Battlefield 1 Players Can’t Decide If New Machine Gun Is Too Strong

Battlefield 1 Players Can’t Decide If New Machine Gun Is Too Strong

Battlefield 1‘s final DLC, Apocalypse, shows some of World War One’s most harrowing battles and experimental weapons.

A powerful new machine gun included in the DLC is gaining popularity with the community, but forcing others to ask how long before it gets nerfed.

The LMG 08/18 is a new weapon that players can unlock after achieving 50 kills in the Support class. It is a variation of the Maschinengewehr 08, the German Army’s standard issue WWI machine gun.

The original version is a weapon available in the Sentry elite class kit. The new version is a lighter but still deadly weapon that holds hundreds of round and is very easy to control, allowing Support players to absolutely dominate control points and fend off waves of enemies.

It’s so damn good that it’s quickly taken place as one of the dominant weapons in multiplayer, but the community seems split on whether or not the gun is fine or if it’s a cheap, overpowered game-ruiner.

“The new LMG 08/18 is a fucking monster,” one player said on Reddit. “Absolutely shreds through everyone. Best believe it’s the only gun I’m using until they nerf it.”

“It’s beyond broken up close,” another player said.

The LMG 08/18 gained attention during Apocalypse’s early access and have remained strong on launch.
That close-range effectiveness is a point of contention. Battlefield 1‘s large scale maps facilitate numerous playstyles from run and gun assault to extreme long range sniping but capturing a point requires spending time on the objective. The LMG 08/18 is a reliable hold weapon against soldiers rushing to defend their point from capture.

Engagement distance is crucial to weapon effectiveness in Battlefield 1. In cases where weapons are dominating heavily at specific ranges, the developers have been quick to adjust overperforming weapons. The most notable case came early in the game’s lifecycle with the Martini-Henry sniper rifle, a single-shot rifle that could instantly dispatch of targets within medium to long range.

The gun was quickly nerfed.

While the LMG 08/18 is a powerful weapon, another variation arguably competes with it. Its lighter cousin, the SMG 08/18, is an Assault class weapon that received a buff with the launch of the Apocalypse DLC that increased the fire rate.

It’s led YouTubers like “jackfrags” to create videos on how effective it is for close-range encounters.

The continued existence of powerful weapons such as these have left the community unsure if the LMG 08/18 will receive a nerf or remain untouched. Kotaku has reached out to EA for comment, but the publisher did not reply in time for publication.

With the prospect of highly formidable machine guns shutting down your assaults for the foreseeable future, it might be best to grab a tank before rolling onto a control point.


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