Prelude:
Please read the following analyses of weapon loadouts in Brink, and post your own comments and preferences. In particular, I am interested in hearing about effective uses for the weapons that I overlooked or discounted as underpowered. I will update the OP as I discover new and powerful combinations.
My Playstyle and Experience with Brink:
I’ve recently played around with the Assault Rifles and the SMGs in the Challenge modes to figure out exactly which ones seem to work best for me.
Additionally, I’ve played many free-play games (Lvl 19 Xbox 360 after multiple “sell-alls”), where I tend to adopt a combat role that centers upon one of the following:
- long-range accuracy killing power and suppression
- mid-range area-denial accuracy
- mid-close range mobility-denial with grenade launcher knockdowns
- mid-close-range slayer role with SMGs
My preferred Class and Ability loadouts are:
- Combat and Combat-Support Medic
- Defensively Entrenched Slayer Engineer
Assault Rifle (Medium) Loadout Rankings:
Based upon my experience, experimentation, and playstyle, these are the attachment combinations that I can recommend, ranked in order of my personal preference:
1.
Rokstedi
w Muzzle; COPA; Grenade Launcher; Rapid Fire
PROS:
Excellent accuracy and killing power against long-range slow moving or stationary targets when aiming-down-sight. Can kill in two headshots (Medium or Light).
Your targets tend to improperly judge both the direction of the incoming fire (excluding bots lol) and level of threat from the Rokstedi. (I imagine that the intermittent fire is harder to trace for human players)
Excellent with ammo, because of semi-automatic nature and excellent accuracy.
Stellar as a means to keep enemies off objectives by knocking them down with the grenade launcher.
Good as an ambush weapon when firing the grenade launcher first and then finishing the target off (either with ADS or switching quickly to secondary SMG).
Stellar at denying Light bodyweight types mobility by hitting them with a grenade launcher shot at the outset of battle. This generally buys you enough time to switch to your secondary and finish them off or to retreat.
Fantastic for killing incapacitated opponents (before a revive). ~3-4 shots to the body.
Surprisingly good killing-power in close-quarter-battles due to the high damage rate. Just put your cross-hair in the middle of their chest and spam the trigger.
Phenomenal at any distance when fighting in long confined corridors that afford substantial Line-of-Sight and inhibit enemy movement.
CONS:
As a function of aiming ability, this rifle is weak against fast moving medium-range targets.
Your shooting performance while iron-sighting will be best while you are stationary behind cover, which limits your peripheral awareness and makes you an easy target.
Movement severely impairs your accuracy while aiming-down-sight.
Vulnerable to suppressive fire and team-shooting from enemies at mid-long range due to relative immobility and the aforementioned accuracy penalties of movement while ADS.
Outclassed by Medium and Light bodytypes wielding SMGs at close-range.
OVERALL:
This loadout can do it all.
The Rokstedi can kill at long range, enabling you to fulfill a long-range support role.
At medium and close range, grenade launcher use is essential for killing advancing enemy targets or buying you the time to switch to a better-suited secondary.
One can run solo when wielding the Rokstedi, but you will get crushed if you encounter multiple mid-range opponents (who are aware of your presence).
In this regard, a Rokstedi loadout necessitates teamwork, and this build also relies on the suitable utilization of cover from enemy fire.
Except in extremely close-quarter-battles, the Rokstedi will be completely outclassed by rushing Medium and Light bodytypes, with the exception of those you knock down with grenades.
In particular, the Rokstedi lacks the killing power of other Assault Rifles when facing off against multiple mid-range rushing opponents because of the limited fire rate and accuracy penalties of movement.
The Rokstedi’s mid-close-range deficiencies are offset, in part, by suitable grenade launcher and secondary SMG use.
2.
Gerrund
w Muzzle; COPA; Grenade Launcher
PROS:
Effective mid-range accuracy in bursts. Aim for the upper body and you will drop enemies reasonably quickly while iron-sighting.
Good with ammo because of the good accuracy in bursts.
Effective in close-mid range when shooting from the hip.
Stellar as a means to keep enemies off objectives by knocking them down with the grenade launcher.
