M4RA "Battle rifle"

[BillyBoBBizWorth]

The battle rifle, scout rifle, what is it exactly?
Its meant to have more damage(more damage relevant to what though? Anyone know the answer, because if the answer is pulse rifle, then thats not too hard to achieve), just slower firerate.
Zoomed by default, which i love, yet i feel like i get better results with a HPR?


The 3 hour LV marine victory round that just passed, i was the scout spec and i ended up only using my incen mags and barely any of the other types.I literally had a full mag belt,webbing, armor slot and pouches full of the other types of mags which i didnt end up using, or even really want to as it seemed abit ineffective.

I did get rounds out too and was getting effective hits and assist kills by setting xenoes alight, so its not like the gun was completely useless, just only seemed to be with incen mags and nothing else.

The sniper rifle and whatnot just got IFF added to them, which made me curious as to why the battle rifle didnt get it too, it could probably use it much more than the others, or just as much.
I then thought, well maybe they didnt add it because its meant to be a "scout" rifle as in your meant to be infront of the squad scouting and not behind, hence it shouldnt need IFF.Maybe that was the thought process behind it, maybe not.It ties in with why the sniper did get IFF though, as your meant to be assisting from rear and side flanks in most scenarios.Sometimes you need to assist the push and need to be shooting the direction the marines are heading.

Your usually doing this alot with the battle rifle as well though when you go and scout, you only have a few seconds of camouflage.

With the ammo also, you cant order individual mag types like sniper ammo, so when you do order that crate, you only get one incen mag? Whats with that.

Is the battle rifle best used with burst fire? With higher damage than usual or maybe incen loaded and no IFF, its really risky.

Whats your thoughts on the battle rifle? Some successful rounds youve had with it, or maybe some rounds where it was completely useless?

Do you think it should have IFF? I do,

https://gitlab.com/cmdevs/ColonialMarines/issues/3913

[Avalanchee]

• M4RA Battle rifle is an experimental designated marksman rifle of the USCM. Has a relatively slow rate of fire but deals more damage

DMR = Designated Marksman Rifle

• It's accurate and deadly at medium to long ranges
  HPR is a Heavy Pulse Rifle, a completely different weapon.

• Inci ammo is good but Impact ammo or standard rounds are also not garbage

• As a scout main I don't want IFF, Scout is currently one of the best spec roles. It has a good weapon, cloak and you also get tac binos.
  Sniper was underpreforming and that's why the M42 recieved the IFF

[zoboomafoo]

The scout rifle does a lot of damage. You will crit a good portion of xenos with 2 bursts. You can also meme xenos by walking up to them cloaked and shooting them with impact or incendiary. Scout is a very competitive specialist role for sure.

[NethIafins]

It shouldn't have iff because otherwise we are back to square 1 with scout and sniper balancing

[dasWurmtMich]

Here is what you do: You take the M4RA and load 1 inci in the chamber and the rest as impact ammo, toogle burst and go hunt t1's t2's if both rounds hit the alien is on fire and stunned, you turn off burst and just shoot impact into him until it dies.

You dont use it against t3's. Maybe inci against crushers but thats it. For t3's you take the m41, RDS,v-grip (A-grip is also a very good alternative!), BC and AP mags and just shred t3's. Only downside is that you have to juggle your weapons around but thats really not a big problem.

M4RA is fine as it is. I think it's the best spec weapon rightnow.

In HvH you are litteraly the most dangerous role in the game. Just dont run into enemy snipers.

[Dauntasa]

The sniper rifle needed IFF because without it you really couldn't take advantage of its range to snipe. The sniper spec isn't a lone wolf, they work with their squad, and their squad spends most of their time milling around in front of them blocking shots. Playing sniper pre-IFF was miserable. Scout is a more effective solo, forward role. If you have lots of people between you and your targets, you're not taking full advantage of the scout kit. Also, the scout kit is real good anyway, it doesn't need buffing.

[BillyBoBBizWorth]

Thanks for the replies guys, some suggestions and points.A few follow up questions if i can,

• It's accurate and deadly at medium to long ranges
  HPR is a Heavy Pulse Rifle, a completely different weapon.

• Inci ammo is good but Impact ammo or standard rounds are also not garbage

• As a scout main I don't want IFF, Scout is currently one of the best spec roles. It has a good weapon, cloak and you also get tac binos.
  Sniper was underpreforming and that's why the M42 recieved the IFF

Fantastic, the people that main and use this gun alot are exactly who i want to be talking to right now.When you say the accuracy that its meant to have, is it actually that accurate ingame? The last few rounds ive been scout spec, most rounds did go where i wanted it to, but i did see a few skew off targets.You mean its meant to have the same accuracy as the sniper rifle roughly? Ive seen some sniper rounds skew off too.

The scout rifle does a lot of damage. You will crit a good portion of xenos with 2 bursts. You can also meme xenos by walking up to them cloaked and shooting them with impact or incendiary. Scout is a very competitive specialist role for sure.

