Getting Smarter - DOA's guide to Smartgunner

[Gnorse]

So you've had 'Squad Smartgunner' set to 'High' for 10 rounds, and now you actually woke up as one.
So what now ?
Introduction


You are the squad smartgunner, One of the few people trained in using the M56 Smartgun, with the others being the squad specialist, The commander and the Wey-Yu heavy gunners.
Your task, along with the squad specialist, Is to provide heavy weapons support and supressive fire, helping marine pushes or defences as the situation calls for it.
Your main advantage is that you can NOT friendly fire. At all. Unless you turn off IFF, but there's no reason to that.

Tools of the trade

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Inside the vendor in your prep-room, You'll find :

1/M56 Smartgun Kit : This is the reason you're here. It holds all four pieces that together make up the 'Smartgun system'. It contains :
-The M56 Combat Harness : This is your armor. It's a bit tougher than the standard M3 armor, and it is a lot lighter, allowing you to walk faster than Standards, at about the same speed as a squad leader.
-The M56 Powerpack : This holds your ammo. It Contains 250 Bullets and can be refilled in Requisitions and your Prep-Room Vendor. Due to it's size, it must be worn in the backpack slot, meaning you cannot have a backpack as a Smartgunner.
-The M56 Smartgun : This is the actual weapon. It can hold 50 rounds, has an impressive Rate of fire and is incompatible with all attachments except for the Barrel Charger and the Burst Fire Assembly.

-M56 Head Mounted Sight : This acts as both nightvision goggles and a meson scanner, allowing you to see in the dark as well as see buildings behind walls. When turned on, it puts a red overlay on your screen.
Edit : The sight actually allows you to see 6 tiles, and not 7. Thank you, Jeser.

Note : You must equip The harness and The powerpack to be able to use the Smartgun. It is Highly Recommended That you equip the Head mounted Sight, Though.

2/Webbing : Put this on your uniform. It provides you with 3 storage slots which are very important since you don't have a backpack.
3/Magazine Pouch : Allows you to hold Two magazines for your secondary weapon of choice.
4/M56 Powerpack : This is a spare Powerpack. Either put it in the dropship, Give it to Requisitions, or Give it to a Packmule Standard.

Loadout

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-Helmet : 2 x Protein Bars or 1 x Protein bar, 1 x Throwing knife or 1 x Protein bar, 1 x Map.
-M56 Combat Harness : 2 Slots. Put in either Injectors, Medical Supplies or Cigarettes + Lighter.
-Webbing : 1 x Tricord Injector, 1 x USCM Meal, 1 x Flask of beer (Slightly helps pain).
--If on Ice colony : 1 x Tricord Injector, 1 x USCM Meal, 1 x Flask of Coffee.
-Belt : M39 Holster. (If Req is out, you can find more in the PO's lockers.)
-Pockets : 1 x First aid pouch and 1 x Magazine Pouch Fill with SMG AP Ammo.

Primary And Secondary weapons

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1/Secondary Weapon : SMG
-Setup 1 : Accuracy
Red Dot Sight + Extended Barrel
-Setup 2 : Rate of Fire
Burst Fire Assembly + Extended Barrel

2/Primary Weapon : M56 Smartgun
-Setup 1 : Rate Of Fire
Don't add Any Attachments.
Pros : High Rate of fire. Accurate. Able to Pindown Enemies.
Cons : High Ammo consumption.

-Setup 2 : Damage
Barrel Charger
Pros : High Damage. Will destroy T1s with one burst. Able to Damage High-Tier Xenos. Low ammo consumption.
Cons : Low Accuracy. Medium Rate of fire.

This guide is a WiP and will be updated as time goes on.

[Jeser]

A-a-and here we go:
1. Powerpack can be refilled in your prep vendor, no need to bother Req.
2. Smartgun can hold BC and BFA attachments. BFA is worst choice ever, but still available.
3. Important note - without additional light sources, it has 6 tiles nightvision, which means last tile won't be seen. It's really important. Also you can use smartgun without head mounted sight, tho it would be kinda dumb.
4. Load out is quite good tho I'd recomment filling webbing with only tram injectors, bandage and ointment in armor. Tho it's just my loadout.
5. SMG is only for emergencies, such as: no time to reload, lost/broken limb or no bullets left and you are retreating to get another powerpack. So even having RDS only with SMG APs should be enough to fulfill it's purpose.

Most important thing as smartgunner - Do NOT fight without ammo until no other options available. As soon as you are down to 50 rounds - make your way back to FoB to get spare powerpack or Almayer to refill every powerpack you will find on your way back.

Other than those above, quite good guide for novices.

[Gnorse]

-Snip-

Thank you for the info. I'll edit the main post to include it.

[Kesserline]

Gud shit!

[Terrierist]

This some good shit to follow.

If I can add in my own two cents. In the event that RO couldn't get you additional M39 Holsters (either because they're shit or you're in high pop), It's fine to make do with an M4A3 with Rail light along with it's holster. that way you free up one more pocket to carry another first aid kit or flares to help light the field up for the rest of your non-darkvision teammates.

[Kerek]

The PO’s also have spare m39 holsters that you could trade/buy/steal and cigarettes and lighters fit on your helmet and show up with a nice texture.

[Jeser]

Yeah, I'd suggest adding info that POs had M39 holster rigs in their lockers. Considering RO NEVER have enough SMG holsters regardless pop scaling knowing this can help a lot.

[Gnorse]

Will do. Thank you.

[Steve_Rhino]

+1 from me. Good guide.

Thinking I'm gonna go Smartgunner again soon. Can say the M39 holster is a life saver, especially when things have hit the fan and you're next. I think I'll use some of the stuff in this guide for my next loadout.