Heavy Weapon's, On the field
Of the marines various weapons, the Squad Specialist is one of the strongest assets USCM Falling Falcons has on hand from the getgo that can very quickly change or enforce the outcome of a battle, and the USCM gets four of them to boot! With the addition to the regular marine armory, Specialists have access to unique kits with squad SUPPORTING weapons. They are however, not rambos and SHOULD NOT be treated as such.
Hence, it is important to know what each spec does and their respective roles in the marine war machine.
First thing's first though, there are some general just advantages and disadvantages that all Specs have
Advantages of BeingSpecialthe Squad Specialist:
- You have higher skills in general compared grunts and smartgunners
- Your specialist guns can't be melted! You can loose them though if you never pick them back up though.
- You have a high enough building skill to assist in construction work (enough to build metal cades). Help your engineer if you aren't doing anything important (I.E FOB duty)
- Marine's (generally) lookup and listen to good specs, Xenos that aren't ambush castes fear their general presence presuming they aren't being Unga
Disadvantages of BeingSpecialthe Squad Specialist:
- You will have to rush to get the spec kit of your choosing at roundstart since there only may be one of each spec type (Unless you are ERT which allows you to choose any)
- Regardless of which Spec kit you get, you'll be juggling between your ammo types a lot which can become a hassle to keep track of if you didn't organize them neatly.
- All Spec Weapons (SG included) require you to have two working hands. If you loose one, I hope you have a secondary or a good marine to pull you out. (You generally should not use weapons one handed unless gyro)
- Xenos really do not like you. Bolder and more Unga feeling xenos will try and end you the moment they spot you. (Meta-targeting)
General tips forSpecial Folkthe Squad Specialist:
- For some of the specs (except for probably Grenadier and Pyro), you may want to ask for additional ammo from the Req Officer/Cargo Tech so you don't have to pester them later for a ammo drop. On that note thought, you should try your hardest regardless of which spec you are, to conserve ammo as your ammo is somewhat expensive points wise.
- You have access to your squad's prep room, so take what you need. Just be aware that if there is no SL, you'll have to vend attachments and what not for your squad.
- Spec gear is locked until the spec that was using it is permadead. Meaning that you can use other specs equipment if they are cannot be revived.
- You can try to avoid being meta-targeted by wearing regular marine armor while still using spec weapons, just be aware that you don't get the benefits of whatever spec armor you left behind for obvious reasons.
- If your Squad Leader is dead, you've been assigned a FT SL, or you just don't have one, you will have to lead. So do be ready beforehand with how to lead. I recommend going through Rigga's SL guide.
It should be noted that I highly Recommend you try being a Squad Smartgunner first to get a similar feel for what specialist would be like (just remember that the majority of Spec Equipment doesn't have IFF). And for that reason, we will being going over the SG first.
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Smartgunner's Kit
Suppressive Fire
Difficulty:Easy
(I recommend getting the hang of being a Smartgunner first before trying out Spec)
Spoiler:
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Sniper Specialist
Long Range Annoyance
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Spoiler:
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Scout Specialist
Fire Support
Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Spoiler:
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Pyrotechnician Specialist
Napalm Chef
Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Spoiler:
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Heavy Grenadier Specialist
Michael Bay Fan
Difficulty: Hard
(Also known as the B-18)
Spoiler:
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Demolitionist Specialist
Anti-Everything
Difficulty: Hard
(Also Known as the SADAR)
Spoiler:
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Your 45 Additional Points
Honestly? Just use them to get more ammo for each spec since it's the one thing requisitions needs to order rather then them just having it. Any attachments in your vendor, req has it in stock, and general special ammo is also stocked at the start of the round. The one exception at best (i'd still get the extra HEDP though) I'd say is for Grenadier spec, who doesn't really need to buy more grenades on top of the ones they already have. If they wanted more of one type in any event, requisitions actually has boxes of each aside from Inc ones. So just buy more grenades or AP/Ext ammo as Grenadier Spec. Everyone else, get the most important ammo type that you need for your spec weapon.
DO NOT buy attachments, as you have squad req access meaning you have first pick over everyone else. Just take attachments from there. Even if you can't find any just loot them from dead un-revivable folks later. Trust me, someone will eventually die permanently who had a magharn or something.
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Now having the specially built weapons are nice to have and feel awesome to use, but they are just that. Specially built. You will NEED a good secondary to use alongside them for when fighting lone xeno's who aren't worth spending precious spec ammo on. For that, you'll be choosing from the same armory as the rest of the marine grunts. I'm not going to go into too much detail, i'd recommend reading through the Vanguard Guide for additional info on it and other things that I didn't cover.
