LMGs are a primary weapon class, available only to Heavy Assaults. LMGs in PlanetSide 2 fulfill a different role than in real life, and basically play like heavy Assault Rifles. Each faction has a lot of LMGs, but there is surprisingly little variety. Half of them could be removed, and little of value would be lost.

You can find general tips on using PlanetSide 2 weapons in the Gunplay Guide and some LMG-specific tips in Heavy Assault guide.

LMG Mechanics

LMGs follow the same Weapon Mechanics as other weapons. LMGs are characterized by these traits:

Lots of ammunition, but longer reloads. This allows LMGs to comfortably lead several engagements back-to-back, without reloading, and unleash a sustained stream of damage on MAXes and light vehicles.

Low to average DPS. This means that LMGs often have to go for headshots in order to have a competitive TTK. This is somewhat offset by the fact that Heavy Assaults have an overshield to outlast the enemy.

Heavy recoil, especially Vertical Recoil. Most LMGs require conscious and deliberate recoil control when engaging enemies at medium to long range, more so than any other primary weapon class.

Bad initial accuracy on the move. LMGs have either 0.35 or 0.4 ADS Moving CoF, which means that LMGs have to fire in shorter bursts than most other weapons to maintain the same CoF accuracy. 

When engaging targets at longer ranges, LMGs earlier encounter the threshold where the user has to remain stationary in order to land even a shot on a target.

Low Recoil Recovery Rate and high First Shot Recoil. While LMGs have to burst fire more, they are simultaneously worse at it.

Longer Equip Times. LMGs take more time to equip, and take longer to recover after a grenade throw or quick knife swing. That’s kind of a big deal, since Heavy Assaults spend a lot of time switching back and forth between their primary weapon and their rocket launcher.

Worse Hip Fire accuracy than Assault Rifles’, but still notably better than Sniper Rifles’. For most LMGs, hip firing isn’t an option outside of few meters. 

Some LMGs also get access to Extended Mags rail attachment, which in most cases doubles magazine size.

Attachment Availability

LMG Tier List

This tier list has been compiled by /u/miniux, a very skilled an experienced player from the infamous Das Anfall outfit:

…I’ve done the LMG directive about 10 times (all factions at least twice) along with an aurax of every one.

– /u/miniux

In this tier list, Miniux gives each LMG a subjective score, that shows how much a skilled user is likely to benefit from the weapon. 

In other words, a low score doesn’t mean a weapon is completely unusable and struggles to kill anyone, and a high score doesn’t mean the weapon just kills everyone by itself, and all you need to do is point it at the enemy. Score is more about how efficiently the weapon can convert skill into kills.

The main goal is to showcase which weapons are considered “good” by the more skilled part of the community, and why.

Starting LMGs

These LMGs are available by default. They come with free Forward Grip, 1x Reflex Sight and a bit of faction flavor.

T9 CARV

T9 CARV is a bulky and oppressive machinegun. It has lots of firepower, and thanks to the large magazine, can dish it out for a while. However, CARV also has a ton of recoil, and its accuracy leaves something to be desired. 

T9 CARV is an ADS powerhouse… if you can control it.

– [RMIS] nicigee

NC6 Gauss SAW

Gauss SAW is a controversial weapon. It deals the highest damage per shot among all LMGs, and in skilled hands becomes an amazing weapon for medium to long range combat. Basically, a portable autocannon, with enough ammo to last for days. 

However, it faces a number of issues and gets a lot of heat for:

(1) One of the highest values for Vertical Recoil per Shot. When coupled with low RoF, it makes for very choppy, rough recoil pattern. It can be especially hard to get under control to an inexperienced player. 

(2) For that reason, it’s not recommended to use SAW with a scope with magnification stronger than 1x. Which creates another problem: it’s a ranged LMG and you can’t even get decent magnification for it, as it would make your aim jump all over the screen.

(3) Strong vertical recoil makes Compensator a mandatory attachment, which carries penalties to Minimap Firing Detection Distance, and to hip fire accuracy, which is already fairly terrible.

(4) Due to low Rate of Fire and damage model, SAW gets hard countered in close quarters by Nanoweave Armor, and has to go for headshots to compensate.

