What’s up guys, Rogue-9 here and today we move on with our LoadoutMETA analyses for
Operation Burnt Horizon by taking a closer look at the primary weapons of Tori Tallyo
F...
Ferrous?
Fair-use?
Faiiruus?...
eh, Gridlock… let’s just go with that.
Do we finally have an operator where there is a true balance between her LMG and assault rifle?
Let’s go and find out!
Gridlock brings with her two familiar weapons.
The M249 SAW (very similar to Capitao’s setup) and the F90 (which is the Australian
variant of the Steyr AUG and therefore closely related to Kaid and IQ’s guns).
The overview looks promising, with strengths and weaknesses on both sides but the only
way to truly understand how these guns compare to each other is dive into the stats one by one.
As is expected, the hefty LMG packs a bit more of a punch when it comes to damage per
shot (although of course in real life, both guns fire the exact same ammunition and they
should therefore perform very similarly – but we accept these in-game stats for the sake of balancing).
The M249 also comes with the customary 5m extra drop-off range of the LMG class but
I would challenge you to find areas in Rainbow Six where you will actually be fighting at more than 35m.
As fully automatic attacker primaries go, 48 points is the hardest hitting damage per
shot you will find and 38 is right down there amongst the weakest guns of the group.
It’s interesting to see such a significant diversion between the guns, so let’s see
how this plays out once we factor in some of the other stats.
The fire rate advantage goes to the F90 and as is my habit, I double checked the fire
rates of all of the new guns in Burnt Horizon and even though the F90 has a listed fire
rate of 740 RPM, the actual time it takes to dump a full mag in-game is consistently
2.3 and 2.316s and if we run that through our trusty formula for fire rates, we end
up with a measured fire rate of 780 RPM instead.
Hurray for that, we actually get to shoot a little faster than intended!
And that’s maybe a good thing because once we combine the damage and fire rate stats
to calculate the damage per second, the M249 is still the winner at all ranges, despite
the elevated fire rate of the F90. 520 DPS is pretty much par for the course amongst
the LMG class although it is still slightly lower than the 536 DPS average for the assault rifles.
494 DPS is underwhelming already (basically exactly the same as Ash’s G36C) and that
is with the elevated fire rate.
If we use the listed 740 RPM for our calculations instead, the close ranged DPS goes all the
way down 469 which is one of the lowest for all attacker primaries.
It’s lower than the DPS of Blackbeard’s abysmal Mk17 CQB and even lower than Nomad’s AK-74M.
In fact the only assault rifle that puts out less damage per second is Finka’s Spear.308.
But let’s put the in-game stats aside for now, we know that the actual fire rate is
780 and while that still leaves the gun amongst the weaker rifles out there, it’s not quite
the absolute bottom of the barrel.
What do the damage and fire rate stats mean in practice?
Well, at close range, the M249 will get away with one less bullet to down or kill in three
quarters of our amour type and strike location permutations.
At longer ranges, this advantage becomes even more apparent with the SAW needing an avg. of 2 less bullets.
This translates into Times to Down/Kill that are on average better for the machinegun at
all ranges, although there are a couple of cases at close ranges where the F90 comes out on top.
Nevertheless, the bottom line for combat effectiveness purely from a damage perspective is that Gridlock’s
LMG is the more effective weapon all-round but of course we cannot discount the effect
that the further stats might have on our conclusions.
Gridlock’s setup for her M249 differs from Capitao’s in that she prefers to use 60
round high capacity mags in her gun, as opposed to the belts we have been used to up until now.
And that’s still double the capacity of most other attacker weapons (including the F90).
In Rainbow Six Siege, the reload times for guns tend to be inversely correlated to their
capacities, so the more bullets you have, the longer the reload tends to be and this
principle also holds true for Gridlock.
The F90’s 3.1s reload from empty and 2.2s tactical are both below average compared to
the assault rifles’ 3.3 and 2.5s and that’s again a good thing, considering how underwhelming
this gun is looking so far.
4.5 and 3.3 seconds are of course borderline appalling in comparison to the rifle stats
but compared to the 7.6s that Capitao needs to stick a fresh belt into his M249 these
reload times are still pretty good.
The Aim Down Sight Time for the F90 is the standard 450ms for rifles and there is no
option of lowering this time with an angled grip.