Stellar as an ambush weapon when firing the grenade launcher first and then finishing the target off (either with ADS or switching quickly to secondary SMG).
Stellar at denying Light bodyweight types mobility by hitting them with a grenade launcher shot at the outset of battle.
Effective as a suppressive fire weapon at mid-long range when firing from the hip.
Decent for finishing off incapacitated enemies (to prevent revive).
CONS:
Your shooting performance while iron-sighting will be best while you are stationary behind cover, which limits your peripheral awareness and makes you an easy target.
Outclassed by Medium and Light bodytypes wielding SMGs at close-range.
Lacks sufficient accuracy to kill opponents at long-range (suppression is possible).
OVERALL:
This is probably the most versatile Assault Rifle build, and it is the one I use on maps defined by mostly close-medium range engagements and where there aren’t any confined long corridors affording ample Line-of-Sight. In other words, engagements tend to happen in the open where there is sufficient room for the enemy to maneuver and strafe.
This build will be outclassed by more powerful and more accurate long-range weapons when engaging in confined long corridors affording ample Line-of-Sight for engagements.
Likewise, this build will be outclassed by Medium and Light bodytypes wielding SMGs at close-range.
Team support and maximizing grenade launcher use help to offset this loadout’s potential vulnerabilities to Medium and Light rushers with SMGs.
3.
Gerrund
w Muzzle; COPA; Grip
PROS:
Excellent long-range accuracy in bursts. Aim for the upper body and you will drop enemies quickly while iron-sighting.
Good with ammo because of the excellent accuracy in bursts.
Effective in close-mid range when shooting from the hip.
Effective as a suppressive fire weapon at mid-long range when firing from the hip.
CONS:
Your shooting performance while iron-sighting will be best while you are stationary behind cover, which limits your peripheral awareness and makes you an easy target for the ‘sniper’ rifles.
Vulnerable to Medium and Light rushers with SMGs when they are afforded sufficient mobility or when they are in numbers.
OVERALL:
Second to the Rockstedi, this is the best long-range AR.
Snipers hard-counter this loadout at range.
This build relies largely on team-support and a good secondary weapon since the AR can get over-run by rushing Medium and Light bodytypes wielding SMGs.
4.
Euston
w Muzzle; COPA; Grip
PROS:
Excellent mid-range killing power in bursts.
Effective in close-mid range if shooting from the hip.
Decent for finishing off incapacitated enemies (to prevent revive).
CONS:
Your shooting performance while iron-sighting will be best while you are stationary behind cover, which limits your peripheral awareness and makes you an easy target for the ‘sniper’ rifles.
There is significant recoil so bursts are a necessity.
OVERALL:
This is not a long-range weapon, despite the LR loadout.
In this configuration, the Euston works best mid-range from behind cover.
This gun works best in those situations where you need mid-range killing power and can seem to keep the enemy pinned, thereby avoiding too many close-quarter-battle engagements.
This effectively summarizes the extent of my Assault Rifle experimentation. I have tested every Assault Rifle, and omissions from this list represent weapons and loadouts that I feel are outclassed by the better alternatives that I have presented above.
In particular, I don’t like using the Euston without the Grip attachment, despite the fact that I view the Grenade Launcher attachment as a necessity when offsetting the general weaknesses of Assault Rifles against close-mid-range opponents.
Likewise, I can’t recommend the Rhett, because I feel that it’s mid-range accuracy penalties are too severe, even when you ADS and are stationary.
I want the FRKN-3K to be good, but it is terrible. Even at long-range (with headshots), where it’s burst fire is supposedly not a deal-breaker, it is severely outclassed by both the Gerrund and the Rokstedi in terms of killing power. At best, it is a long-range team-shooting or suppression weapon.
When it comes to the magazine attachments for the Assault Rifles, I find the accuracy penalties more severe than the benefit that they afford. That is, I adapt my playstyle to reload frequently enough and to seek cover enough that the extra rounds in my clip rarely compensate for the penalties imposed on my ability to shoot a target (accuracy, recoil, stability, etc.).
I have also experimented with the Lobster and the Mossington.