(5) Poor initial ADS Moving accuracy means SAW struggles to reliably land multiple headshots on enemies outside ~20m, despite being a hardcore ranged LMG. 

(6) Finally, ranged LMGs are simply not needed a lot of the time. Most of the “useful” fighting happens at ranges where most other LMGs would be just as effective, without sacrificing so much close range power.

SAW is high risk, high reward. Frustrating most of the time, but there is no better feeling than 3 tapping an enemy at long range. A Nightmare for inexperienced players, and more of a meme weapon if you compare it to a real “tool” like a GD-22S, Pulsar LSW or T32 Bull.

– [RMIS] nicigee

Many players have spoken against the fact that Gauss SAW is the default LMG, saying that GD-22S should fulfill that role instead, as it’s much more versatile. 

But it’s not all bad. There are some redeeming qualities as well:

(1) Consistent performance over range. SAW has only 1 tier of damage degradation, and kills standard infantry target roughly in the same amount of shots at all ranges. Headshots are especially devastating. 

(2) SAW’s Vertical Recoil per Second isn’t that big. It is actually only above average for LMGs even without the Compensator, and below average with one.

(3) As said, SAW has potential for amazing ranged performance. It’s an excellent weapon for open field combat. It just takes a bit of getting used to its recoil pattern. SAW is actually very controllable and accurate for an LMG.

Orion VS54

Orion is the staple close range LMG for Vanu Sovereignty. Overall, it handles more like a big Assault Rifle, and it’s noticeably more mobile than most LMGs. It has faster reload, shorter Equip Time, and its hip fire accuracy isn’t that bad. It also has a good damage output, but pays in magazine size. Similarly to CARV, it has a ton of recoil, and will require some deliberate handling to be effective at medium range. 

One of the more unusual features is that Orion has reduced Cone of Fire Bloom, so it can fire in longer bursts than most other LMGs. 

Unlike other Close Range LMGs, Orion doesn’t get access to SPA nor ALS, but it has better Hip Fire accuracy from the get-go, so even with basic Laser Sight it gets roughly the same Hip Fire accuracy as other Close Range LMGs with ALS. 

Close Range LMGs

These LMGs behave more like big Assault Rifles. They have increased Hip Fire accuracy, shorter Equip Times, faster reloads, as well as access to Soft Point Ammo and Advanced Laser Sight. However, they have smaller magazines, worse handling and shorter effective range than most other LMGs.

For VS, Orion is the dedicated CQC LMG.

MSW-R

MSW-R is the TR workhorse. One of the most popular LMGs, and for good reason: it’s cheap, simple, reliable, effective. Everything you’d want for breaching points and taking the fight to the enemy. It deals good DPS and doesn’t have any issues killing with just bodyshots at close range. 

LA1 Anchor

Another wildly popular LMG. It deals more damage per shot than other Close Range LMGs, but due to lower RoF has lower overall DPS. However, Anchor has excellent accuracy for a CQC LMG, and within 10m (15m with SPA), it kills standard infantry in just 3 headshots, which makes for a shorter TTK. 

Most beastly CQC LMG in the game. Works great on public servers and dominates competitive scene. Possibly the best LMG overall, once you figure out the recoil, which is still much simpler than for MSW-R. Hip Fire is the only noticeable disadvantage.

– [RMIS] nicigee

Adaptable LMGs

These LMGs have access to a wide variety of attachments, and can be specialized for any range. Their concept is similar to Select Fire Carbines and Assault Rifles, but unlike them, these LMGs don’t get access to anything unique, like underbarrel attachments. 

They have middle-of-the-road stats, which makes them rather boring, “just another LMG” type of weapons.

T9 CARV-S

CARV-S can be treated like a variant of the CARV that sacrifices raw DPS in favor of better recoil and more attachment choices. CARV-S actually has higher Vertical Recoil per Shot than CARV, but due to lower RoF, it boils down to less Vertical Recoil per Second, especially when equipped with a Compensator. It also has nearly a second faster reload.

Overall, CARV-S makes for a typical general-purpose LMG that doesn’t stand out in any particular area.