Yeah i need to use burst fire on it more obviously by the sounds of things to get better usage.The thing is whenever i try to use burst, the delay between each burst fucks me over and ive already been tackle spammed by the time i get fire the gun again.

It shouldn't have iff because otherwise we are back to square 1 with scout and sniper balancing

I understand that, i really do think that even by being a scout weapon, IFF would probably be beneficial, at the very least for new players(they go for spec like everyone else), you could just have it like the SG where you can turn the IFF off, so the veteran players like you dudes can have it off, some newer player or someone less familiar with the gun atleast can assist the squad with it on.
You could easily then say, well isnt that just making everything too easy or cookie cutter format? Yeah, kinda, but isnt that being done with almost everything else as the time goes on anyways?
Like with the sniper just getting IFF, and what else was it, the tank got IFF too i think? Or one of its weapons, i cant recall.

Here is what you do: You take the M4RA and load 1 inci in the chamber and the rest as impact ammo, toogle burst and go hunt t1's t2's if both rounds hit the alien is on fire and stunned, you turn off burst and just shoot impact into him until it dies.

You dont use it against t3's. Maybe inci against crushers but thats it. For t3's you take the m41, RDS,v-grip (A-grip is also a very good alternative!), BC and AP mags and just shred t3's. Only downside is that you have to juggle your weapons around but thats really not a big problem.

M4RA is fine as it is. I think it's the best spec weapon rightnow.

In HvH you are litteraly the most dangerous role in the game. Just dont run into enemy snipers.

I am defiently going to try your try suggestions the next time i get scout spec, i should of thought of something like that myself.

The incen idea sounds very effective and your points about not using the battle rifle against T3's do seem to match what ive seen ingame and maybe it better suited for the M4 currently.


Hopefully utilizing these things will lift my scout game, i actually think they will too, cheers.

[Avalanchee]

It's not pinpoint accure if you have burst fire on, but at medium ranges you will land roughly 80% of all the shots

Without burst you will land 95% of all the shots
Sometimes it will be a "narrow miss"

Also the impact ammo doesn't have a long range accuracy.

[zoboomafoo]

I use a vert grip and suppressor and never really have accuracy issues out to a pretty reasonable range. It's no sniper rifle with a bipod but it is a formidable long range weapon. You have to be VERY careful with it in CQC though, the delay is pretty hefty. You gotta really learn how to dance!. If you want to use it more in close quarters rather than scoped more, consider and angled grip to help with the massive wield delay that comes with a rail scope now (RIP quickscoping). Wield, shoot, un-wield, dodge mr. beno, wield, shoot again. Keep it wielded if you don't have the angled grip.

Also, I use it with burst fire 90% of the time. Burst fire and rate of fire are the primary advantages the battle rifle has over the sniper rifle. I turn burst off for really far targets (10-15 tiles from the edge of the time) most of the time to deny boilers and light xenos on fire 1 by 1.

Consider picking sniper a few times to work on your aim without having to worry about marines in the way, its ammo supply is more forgiving once you get a crate from req.

[Steelpoint]

I personally find the M4RA Spec Kit to be the most lackluster Spec kit on offer. It has a few advantages that can be played too but I feel the kit is a Specialist cosplaying as a Standard Marine with a oddly kitted M41A Rifle.

[dasWurmtMich]

Well yeah, dont shoot at medium to long ranges with burst. You use the inci+impact burst at short-medium ranges, obviously you should take attachments for the m4ra: v-grip is free extra stats and if you wanna take the supressor thats your decision. Like it's been said: The wield delay is what fucks you over the most that why I said to "hunt" the t1/t2 for example a stealthed lurker harrasing the hydro-nexus route. Use your scope or binos to find him and then walk up to him (Just dont get into pounce range), give him a nice burst and laugh in his face while he lays there burning and stunned. Your cloak can be very powerful when used correctly so use it properly. But it will also kill you real quick if you are overconfident with it.

[Ttly]

First of all, the fact that you considered adding IFF to the Battle Rifle isn't OP is a ridiculous notion by itself.

Second of all, the battle rifle actually gets to kill xenos compared to M42A because bursting, stunning, and doing massive damage in shorter range while having your fellow marines support you does that, compared to shooting at things from long range without being able to one shot anything (which is absolutely fine) because benos can always sleep off any injuries as long as it doesn't kill em.

And lastly, have you ever actually used the HPR? It has a lot of ammo sure, but it's not that much of an upgrade over an M41 and only B18 spec has business using one due to how much it costs.

[BillyBoBBizWorth]

I use a vert grip and suppressor and never really have accuracy issues out to a pretty reasonable range. It's no sniper rifle with a bipod but it is a formidable long range weapon. You have to be VERY careful with it in CQC though, the delay is pretty hefty. You gotta really learn how to dance!. If you want to use it more in close quarters rather than scoped more, consider and angled grip to help with the massive wield delay that comes with a rail scope now (RIP quickscoping). Wield, shoot, un-wield, dodge mr. beno, wield, shoot again. Keep it wielded if you don't have the angled grip.

