Heavy Weapons are heavy duty armaments that can only be equipped by specific Dropsuits. They tend to do substantial damage and have impressive abilities, but also some substantial downsides associated with them as well. This guide will seek to explain the function of each heavy weapon, what kind of variants they have, as well as some simple tips and tricks to help you be more successful with them.
Heavy Weapons go in your Heavy Weapon Slot [H] but cannot be placed in the Light Weapon [L] or Sidearm [S] slots. This means that they can only be fit on Basic Heavy Frame Dropsuits and Sentinel Dropsuits.
Damage Type: Projectile (-15% vs Shields / +15% vs Armor)
Heavy Machine Guns, or HMGs, are large multi-barreled gatling guns with extremely high fire rate, low bullet damage, and large magazines. They are the only Anti-Infantry focused Heavy Weapon and excel at shredding infantry apart at close range. Heat builds up in the gun while firing, and will seize up if the heat reaches critical levels. While overheated, you will be unable to fire, reload, or swap to another weapon until the HMG cools down. Additionally, unlike other games, the HMG has no spin up time; instead the gun will fire instantly, but be fairly inaccurate. However the longer the weapon fires, the more accurate it becomes.
Pros
- Very High DPS.
- Large magazine allows for several engagements before needing to be reloaded.
Cons
- Fairly short range, this weapon is mostly confined to close quarters, mostly around objectives.
- Heat buildup can become an issue if attempting to engage multiple enemies at once.
Heavy Machine Gun – Basic Type
Fire Mode: Full-Auto
Optics: Over-Barrel ‘Doom Mode’ (You will have to see it for yourself to really understand)
The basic HMG is a solid mix of both instant and sustained DPS, with manageable heat buildup and a sizable magazine. It is a very good weapon to start with for new Heavy Dropsuit users.
Burst Heavy Machine Gun – Variant
Fire Mode: Burst-Fire
Optics: Over-Barrel ‘Doom Mode’
The Burst variant features a much higher fire rate than the Basic Type but fires in bursts. This gives it a lower sustained DPS, but the DPS per burst is significantly higher than the Basic Type. It does overheat much faster, making it more difficult to use. However, for players with accurate aim and good fire control, the Burst HMG is capable of very high damage output, often able to drop even medium dropsuits in a single burst.
Assault Heavy Machine Gun – Variant
Fire Mode: Full-Auto
Optics: Over-Barrel ‘Doom Mode’
The Assault variant features longer range with a higher bullet damage, better accuracy, lower fire rate, and a smaller magazine. It’s main advantage however comes from the fact that it does 100% damage to vehicles. While the slower fire rate can make it more difficult to use against infantry, the Assault variant is very capable of taking on both infantry and vehicles with good success.
Important Notes
Effects When Used With the Following Dropsuits
- Any Sentinel – Reduced PG/CPU Cost
Effects When Used Against the Following Dropsuits
- Amarr Sentinel – Reduced Damage Against Armor
- Gallente Sentinel – Reduced Damage Against Armor
Tips & Tricks
- The HMG’s short range makes it difficult to use out in the open; stick to tight areas and bring a longer range sidearm in case you are forced to fight outside your HMG’s range.
- While you do not need to reload often, the reload time on the HMG is very long. Consider putting a few points into Rapid Reload early on to help reduce this downtime.
Damage Type: Hybrid-Rail (-10% vs Shields / +10% vs Armor)
Forge Guns are Anti-Vehicle weapons characterized by extremely low fire rate and extremely high bullet damage. Holding the trigger will cause the Forge Gun to begin charging, once fully charged, releasing the trigger will release the shot. The weapon cannon be fired before being completely charged. If the trigger is released before the weapon is fully charged, you will lose the charge and need to start over. Additionally while charging, your movement speed will be reduced. This weapon also does full damage to vehicles.
Pros
- Extremely long range.
- High bullet damage.
- Full damage against vehicles.
Cons
- While effective against infantry, high charge time makes it unsuitable for most direct engagements.
- Speed penalty while charging leaves you more open to counterattack.
- Projectile does have travel time, so you will need to lead your targets in order to hit them at long range.
Forge Gun – Basic Type
Fire Mode: Charge to Fire
Optics: None
The basic Forge Gun has an average charge time and damage. It also has the ability to hold a full charge that can be released when you want, making it a good starting point for new Heavy dropsuit users.
Assault Forge Gun – Variant
Fire Mode: Charge to Fire, Full-Auto
Optics: None
The Assault variant has higher damage per shot, faster charge rate, and an overall higher DPS than the Basic type. However once the gun is fully charged, it will instantly fire – that is to say that the charge cannot be held like the basic type. This makes the weapon overall a bit harder use as you will need to make sure that you are leading the target at the exact time the weapon fires – however the overall DPS will be better overall and more suited for more experienced players. It also have a higher PG and CPU cost than the basic type as well as some splash damage.
Breach Forge Gun – Variant
Fire Mode: Charge to Fire
Optics: None
The Breach variant features a significantly slower charge rate but a much higher bullet damage. This gives it the highest single shot damage of all infantry weapons in the game. However, due to the long charge time, it’s overall DPS is lower than the Basic type. Additionally while the weapon is charging, you will be unable to move. This weapon is pretty situational and used primarily for ambushes where high alpha damage is necessary. Like the basic type, this variant can hold its charge before firing.
Important Notes
Effects When Used With the Following Dropsuits
- Any Sentinel – Reduced PG/CPU Cost
Effects When Used Against the Following Dropsuits
- Gallente Sentinel – Reduced Damage Against Armor
- Amarr Sentinel – Reduced Damage Against Shields
Tips & Tricks
- While your movement speed is reduced while charging, you can actually jump to move around a little bit faster. This even works with the Breach Forge Gun, which typically doesn’t allow any movement while charging.
