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  1. #1

    Any LMG users who can offer build tips?

    I'm sort of new to the game (but I've reached WT5). I'm trying to wrap my head around collecting armor pieces to complement a build, and was wondering what sort of setup is good if your weapon of choice is the LMG. Usually I'm running the Sharpshooter spec with a Rifle or Marksman for picking off pesky snipers and engineers, but sometimes I go with LMG and SMG in Survivalist for the extra healing. Bottom line is, no matter what spec, I always seem to put an LMG in the mix.

    Which armor brands go well with this playstyle?

    Do talents like Hard Hitting, Unstoppable Force, and Devastating get priority over finding good attributes?

    I'd been collecting sets with red attributes (crits, headshot, weapon damage), and trying to get as many bumps to damage against elites, that sort of thing. Is that a good approach? My skill use on this is limited to a few heals with the launcher, and the tactician drone (in coop) or the hive for revives if I'm alone.

    Is crafting worth investing in, for these purposes, or is it easier to just hunt for loot?

    Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
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  2. #2
    Check out https://www.divisionbuilder.com/ for all Division 2 builds.
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  3. #3
    Crafting is useless in T5, so it will be loot drops. I'm using a build that revolves around the Pulse skill. So my mask has the Spotter talent, my backpack has On The Ropes talent and I am currently looking to find a chest piece with the Unstoppable Force talent.
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  4. #4
    I read recently that the Tactician drone used in Sharpshooter also gives the pulse effect, so I've been on the lookout for a Spotter mask as well.
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  5. #5
    LMGs vary very much in damage.
    i found M60s with 22k and with 28k.
    make sure you got a good roll.
    the unhinged talent is nice too +25% dmg -30%stability.
    large mag +35 shot and extended mag perk give you 165 ammo per pouch.
    weapondamage on your armor oieces is nice to have too. (works with all weapons, so even your secondary is worthwhile)
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  6. #6
    elkyri's Avatar Senior Member
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    Originally Posted by mrgameboy Go to original post
    ...
    weapon of choice is the LMG. Usually I'm running the Sharpshooter spec with a Rifle or Marksman for picking off pesky snipers and engineers, but sometimes I go with LMG and SMG in Survivalist for the extra healing. Bottom line is, no matter what spec, I always seem to put an LMG in the mix.

    Which armor brands go well with this playstyle?
    Here's a suggestion to get the conversation started. I'm sure it will be ....er.... improved upon by posters that follow. (dare I say "picked apart"? )

    The base on which we will build is three pieces of Douglas Harding -- mask, holster, knees (gives a boost to crit chance and crit damage).

    Next, add a backpack from Petrov (gives LMG damage).

    Additional pieces will vary depending on the secondary weapon of choice.

    SMG? Add a chest rig from Sokolov (gives SMG damage).

    Rifle? Get the chest rig from Overlord (gives rifle damage).

    That leaves gloves to finish off the set. Gila for armor, Wyvern for crit damage, or Badger for damage to elites. Your choice.

    Do talents like Hard Hitting, Unstoppable Force, and Devastating get priority over finding good attributes?
    Recalibration is your friend that will let you have both. Find the pieces listed above at the highest armor values available, preferably with multiple "good" attributes. Next, find any old piece of matching gear with the talent you want and move it to your set piece.

    For example, let's say your Petrov backpack has Capacitive as a talent but you've picked up a Richter & Kaiser pack that has the Hard Hitting talent. At the recalibration station you can move the Hard Hitting talent from the R&K piece to replace the Capacitive talent on your Petrov piece. The R&K piece is destroyed in the process.

    Alternatively, if you have the piece you want with the talent you want you can move attributes instead.

    That said, if you are outgrowing your gear every few hours of gametime (get better armor values) you may want to hold off on recalibration until the pace slows down or you get to max just to economize on resources.

    I'd been collecting sets with red attributes (crits, headshot, weapon damage), and trying to get as many bumps to damage against elites, that sort of thing. Is that a good approach?
    It depends.

    If you are playing solo on normal difficulty the elites might be big and fangy and scary but they are few and far between. What you deal with most often are RedShirts and Veterans. If you build for damage to elites you are sacrificing the opportunity to build for extra damage via the attributes and talents that would help wade through the mobs of ankle biters, such as crit chance, crit damage, and straight weapon damage.