T9 CARV-S is a part of this Highly Technical Weapon Comparison with other similar LMGs.

NC6S Gauss SAW S

Despite having a similar name to the starting NC6 Gauss SAW, the SAW-S has a different damage model, and overall is much closer to EM6. They have only minor differences:

• SAW-S has better Horizontal Recoil properties, and marginally better Hip Fire accuracy, reload speed and Projectile Velocity.
• In return, SAW-S sacrifices Magazine Size and overall Ammo Pool, and has marginally lower RoF.

Overall, SAW-S makes for a decent general-purpose LMG, and it’s arguably better than EM6. 

Flare VE6

Flare VE6 deals higher damage per shot than majority of VS LMGs. In combination with Soft Point Ammunition, Flare has excellent headshot Time-to-Kill within 15m, which is a fairly competitive range bracket. 

Mild Vertical Recoil makes Flare easy to handle up to medium range, but comparatively high Horizontal Recoil and damage degradation limit Flare’s effectiveness at range. 

Flare is overall similar to Ursa, so a detailed comparison between these two weapons was made.

Point Hold LMGs

These LMGs have an interesting combination of traits:

• Their Maximum Damage Range is extended to 20m.
  • Some of them also have access to SPA, which further increases Maximum Damage Range by 5m.
• Good accuracy and easy recoil.
• 100 round magazines, with Extended Mags boosting them to 200 rounds. 
• An extra spare magazine.
• Low raw damage output.

The main feature, of course, is unusually long Maximum Damage Range. It gives these LMGs very consistent performance. They have roughly the same bodyshot TTK against nanoweave targets within ~30m, and maintain headshot TTK within ~50m. 

While they don’t have as much raw DPS as some other LMGs, thanks to extended Maximum Damage Range, they can actually deal more effective DPS at certain ranges than weapons with higher RoF.

T16 Rhino

T16 Rhino gets access to Advanced Forward Grip and High Velocity Ammo, but not Compensator. Fortunately, it already has low Vertical Recoil per Shot. With Advanced Forward Grip, Rhino has roughly the same Horizontal Recoil as T32 Bull with its basic Forward Grip. 

Overall, Rhino sort of has an identity crisis:

• It tries to be an LMG for fighting within 30m, but unlike other Point Hold LMGs, it doesn’t get Hip Fire accuracy benefits, nor access to SPA and ALS.
• Its attachment options – AFG and HVA – suggest that it wants to be a ranged LMG, but it has comparatively high damage degradation. 

So Rhino gets stuck without a place to call “home”, and there’s no reason to use it, aside from the combination of low recoil and ability to sustain fire.

EM1

EM1 is comfortable and controllable, and it’s one of the few 143 damage LMGs available to the NC. Other perks include slightly increased Hip Fire accuracy, though not as great as for Close Range LMGs.  EM1 gets access to SPA and Advanced Laser Sight. 

VX29 Polaris

VX29 Polaris features the best hip fire accuracy among LMGs, sharing the first place with NS-15M2, and it also has access to SPA and Advanced Laser Sight. When equipped with it, Polaris gets hip fire accuracy slightly better than an average stock Carbine, which is quite impressive for an LMG.

Polaris has controllable recoil, and overall makes for a surprisingly decent LMG. Its only real weakness is low damage output. 

General-Purpose LMGs

These LMGs share a couple of traits: they remain effective at a variety of ranges, but don’t particularly stand out in any field. Their attachment availability and stat allocation are all over the place, though.

TMG-50

TMG-50 is the only TR LMG that deals more than 143 damage per shot. It’s also slightly more accurate on the move than most LMGs, and has access to HVA and Compensator, but not Advanced Forward Grip. Fortunately, it has great Horizontal Recoil by default, so the basic Forward Grip is enough to facilitate good accuracy.

If not for two tiers of damage degradation, TMG-50 would make a decent ranged LMG. It’s not a terrible weapon, but usually doesn’t get much love from players.

GD-22S

GD-22S can be treated as a more general-purpose variant of the Anchor. GD-22S is more accurate and easier to control, and its Hip Fire accuracy and DPS are only slightly worse. 

