Yeah, CoD has a history of being bad about this for sure. I would think ideally LMGs should have about the same damage/TTK as assault rifles, and superior damage/TTK to SMGs, but also slower handling speeds than both. That way, in a run-and-gun scenario, the AR or SMG will beat the LMG because they can react and be ready to shoot faster, nullifying the LMG's advantage in damage. But if the LMG is already ready to shoot when the AR/SMG turns the corner, the LMG wins. Make LMGs really strong when posted up in a good spot and really good at locking down choke points, but have a clear disadvantage when relocating or getting flanked. And of course the vulnerability of long reloads to make up for huge magazines.
That makes me think… has there EVER been an OP LMG in a COD or battlefield game? Best I can think of is something like the M1917 in battlefield 1. Even then it’s more so because having a full auto mid range gun is a big deal in a ww1 game
Stoner in original black ops could run some lobbies if you were good. The ADS was on par with some of the slower ARs and was the fastest LMG. It had a 3 round kill in normal and single shot kill from any range in HC.
I mostly used the famas and the galil though.
I think the most op lmg I ever used was in the original call of duty for PC. The FG42 would spawn on maps and could be temporarily used but you could not spawn with it and it was neigh impossible to find ammo for it.
BO2 LSAT Target Finder. BO4 Hades Crossbar. Most IW (2016) LMG's were META in that game. Heck RPK in MW19 i consider NASTY aswell.. Vanguard had the goddamn Whitley (which was my closes gun to a Nuke in the modern era. Well. I could get nightmares because of that TTK). Heck the LIERRA was good aswell in that game. BO7's Mammoth is 2 tap machine. Thats meta asf that it got nerfed after 2 weeks i believe.. lets say there are some quite good LMG's in CoD but i can't name them all.
With the multipliers it’s still 2 shot in the upper body so it’s still really strong. LMGs in general are pretty good in BO6/7 with a couple mobility attachments and the belt feed mag to never reload.
I got loads of good matches in BO1 with the M60. Slap big ammo on that mfer and just prefire every corner. Can't corner camp someone with a 200 round mag and 0 fucks to give lol.
In my experience, LMGs are good in Battlefield if used correctly. I grew up on run and gun arena shooters, so I've never been the best wirh them, but in Battleifeld V, I'd get destroyed by people using LMGs defensively, setting up with a bipod and they'd be damn near sniping with it.
In Battlefield 6 I find them to be useful defensively though I primarily use the DRS-IAR because it's more similar to an assault rifle and fits the run and gun style that I'm used to better.
Vanguard had OP lmgs like that. People ducking in windows across the map with MG42s spraying fast AF nonstop all game. Trying to reposition got your body parts torn apart and then you respawn. It was very unforgiving.
There are actually a few examples of LMGs shining in CoD, though they are definitely outliers and often the only great LMGs in their respective games -
the RPD in the old Modern Warfare 2 was insanely strong, pretty sure it was able to 2-shot with stopping power and it had a pretty fast firerate.
In Advanced Warfare, the Ameli and Pytaek LMGs both had variants that were absurdly strong. The Subverter variant of the Ameli had faster firerate AND higher damage than the default version, it was a pretty reliable 2-3 shot kill with a very fast firerate. Furthermore, it actually had faster handling speeds as well. As a result, you had a rare case of an LMG that could actually straight up beat a lot of SMGs and ARs head on. The Pytaek had the Loophole variant: it had 150 round mags BEFORE extended mag, zero recoil, and laser accuracy (it literally had better accuracy than some of the ACTUAL laser guns in the game). It still had a slower TTK than most ARs or SMGs, but it could laser people from beyond ranges any AR or SMG could dream of. It also had insanely good hipfire accuracy, making it no slouch in close quarters.
Fast forward to Modern Warfare 2019, for a while it was yet another game where the ever generic M4 and MP5 reigned supreme. But, this was a live service game where updates came and added new guns to shake up the meta. Eventually the Bruen Mk9 LMG came out, and holy fuck was it strong. With the right attachments it could have the handling speeds of an AR while having a huge magazine, fast TTK, great range, and easy recoil control. It was eventually nerfed I think, but for a good while an LMG was actually meta in a CoD game. I mean like it genuinely outclassed previous meta guns in most scenarios. Only reason it wasn't used in pro play is because they had rules about everyone only using ARs and SMGs.
There could be a few others I'm missing, but generally speaking LMGs being meta is pretty rare in CoD. Don't know about the new CoDs, haven't bought or played a single CoD game since Cold War.
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u/Primary-Spray-3702 7d ago
Most battlefields and CoDs to my knowledge. Also the suppression system is non-existent/little point to make use of the gun.