Black Ops 2 Assault Rifle Breakdowns & Class Setups

     Black Ops 2 AR Breakdowns & My Favourite Class Setups



                                                    Introduction

What's up gamers? This is my first post on Black Ops 2. In this article, I will break down all of the Assault Rifles in the game, giving you information on the weapons that I feel is helpful to your game, aswell as share my favourite class setups for each weapon. I'm starting with the Assault Rifles because they are the guns I have used the most, and they are my personal favourite (Don't go thinking this post is biased, I am giving correct information and I'm not here just to say ARs are the best).

I will just let you know that I am writing this on March 20th, 2013, and the latest BO2 patch/update prior to writing this post is the March 12 Patch. I will talk a little about the nerfs and buffs on weapons, and specific attachments. I will also write about what I, personally, think the best playstyles are for each weapon and class. A quick disclaimer: These are my own personal opinions and this is what works for me. I do not guarantee you will agree with me on all of these, but I hope the information I give on these weapons 

I will start by saying that unlike many other shooters I play, Call of Duty is not balanced. If you don't know what this means, to sum it up... it basically just means that not every gun is equal to specific others. One gun will almost always win when opposed to some other guns. CoD still has balancing factors, but those are usually applied in updates or patches. I'm not at all hating on Call of Duty, it's one of my top games, but it's hard to believe that one gun is always the same as a specific other. The balance in Call of Duty is based on the situation that one player is in. So for example, a sub machine gun will often win a gunfight in close quarters combat, when placed against a sniper rifle. But the sniper rifle will win in the long range gun fights, where the SMG will be at it's weakest.

                            Assault Rifles (My opinions, Nerfs & Buffs)

 

The AR's are actually my personal favourite primary weapon class. I prefer them over the others simply because of the variety. The SMG's all seem too similar to me, all having a higher rate of fire, decent damage, and high mobility. The AR's differ from Rate of Fire, from fully automatic to 3 or 4 round burst, and semi-automatic. They differ from ranges, damage, some attachments, and mobility rates.  The Assault Rifle weapon class consists of the MTAR, the Type 25, the Swat-556, the FAL OSW, the M27, Scar-H, the SMR, M8A1 and the AN-94. The Assault Rifles themselves, I have never heard of being called over powered, but some of the attachments on specific weapons have been nerfed, such as the Select Fire attachment (Giving you the ability to switch a burst or semi-auto weapon to full-auto, or vice versa) on the FAL and the SMR, giving them more recoil and reducing the damage in full-auto mode. Although, some of the guns have been buffed (buff meaning to "make better" e.g. increasing damage, range, mobility, etc.). I believe Treyarch is applying buffs to the AR's to make them seem more balanced with the SMG's. I think they are doing a great job with this, having buffed the damage at ranges on the Scar-H and Type 25, aswell as the Type 25's mobility & handling speeds (This all being in the March 12 Patch). Assault Rifles are the most diverse weapons out of any class, obviously, and carry different playstyles with each weapon. Not all the Assault Rifles are meant for just R.U.S.H.ing (Rushing Until Sh*t Happens), but some are better for more of a defensive playstyle, perfect for game modes like Capture The Flag, etc...

Now, it's time for the weapon breakdown.

MTAR - A decent ROF (Rate Of Fire) matching the decent damage per round. In my opinion, performs well as a defensive weapon, great for game modes like Hardpoint, or really any time where you are controlling a perimeter. Not necessarily camping, but you know what I mean. I warn you, do not try to rush with this weapon. Really, the only time you should be moving that much is just to get to the next objective to defend. Although many people would much prefer rushing weapons, this is one of my favourite guns. I feel like I can play more relaxed and laid back with this gun, and I don't feel like going crazy about my Kill/Death ratio, but chill out and focus on just winning.
Personal favourite class setups - Reflex Sight, because I'm not a big fan of the iron sights, with the Extended Clip, giving you more ammo overall, and 10 more rounds (40 all together) in each magazine. Ext. Clip helps when you are in a situation where a horde of enemies are coming at you, and not making you have to reload after every kill. I like to use a high damage pistol as my secondary, such as the Tac-45 or B23R.