GD-22S is also dirt cheap and has an amazingly fast reload for an LMG. It’s a simple and effective weapon, and its only real disadvantage is scarce attachment choices. However, having such great base stats, it doesn’t really suffer from it.

GD-22S often gets recommended as the starting point for anyone willing to play NC Heavy Assault. 

I would recommend GD-22S for less experienced players, but even I enjoy using it, because it’s so user-friendly. 

– [RMIS] nicigee

EM6

EM6 has access to a variety of attachments, and overall makes for a typical, versatile LMG.

Where other LMGs have built in specializations, the EM6 just got tired and decided it would let its attachment do the work.

/u/unit220

Pulsar LSW

Pulsar LSW can be treated as a variant of Orion, with less raw DPS and worse Hip Fire accuracy, but much easier recoil and larger magazine. Similarly to Orion, Pulsar LSW gets the reduced CoF Bloom per Shot, so it can fire in a bit longer bursts than most LMGs. Great weapon overall. 

Pulsar LSW  is a part of this Highly Technical Weapon Comparison with other similar LMGs.

SVA-88

SVA-88 is stunningly similar to Pulsar LSW. The main difference is that instead of Flash Suppressor and Extended Mags, SVA-88 gets access to HVA and Compensator. 

SVA also has more Vertical Recoil, but no Recoil Angle, and marginally better Hip Fire accuracy. With the Compensator, SVA-88 has roughly the same Vertical Recoil as Pulsar LSW, and HVA gives it a slight edge in ranged combat. 

Overall, SVA-88 can be treated like a more expensive variant of Pulsar LSW with more inclination towards ranged combat. 

SVA-88  is a part of this Highly Technical Weapon Comparison with other similar LMGs.

Long Range LMGs

These LMGs have only one tier of damage degradation, which gives them an edge in ranged combat over the majority of other primary weapons.  

The dedicated Long Range LMG for NC is Gauss SAW. 

T32 Bull

T32 Bull is one of the more unusual LMGs. It gets the best Hip Fire accuracy, amazing recoil pattern, high projectile velocity and fast reload. It takes no effort to hold on target, and low damage degradation ensures the damage remains consistent at all ranges. 

Unfortunately, low damage output makes Bull undesirable to competitive players, and its ADS accuracy doesn’t do anything for it in close quarters. 

Additionally, Bull is very close to NS-15M2, which also gets higher ADS Movement Speed, making it a much better choice overall.

T32 Bull is my weapon for everyday use. It’s easy to use and lets you focus on your playstyle, without any compromises. It rewards good aim, but doesn’t punish bad aim, like Gauss SAW would, for example. It is the perfect platform for your daily squadplay and biolabfarm adventures.

– [RMIS] nicigee

Ursa

Ursa is the dedicated ranged LMG for VS. Ursa has a mild recoil for an LMG, but its low damage output limits its effectiveness outside of ranged combat.

Ursa is overall very similar to Flare VE6, so a detailed comparison between these two weapons was made.

Empire-Specific LMGs

This set of empire-specific LMGs has interesting mechanics or unique attachments, as well as unusual models and sound design.

MG-H1 Watchman

Mechanically, Watchman is an LMG version of TORQ-9 Assault Rifle. It has the highest Rate of Fire among all LMGs, though it deals only 125 damage per shot.

In terms of raw DPS, Watchman is very close to default T9 CARV. Watchman has limited effective range due to bad Cones of Fire while being still, as well as low damage per shot and somewhat low Projectile Velocity. However, fairly stable recoil makes Watchman easier to handle within that range. 

Watchman has good Hip Fire accuracy for an LMG, but it’s still far from being able to hip fire comfortably.

Soft Point Ammunition is also available, and it will make Watchman more competitive in close quarters, while the Impact Ammunition increases Watchman’s damage outside of 20m, and it’s a great choice if you don’t intend to specifically focus on the most competitive performance within 15m. 

Overall, Watchman is an effective LMG that trades effective range for easier handling, and in certain situations it can kill faster than CARV or MSW-R.

