Loadouts 13: Heavy Fire Support Part 2

I haven't done a Loadouts post in a while, so here's a new one.

Scenario Description: Close-mid range team based encounters. General engagement ranges ~7-12m. Player has taken the role of "Heavy", who typically carries larger blasters that are usually more spammable and ammo hungry.
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 4

Primary: Elite Rapidstrike CS-18 (18 clips [mags], 25 drums or 35 drums)
Secondary: Effective backup blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Sweet Revenge/Hammershot)
Gear: Clip (mag) and 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. To provide the team with high capacity, fast reloading covering/suppression fire.
Strengths: Rapid fire, reloading, superior to Stampede in most aspects
Weaknesses: Vulnerability when reloading, quick-draw shots, must rev up to fire, loss of range in rapid fire
Description: The Rapidstrike is considered by many to be the Stampede's successor, being a beastly full auto flywheeler. Unlike the Stampede's 6 D batteries, the Rapidstrike runs off a much lighter set of 4 C's, and has superior range and accuracy compared to the Stampede. Additionally, the Rapidstrike is more compact, making it almost totally superior to the Stampede. However, like all flywheelers the Rapidstrike must be revved up to fire, which introduces a fire delay longer than that of the Stampede's, and the Rapidstrike's range is inferior to most Elite blasters. Though this would normally be a major issue for most blasters, the Rapidstrike's main competitor is the Stampede, which has horrendous range nowhere near even the worst range of the Rapidstrike. Though this by no means eliminates the issue, the lack of competition reduces the severity of it. Additionally, while its accuracy is a little better than the Stampede's, it still isn't a precision weapon by any means, still requiring a burst of darts to get a good chance of a hit. Nevertheless, the Rapidstrike's decent performance, ROF and superior ergonomics to the Stampede make it a great choice for Heavy Fire Support.


Vortex 2

Primary: Vortex Nitron (40 disc drum or extended Vortex mags)
Secondary: Multishot dart blaster (e.g. Elite Strongarm, Spectre REV-5)
Gear: Vortex Ammo Belt (pouch, mag holders, blaster clip), holster for secondary
Ammo: Vortex mags, ammo for secondary
Purpose: To give the user the ability to spam discs without slam-fire, to take advantage of the 40 disc drum/extended Vortex mags
Strengths: Range, high capacity, rate of fire when battery upgraded
Weaknesses: Discs are rarer than darts, curving at long distances is hard to take advantage of, low ROF, have to rev up, vulnerable when reloading, low projectile velocity
Description: With the Pyragon release, the Nitron now has a super high capacity drum it can take advantage of. The Nitron is the only full auto Vortex blaster so far, and thus its full auto ability combined with the 40 disc drum mean it can spam more than any other full auto blaster (as of 2014). Because the Nitron is a Vortex blaster, it has inherent Vortex range, meaning excellent long range suppression fire, but of course pays the price with disc curving and low projectile velocity. Also as a flywheeler, the Nitron must rev up to fire, and prolonged usage reduces the power of the Nitron. Nevertheless, the ability to easily put out a spray of discs at a good range mean that the Nitron can be an effective long range suppression weapon, but should not be relied on for pinpoint accuracy.

Although the low velocity of Vortex discs is usually a disadvantage, rapid firing discs can create a deadly and extremely intimidating cloud of discs slowly advancing towards your enemy. This is not possible with darts, which travel at much higher velocities.
As Vortex discs are typically much rarer than darts in Nerf wars, the dart blaster is there so you don't become totally useless once your Vortex mags are empty. Other blasters like the Clip (Mag) System blasters generally don't have this problem because of the popularity (or rather widespread use) of Streamlines/Elites.

Additionally, a voltage modded Nitron is truly a sight to behold, and an absolute terror on the battlefield. Thanks to the rigidity of Vortex discs, Vortex has a much lower misfeed/jam rate and thus a voltage modded Nitron is not limited by how fast a Vortex mag can feed in the same way a clip (mag) system blaster is limited by how fast a clip (mag)/drum can feed.

Unlike clip (mag) system stuff, the Vortex drum can be used as the main source of ammo, as the Vortex drum does not jam up seemingly at all, unlike the jam happy CS drums.


Dart Tag 1

Primary: Dart Tag Swarmfire
Secondary: Effective backup blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Stryfe)
Gear: Anything that holds darts, holster for secondary
Ammo: Numerous darts, ammo for secondary
Purpose: To provide the user with decently ranged and accurate rapid fire
Strengths: Rapid fire, accuracy, ammo compatability, reloading a few darts
Weaknesses: Fully reloading is painfully slow, low capacity compared to 35 dart drum and 40 disc drum
Description: The Swarmfire is a rather unusual blaster. Unlike most of its other full auto brethren, it uses a huge 20 dart turret that lets it use darts like Whistlers, DT darts and Suctions, giving it superior accuracy to all of them. This key accuracy is what gives the Swarmfire its niche - as a dart blaster, it has the inherent higher muzzle velocity than the more-accurate-than-Streamlines disc blasters, while as a blaster that can use any dart, the Swarmfire can use far more accurate ammo than than any of the Streamline using blasters.
As a full auto blaster, the Swarmfire can also spray when needed. Its range and accuracy usually mean that you don't need to, except when faced with a large number of opponents.

Essentially with the Swarmfire, you can point at a target within range, fire off a small burst of darts and assuming your target doesn't move/dodge too erratically, you'll have a good chance score at least one good hit on them, and probably more if you've aimed well. Much better than say a Stampede, which requires at least 6 darts usually to ensure just a single hit.
Naturally the Swarmfire reloads small bursts of darts much better than most other blasters due to its open turret, but once emptied the Swarmfire is a pain to reload, needing a dart inserted into each individual barrel. Hence the advice for firing off small bursts becomes even more important, as firing off small bursts reduces the time you spend slaving away at filling the Swarmfire's 20 barrels.

If you're tired of having to empty your clips/mags just to hit one guy, or if you hate having to put up with the low velocity of Vortex discs just to have decent accuracy, the Swarmfire is definitely a blaster to consider.
I've included the Stryfe in recommendations of a secondary as the Swarmfire has no ability to quickly reload, unlike everything else I've mentioned. Thus the Stryfe's quick reloading is a particularly useful ability.

Swarmfires are rather popular as backup blasters for something like a Rapidstrike, as they can be stripped down to a far more compact form, and lack the fire delay of flywheelers, yet have the ROF of full auto blasters.
A pure Swarmfire loadout can be much lighter than that of say a Rapidstrike or Nitron, as you just have to carry around a bunch of darts, rather than darts and the extra plastic and weight of clips/mags.


Rockets 2

Primary: Buzz Bee Extreme Blastzooka
Secondary: Effective backup blaster (e.g. Strongarm, Stryfe)
Gear: Anything that holds rockets and ammo for secondary, holster for secondary
Ammo: Rockets, ammo for secondary
Purpose: To provide the user with more accessible rocket firepower
Strengths: Relatively compact, rockets smaller than Titan's
Weaknesses: Pump time is longer than that of Buzz Bee's discontinued Big Blasts, range of 9m Blastzookas is not as good as Titan's
Description: The Blastzooka is the only standalone rocket blaster you can currently buy in stores, as the Titan has been discontinued (as it is an N-Strike blaster), and the Demolisher is a dart blaster with the rocket launcher built in. It's fairly small and compact, making it easy to run around with, however it does take a lot of pumps (around 12) to get to full power.