Type 25 - A high ROF (900 RPM <rounds per minute>), the exact same as the PDW and MSMC sub machine guns. Low damage per round, but is balanced by the High ROF, yet still holding one of the fastest time to kill's out of all AR's. Mobility Speeds were increased by 2% in the March 12 patch, which seems low, but gives it more of a playstyle of the rushing weapon, moving around and killing everyone in your sight. Great for Free for All modes.

Personal favourite class setups - Fast Mag, to match up with the high mobility, and either Suppressor for stealth, or quickdraw once again to match up with the high handling and mobility speeds. I'm either using a Tac-45 pistol or a FHJ launcher to take down enemy aircraft as a secondary.


Swat-556 - A 3 round burst weapon with a high damage. In the March 12 patch, the long range damage got buffed, causing me to prefer it on larger maps for game modes like Domination, or Ground War. Cannot fire bursts quite as fast as it's "brother gun", the M8A1, but has a higher range and damage. Iron sights are awesome when it comes to short to medium ranges, they're not crowded at all, but any farther than that and I'd definitely recommend an optic of your choice.  Not much else I can say about this weapon, but I can say that the Select Fire attachment's damage has not been nerfed YET on this weapon. It is now arguably the best AR with Select Fire. This is a very versatile weapon. I don't think it's absolutely necessary to have a perch with this weapon, because it actually can work well while running around and or playing the objective.
Personal favourite class setup - The Primary Gunfighter Wildcard allowing me to have 3 attachments on my primary. The combinations of attachments I use most often are: Select Fire, Suppressor, and Extended Clip for stealth at medium ranges. But I'm mostly running Select Fire, EOTech/Target Finder, and Fore Grip, giving me the ability to change from burst for long ranges plus the EOTech/Target Finder to enhance the zoom, and then the Fore Grip to keep me stable for those long range gunfights. And then I switch to Full Auto mode with a click of the D-Pad for Medium to Short Range gunfights. I actually often don't use a secondary on this class, but I'll use Scavenger to pick up ammo. Another tip I give for this class is to use no Perk 1 or Perk 3, but then use the Perk 2 Greed Wildcard with Toughness + Scavenger, replenishing your ammo and reducing bullet intake flinch, aiding at long ranges.

Unfortunately, couldn't find the Treyarch official image for the
FAL OSW. So I just had to make do with the YouTuber
Drift0r's thumbnail.

FAL OSW - Defaults as a Semi-Automatic rifle, and actually fires faster when you're carrying a constant. paced trigger finger, instead of spamming. Spamming the trigger will actually cause the weapon to "lock up" and freeze the rate of fire, and will not shoot every time you press, eventually slowing down the ROF. Select Fire, having been nerfed twice, increasing recoil and decreasing full-auto mode's damage, is no longer my favourite attachment on this weapon. It is still quite powerful, but now you would need to run the fore grip for you to actually be able to hit someone. The FAL works well for me all-around, in all game modes. But to list anything, I would say it is great for Domination, Kill Confirmed, Team Deathmatch, Demoltion, really anything at all. High damage per round, not quite as high as the similar SMR, but the SMR has more of a stall imbetween every shot. Still very few shots to kill, and not much of a dropoff of damage at ranges. High penetration damage, not really a need for FMJ.
Personal favourite class setup - ACOG sight, giving enhanced zoom for long range battles, with quickdraw or Ext.Clip, not my fave for Fast Mags. Either that, or my ABSOLUTE favourite, being the MMS (Millimeter Scanner) giving me the ability to see enemies through walls at shorter ranges. This works well with the FAL OSW, because of it's high penetration damage. I will use that with Ext. Clip, once again. The Toughness perk is very helpful at long range battles, as I've said. I would say that a KAP-40 works well as a close quarters combat secondary on this class, or an FHJ to shoot down enemy aircraft.