I imagine that the Lobster is good for crowd control against large groups of enemy players, and I can see that it would be good in knocking enemy players off of objectives. However, I’m still searching for a combination of Assault Rifle Grenade Launcher attachment spam and Lobster (or EZ-Nade) that does this job to my satisfaction.
Similarly with the Mossington, I am looking for a build where it performs well. I have used it successfully against bots, because they are incapable of realizing that I’m just popping in and out of cover to ‘snipe’ them with a shotgun. I think the promise of the Mossington lies in its use as a Speed Sling side-arm, but I haven’t found it’s complimentary partner primary weapon yet.
I have not experimented sufficiently with the Sights (Optical) attachments, as I view these to be more a matter of preference. However, I think I’m going to give the Adjusted Iron Sights a try with the Gerrund. If anyone feels strongly why one Optical attachment is better than another, then please let me know.
SMG (Medium) Loadout Rankings:
Based upon my experience, experimentation, and playstyle, these are the attachment combinations that I can recommend, ranked in order of my personal preference:
1.
Bulpdaun
w Muzzle; Grip; Duct Tape
PROS:
Fantastic killing power when aiming-down-sight at mid-close range.
Fantastic killing power when shooting from the hip at close range.
Great range and accuracy for an SMG when aiming-down-sight.
Fast reload helps to compensate for the lesser magazine size of 27 rounds.
CONS:
Small ammo clip of 27 bullets.
Damage drops off significantly for SMGs at mid-long-range.
OVERALL:
The Bulpdaun is deadly at any SMG-effective range.
This is probably the best SMG loadout to use when you want to maximize personal killing power with an SMG and are working with a team.
When running solo, the reduced clip size makes engagements riskier, because you might not be able to seek proper cover when reloading and you will need to make every bullet in your 27 round clip count to get the kill.
2.
Bulpdaun
w Muzzle; Grip; High Capacity Mag
PROS:
Fantastic killing power when aiming-down-sight at mid-close range.
Fantastic killing power when shooting from the hip at close range.
Great range and accuracy for an SMG when aiming-down-sight.
High capacity magazines help (40 bullets) to to compensate for the lesser magazine size of 27 rounds.
CONS:
Small ammo clip of 40 bullets. This still isn’t enough to tackle multiple opponents, despite the fact that you suffer reasonable penalties to accuracy, reload speed, and equip speed.
Damage drops off significantly for SMGs at mid-long-range.
OVERALL:
This is probably the best SMG loadout to use when you are being more independent as a player (independent from team support i.e. you are running lone-wolf). The Bulpdaun probably has the best combination of killing power and accuracy at any range. Seemingly (as a result), it was balanced to have the least effective options in terms of ammunition.
The longer reload times of a high-capacity magazine can get you killed, but the extra bullets in your clip mean that you can afford to spray and pray more in one-on-one strafing engagements.
There still won’t be enough bullets in your Bulpdaun clip to tackle multiple enemies without a reload, though.
3.
Kross
w Muzzle; Grip; Drum Magazine
PROS:
Good killing power when aiming-down-sight at mid-close range.
Good killing power when shooting from the hip at close range.
Great range and accuracy for an SMG when aiming-down-sight.
Drum magazines significantly increase your ammunition from 35 to 70 per clip. The Drum Magazine allows the Kross to spray down multiple enemies before a reload is necessary.
CONS:
Time to kill can be substantial for the Kross, particularly in terms of clip size opportunity cost.
Without the Drum Magazine, the Kross will consume the majority of a magazine to kill an enemy and will necessitate a reload.
Damage drops off significantly for SMGs at mid-long-range.
Poor performance when killing incapacitated enemies (to prevent revive).
OVERALL:
The Kross was my favourite SMG default secondary until I unlocked the Bulpdaun. It is a rock-solid gun. It’s downsides are that it can be slow to kill if you aren’t perfectly landing all of your shots (which is likely against fast-moving targets). Likewise, the Kross tends to require roughly ~30 (of a 35 clip-size magazine) bullets to effectively kill (especially fast-moving targets). This means that you will need to reload a lot and focus on one target at a time with the Kross. The 70 clip magazine helps to compensate for mid-battle reloads but it still requires significant time to spray down multiple players.