SECONDARIES
M41A MK2 Pulse Rifle
The classic rifle found every time the USCM are shown off in any capacity in the alien's franchise. It's versatile, being able to do both close and long ranges, and takes a lot of attachments which gives way for customization. It has major issues killing heavily armored targets if you don't have AP loaded and they still have most of their armor. Despite that it's still very good as a secondary thanks to it's flexibility alongside the fair ammo capacity per magazine, I'd recommend with any of the spec kits. Recommended Attachements: QFA + Agrip + Bayonet
M39 Sub-Machine Gun
The recent changes to the M39 makes is great if you can keep the enemy within 3 tiles, with it's movement speed basically not hampered by wielding the gun. The major issue of the SMG though is the fact it's spread is ridiculously large, the fact you must place this in the suit slot (cannot fit the backpack slot), and you really gotta stay within those three tiles or the damage falloff is pretty heavy. V-Grip, Reflex Sight, and SMG stock (not the folding one) can allow you to reduce the spread to nothing, or you can put a gyro + recoil comp to one hand it.
L42 Battle-Rifle
The L42 (when not using stock) has a very good chase speed with accurate firing. Add on top of the fact that the L42 doesn't get pelted down by the damage falloff beyond 8 tiles is great for ensuring that if something fell into crit, you can ensure that it dies. It's slow fire speed and somewhat mediocre damage are the most notable issues of the L42 Rifle. LS is a must since it's the only thing that fits the underbarrel on the Battle Rifle. B8 or S8 (don't go for S4 since you can put on B8) can help you hit things further away, be aware that is lowers your firing speed. Otherwise put on a RDS or Rail light on the Rail slot. L42 doesn't really need a barrel aside from maybe a bayo if you want to.
M37A2 Pump Shotgun and MOU53 break action shotgun
The biggest fear for any T1-2 Xenos (even some T3), since it is almost always loaded with Buckshot. You can also use Flechette or Slugs for armored opponents if you wish, just remember it doesn't have that great of damage or stun depending on which you use. It's fairly good just because of the stun and damage presuming you use it properly. Only issue is that each stack of shells only contains five making it somewhat difficult to manage your ammo if you didn't organize properly and you will have to load in each shell individually. Recommended Attachements: Magharn (or Rail Flash) + Agrip + Bayo, RC + Gyro (for one handing joke)
The MOU is also fairly good presuming your taking a kit that doesn't need to heavily manage ones ammo, and don't mind the tedium of constantly reloading three shells each time (+ dropping shells if you unload without firing all three shots). Always take the stock for the MOU as it doesn't really have any downsides. Recommended Attachements: Magharn + Agrip (or Gyro) + Bayonet, 2X Scope + Agrip + Bayonet (for Sniping those farther away)
VP-78
Gotten a nice feel for this gun and it is fairly nice when kitted out. The damage output will make xenos back off or risk dying due to it's high damage. You'll burn through the magazines somewhat fast this way thought and your squad req doesn't that many bullets for these things. Which leaves you to needing ask Cargonia for more on top of your other ammo requests. Pray they are nice about this and not bald. The more prevalent issue is the fact the magazine size for these things are quite small, meaning you may have issues securing the kill. Recommended Attachments: RDS + LS, Reflex + Suppressor + BFA (make sure you wield with this attachment set)
M41AE2 Heavy Pulse Rifle
HPR is great if you hate the very idea of reloading thanks to the massive size of it's mags making it easy to manage your ammo. Big issue is that you only have two mags and if you want more, either hope there is still an unused Large Loose Pulse ammo box or start very SLOWLY taking out bullets out of M41A magazines and place the bullets into the magazine of the HPR. As a general rule of thumb, use single fire in basically nearly all scenarios. Use burst if they are basically in pointblank range of you. Recommended Attachments: RDS + Agrip (prefer) or Vgrip (if no more agrips somehow)
The Other Weapons
I'm not even gonna bother with the rest. They either require you to ask command/ask a PFC to give up their points (Tac Shotty, M4A3 Custom, MK1 Pulse Rifle), horrible chase speed in general (L42 Battle Rifle), or does piss-poor damage in general ( M4A3 Service Pistol 9mm, 88 Mod 4, and M44 Combat Revolver)
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How to Play
Aside from your additional equipment, you are basically a squad marine with additional skills. Simply follow orders and play well. Don't overextended and understand how well the marine push may be doing. Never stand at the very very front where xenos will attempt to meta-target you out of the rest of the marines. Stick with your squad, save your spec weapons for most larger castes essentially. It's also important to have macros made to use things like scopes, thermal cloaks, etc (Here is my special USCM pickup macro. Denote that it is only for picking up USCM weapons). If anything it is important to learn to be a robust PFC before being a Spec since the two basically go hand in hand. However, it should be noted that you should value your life more heavily then as a PFC since you are the big game changer or force multiplier that xenos hate, so don't do anything stupid and stay alive at all costs. On that note, SL experience will help a lot for whenever your SL dies, there just isn't one picking it for your squad in particular, or you've been asked to lead a fire team. Which is important because most marines will look to you to lead the group from time to time, so do know the being spec is in a way like being a SL. And most important thing of all...
Remember to Have Fun!