Time to do the maths and the testing as people argue about whether smartgun, m4ra smartscope, or mk2 better weapon
M4RA smartscope // Non-AP
106.56 dps up to 10 armor
It stays better then AP until 20 armor (warrior). 79.92 dps
At 25 armor it falls off so hard that its useless.
M4RA smartscope // AP
77.7 dps up to 40 armor.
You get what you pay for with IFF guns.
Mk2 // AP and Non-AP
Up to 15 ap, non-ap is better then AP mk2. It deals the same dps as ap mk2 at 20 ap.
150 dps against 10 armor targets.
113 dps against 20 armor targets.
113 dps up to 40 armor with AP ammo.
Smartgun Non-AP (it usually sucks)
Non-ap smartgun ammo does not have any penetration whatsoever, so it’s almost useless against warriors, losing half of its dps against warriors. Not to mention the falloff.
150 dps against 0 armor targets
75 dps against 20 armor targets
Smartgun AP ammo
100 dps up to 40 armor.
HOWEVER you have significant falloff, which combined with firerate - results in far slower time to kill. You lose 5 dps for every tile you move away from an enemy.
So 3 tiles away - thats 85 dps. 4 tiles? that’s 80 dps. And 75 dps at 5 tiles. VERY ass.
TLDR -
Summary
M4ra smartscope with AP is better around 4 tiles and far more economical. MK2 is always better then smartgun dps wise, and often way better because of smartgun’s debilitating falloff.
Assuming you can click twice a second - m4ra ap with smartscope will give you 70-77 dps.
smartgun AP loses 5 dps every tile moved. It starts at 100 dps but once your down to 4 tiles distance, it’s 80 dps. It still kills but way slower and they can move out of range. While wielded, your movespeed as smartgunner is not all that great.
Overall im pretty surprised at how well the guns perform - they’re slower then mk2 at killing, but do better then you might think. Especially when you consider they’re supportive fire weapons - this dps is ADDITIVE onto other riflemen’s dps, which results in massive dps stacks.
It also means however, that the smartscope m4ra is an underrated weapon, and if you consider smartgun powerful, you should consider smartscope powerful too.
Still the mk2 is a significantly higher dmg weapon, especially at range. So if a smartgunner has no teammates or is poorly positioned, it’s worse then just having a mk2. If a smartgunner has teammates that shoot, it can be better then a mk2, as it’s gauranteed dmg. If a smartgunner can’t position close to enemies, it’s worse then a mk2, as it has terrible falloff.
similarities to smg (yapping)
Smartgun is a big smg. If you hug the enemy with it, it will kill way easier then a smartscope m4ra. But then you’re not taking advantage of the IFF. Mk2 is often better in that situation, however the smartgun is a decent substitute gun.
Still arguably bad as your a high priority target - and very much risk getting cc chained, then permad.
So it’s very situational.
However the option of 4 tile supportive fire, or 1 tile active fire is useful, as it means you have some way to deal high dps when needed.
1 smartgun and 2 mk2s firing at once will probably result in instakill fronts against warriors. Or 1 smartscope gunner and 2 mk2s firing at once, will probably result in instakill fronts. And likely with greater reliability, as smartscope gunners can take second weapons too and don’t have to deal with falloff.
Smartscope gunners will have a more difficult time with backliners (harder to hit) // they can combat this by taking a mk2 secondary. (which also solves the sg’s dps problem). But smartgun will always be the easiest weapon to fight backliners with, as close range + iff + high volume of bullets is a winning combo there (and a bit excessive, as the close range also limits your solo-kill potential heavily).
final thoughts (yapping)
Still the SG is powerful because of its nvg binocs, farsight nvgs, and easy to hit volume of bullets. Farsight provides little utility to the smartgunner themself, as firing at farscoped targets is noob bait. But information wins battles.
You can use a smartscoper or smartgunner as a core to any unit, to add gauranteed dps to every other rifleman. This is great utility and ups effective firepower. However, a skilled rifleman might be better in many situations. The smartgun’s strength is when it can position closer to other marines, and protect them from xenos who try to break the front aswell as attack xenos who are close to the front.
It’s unlikely that a smartgunner will contribute heavily to a kill outside of finishing an injured xeno off, unless a xeno overextends heavily or underestimates the enemy. This is due to its low ranged dps.
However, a smartgunner will also contribute heavily when it pushes, as it closes the distance and does much higher dps. Ofc, this also reduces the size of the killzone, and lets xenos run away easier - so it’s a lose-lose, and unlikely to result in a kill, only a push. Still, that can’t be underestimated.
I’m probably missing a lot of minor details, tactics, etc. I do think doing well with this gun is pretty common because of its reliability and ease of use, but it’s situational. You can’t exactly argue it’s better then mk2, because it does not excel nearly as much as a mk2. You can’t exactly argue it’s better then smartscope, as smartscope has no falloff and can carry a second weapon easily.
It’s a highly specialized weapon, with a very specific niche.
