Heavy Machine Guns

__NOWYSIWYG__
todo: rewrite intro/strategy
== Machine Guns and You ==
Rifle-caliber Machine Guns form the "heavy" spectrum of Machine Guns in the game, contrasting the "lighter", weaker, more controllable, handgun ammo using Sub-Machine Guns. Rifle-caliber Machine Guns are split into 3 categories that differ in firing rate and overall DPS:
*Assault Rifles: Assault Rifles were once the standard offensive weapon for modern troops. In DF, with the exception of the Hammerhead 47 and the X-AK 47, Assault Rifles are effectively lower-leveled Rifle-caliber Machine Guns, having lower DPS, rate of fire and much poorer knockback, but faster reload speed compared to the other 2 types. In the Marketplace, Assault Rifles are grouped with Sub-Machine Guns in the Light Machineguns search category, while Heavy Machine Guns and Miniguns form the Heavy Machineguns search category.
*Heavy Machine Guns: A misnomer used to refer to the various light machine guns used by survivors in the game. Heavy Machine Guns can be said to be the first truly "heavy" weapon available, sporting Super Fast Firing Speed (8.571 rounds per second) compared to the 6.667 rounds per second of ARs and SMGs, as well as increased DPS output and knockback that can allow them to hold ground for extended period of time. Heavy Machine Guns typically have large magazine capacity, which is somewhat balanced by their Slow Reload Speed.
*Miniguns: A term used to all Gatling-style rotaty barrel machine guns. Although they employ epic ammo consumption rate (F***ing Fast! Firing Speed), epic stat consumption, extremely low accuracy, and extremely slow reloading speed, they simply pay it out with extreme raw power and knock back. Similar to Shotguns, Miniguns are capable of firing multiple pellets with each shot, with the pellets themselves having a maximum spread of 36 degree that is completely unaffected by Accuracy. Miniguns have an even smaller critical chance compared to their peers, and applies critical damage to all pellets in a critical shot (although only 1 of them will be highlighted yellow)
Regardless of type, all rifle-caliber Machines Guns suffer from a large number of limitations designed to balance their destructive power and high capacity: The poorest accuracy lever possible in the game at Very Low Accuracy, an extremely high stat requirement in 100 Strength and a rather poor reloading speed that gets worse as you move on to heavier variants. Ironically, their strength of having the highest rate of fire in the game can also be considered to be a curse, as this means that you will be chewing through expensive rifle ammunition at an extremely rapid pace.
=== Requirements ===
30 points of Strength and 40 points of Machine Gun proficiency are required to wield the first 4 Assault Rifles: The M16, FM FNC, SA80, Mesa ACR, while the first Heavy Machine Gun, the FM Mitrail, requires 80 Strength and 90 Machine Gun proficiency. All Miniguns require 100 Strength and at least 100 Machine Gun proficiency.
Rifle-caliber Machine Guns are infamously known for their stat guzzling characteristics, requiring very high Strength to wield the most heavy of HMGs/Miniguns and significant Accuracy investment to mitigate their accuracy issue. Reloading is useful for counteracting Assault Rifles' small capacity, but are not as needed when wielding HMGs/Miniguns due to their naturally larger capacity.
==Usage Tips==
==== Looting/Scouting ====
With a high chance of raising an aggro spike, low accuracy and high maintenance cost, rifle-caliber Machine Guns are perhaps the poorest weapon possible to bring during a looting trip. They should only be used as a self defense weapons against a sudden rush of zombie or to hold down loot spots, and should only be used sparingly in order to save ammunition and consolidate your looting profits.
==== Aggro Combat ====
Rifle-caliber Machine Guns stand out as the most powerful and heavy choice possible for an aggro combat situation. While other weapons (and Assault Rifles) are often forced to move around frequently in order to evade zombies, HMGs and Miniguns are fully capable of holding down a location for an extended amount of time and punching large holes into the horde formation, as long as you have the cash and ammunition to feed it:
* The most important tip when using rifle-caliber Machine Guns against aggro is just to bring as much ammunition as possible. Rifle-caliber Machine Guns go through ammo like there is no tomorrow, and in an intense firefight, you can go through a shockingly large number of bullets in a short period of time. A secondary weapon like a pistol can also be useful, just in case you need to retreat for even more ammo.
* As rifle-caliber Machine Guns have rather low accuracy, effective use requires getting close to the horde, but not so close as to the point where the chance of being harmed by exploding or puking zombies is significant.
==Advantages and Disadvantages==
Advantages
* High DPS.
* HMGs and Miniguns have the greatest knockback capability and fire rate of all weapon types in the game.
* Large magazine capacity.
Disadvantages
* Assault Rifle have rather poor knockback power, losing out to a properly optimized Sub-Machine Gun.
* Extremely high stat requirement.
* Extremely high ammunition cost.
* Very poor accuracy.
==List of Heavy Machine Guns ==
The Damage values in brackets indicate the averaged damage that can be achieved with the maximum critical hit chance. The Scrap values in brackets indicate the scrap price with Master Crafted (MC) items.
===Lootable/Craftable===
===Limited Edition/CS Only===
===Dusk/Dawn===
===Event===
==List of Miniguns ==
===Lootable/Craftable===
===Limited Edition/CS Only===
Category:Weapons