BFBC2 Vietnam: strategy, stats, and the return of Xiant

Assault that target!

Yes, it’s true, and I come bearing stats! I promised it and now it is here: an analysis of the weapons of Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam, or at least, those in the Assault kit. For this series, I’m going to split the kits into five groups: the four main kits and general all-kit weapons.

Why? Because I know that my attention span is taxed just by looking at a web page for more than a couple seconds, so yours must be at least ten or so. You are reading this, I should think.

Let’s jump right in with Assault and begin with the ten ton elephant in the room: the Ak-47. I know Swordsman75 has already done his Briefing Room episodes on these, but I want to give a more specialized analysis of the weapons than he did. I plan to include ballistics, or at least, the ballistics as I see them…

AK-47: Tight and powerful

The AK does 20 damage up close and 17 at the max range of just over 60 meters, so its a five shot kill at worst. Of course with Magnum ammo this drops to three and four shot kills, respectively. It is accurate even at full auto, though quick bursts will, of course, lead to quicker kills. I have, on many an occasion, sniped someone from well over two hundred meters with this weapon with maybe seven or eight bullets, accounting for enemy movement and bullet travel time. The hip fire seems, without any explicit testing on my part, to be barely larger than the submachine guns, though it is nowhere near as tight as the PPSh, which I’ll get into later. If need be, circle-strafing and hip firing with the Ak will net you clutch kills so long as you are fairly well on target. Ammo need not be a concern unless you’ve yet to unlock it, and even then there’s always a few extra boxes lying around. With the fastest reload time of the three main guns at 1.86, don’t worry too much on that note as well.

M14: Reliable at range

The second weapon on my list is one I’d say is the middle of the pack for me. I’m speaking of the M14, which would likely be my gun of choice were it not for the incredibly crowded iron sights (at least I can’t see through them). What’s interesting about the M14 is that if you equip Magnum ammo, it is a four shot kill at any range. Its minimum damage is 18 points, and the 1.25 damage Magnum provides bumps that to 22.5 damage, with the maximum damage increased to 27.5 from 22. The hip fire is not as good as the AK’s, though it’s comparable, but I don’t advise doing it too often; the 20 round clip doesn’t lend itself to spraying quite so much. The M14 is a precision weapon by nature, and is best used at medium to long range. Add the 2.1 second reload, and your stay at the front lines may be short indeed if you run out of bullets.

M16: Spraying death

The last weapon, which I haven’t used nearly enough, is the M16. A fully automatic variant of the weapon, the M16 has the least damage of all the guns, with 18 up close and 13 at maximum range, making it a five shot kill near your target and eight at long distance. With Magnum, this drops to five and seven. It’s fire rate of 800 RPM, however, makes it kill about as fast as the M14 and Ak, with theirs being 700 and 750 respectively. This gun is sprayable, though ammo runs dry a little quicker, so be prepared for that. The reload time is slightly slower than the Ak as well, though only by about a tenth of a second, so it’s not really perceivable.

Other considerations

As for the noob tube of Vietnam, the M79 has a killing radius is equal to that of the 40mm launcher in the main game, and the damage is similar to infantry. It does slightly more to tanks than the launcher, but you’re still better of with the RPG. The M79 fires very well from the hip, and its arc is fairly shallow, so use that to your advantage.

I mentioned the ballistics variances earlier. For me, each of the three main weapons has different bullet travel times. The M14’s is the slowest and the M16’s is the fastest. This is purely based on my own experience with each gun, but I feel as though there’s the slightest delay between my AK shots going off and them hitting their intended target, even with bullet travel time. The delay is magnified with the M14, and I sometimes wait half a second after my last shot to hear the dinging go off for the kill. The M16, on the other hand, is almost instant travel from muzzle to target, even at the long distances, and, with its reduced recoil, makes it the most accurate assault rife out there. That said, the Ak is still the best of the three.

Stay tuned for my next installment covering the Engineer kit.