M27 - Fully automatic, average medium to high  rate of fire. Incredibly low damage per round, one of the lowest in Call of Duty history, not the greatest range ever. Very similar to Modern Warfare 2's ACR, with almost an absence of recoil, and incredibly accuracy. This is what balances this weapon out on the playing field, the accuracy and little recoil. One of my favourite guns in the game, to be honest. This weapon will actually win gunfights in a different manner than other guns. Other weapons will win gunfights by high damage, and rate of fire, and whatnot. But the M27 will outgun people, because while they are spraying like crazy with recoil and little accuracy, the M27 is kind of laughing in the face of the wild, crazy, high damage weapons, while staying directly on target and pegging them out. Works well in most game modes, can't pick out a single best game mode. I personally think this gun works with a stealthy playstyle. I'll talk about that in the class setup. Fore Grip, which is meant to reduce recoil and overall increase accuracy, will actually throw this weapon off. Seeming like it actually INCREASES the kick on the weapon. I highly recommend you do NOT use Fore Grip on the M27.
Personal favourite class setup - Suppressor to stay stealthy and off the radar, and quickdraw because this is not a weapon youre going to want to risk not ADS (Aiming Down Sights) on. If you'd like, the Primary Gunfighter wildcard can help on this class, and I use the 3rd attachment slot for Extended Clip. I usually don't run a secondary pistol on this class. But if I were to use any pistol, it would probably be the Tac-45 suppressed. The FHJ is what I always use on this class, for the reason that I can take down enemy UAV's to completely stay off the map. This makes Ghost not necessary, unless you have unlocked it.

Scar-H - One of the common favourites in the Assault Rifle class. In the March 12 patch, they buffed the medium range damage, giving it less of a dropoff of overall damage per round at ranges. This makes it a beast of a gun in my opinion. The average time to kill has been increased from this. It carries a high damage, but not the best rate of fire. It is a heavy weapon, Lightweight is very useful as a Perk 1 on this class, as the mobility speeds are rather slow. Iron sights are beautiful to be honest. They are not crowded, and are very clear to spot enemies through. Like almost all high damage full-auto weapons, the recoil is quite bad. I'm not saying it's horrendous, I'm just saying you'll have a little trouble with staying on target. Works well for me in Domination, Demolition, and Headquarters.

Personal favourite class setup - Fore Grip is basically a must on this weapon, helping stay on target by reducing recoil. I like the iron sights on this weapon, so I don't ever use any optics on the Scar. I like FMJ to increase penetration damage, otherwise I'm using Stock, giving me more mobility while ADS, allowing me to do a kind of strafe back and forth, or a side step. Which I find helpful on heavier weapons.

SMR - A semi-automatic, high damage gun. Very quick kill with very good range. Similar to the FAL OSW, but with higher damage per round, in fact the highest damage per round of all Assault Rifles. Applied the same nerfs to the Select Fire full-auto mode as the FAL. In my opinion, better without Select Fire after the nerfs. Cannot shoot quite as fast as the FAL. Although it has great stats, it is not one of my favourites. I only will consider using it on some maps in some game modes. I've tried this weapon out with different optics, and attachments. I personally will only use it for playlists like Demolition or Domination, maybe Search & Destroy, but it depends. Not much I can say about this weapon, quite honestly... But it is actually a very popular choice, with a very quick kill. Sorry if I disappointed you SMR-lovers...

Personal favourite class setups - I've tried a ton of attachments on this weapon, to try and find one that suits me best, or I think it performs best with. That ended up being the Hybrid Optic, which if you didn't know, allows you to click the LS (Left Stick) to switch between two reticles at two different zoom levels, top being for closer quarters combat, and bottom for slightly longer ranges. This makes the weapon versatile,   working great for all ranges. If I were to use a second attachment, it would probably either be FMJ for extra penetration damage, or maybe Stock, giving me the strafe advantage, which works great with semi-automatic weapons at ranges. Usually don't feel the need for a secondary, but I like to move around with this weapon, so I run the Scavenger Perk 2 to pick up weapon ammunition from dead players.

