Suggestion for making the gunner class more enjoyable

I find that the gunner class is very niche and that there are not many opportunities to make this class as useful as the others. My biggest problem with this class is its lack of flexibility : outside of bipoded fire and extreme CQB, this class is almost worthless.

What i would suggest to fix this is to reduce the recoil of the LMGs to make them somewhat decent at normal combat, while still punishing mobile playstyles.

If you think this is not a good option, I would give the possibility to gunners to have access to normal assault rifles and give them access to Drum mags and bipods for reduced costs.

If you still think it is not a good idea, I would suggest adding weapons like the MG36 or the RPK (which is already in the game files if I remember well) who could bridge the gap between LMGs and ARs : worse than ARs for mobile fire, but still better than the current LMGs, and better suppression potential than the ARs, but still less than LMGs. It would be easy to balance this since current LMGs have a great potential for suppression : great damage and penetration for the PKM, and huge volume of fire for the M249.

What do you think about this?

Not sure what mode you use, but in Push (and to a lesser extent, Skirmish), LMGs are incredibly strong. Go prone with LOS to the point, deploy your bipod, and mow down everyone who makes the mistake of trying to play the objective instead of sniping as the map design necessitates.

last edited by cyoce

Doing "short, controlled bursts" also helps a ton with managing the recoil when not on the bipod.

I have a unique idea!

When you deploy your bipod, you can fluidly adjust your stance using the mouse wheel so your position is less of a deathtrap. Something like Escape from Tarkov and Arma 3's stance adjustment.

I have no issues with the current gunner class. When used properly and as intended it’s very effective. I think you should try and use breacher class and use UZI with drum magazine to get what your looking for? Let the people who understand how the gunner class is supposed to be utilized use it. Or just keep trying to figure out how to better utilize the class until you are more successful with it? Not trying to be a dick I just don’t have any issues with it and use it from time to time and also do quite well using the class. It’s all about positioning and providing suppressive and cover fire for teammates not to mention it mows people down like no ones busines. Try being prone more often and not using the bipod unless you feel you have found yourself a very good spot to remain stagnant. Works quite well for me! And for others as well I noticed as yesterday a guy was using a LMG and very effectively cutting off one of the better routes to the objective.

@hawker65 - you are def gonn ahave to wait for the rpk and other lmgs not belt fed for running and gunning with. Most of the community dont want people running around using an m249 like an AR and for obvious reasons. I want the RPK as much as the next person and for that very reason. But also ...and most of all I like bi-pods on LMGs. They are mean as hell and fun to use.