That is all 100% par for the course but the 500ms ADS time for the SAW is quite interesting.
Historically in Siege, the one greatest weakness for the LMG class used to be the time it took
to aim with them.
Especially when coming up against defenders, who usually only need 300ms to aim their primary weapons.
And even after a recent buff, I have measured all other LMG’s in the game at either 550ms
or 600ms so it is interesting to see a new stat.
Undoubtedly the lower than usual time to aim is down to Gridlock’s beefy arms.
For her an M249 is pretty much a toy and the only thing stopping her from whipping that
gun up even faster is the fear of accidentally crushing it in the process.
With a time that is only 50ms slower than the rifles ADS time, we are now at a point
where this one Achilles Heel for LMGs in no longer that much of a problem (at least for Gridlock).
So at this stage, things are still looking good for the M249 SAW.
The hip fire spread when stationary; that is standing, kneeling or prone is virtually
identical between the two guns and only once you start jogging, shooting at full auto or
jogging while shooting full auto, does the F90 begin to show superior stats.
We’ll call this a small victory for the F90 here.
Finally, let’s consider the controllability and optimal setup of the two weapons here.
The SAW has both significant first shot recoil, as well as a sizeable random spread over time
and you only have a choice of two different muzzle attachments to help you deal with this.
If you tend to fire in short bursts, the first shot recoil reduction of the Flash Hider will
offer you the most benefit.
If you are going to be firing really long bursts, then it might be worth going with
the Compensator instead and putting up with the initial vertical jump after the first
shot but getting less spread over time.
I tested both in practice and we’ll get to that in a bit.
The F90 has a first shot recoil that is just about as aggressive as that of the M249 and
even though the random spread throughout the burst is not as strong, the gun does have
a distinct tendency to wander off to the right over time.
The Compensator will help a bit with straightening out the recoil but that will leave a nasty
jump after the first shot and so I personally will not be using this attachment.
The choice then comes down to the Muzzle Brake (which will perfectly smooth out the first
shot recoil) or the Flash Hider (which will help with the first shot a bit and then also
improve the random spread over time).
I guess it comes down to the short versus long burst argument.
For short bursts, definitely take the Muzzle Brake without a doubt but if you are going
to be spraying out your ammo half a mag at a time, then maybe the Flash Hider could be
the optimal choice for you.
I think the Muzzle Brake will do it for me here and as promised, here is a four way comparison
between the M249 with Compensator or Flash Hider and the F90 with Muzzle Brake or Flash Hider.
Make of this test what you will; it is of course not objective in any way but for me,
both guns felt very controllable but the M249 was maybe that little bit easier to keep on
target (but that’s maybe due to its slower fire rate).
For both guns, that attachments behaved as predicted and for now, I will be running with
the Compensator on the SAW to give me that long burst control and the Muzzle Brake on
the F90 because of the control it offers at the beginning of each burst.
One last thing to mention before we conclude is that unlike Capitao’s M249 the SAW does
not get the shotgun like breaching capability in terrorist hunt.
I tested both guns in the current build of the game and Capitao can still absolutely
shred through walls while Gridlock just makes puny little holes like every other operator.
But that is really a minor note.
Conclusion time!
Which gun is better if you are trying to give yourself the best chance of winning your gunfights
while playing Gridlock, the M249 SAW or the F90?
Each gun has its strengths and weaknesses and the simple fact is that the SAW is probably
the best machinegun in the game right now while the F90 is definitely below average
when compared to the rest of the rifles.
The M249 does more damage and will down opponents quicker in most situations, whether you are
landing body or leg shots.
It comes with double the capacity and is very controllable at the expense of slightly longer
reload and ADS times but those advantages of the F90 are pretty minor in my opinion.
The only significant advantage that I would credit the F90 with is the higher fire rate
which can make landing headshots just that little bit easier.
Taking everything into account, I would actually say that the SAW could offer the greater comfort / ease of use.
Of course if you have thousands of hours in the game and get most of your kills via headshots,
the added damage of the LMG might not be that important but for most players, I would say
that this gun is more forgiving and could well end up being the better choice.
What are your thoughts on these guns so far and which do you prefer?
Leave your comments below and while you’re there, feel free to leave a like if you think
you got some useful info out of this video, or dislike if not.
And with that, as always:
thank you for watching, I hope you enjoyed the video and I will see you in the next episode!