I’m back with another best weapons in class list. This time, I’m focusing on the Light Machine Guns (LMG’s) in The Division 2. There are only six LMG’s in The Division 2, and that’s including the somewhat useless exotic Pestilence, which is a low damage version of the M249 and can only be farmed in the Dark Zone. The remaining five. however—unlike most of the weapon classes in The Division 2—all have their uses. So, instead of cutting my list short with my top 2 or 3 LMG’s, I’m going to talk about all of them.
With every weapon mentioned I’ll also include what I believe to be the best weapon talents for it. This is, of course, subjective, but should provide a general idea of what talents to look out for when a weapon drops.
So, let’s get started with the LMG’s of The Division 2:
Classic M60/Classic M60 Replica/Black Market M60 E6/Black Market M60 E6 Replica/Military M60 E4
The M60 is an impressive LMG. Boasting a massive 100-round magazine that is the largest in the game and only equaled by the M249, you can see why this beast is built for sustained damage.
The M60 also has the most damage out of all the LMG’s on this list, meaning that if you’re able to control it well—possibly with a handling talent or some mods as it can be tricky to handle—then it’s also right near the top of the list for burst damage.
On the negative side, the M60 has a rather long reload time. It takes a whopping 5.8 seconds to reload this thing, so you may want to think about running it in combination with the exotic shotguns, as the holstered talent gives you an ammo refill when you roll.
Best Talents – Unhinged/Optimist/Frenzy and Optimized
M249 B/Tactical M249 ParaMilitary/MK46 Military/MK46 Replica
Featuring better accuracy and a slightly faster RPM than the M60 but with less damage, it’s easy to see why these two weapons are so equally matched. In fact, I’d say that these two guns are so alike that personal preference and talent rolls should determine which one you choose to use.
Reload times are again lengthy at 5.5 seconds, whilst the optimal ranges are almost identical. To summarize, the M249 will handle better, but the M60 will hit a little harder. Both, however, are excellent choices.
Best Talents – Unhinged/Optimist/Frenzy and Optimized
MG5/Infantry MG5/Infantry MG5 Replica
The MG5 recently received a 12% buff to its base damage; couple that with the 85% headshot damage you receive compared to the other LMG’s in the game (which all have 20% less at 65% headshot damage) and you have the top LMG for burst damage.
For sustained damage, however, the MG5 falls short behind the other LMG’s. This is down to it having a reload time that is equally as long as that of the M249 and M60, despite it having a magazine that’s half the size. Consider the MG5 for its amazing burst damage, but for everything else, you have better options elsewhere.
Best Talents – Unhinged/Optimist and Optimized/Extra
Classic RPK-74/Black Market RPK-74 E/Black Market RPK-74 E Replica/Military RPK-74 M
The RPK is a smaller LMG that—whilst not hitting as hard as the larger M60 and M249—has much improved handling and a far shorter reload time. The general thought here is that whilst the other weapons on the list may hit harder, if you can’t land your shots then it really doesn’t matter.
Reload speed plays a much more important role than just downtime as well. The LMG-only weapon talent, ‘Frenzy’, grants +2% rate of fire and +2% weapon damage for 5s when reloading from empty, ror every 10 bullets in a magazine capacity. This talent is easily one of the best for an LMG.
If you favour handling over raw damage and you find an RPK-74 that has the weapon talent ‘Frenzy’ then you might be impressed with just how well it performs.
Best Talents – Unhinged/Optimist/Frenzy and Extra/Jazz Hands
Custom L86 A2/Custom L86 A2 Replica/Military L86 LSW
Like the RPK, the L86 is a smaller LMG that boasts faster reload speed and improved handling over the larger magazines of the heftier LMG’s in the game.
Surprisingly, the L86 actually has the second highest damage of all the LMG’s, but with only a 30-round magazine it’s easy to see why it falls off the damage charts quickly.
Best Talents – Unhinged/Optimist and Extra/Jazz Hands
Pestilence
Oh dear, this gun is a stinker. The Exotic version of the M249 disappoints in pretty much every area. First up, the base damage of this weapon is absolutely appalling compared to a normal high end M249. In fact, it’s shocking compared to any of the LMG’s. Secondly, the Talents are dreadful:
Plague of the Outcasts – After hitting the same enemy 20 times, that enemy is inflicted with the Plague of the Outcasts. Whenever an enemy with Plague of the Outcasts is killed, they leave a toxic cloud for 10 seconds that deals 200% weapon damage per second to anyone inside and inflicts them with Pestilence.
Pestilence – This debuff reduces healing received by 50% for 10s. Whenever an enemy with Pestilence would be downed, they are instead instantly killed. The debuff is removed if the enemy is repaired to full armour.
Outcast Resilience – While holstered, gain 20% bonus armour for 5s whenever you are affected by blind, bleed or burning.
The issue with these weapon talents are that they don’t add any real value over a normal weapon. Plague of the Outcasts, for example, requires you to hit the same enemy 20 times! I don’t know about you, but most enemies I shoot 20 times are well dead. Then there’s Pestilence, which shows that this weapon is meant for PvP – on a weapon with decent damage this might actually be useful, but as it stands it’s hard to down anyone with this weapon, and switching weapons once the debuff is applied just further restricts your damage output over a normal weapon.
Finally, the holstered talent, which, in the case of The Chatterbox and Nemesis, separate them from every other weapon in the game. With those holstered talents you get a massive DPS increase, but with the Pestilence you get armour while status-affected, which is just trash.
It’s not all doom and gloom though, as the Pestilence is one of the easier exotics to obtain. Farm it, deconstruct it, and upgrade a decent exotic instead.
That covers every LMG currently in The Division 2. I will keep this list up to date as buffs and nerfs seem to be happening quite frequently so far, and I’ll also add any additional weapons that get added to the game, so you can be sure that these weapon lists will always be up to date.
If you found this list useful then check out the equivalent lists for Assault Rifles, SMG’s, MMR’s, and Rifles. My Best Weapon Talents guide might also be of interest, as I go into a little more detail about some of the Weapon Talents mentioned above.
Feedback is also greatly appreciated. If i’ve missed something or if you feel I’ve overestimated a weapons worth then please let me know in the comments section below.
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