Loadouts 14: Heavy Fire Support 1 (revised)

A revised version of my Heavy Fire Support loadouts, as a result of further experimentation and reading on the interwebs.

Scenario Description: Close-mid range team based encounters. General engagement ranges ~7-12m. Player has taken the role of "Heavy", who carries larger blasters that are typically more spammable and ammo hungry, or are mor effective than regular blasters.
Keys to Victory: Rapid fire blasters with reasonably high capacity, preferably easy to reload. Reasonable range - does not have to shoot particularly far. Must be able to effectively spray darts at opponents, idealistically suppressing or tagging them. Large amounts of ammo. Fearlessly spray opponents, even when under heavy attack.
Alternative primary blasters are those that inspire great fear into opponents and consume lots of ammo/particularly large ammo, such as large shotguns and rocket launchers.
You won't be too capable of run 'n' gunning thanks to the inherent bulk of your gear, but it's not hard to walk 'n' gun, and if you're prepared enough, running with all your gear shouldn't be too hard. Practice is the key to coping with all the stuff you're carrying.
Unnecessary Burdens: Trying to cut down on weight somewhere by minimising ammo or some other useful objects. Face it, if you want to be a "Heavy" you  are going to be carrying a lot of stuff. That is the entire point of your role. If you don't want to be carrying so much stuff you probably shouldn't be a Heavy.

Clip (Mag) System 1a

Primary: Stampede ECS (18 clips [mags], voltage increase if possible)
Secondary: Effective backup blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Sweet Revenge/Hammershot)
Gear: Clip (mag), drum holders (drums usually need pouches), sling for primary, holster for secondary
Ammo: Numerous 18 clips (mags), a few 25/35 drums for emergencies (if your gametype allows for large engagements, e.g. HvZ), ammo for secondary
Purpose: To provide the user with easy to use, full auto clip (mag) system goodness.
Strengths: Rapid fire, reloading
Weaknesses: Vulnerability when reloading, low range and accuracy, quick-draw shots
Description: The Stampede is a fantastic blaster for spamming thanks to its full auto mechanism. A boost in the power you give it will up your ROF significantly, especially if you stick with the stock spring. The main clips (mags) you'll be using are the 18 clips (mags), because they are the least jam/misfeed prone, sufficiently high capacity, and most readily available/cheap clips (mags) around. Drums of equal and greater capacity are typically more vulnerable to jamming and misfeeding, so avoid them except when absolutely necessary. In gametypes such as large scale HvZ where you'll potentially face down very large numbers of opponents, the extra capacity offered by the high capacity drums can save you and your friends. Though I'd recommend staying away from drums for general skirmish use, when you're up against overwhelming odds the 18 clips (mags) usually won't have enough capacity to keep you alive at the end. For those sorts of times, I'd recommend carrying around a 35 drum somewhere and switching to that.
I used to be against secondaries if you're going as a heavy, but especially in long games like HvZ, the extra blaster could save you. It offers a couple of extra shots that have superior range and accuracy than the Stampede, and is also easier to keep full than a clip (mag)/drum. Of course you don't have to use specifically a revolver like the Strongarm. If the team requires it, you could run an even more powerful and accurate blaster like the Nitefinder, or possibly something like a Roughcut if you need the extra close quarters power.


Clip (Mag) System 3a

 
Primary: Elite Hailfire (18 clips [mags], supporting mods)
Secondary: Effective backup blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Sweet Revenge/Hammershot)
Gear: Clip (mag), drum holders, sling for primary, holster for secondary
Ammo: Lots of 18 clips (mags) and a few 35 drums, ammo for secondary
Purpose: To provide the user with stupidly high capacity spammability while retaining clip (mag) system's easy reloads
Strengths: Rapid fire, individual clip (mag) reloading, stupidly high capacity, switching clips (mags) is safer than all other blasters (assuming you have at least 1 loaded clip [mag])
Weaknesses: Vulnerability when reloading, low accuracy, quick-draw shots, bulk, instability of clip (mag) holder rack, vulnerable to misfires and misrotating with large clips (mags)
Description: Though the Hailfire's quick-advance system seems to reduce the need for having a super high capacity drum, the fact remains that the clip (mag)-switching time could cost you. Especially so when using a stock Hailfire, as the stock rotation mech doese't like being loaded up with 8 18s. Thus while you should stick to 18 clips (mags) for regular skirmishes, you should switch the first two 18s for a single 35 drum during the previously mentioned overwhelming odds times. I don't recommend using 25 drums though because they take up 3 slots, not the 2 of a 35.


Belt Fed 1a

Primary: Vulcan EBF-25 (extended belts are great if you mod accordingly to support them)
Secondary: Effective backup blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Sweet Revenge/Hammershot)
Gear: Anything that can hold belts, holster for secondary
Ammo: Numerous belts, ammo for secondary
Purpose: To provide the user with easy to use, full auto belt fed goodness.
Strengths: Rapid fire, good accuracy given it's purpose, intimidation
Weaknesses: Vulnerability when reloading, long reload time, mediocre range
Description: While the other clip (mag) system stuff needs sidearms to cover up their horrid accuracy, the Vulcan needs a secondary blaster to help cover its horrid reload time. Being belt fed, the Vulcan takes a lot longer to switch belts than the Stampede or Hailfire switches clips (mags)/drums. However, the Vulcan does have the benefit of being more accurate, and also being able to potentially have more capacity than any clip (mag)/drum. By joining two belts together (multiple guides online for this), it is possible to make a 50 dart belt for the Vulcan. Of course, you don't have to stop at 50. I've seen a picture of a 200 dart belt. This ability to easily modify the belts for larger capacity is another major bonus over clip (mag) system blasters. Unlike clip (mag) system blasters which are limited to 35 per clip (mag)/drum, the Vulcan can have basically any (reasonable length) belt if you are capable of joining belts and removing shells.
Do note that Vulcans can have problems with extended belts if the belts are not supported, as the Vulcan's advancing mech is not particularly powerful.

Vortex 1a

Primary: Vortex Pyragon (40 disc drum or extended Vortex mags)
Secondary: Effective backup dart blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Sweet Revenge/Hammershot)
Gear: Vortex Ammo Belt (pouch, mag holders, blaster clip), holster for secondary
Ammo: Vortex mags/drums, discs, darts
Purpose: To give the user the advantage of disc blasters, while being able to provide fire support for the team and still allowing the user to use all the main ammo types.
Strengths: Range, accuracy, curved shots, slam fire, quick reloads, not totally vulnerable when reloading.
Weaknesses: Discs are rarer than darts, curving at long distances is hard to take advantage of.
Description: As a disc blaster, the Pyragon is at an automatic disadvantage to any of the above blasters. Because discs are typically less popular than darts, there are far less discs on the battlefield to pick up. On the other hand, the Streamline/Elite/equivalent dart is typically very common due to the abundance of clip (mag) system blasters. This makes it even more important to carry a good dart blaster as a secondary, to keep you alive until you can scavenge more discs if you run out.
Unlike clip (mag) system drums, the Vortex 40 disc drum is not prone to misfeeding and jamming (unless you get a lemon), so if you get multiple you can go absolutely nuts with a Pyragon and its extremely smooth slam-fire. Since discs "float" unlike darts which have a standard projectile trajectory, it is possible to create a wall of discs by firing multiple discs as quickly as possible. Such a wall is extremely intimidating and is a great suppression tactic even if the discs do not actually hit, as Vortex discs fly slower than darts that reach the same range.