You can learn more about Watchman in this Highly Technical Weapon Guide, and enjoy some juicy lore in this video by Cyrious Gaming: 

MGR-L1 Promise

Modular Gauss Rifle, LMG-1 “Promise” has low Recoil and high Rate of Fire, which is uncharacteristic for NC. Promise is also the first weapon where Recoil Scaling plays a big role.

With each shot, Promise’s recoil gets lower and lower, up to a certain limit. Vertical Recoil specifically decreases even faster if you fire while crouched.

Promise also has reduced values for Maximum ADS Cones of Fire, for most stances equal to 1 degree. This makes sustained full auto fire much more accurate than for most other primary weapons. For some context, 1 degree is the diameter of the center mass of an infantryman about 25m away.

SPRW Ammunition is available to Promise, increasing Projectile Velocity by 25% at the cost of reducing Magazine Size by 25 rounds. Promise’s base velocity is below average, and can make it challenging to hit moving targets at medium+ range. SPRW Ammo bumps it up to respectable 687 m/s, which is the highest value for LMGs. 

Smart Feeder is a unique ammo attachment, available only to Promise. It increases Magazine Size by 50 rounds at the cost of increasing Reload Times by 0.325 seconds. Since this is an ammo attachment, it is mutually exclusive with SPRW Ammo.

Between SPRW Ammo and Smart Feeder, Promise allows you to choose between focusing on volume of fire or precision. 

Overall, Promise makes for an interesting medium-range LMG with decent firepower. After ~4 shots it becomes the most stable LMG in the game, and it’s not bad during first 4 shots either.

MGR-L1 Promise  is a part of this Highly Technical Weapon Comparison with other similar LMGs.

VE-H Maw

Maw is intended to compete with NC’s Anchor as a high-damage, close-medium range LMG. Maw has good damage output, including the infamous 3-headshot kill within maximum damage range.

Maw is tied for the first place for Hip Fire accuracy with a few other LMGs, but it’s the only new LMG to also have access to Advanced Laser Sight. When used with ALS, Maw gains Hip Fire accuracy comparable to a stock carbine, which is impressive for an LMG.

Unstable Ammunition is available, which increases projectile size making shots easier to hit at the cost of reducing Headshot Damage Multiplier to 1.2x. When coupled with ALS and UA, Maw has potentially the best Hip Fire among LMGs. 

Vented Power Core rail attachment is available, which removes Long Reload penalty at the cost of increasing Recoil Angle by 5 degrees. Not recommended.

Cross-Faction LMGs

These LMGs can be used by all factions. If you purchase them with Daybreak Cash, they will be available on all your characters, regardless of faction. They have white tracers. 

NS-15M2

NS-15M2 is basically an LMG variant of NS-11A Assault Rifle. It features the best Hip Fire accuracy and ADS Moving Accuracy, a fast reload and short Equip Time. Most importantly, it’s the only LMG with 75% ADS Speed. 

Its recoil isn’t the best, but still one of the easiest to control, and it has only one tier of damage degradation, similar to Long Range LMGs.

NS-15M2’s only disadvantage is the lowest raw damage output among all LMGs, and fairly small magazine. 

NS-15M2 is wildly popular among good players, who can compensate for low damage output with good headshot accuracy. 

NS-15M2 has a ton of cosmetic variants, including NS-15M1. Differences between them are purely cosmetic. 

NSX Naginata

NSX Naginata is unique. Its defining feature is that while remaining still, your Cone of Fire will not bloom past a certain point. In other words, while standing still, you can fire at full auto almost without losing accuracy. 

While normally standing still in a firefight isn’t a good idea, there is an advanced trick you can employ. 

Normal weapons have to stop firing to let their Bloomed CoF to recover. Naginata, on the other hand, can use movement to “reset the burst”.

You fire the Naginata while moving, as you would with any other LMG, but when your CoF Blooms too much, you simply stand still for a moment, and that will reset your CoF, even if you keep firing the whole time.

You don’t have to stand still for long either. Simply releasing all your movement keys for a moment will do the trick. 

Overall, Naginata is the only LMG that can truly sustain fire without losing accuracy. Other Nagainata’s traits include good damage model, decent reload speed and excellent Horizontal Recoil and Recoil Angle Properties. 

Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room.

Naginata has gigantic, absolutely mindblowingly horrible Vertical Recoil. It is so bad that even with Compensator Naginata has more Vertical Recoil per Shot than infamous Gauss SAW. And due to higher RoF than SAW, Vertical Recoil per Second is through the roof. 

This makes Naginata difficult to control, effectively making it terrible at its intended role of application. Other downsides include low projectile velocity. 

It’s worth noting that NSX Naginata does not count towards LMG directives, and instead counts for Nanite Exports directive.

You can learn more about Naginata in this Highly Technical Weapon Guide.

Auraxium LMGs

These prestige variants of starting LMGs have a cosmetic auraxium shader, as well as unique combination of attachments or special mechanics. You cannot modify any attachments, except Scopes.

The only way to obtain one of these LMGs is to complete the auraxium level of LMG Directives, by getting auraxium medals (1160 kills) with 5 LMGs.

Keep in mind that not everything classified as “LMG” counts for these directives, so make sure to check your directives tab.

T9A “Butcher”

T9A “Butcher” is the variant of the starting T9 CARV, and features slightly higher Rate of Fire and 50% larger magazine, as well as marginally better Hip Fire accuracy. Butcher has the highest raw DPS among all LMGs. 

Butcher’s downsides come from inability to mount the Forward Grip or a barrel attachment. 

Overall, Butcher is a bullet hose with terrible accuracy and a redundant amount of ammunition, almost a TR weapon meme.

NC6A GODSAW

GODSAW is a variant of the starting Gauss SAW. Its main feature is a secondary Armor Piercing firemode, which changes GODSAW’s Damage Resist Type from Type 2 – Small Arms to Type 4 – Heavy Machine Gun. This lets the GODSAW damage even heavily armored vehicles.

However, in Armor Piercing firemode GODSAW will deal less damage to infantry, so you have to remember to use the right mode for the right job. The firemode indicator near the ammo counter will show which firemode you’re in:

GODSAW has other differences from Gauss SAW: 

• Massively higher Projectile Velocity.
• Minimum Damage Range extended by 20m. This lets GODSAW deal marginally more damage at range. 
• Smaller magazine, but more than 2 second faster reload. 
• Marginally better Hip Fire accuracy.
• Lower Vertical Recoil and Horizontal Recoil, as if GODSAW had some form of Compensator and Forward Grip. Gauss SAW with Advanced Forward Grip and Compensator has slightly less Horizontal Recoil and more Vertical Recoil. 
• GODSAW has the same Equip Time as Gauss SAW with AFG.

Overall, for most intents and purposes, GODSAW is a direct upgrade over Gauss SAW, but faces many similar issues, like being somewhat lackluster in close quarters. 

Betelgeuse 54-A

Betelgeuse 54-A, also known as “Beetle Juice”, is a variant of the starting Orion. Instead of conventional ammunition, Betelgeuse uses the Heat Mechanic, which effectively gives you unlimited amount of spare ammunition. 

Betelgeuse also has 0.25 seconds longer Equip Time.

Overall, Betelgeuse is an interesting and popular weapon, but suffers from strong recoil and poor accuracy, and it cannot even mount a Forward Grip to improve the situation.

Heat Mechanics

Heat Capacity: 1000
Heat Per Shot: 20
Heat Recovery Delay: 0.5 sec
Heat Recovery Rate: 240 per sec
Overheat Penalty: 3.28 sec

Firing the weapon accumulates Heat. When you stop firing, after Heat Recovery Delay, the weapon will start cooling down, at Heat Recovery Rate. If you overheat the weapon, instead of Heat Recovery Delay, you will suffer the Overheat Penalty.

Betelgeuse can fire 50 shots before overheating. This is confirmed by in-game testing. It takes 4.58 seconds to recover heat from 49 shots, and 7.44 sec if you overheat the weapon. 

Betelgeuse will cool down even when not equipped, which makes it very convenient for Heavy Assaults: you can engage an enemy, and then switch to a sidearm or Rocket Launcher, and Betelgeuse will be fully “reloaded” by the time you equip it back again.