Always use the vertical grip on it, sometimes the silencer if i can get one.

Yeah its the CQC that im struggling with, but even with the long range action with it, atleast on single fire.I find me saying to myself "gee, id rather just have the sniper rifle right now", the burst side of it must be the egde that im missing from it, because on singlefire it just performs like a shitter sniper rifle.

Well yeah, dont shoot at medium to long ranges with burst. You use the inci+impact burst at short-medium ranges, obviously you should take attachments for the m4ra: v-grip is free extra stats and if you wanna take the supressor thats your decision. Like it's been said: The wield delay is what fucks you over the most that why I said to "hunt" the t1/t2 for example a stealthed lurker harrasing the hydro-nexus route. Use your scope or binos to find him and then walk up to him (Just dont get into pounce range), give him a nice burst and laugh in his face while he lays there burning and stunned. Your cloak can be very powerful when used correctly so use it properly. But it will also kill you real quick if you are overconfident with it.

The funny thing is, i already do this successfully with a standard M4 rifle with or without nades, but better with.Im already always scoping and ambushing without spec, so its abit confusing why im finding scout spec harder with better(?) weaponry and a form of camouflage, its a weird one.

I think its got something to do with me knowing i only have a few seconds camoflage, so its making me more hesitant where as when im a standard private, i know i dont have anything special like that so i utilize what i have better, or something along them lines.

With trying out all the suggestions here, i think i will overcome this quickly enough.

I personally find the M4RA Spec Kit to be the most lackluster Spec kit on offer. It has a few advantages that can be played too but I feel the kit is a Specialist cosplaying as a Standard Marine with a oddly kitted M41A Rifle.

Would have to agree.

First of all, the fact that you considered adding IFF to the Battle Rifle isn't OP is a ridiculous notion by itself.

Second of all, the battle rifle actually gets to kill xenos compared to M42A because bursting, stunning, and doing massive damage in shorter range while having your fellow marines support you does that, compared to shooting at things from long range without being able to one shot anything (which is absolutely fine) because benos can always sleep off any injuries as long as it doesn't kill em.

And lastly, have you ever actually used the HPR? It has a lot of ammo sure, but it's not that much of an upgrade over an M41 and only B18 spec has business using one due to how much it costs.

The battle rifle maybe having IFF is ridiculous? But the sniper getting it isnt? I still stand by the observation that, and especially ever since the sniper getting IFF, its being used for foward pushing pretty much exclusively, which isnt that kind of doing the role of the "battle rifle" you just described yourself? You watch what the snipers do in your next couple of rounds and come back and tell me they were watching a flank or rear guard and not pushing, but its more likely they were pushing like whats expected of the battle rifle. The battle rifle being used by a scout is meant to be foward already, so why not have IFF to make it properly effective in that.When your not in camoflage, your back with your squad usually, you may need to shoot through them just like the sniper and SG has to.

Yeah i have used the HPR quite a few times, and strangely got more assist/kills with it, even a queen or two.I havnt been able to pull that off with the battle rifle yet, but ill keep trying.

Ill put it down to me having to play more rounds of the scout to see the potential all you guys are talking of, im not seeing it very easily though.

[Ttly]

The fact that i consider that the battle rifle maybe should have IFF is ridiculous? But the sniper getting it isnt? I still stand by the observation that, and especially ever since the sniper getting IFF, its being used for foward pushing pretty much exclusively, which isnt that kind of doing the role of the "battle rifle" you just described yourself? You watch what the snipers do in your next couple of rounds and come back and tell me they were watching a flank or rear guard and not pushing, but its more likely they were pushing like whats expected of the battle rifle. The battle rifle being used by a scout is meant to be foward already, so why not have IFF to make it properly effective in that.When your not in camoflage, your back with your squad usually, you may need to shoot through them just like the sniper and SG has to.

The sniper rifle doesn't have the same RoF as the BR does have, coupled with the fact that it does have an accuracy penalty on shorter ranges makes it quite not so viable on close range, or cramped space with a lot of turns that obstruct line of fire, problem the BR doesn't have to suffer from due to being a much more versatile weapon thanks to having higher RoF.

[BillyBoBBizWorth]

The sniper rifle doesn't have the same RoF as the BR does have, coupled with the fact that it does have an accuracy penalty on shorter ranges makes it quite not so viable on close range, or cramped space with a lot of turns that obstruct line of fire, problem the BR doesn't have to suffer from due to being a much more versatile weapon thanks to having higher RoF.

Dont quote me on this, i may have to try to get some time samples to see if im even right.The last couple of spec rounds ive been a mix of scout and sniper, so the exact two weapons we are talking about and the sniper rifles rof didnt seem too much longer than the battle rifles singlefire, it could be longer than im remembering though.Ill try and time it.

Another reason why im almost positive the burst fire on the battlerifle must be the go.