LMGs

**Light Machine Guns**, or **LMGs** in short, are one of the ten weapon categories of surviv.io. LMGs usually have a moderately high rate of fire, long-range, moderate damage per bullet, large magazine size, and extra damage to Obstacles. What sets LMGs apart from other automatic weapons such as Assault Rifles or SMGs is that LMGs slow the player down drastically when they are fired. Currently in surviv.io, there are 7 LMGS; the QBB-97, the DP-28, the BAR M1918, the M249, the PKP Pecheneg, the PKM, and the M134. All of these guns are quite rare in the game, but, if found, can be very effective in defeating enemies if used properly.

## Strategies

* An LMG's main advantage is that they have a very high fire rate, multiplying the bullet damage by a lot, and large magazines, which means reloading is not a problem.
	+ The BAR M1918 is an exception; it has a small magazine size, which is countered by its fast reload for an LMG.
* They are most effective at medium to long-range.
	+ However, they are vulnerable to Shotguns and Weapons with a high rate of fire, such as SMGs, at close range.
* LMGs have a lot of ammo capacity, making them effective against group attacks and suppressive fire, making them useful against lightly armored players in 50v50.
* LMGs are also useful for destroying breakable obstacles as LMGs have damage multipliers on obstacles that enemy players may be using for shelter.
	+ The M134s high obstacle damage paired with its fast fire rate and accuracy shredding any cover positions, especially weak structures, in seconds.
* A 4x scope or above would be ideal for an LMG as you can lay down suppressing fire from a distance.
* Because of their high damage and multiplier towards obstacles, LMGs can be used to loot faster by mowing down multiple Crates faster than you could punch them. This is generally only advisable on the Woods or Potato Maps, where LMGs and their ammo spawn abundantly.
	+ A Shotgun or Sniper would be better for quickly eliminating lone crates.

## Countering

* Dodge the bullets by running in a zig-zag to lower the chance of you getting hit. Get close and shoot them with a high DPS gun, for example an MP220.
	+ It is advised to obtain armor before attacking, since most LMGs have high DPS and accuracy, allowing them to kill you before you get in range.
	+ Interestingly, some SMGs and dual pistols have higher DPS than LMGs. These can be used at close to mid range to directly counter LMG users. Examples include the CZ-3A1, Vector, Dual M93R, MAC-10, and, somewhat surprisingly, dual Peacemakers.
	+ The Mk 20 SSR also has higher DPS than LMGs, so it can be used to suppress them. Ideally this should be done at mid range.
	+ If your enemy has an M134, lure them into water as they will likely stop moving due to water's slowing effects and the gun's speed reduction. Lure them into firing the gun and get in and kill them with a Melee Weapon such as the Pan or Katana.
* Grenades can catch the slow-moving LMG user off guard and will deal more damage to him/her due to the movement penalty. Grenades are especially effective against M134 users.

## Trivia

* In real life, the PKP Pecheneg and PKM are both GPMGs (General Purpose Machine Gun), firing full-power 7.62x54mmR cartridges; however, in-game they are classified as LMGs for simplicity.
* The M134 nickname, the "minigun", is derived from the fact the M134 design was a down-scaled version of the M61 Vulcan Cannon, a rotary cannon mounted on jet aircraft.
* Despite the DP-28 firing the same full-powered round as the PKP Pecheneg and PKM in real life, it deals the same damage as the supposedly weaker M249 and QBB-97.
* A long time ago, LMGs were the only weapons in surviv.io that appeared to be more than just off-colored sticks because they had magazines visible in their world view. With reskins and new weapons though, came more realistic looking guns.
	+ The BAR M1918 is the only LMG that still does not have a detailed world image.