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53 ratings

A Marine's Guide to the MK3 SAW

By SYNack

The average citizen seems experience a myriad of issues trying to utilize the MK3 SAW to its fullest potential. This quick field guide will equip you with the tricks & tips of the trade to effectively hold the front-line against the bug menace.

Award

Created by

SYNack
In-Game
The Headliners

Category: Multiplayer, Secrets, Weapons

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

21 May, 2023 @ 2:12pm

2 Jul, 2023 @ 11:25am

3,826	Unique Visitors
30	Current Favorites

Guide Index

Overview

Rule 1.) You ARE NOT Rambo

Rule 2.) HOLDING THE FRONT LINE

Rule 3.) Engagement Tips

Rule 4.) Dress for SUCCESS

Final Debriefing

Comments

Rule 1.) You ARE NOT Rambo

To the untrained citizen, the inability to mow down endless waves of bugs by holding down the left mouse button is disheartening to most; making the MK3 susceptible to harsh criticism. When picking up this weapon, take note of it's unique attributes.

Get to know your weapon

Compared to its predecessors, the MK3 has a significant staggering effect on the bug menace. Stopping hordes & larger bugs dead in their tracks is this weapons specialty.

At the cost of reduced damage, you are also able to shut down sentry bugs from raining an onslaught of projectiles on your battalion (See Rule 3).

Even YOU can use the MK3!

Rule 2.) HOLDING THE FRONT LINE

A downside of the MK3 is the stock ammo capacity. Without ammo dispensaries, you can easily exhaust your reserves before you're overrun by the bug menace. It is important to lean on your TEAM & use your equipment to maintain battle superiority.

Use your electrical field to create strategic choke points to herd bugs OR to give your squad some breathing room in the field
Reinforce the base with Nukes! The ARC is vital to the successful extraction of your fellow marines so, protect it at all costs. When the walls come crashing down, leave those bugs a welcome package at the front door. Giving your team some room to make emergency repairs.

Rule 3.) Engagement Tips

HOLD THE BREACH

When those pesky automated turrets fail, dig in & rain fire on the incoming hostiles with wide sweeping motions. This will stun larger enemies & make quick work of the smaller grunts. Allowing reinforcements to begin rebuilding the front line.

STOP THOSE SENTRIES

Engaging enemies at range with the MK3 can be a daunting task at first yet, allows your marksman units to engage the sentries without fear of significant bodily harm.

To engage distant targets, enter your fortified stance & aim slightly above your target (~80-100m+). Be mindful of your bullet's tracers, this will provide you with crucial information on how to manage your barrage of lead like a real marine!

Don't be afraid to move your mouse! You're not shooting laser blaserts like some bums in a galaxy far far away! Move your cans & expired left overs to have ample room for wrist activities.

Rule 4.) Dress for SUCCESS

In the Second Bug War, it is vital to be familiar with your equipment & your place in the battalion. Below I have listed my current build with more information - will adjust list as the game develops further.

Secondary Weapon
TW-109-E Emancipator
A useful secondary that can stagger soldier bugs in one shot. Delaying their advancement on your position. Buying you precious time to swap your MK3's sandwich box.

Utility
- Shock Sticks

Pros

Cons

Create Chokeholds

Most areas require 3 pylons to shut down front

Stuns multiple enemies on contact

Electrical grid dissipates within 30 seconds

Can be used to secure extraction routes / LZ

Must manually gauge distance to connect pylons

OR

- Nuke Pack

Pros

Cons

Significant AOE Damage.

Can damage friendlies. {announce w/ comms}

Set and forget - 10 sec timer from placement.

No manual trigger.

Mushroom cloud looks sick af!

Reduces visibility for tower support & ground units in some applications.

Final Debriefing

HAVE FUN & STAY ALIVE

The success of your team relies on the collective effort of all the brave citizens involved in these operations. Not a single man, woman, or child has the ability to withstand the full might of Planet P & it's inhabitants on their own.

Your fellow citizens are doing their part, are you?

21 Comments

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Lord Bosco 27 Oct, 2023 @ 7:17am

I love these commercials!, keep on doing your part citizen.

sargentmki 10 Sep, 2023 @ 10:51am

The SAW is mostly suppression, use the static MG if you need the damage.

SunFei104 8 Sep, 2023 @ 8:41pm

I like your build but I've started running the build tool and healing beacons. Probably not ideal cause I really should start running the extra ammo crates. However, it's great to be able to build the base back up fast on horde, and the heal beacons work great to let me tank even more punishment while holding down the front line.

D0nk3yPunch3r *DO WORK* 10 Jul, 2023 @ 4:07pm

Out of the 3 the chonky boy seems the way to go, dawi fully endorses this guide!

sentientCode 9 Jul, 2023 @ 8:48am

The Carbine is also trash almost all the time now.

sentientCode 9 Jul, 2023 @ 8:48am

The SAW was hot trash before 0.3.0. Absolutely destroyed by the carbine at nearly all ranges. If you can hit things, the MK1 is now superior from like 55-90m or so.

Donoghu 3 Jul, 2023 @ 2:33am

This guide is good, but it doesn't cover that one tiny thing that people overlook way too often: Proximity Mines.

The biggest mistake people makes with the Proximity Mines is that they place them close to one-another in the open or on some random road where barely anything move through.

The trick with the proximity mines is that they are the best at cleaning breaches without forcing you to look at said breaches. IF you see a choke point where lots of bugs chew on specific limited wall (or gates), put a mine behind it (inside the base). If it's brought down, the bug will be blown up as soon as they enter the base. The 8m radius explosion cover about 1 wall width and if placed close to the wall that is brought down, well... it clean up pretty much everything around that wall if it's breached.

Donoghu 3 Jul, 2023 @ 2:33am

The one reason why some people are complaining about the inconveniences of the MK3 SAW is because they aren't playing on Hard where every bit of additional damage matter.

On Easy or Normal, the bugs are squishy enough so that the regular MK1 can do a decent cleaning job. On hard, the MK1 can barely kill 2 regular bugs with its puny mags and lower damage output. (Those small critters that shew on your ankles don't count. They can be killed just by looking seriously at them.)

That 200 in a single mag makes it so that you can clean up a good chunk of bugs before having to reload, making it safer for yourself and your teamates. Put 2 skilled Bastions with MK3 SAWs one next to the other with 1 ammo dispenser in-between and you got a real wall of terror for the bugs right there.

doc newport [6-66IN] 2 Jul, 2023 @ 10:42am

SAW Supremacy

Tr00puRR 21 Jun, 2023 @ 12:13pm

Thanks OP for defending my baby. You're doing your part. I'll be running the SAW in permanence, and would be upset to see it buffed. A real Vet can handle a woman with some spice, and she spits dragon's fire make no mistake.

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