M8A1 - A unique, 4 round burst weapon. Decent damage, and has less of a stall between each burst compared to the Swat-556. This technically means that it has a faster fire rate, it fires the four rounds in each burst faster than the Swat fires it's 3, and once again, there is less of a built-in pause between your first burst and the next time it will actually shoot. I definitely believe this weapon is ideal for game modes that take place on bigger maps, e.g. Domination, and Ground War, due to it's range power. There is little dropoff of damage at ranges. In fact, I personally believe this weapon should only be used for medium to long range battles. Because of this, it is almost completely necessary to use a pistol, preferrably a high damage pistol such as the Tac-45, or B23R. But, I'll talk about that in the class setup. Not to be a camper, but what I'm usually doing with this weapon is controlling a roof area, or any perch kinda thing.

Personal favourite class setup - ACOG sight, with the default reticle. I use this because it helps alot with picking people off at long ranges. I use the default ACOG reticle, the small arrow kinda thing, because if you're up on a perch seeing people at long ranges, you don't want this giant, crowded reticle that appears larger than the person being at a distance. The small arrow, is... well... small. It allows you to see the person around the reticle at ranges. As a secondary, I use the Tac-45 with Ext. Clip. Extended Clip gives you the ability to kill one more person per clip, giving you 3 extra bullets. Because I am sitting atop a perch with this weapon, I like to use a Claymore Mine, and 2 shock charges. This gives me the ability to cover most of the entrances, if not all, to my perch. I use Flak Jacket so I don't get grenaded out of my perch, I don't use a perk 2 but if I were to, I would choose Toughness. My perk 3 is always Tactical Mask, so I don't get stunned in my perch. If I had any slots left, I would use a second attachment of FMJ, because if there is a ledge or windowsill that I'm hiding behind, I can still carry a high damage through the wall or whatever is in front of me.

AN-94 - Last, but most definitely not least. The AN-94 is arguably the common favourite out of Assault Rifles. I agree. This gun is quite interesting. The first to rounds you shoot actually come out faster, and after that it goes to a consistent, slower, paced, fire rate. This means that if you shoot in bursts, the first two rounds will have high damage at ranges. The select fire mode changes it to 2 round burst, which has never been seen in Call of Duty. The 2 round burst gives it more range, and less recoil. It still carries over with the higher fire rate, double-tap sort of burst. This weapon works well in any game mode at all, to be honest. I've won countless free for all games with this weapon, it is very useful in all situations, whether you're playing the objective, or just going for kills. If you're at least a decent CoD player, I'm dead serious when I say you'll fall in love with this weapon, your Kill/Death ratio will shoot sky high when you get used to this baby (Not that it takes long to get used to, but once you learn when to fire in bursts at longer ranges and what this weapon is good for in certain circumstances,  you'll master this gun in no time).

Personal favourite class setup - I like to move around alot while using the AN-94, so my first attachment is almost always Adjustable Stock. It helps me strafe side to side while in battles at a distance, and even though I may be one of the only CoD players that brought the Halo strafe to CoD... I think it can be really useful on alot of weapons, especially when trying to be mobile. Suppressor isn't bad on this gun, I see alot of people using this attachment, but I'd personally prefer a Fore Grip to aid me, once again, with battles from more of a distance. Other than that I would use Extended Clips, but it's all depending on the game mode I'm playing.

Conclusion

If you weren't able to tell, the Assault Rifles vary in many ways, all with different playstyles and tricks. Some tips I can give you are just to try all of the ARs out, with different attachments. It's great to be open-minded and free for change in gaming, especially shooters. I find it more exciting than just using the same gun every match, for the entire existence of the game. But, find which weapons and attachments work with you, and what suits your playstyle. I hope this post helps you try something different out, and eventually find your favourite. Good luck with Assault Rifles and Happy Gaming!
                                                                                     Josh :D