tips for using the M41A

[KingKire]

no, man, you can't hit literally any of those targets because you only have a 10-20% chance to hit any of them since you're stacking accuracy reducing, spread increasing attachments and attempting to shoot something over ten tiles away. while doing this you are also simultaneously preventing marines from pushing forward into the aliens lest they catch your bullets in their back. you're actually hindering your teammates far more than you're helping them.

even with a BC and BFA, assuming you can hit anything, damage falloff as a mechanic literally kills your chances of doing any decent damage, and even if it did anything to the boiler you're shooting, it's braindead easy to just stand in front of a boiler as xeno to tank the pathetic little rifle rounds that you're shooting at them anyway. Let the sniper spec do all the sniping.

I use the attachments all the time, you *average* at about 2/3rds of your shots hitting [ On average, you will hit between 2 and 3 bullets per burst]. Now, you may miss a complete burst, but there are times you will hit a complete burst and do wreck it amount of damage.

If you like using your standard attachments, thats great, but if you want to snipe, thats what you can use, its what i use, and its what i *personally* use.

Damage falloff im 90% sure isnt a thing, (if a dev wants to set the record straight, be my guest) but accuracy drop off at range is a thing. Thats why i like using the scope+stationary+two hands, because it offsets the accuracy loss.

Were going 8 posts deep into a 24 post thread, if you have an opinion, open a new thread, otherwise we get it, you hate scopes.

Edit: to prove the existance of damage falloff, you only need to think of a marine FFing another marine with a scope. You will do the same amount of deadly damage whether close or afar, they will scream at you to tell you that. Accuracy falloff is a real thing though, and you will have a higher chance of missing at a distance.

[kastion]

im not so sure about damage falloff either. I think RNG matters way more than anything because ive been hit off screen by lots of shots as xeno and a lot of them still hurt. The only range that I know for sure makes a difference is pointblank cause it ignores armor and I think give a boost in damage too. Either way m41a is not ass, especially with a BC and or AP rounds.

[DefinitelyAlone0309]

Damage fall off is a thing, for a long while now. But the degree of it depends on the weapon. SG, for example, has ass damage fall off which makes their shots SMG damage tier at range 5. M41 also has damage fall off, but not to that degree.

Also, bullets always hurt marines. You can kill a marine with a revolver the same way you can kill a marine with an M41, just a difference in damage and speed. Even when Buckshot holds more damage in non-PB situations, Slug ff still hurts way more than Buckshot, because it has AP (which your AP BC Sniper still has btw, so that's a reason why you still fuck marines up at range with FF).

im not so sure about damage falloff either. I think RNG matters way more than anything because ive been hit off screen by lots of shots as xeno and a lot of them still hurt. The only range that I know for sure makes a difference is pointblank cause it ignores armor and I think give a boost in damage too. Either way m41a is not ass, especially with a BC and or AP rounds.

Off-screen is a big range to talk about. KingKire is talking about max Rail Scope range or at least close to it, which is a lot of distance to cover, so damage fall off really fucks the gun up. 1 or 2 tiles offscreen doesn't make much of a difference from the edge of the screen with an M41 anyway.

[JennerH]

How do you bind keys to your mouse? I’ve tried before by using the find key setting on the macro setup but it doesn’t seem to work.

Is there a key that has to be manually entered like Mouse3 or 4?
Also thank you everyone else for all your replies

Each mouse is different so itll vary, but if your mouse has actual extra keys they'll usually have a program that let's you decide what those keys correspond to on your keyboard:



For me, I have to bind 1, 2, 3, and 4 to different keys on my keyboard since CM uses 1 through 4 as intent keys

[Sulaboy]

While I wouldn't recommend using a scope as standard practice it does have it's niche uses. It is useful in areas where the battle stagnates like defending the FOB, or dealing with some choke points. The only issue is that most combat requires a lot of moving around, and doesn't allow for the set up a scope needs. You'll also need to work around your environment, and fellow marines to use it properly on the offense.

I could see a BC Rail Scope M41A being annoying to Xenos if it had AP loaded, it would have a very poor rate of fire, I'd suggest leaving the BFA, and just looking for those either 2 round bursts or semi to just plink at Xenos with an AP mag because with the low rate of fire AP mags would end up lasting much longer than your standard bullet hose.



So yeah I could see that sniper fitting in some situations.

[Awesomesauce935]

How to use the M41A?

Click on them 'till they die.

[kastion]

How to use the M41A?

Click on them 'till they die.

Well you occasionally have to pull a mag out and then click on the gun to reload it too.

[Weaselburg]

I'd personally avoid any barrel attachments besides a barrel charger if you can help it, because the minimal amount of accuracy increase isnt worth the damage loss of a ext barrel or a suppressor

Bayonet. Bam done.

[Fcanau]

I've been toying with the railscope recently and while its true you wont kill a lot it tends to discourage benos when they get hit with AP screw up their pushes and dissuade ad-hoc mini flanks though its only useful in places where the fight stagnates and you have room to fire. For close combat I carry a shotgun anyway

[DriedMilk]

Ok, this is how the M41A is used.

Only use burst fire, use single fire to take out structures and eggs if you have AP loaded. If you don't have AP loaded, use burst fire to take down shit

Why burst even after it got nerfed?
A few months ago burst fire was buffed considerably, recently it was nerfed BUT, you can still hit xenos with a full burst using a vanilla M41 even with the shitty spread. Just burst fire all the time, even with AP, it exponentially increases your killing potentential.

