in ADS mode is about man sized. It is not the most accurate LMG by a long shot and the kick tend to take it up and to the right. You must compensate the aim for this gun to be effective and always hold the crosshairs down a bit. For proficiencies I'd say take stability. You want to make this gun, or any LMG, as accurate as possible and being able to trust aiming down your sights is a great advantage. For an attachment you must go with grip. You need this to make this weapon accurate. None of the LMGs have particularly bad sights except one, and even that isn't so bad. There is no need to use a red dot or any compensating scope on this weapon because at long range, you just aren't going to be able to reliably get kills anyway.

2.)MG 36- The second LMG is probably the weaker of the LMGs. It has a slight improvemet in the damage stat, but loses out in the accuracy and the fire rate department. This is probably the worst LMG in my opinion. This LMG has a decent reload rate as well. The grouping when trigger is held down is decent, with the pattern tight in a horizontal direction. This weapon kicks left to right though, which is pretty weird and hard to adjust to. With many weapon you hold the right thumbstick down a bit to compensate for kick, with this weapon you have to move it left to right. Not an easy gun to use.

3.)PKP Pecheneg- This weapon has the least amount of power in the LMG class, but is far and away the most accurate. I prefer accuracy over power any day. The fire rate is tied for second and with the accuracy of this weapon, you won't be wasting a lot of bullets. The grouping of a LMG is tight with a solid round group at center mass. I didn't have to adjust aim on this weapon once during the test. It just did the work on its own. The reload is long though, so be aware of this when using it.

4.)MK46- This is about the most average LMG of the bunch. It has average damage and average accuracy, which put together make for a really good weapon. The reload is long, but most of the good LMGs are. This weapon has an unpredictable kick to it though. The kick tends to go up, to the right, and then further up heading in a zig zag fashion, but there is no way of knowing exactly when the movements are going to happen. You must fire it in bursts, which is a shame because is already has a slow rate of fire as it is. Many people love this gun though, so I won't harp on it too much, but there are better options out there.

5.)M60E4- This weapon is in my opinion the best LMG out there. It has the highest damage rate and fire rate available. The accuracy is crap, but adding stability and grip to it make it behave just fine. You might have to fire it in bursts, but then again, with this gun and the damage it can do, bursts is all you'll need. This weapon groups in a wide V shape with a predictable, if ungainly kick. The kick goes left to up to center to right and up and center. Rinse/Repeat. The reload is by far the longest of the LMGs though, so keep that in mind when using it. You are, perhaps, the juggernaut when you use this bad boy. I like this LMG the best, and so should you.

And now we'll talk about that pesky little shield dude and what to run with him:

Shield- This is essentially only good for objective games. If you use it during a regular TDM, you're not doing it right. This is great for deflecting those grenades while trying to cap flags, hold demo areas and be a general pain in the ass. Typically guys won't shoot at you because they know nothing will happen unless they see your sides/back or feet...What's that you say? Feet?. Yup, your feet. I always try to shoot the feet of the idiot who tries to rush me with the shield. 9 times out of ten I'll kill him. You need to stay kneeling for this thing to have any real effect, and it helps to sit in a corner. You should use equipment that will help you take and hold point on the map. The trophy system is great, as is the scrambler and portable radar. For your proficiency I'd go with speed. The power proficiency is useless. It'll still take you two hits to kill someone who doesn't have a shot on him already. Just abandon that tact and try to move around the map as fast as possible. For you perks I suggest running Sleight of Hand (i'll tell you why later), Overkill, and steady aim or dead silence. You need the sleight of hand so you can switch to that secondary weapon quickly(which should either be an SMG or a shotgun so you don't effect your movement speed...I use an SMG MP7. More versatile). If I have the MP7 I'll use dead silence. If not, I'll run steady aim. For your lethal grenade you should run C4. C4 is devastating, and is probably the best lethal in the game. It is the most versatile and most powerful explosive to have except the RPG, which we'll go into later.

OK, so we're done for today. Tomorrow we'll talk about secondary weapons and what's good for what.

Once again, any question or comments, list em below.