    On the other hand if you are in a group or playing on the harder difficulties the elites are found more often and in greater numbers so builidng for them might be a better choice. That conversation holds when choosing gear brands as well. Above we built for weapon damage and crit damage. An alternative would have been to go with other brands to build for damage to and protection from elites.

    Either choose the priority or build two sets and use the Loadout option to switch between them.

    Quick note on LMGs.... perhaps you've noticed that the "damage to target out of cover" stat is totally random and not tied to any particular model. If not, take note! Most of the elites spend a lot of time waddling back and forth out of cover so that's a handy stat to max out via keeping the right gun and shredding the others.

    Is crafting worth investing in, for these purposes, or is it easier to just hunt for loot?
    Just scrounge for the gear you want then recalibrate to stack up the best attributes and talents.
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  7. #7
    I would say you should start with choosing specialisation. Do you have a decent aim, can you score few hits in the head? Then go sharpshooter because +weapon handling, + reload speed, +headshot damage will be better than flat +15% lmg damage in demolitionist imo. And then create your build around it. Unstoppable force is nice, but you need to get a kill first so on the ropes might be still good choice, just pick semiusefull longer skill + chem launcher and you have +25% wd burst 9 secs long (or in pve u might take just two longer cd skills and use them as triggers, since skill builds are still mostly meh imo), then get one petrov for that +10% lmg dmg (can be chest , holster or backpack) and then it is up to you, if you want to utilize some specific talent, go for it. In general I am not sure how effective is crit build with lmg since the no crit zone is quite big and npcs or players still seem to rush you, so I would start with good old low crit build.
    If this didnt help, consider looking on youtube, lmg builds havent changed much so most of the info there will be still relevant.
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  8. #8
    TG24915193's Avatar Banned
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    Its all a bit up in the air at the moment as they just changed gear and talents quite a bit so you will get the inevitable BEST LMG BUILD EVER and ITS INSANE videos on youtube every 30 seconds as youtubers try and make money off of you and chances are they'll be rubbish builds.

    Before the changes I was running AR, but my LMG's were perfectly servicable weapons at around 24K damage. No content was an issue.
    Currently i'm running an LMG with slightly less damage due to the changes. However, I have no doubt I can increase the damage as I get better items.

    For me, running an LMG build, you will probably want to go for Demolistionist 15% LMG damage, with one piece of Petrov armour for another 10% LMG damage. Try to get some gloves with LMG damage on there, 10%+ and then look for weapon damage / lmg damage mods. Personally I think weapon damage is preferable as it benefits all your weapons rather than one.

    A downside of the LMG is the low rate of fire, so you are exposed a little more when shooting over the AR. Therefore I have gone with an Unbreakable build. Sadly, because of the disgusting increase in attributes needed for this, all my gear is far from optimal just in order to get the talent to work.

    You could go down the unstopable route, but I suspect this type of build will see you healing a lot more as you will get shot a lot more.

    I run with the L86 and an M60. The L86 handles like an AR and is great for the majority of enemies you will face. The M60 is great for the tougher enemies like machinegun vets and tanks. I have unhinged on my L86 which nicely boosts damage.

    I think this unbreakable / lmg / demolitionist build will be very effective once optimised.
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  9. #9
    Originally Posted by Akogooth Go to original post
    LMGs vary very much in damage.
    i found M60s with 22k and with 28k.
    make sure you got a good roll.
    the unhinged talent is nice too +25% dmg -30%stability.
    large mag +35 shot and extended mag perk give you 165 ammo per pouch.
    weapondamage on your armor oieces is nice to have too. (works with all weapons, so even your secondary is worthwhile)
    I think I have one of those perks, because my LMG has an extra 20 shots. Where do the other "extra ammo" perks come from?
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  10. #10
    Originally Posted by mrgameboy Go to original post
    I think I have one of those perks, because my LMG has an extra 20 shots. Where do the other "extra ammo" perks come from?
    one is the perk (+20% ammo) which is a regular on many weapons (which you already have)
    the other mag increase is from an ammo pouch mod on the weapon (+35 shot which you have to get via blueprint. i got mine on a weekly 3 weeks ago)
    because the mods are calculated before perks you get 135+20%
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