The Kross performs best at ranges approaching mid-range, where other guns (like ARs) suffer deficiencies in recoil at full-auto and where other SMGs don’t have sufficient accuracy. The Kross is stellar in these instances because it’s time-to-kill can be largely unchanged from CQB, making it quite deadly (the default 35 round clip also helps in this regard). In such instances, the Kross works well in either burst hip-fire or ADS full-auto.
The Kross makes an ideal close-quarters weapon for Engineers (or those who have had their gun buffed), because the damage buff compliments its excellent accuracy and offsets its lower baseline damage.
4.
Galactic
w Muzzle; Grip; Drum Magazine
PROS:
Good killing power when shots connect.
Massive 90 round magazine with the Drum Mag attachment.
Reasonably fast equip speed even without Speed Sling.
Good for killing incapacitated enemies (to prevent the revive) because of it’s reasonable damage output and high magazine bullet count.
CONS:
Poor hip-fire accuracy on full-auto.
Jumpy ADS when full-auto. Still has good killing power though.
Damage drops off significantly for SMGs at mid-long-range.
OVERALL:
When the Galactic connects, its damage is potent. This, combination of its significant magazine size when upgraded to Drum Magazines and its reasonably fast equip speed make the Galactic a good backup SMG option for instances when targets are either easy to hit (i.e. b/c you just knocked them over with grenades or are incapacitated) or are in great numbers (i.e. because you are defending an objective or choke point and know they will storm in as a team).
5.
CARB-9
w Muzzle; Grip; Drum Magazine
PROS:
Exceptional killing power when shots connect.
Solid 60 round magazine with the Drum Mag attachment.
CONS:
Abysmal hip-fire accuracy beyond close-range.
Jumpy ADS when full-auto. Still has good killing power though.
Damage drops off significantly for SMGs at mid-long-range.
OVERALL:
The CARB-9 is probably the most powerful SMG in close-quarter-engagements. As a result, it could be a solid secondary weapon to accompany a good mid-long-range or mid-range primary weapon. Likewise, the CARB-9 makes an excellent weapon for a disguised Operative, since its lethality is maximized in close-quarters against easy to hit targets.
6.
Tampa
w Muzzle; Speed Sling; Duct Tape
PROS:
Excellent killing power with hip-fire in close-quarter combat.
Speed Sling means that you can draw this weapon very quickly in combat.
Duct Tape almost completely negates the detrimental effects of reloading mid-battle.
CONS:
Abysmal hip-fire accuracy beyond close-range. But the high damage output compensates.
Virtually useless ADS at any range.
Damage drops off significantly for beyond close-long-range.
OVERALL:
This gun is my new favourite backup SMG. While it is nearly useless in precision engagements outside of close-quarter combat, it is exceptional in a close-quarter combat role. The accuracy is so poor that bullets largely just fly everywhere, but the lack of kick and high damage output mean that many shots will still land and deal terrible, terrible damage. Combined with the insanely fast reload speed, the Tampa becomes an incredible ambush and choke point holding weapon in close-quarters. Another benefit of the Tampa is that because it’s accuracy is so poor in the first place, it doesn’t suffer at all from the ‘slide around the corner’ Light and Medium body-type maneuver. The only downside to such a move is if the target is a little outside of the Tampa’s effective range. Combined with the grenade launcher, the Tampa really shines in this loadout. A grenade followed by a quick switch to the Tampa will allow you to fire on a heavily damaged relatively static target for a quick and easy kill. The Tampa is also great for finishing off fleeing enemies, as the slide around the corner tactic is a free poke against the enemy, because of its close-quarter strengths. Likewise, the quick reload speed and incredible close-quarter power means that an enemy who tries to do the same to you in turn will suffer dearly.
This summarizes the extent of my SMG experimentation.
I have limited experience with the pistols, but I can attest to the power of the Belgo when aiming-down-sight. Combined with the Muzzle and COPA attachments, the Belgo can rip through targets on full-auto. Obviously, though, the Belgo suffers from ammo limitations, and I have found it to be sub-par when firing from the hip.
Deleted:
I haven’t tried the Tampa, and I don’t hear too much about it on these forums, leading me to believe that its high damage rating is negated by its poor accuracy rating.