ATTACHMENTS:
RDS
RAIL LIGHT
BAYONET
UGL
V.GRIP
A.GRIP
BC
BFA (?)
SUPRESSOR (?)
MASTERKEY

These are the attachments that you should be using with the M41, anything not listed is USELESS. Those marked with (?) mean that they only go well if you're using a RDS BFA SUPP loadout.

Usual attachment combos are:

1) RDS, UGL.
2) RDS BC A.GRIP/V.GRIP
3) RDS A.GRIP/V.GRIP
4) RAIL LIGHT BAYO UGL
5) RDS BFA SUPP (Highly experimental, it works but it can fuck you up and your friends rather frequently.)

Another thing for the M41, chase down shit that you shoot. My rule of thumb is that if I hit a xeno with a full AP burst, I'm going to attempt to chase it down and go for the kill.

[Grubstank]

Ok, this is how the M41A is used.

Only use burst fire, use single fire to take out structures and eggs if you have AP loaded. If you don't have AP loaded, use burst fire to take down shit

Why burst even after it got nerfed?
A few months ago burst fire was buffed considerably, recently it was nerfed BUT, you can still hit xenos with a full burst using a vanilla M41 even with the shitty spread. Just burst fire all the time, even with AP, it exponentially increases your killing potentential.

I disagree. Setting an easy macro to toggle burst fire was the best thing I could have done for my gameplay/DPS with the M41. And having spectated a lot of games lately, I think a lot of players can benefit from smart toggles between single/burst.

In my experience burst fire at long range is only useful if both you and your target are stationary, or if you're firing into a crowd of xenos. In any other situation, you're missing 1-2 of those shots of each burst simply because you can't track most xenos at their standard move speed.

At anything beyond 4 tile range you're going to get as much, or more DPS by using single fire, while also conserving ammo (essential if you find yourself in possession of an AP mag or two).
I once found myself late deploying to Ice LZ2 just in time to escort the routing medics and wounded on a fighting retreat from the the front of a push-gone-wrong. In those 5-7 minutes of hallway hell, I shot through a full belt and satchel of M41 magazines, and was subsequently almost solely responsible for holding back the massive mob of attackers--if I were using burst fire, I would have shot through more ammo with less DPS and we would have been overrun. I didn't get any kills, but between the constant sound of my gun and consistent DPS putting xenos to low health as fast as they could heal, I managed to punch far above my weight.

Burst fire is for short ranges, easy shots, and crowds. Warrior walking directly towards you along your X or Y axis? Perfect time to hit that burst fire hotkey, as you're almost guaranteed all three bullets will hit.

That being said, burst fire or not, if a xenos is killed by an M41, it's almost definitely because they fucked up their positioning, rather than you having great skill of your own.

[TheMaskedMan2]

Burstfire is overrated 90% of the time and that is all.

[Sulaboy]

Burst fire only works if you can position your character into a path where you're assured the bullets hit. It also works as a crutch if you can't lead moving targets properly at range.

The M41A is great for forcing Xenos into bad positions because you can pick at them from range. As for kills, you can chase Xenos who fail to escape your view, semi automatic is great for ripping health off fleeing Xenos if they're on a non 0 axis. The greatest addition to a pulse rifle is the UGL with HEDP grenades. They have amazing stuns that if used properly can help you blow your way into most chokepoints, they also help you secure those kills.

[sw4gbag]

I use the attachments all the time, you *average* at about 2/3rds of your shots hitting [ On average, you will hit between 2 and 3 bullets per burst]. Now, you may miss a complete burst, but there are times you will hit a complete burst and do wreck it amount of damage.

If you like using your standard attachments, thats great, but if you want to snipe, thats what you can use, its what i use, and its what i *personally* use.

Damage falloff im 90% sure isnt a thing, (if a dev wants to set the record straight, be my guest) but accuracy drop off at range is a thing. Thats why i like using the scope+stationary+two hands, because it offsets the accuracy loss.

Were going 8 posts deep into a 24 post thread, if you have an opinion, open a new thread, otherwise we get it, you hate scopes.

Edit: to prove the existance of damage falloff, you only need to think of a marine FFing another marine with a scope. You will do the same amount of deadly damage whether close or afar, they will scream at you to tell you that. Accuracy falloff is a real thing though, and you will have a higher chance of missing at a distance.

damage falloff is a thing, no matter what the devs say, ever notice how some FF rifle bullets that hit you at long range barely do any damage? this is one of many examples I could talk about but I dont want a board warning

[JennerH]

damage falloff is a thing, no matter what the devs say, ever notice how some FF rifle bullets that hit you at long range barely do any damage? this is one of many examples I could talk about but I dont want a board warning

Damage falloff isnt a thing, it's just rng and getting hit by non-AP. I've had my chest broken from offscreen bursts before

[Kineem]

Damage falloff isnt a thing, it's just rng and getting hit by non-AP. I've had my chest broken from offscreen bursts before

it's in the code leak

falloff is a mechanic and has been for a very very long time

[JennerH]

it's in the code leak

falloff is a mechanic and has been for a very very long time

Oh, I stand corrected then.

[Bancrose]

Someone pin this thread in the guide sections. This may help save a baldie or two.

I know I feel less bald after reading this shit.

[Sulaboy]

Someone pin this thread in the guide sections. This may help save a baldie or two.

I know I feel less bald after reading this shit.

I've actually wanted to write up an advanced guide about the gun for a while. I'll see about grabbing all the tips from here, and making it when I have some free time.

[ChengChan]

Use BC.

[KittyHawkpilot019]

load 2 HEDP in the ugl, double nade a single xeno, spray down said xeno.

[David Stormwell]

load 2 HEDP in the ugl, double nade a single xeno, spray down said xeno.

Use BC.