Heavy SMG

== Acquisition ==
They are also commonly carried by Outlanders and Pirates and sold by traders or obtained from the following raider kinds:
Raider Kind 	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Town guard 	6.09% 	Normal 	60-200%
Mercenary gunner	14.62%	Normal 	70-320%
Ancient soldier 	11.40%	Normal 	100%
== Analysis ==
The heavy SMG is a flexible, but close-quarters focused offensive weapon. Its accuracy makes it very friendly towards low Shooting skill users. It also does less collateral damage to killboxes due to this. But this accuracy will be capped at excellent quality or higher.
Specifically, the heavy SMG combines good low-range accuracy, decent rate of fire, high per-shot damage, and relatively high AP to make an overall effective weapon for any skill. At said ranges, it will outdamage the machine pistol, assault rifle, and even the charge rifle (for up to 10 cells). It's comparable to chain shotgun at close-quarters fights, and has a greater max range, but each of them have their own advantage and drawbacks.
It is also a cooldown-heavy weapon, meaning that it benefits from the use of heavy bandoliers more than others. With bandoliers, the heavy SMG is better than chain shotguns at touch range and good quality or lower.
Range, though not as short as other weapons in its class, still leaves a little to be desired. Similarly to the machine pistol, the heavy SMG's stopping power isn't high enough to stagger humans, only small animals like tortoises and boomrats.
=== Comparison to chain shotgun ===
Overall, the Heavy SMG is a competitor to chain shotguns when you're looking for a close-quarter weapon. Its similar touch DPS combined with higher AP means the heavy SMG is better than chain shotguns against armored targets up to 3 cells away. While 3 cells seems short, this is the range where shooters will deal the most damage and should be prioritized when fighting enemies that can't shoot. Outside touch range or at masterwork quality or higher, the chain shotgun is better.
Since excellent heavy SMGs is still generally better than chain shotguns at touch range, and even a level-20 crafter has only 10% chance to craft a masterwork item, crafting SMGs will still give a better touch damage output on average to crafting chain shotguns, even if you have a level 20 crafter. If your crafter has a creativity inspiration however, it's better to craft chain shotguns. In close-quarter combat, you should put heavy SMG wielders further to the front and chain shotgun wielders to the back.
At normal quality and no armor
=== Stats ===
Against an unarmored human, a heavy SMG can kill with 4 hits to the torso, 3 hits to the head, 2 hits to the neck or 1 hit to the brain; cripple or destroy limbs in 3 hits; and cripple or destroy eyes and digits with a single hit. It'll generally take around 6 hits (~7.08 seconds average) to incapacitate that human from pain shock. 
The heavy SMG is best paired with a careful shooter up to level 13, then with a trigger-happy shooter beyond that point.
=== Comparison to assault rifles ===
Heavy SMGs and assault rifles are the preferred weapons when it comes to "general" combat. The main differences are that the heavy SMG has a higher peak , is cheaper and has better at short range, while the assault rifle both has a longer range and has a better at medium-long range.
Specifically, the heavy SMG is better until 13 tiles, regardless of Shooting skill. The assault rifle is better past 13 tiles, regardless of Shooting skill. This is true for the vast majority of reasonable scenarios. The reason the heavy SMG is "skill-friendly" is that a low-skill shooter will be next-to-useless when firing from far away, no matter how accurate their gun is. An unmodified, skill 0 pawn has a chance to hit from 25 tiles, which is then multiplied by x35% for a normal quality HSMG or x65% for normal AR (at this range). 
The assault rifle has a range 8 tiles longer. This allows the assault rifle to comfortably outrange enemies like tribals, termites, and centipedes. The assault rifle dominates for kiting tactics, or if you're repelling breachers from a distance, or in a firefight when both parties are attacking from max range. 
Therefore, whenever heavy SMGs or ARs are better will depend on what you are looking for:
* In a killbox, both weapons perform roughly the same, as you can change the length of the killbox to compensate for your weapon of choice. In a pure killbox scenario, Heavy SMGs are often the preferred weapon, as the player can control the engagement distance to reliably benefit from the higher peak of the heavy SMG. They are also significantly cheaper and easier to research, meaning they can come online earlier. (When using an SMG killbox, give yourself a bit more than 13 tiles of range.)
* Outside of a killbox, but in a defensive emplacement, the superiority depends on shooting accuracy. 
** Assault rifles are better for higher skill shooters. They are a lot better at medium-long range, so are a lot better in a firefight that begins at the long ranges or that occurs over a variety of ranges. Note that only skilled shooters are competent at shooting at this range however.
** Heavy SMGs are better for low-skill shooters. HSMGs are better against melee attackers, which shooters of any skill can help with. They are also better against sudden drop pod raids and infestations, due to the close-ranged nature of both fights.
* If relying on offensive or otherwise mobile tactics, the assault rifle is a clear winner regardless of skill due to its range and accuracy at longer ranges.
Notes:
: When fighting larger targets, like centipedes, it is possible to cap at 100% accuracy with assault rifles. This requires a high quality weapon and an great shooter. As further shooting bonuses (masterwork/legendary weapons, bionic eyes, luciferium, shooting specialist, etc.) would boost the heavy SMG but not the assault rifle, this would make the SMG better than the AR from a longer distance. However, assault rifles still have a superior max range.
:For human targets, reaching the accuracy cap should be impossible unless the Combat in Darkness precept is used in darkness.
== Version history ==
* 0.9.722 - Added.
* Beta 19 or prior - Sprite updated, old sprite used on machine pistol
* Beta 19/1.0 - All melee attack damages increased 8 -> 9, cooldown increased from 1.6s -> 2s.
* 1.5.4062 - Texture updated again
Machine pistol.png|Texture prior to Beta 19, now used on the Machine pistol
HeavySMG Old.png|Texture prior to 1.5
Category:Equipment Category:Weapons Category:Industrial Weapons
Category:Ranged Weapons Category:Burst Weapons