All LMGs Ranked Worst to Best in Cyberpunk 2077 2.1

A detailed breakdown of all LMGs and the HMG in Cyberpunk 2077. Determining how to acquire each, the best ways to use them and which is best...
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
00:17 Build
01:21 Mk.31 HMG
03:15 M2067 Defender
05:31 Wild Dog
07:44 MA70 HB
09:56 Conclusion

[@Emopfreg]

Xmod 2 plus Firecracker was one of my main weapons throughout the entirety of Phantom Liberty, it works amazingly even if you aren’t specced into it! Edit: firecracker increases the explosion radius if you were wondering.

[@XKS99]

Works amazing with legendary contagion.

[@irinaantonova9053]

@@XKS99with Pyro

[@Vendacator]

I used that ans big mag for a lot of destruction

[@cinninnimonskoda2017]

I was curious ... But now I'm just sad.. so many inspirational lmgs out there .. so few in the game

[@beansaber3571]

Also, with the ma70 and the new heavy pistol thing, if you equip fire cracker the explosion will change and will proc pyromania giving you basicly infinite pyro stacks

[@JackTheRipper4ever]

Speaking from EXTENSIVE experience, by the time you can craft the tier 5 version of the MA70, you'll be outdamaging the HMG. In fact, I'd even recommend slapping Swiss Cheese on it twice. You'll chew through enemies so fast the slower speed and ammo count will be negligible. For the Defender, boosting the ammo capacity will carry you through early levels. But the MA70 (which can be obtained during the Maelstrom pickup) will carry you though the entire game. Great video, love em all!

[@KaladinVegapunk]

Honestly every hmg feels weaker than the vending machine guns hahaha.. you're spraying for six hours when every other gun type would have done the job ages ago, even on my trainer using V with 20 in all stats and maxed out perks with maxed out cyberware for shits it still doesn't do much

[@xt6wagon]

Hmg used to wreck shop based on the explosive damage. You could kill people behind barriers by shooting the ground next to them. Also extreme juggle.

[@nathankelly5976]

Yes and no because the Hmg for some reason also has tiers if I’m honest it should have always been the max tier possible at your level instead of still dropping level1 versions that are worse than a assault rifle

[@nathankelly5976]

⁠@user-mw4ji1vn2z true and those excluding ars can be used in vehicles which is better than getting given a unity for car combat because you don’t have one due to your build being bottlenecks into lmgs

[@snakems6936]

Hell yeah, Sam is cranking these rankings out. Keep up the good work!

[@beansaber3571]

Even though firecracker isn't needed on the ma70 for splash damage. Using it will make the ma70 proc pyromania stacks and increase the splash damege area, letting you basically have infinite pyromania stacks. Aka more movement speed and a constant 50% - 90% mitigation chance increase with those pyro stacks as well as instant recharge on grenades and P.L.S. shots with doom launcher.

[@bozak5130]

I thought that got patched out pretty quickly, so it only procs on nades and launcher

[@Grautwok]

Gonna make a full on Cyberpsycho brutalist build. LMGs feel like the most fitting ranged option

[@amrkotb8410]

Does it work on very hard

[@matthewoconnor2742]

@@amrkotb8410 Body + Tech ability is an amazing build, I've been killing entire maxtac squads for fun on hard so it probaly works on very hard. 10/10 reccomend adding a tech shotgun to it as well, fully charged shotgun headshots deal *disgusting* amounts of damage

[@npz1838]

PSA: You don't need to remove the sheet from the chopper to get the Xmod variant. You can cheese it through a window/hole in the chopper by just looking at it. So, no body skill check is needed!

[@upwardstatue7943]

I’ve only just discovered your channel recently and I’ve been bingeing all of your cyberpunk vids! Keep up the amazing work!

[@west5385]

Just sat down with my dinner and opened youtube.Thanks for the free entertainment. The least I can do is like the video, keep up these AMAZING videos. I look forward to each one!!

[@DrivingGod21]

I can't stop playing Pal World, but I guess I can watch a Sam Bram video while doing so.

[@KINGxTWIXX]

thanks sam, i appreciate you videos

[@dynamo_lynn]

Firecracker has a strange effect with the MA70. It removes the explosion VFX of your bullets, but it significantly increases damage. It's a must in my opinion, slap both Firecracker and Pyro on it.

[@TacoLoverPerson]

I've always had the explosion effect when adding Firecracker to the MA70. Maybe it only works on the X-Mod 2?

[@dynamo_lynn]

@@TacoLoverPerson I only tested with the X-Mod 2, so I would guess that yes

[@Al99NextGeneration]

Great content Sam! Cannot wait for SMGs. Erebus FTW! 🎉

[@eldiablo73077]

Sam thank you. Can’t wait for Snipers/SMG’s :3

[@jian4701]

Ngl that thumbnail is wild

[@dbonechis]

We love the Sam Bram consistency 👏

[@GuakstickLabs]

There's some real comedy in me pausing the video at exactly 2:10, coming to the comments and writing for like 5mins about this odd bug that happened with the Mk31 HMG you might not have seen, only to unpause the video and have it APPEAR INSTANTLY. Love the videos, just have to see if 2.2/next update adds MORE weapons!

[@joeylangerak7582]

This guy makes such good videos

[@Hifuutorian]

Legitimately he sets a gold standard for quality.

[@AntisepticHandwash]

​@@Hifuutorian100%. Can't watch any other Cyberpunk analysis channels after his. They're just so lame in comparison.

[@Hifuutorian]

@@AntisepticHandwashIt isn't even just for Cyberpunk honestly. I consider him a standard for all of the games I play.

[@mildsurprise4967]

great videos Sam, I'm excited for you to hit 100K!

[@mattisandin1268]

I've picked up multiple bugged hmg's in my latest playthrough that fires non-damaging bullets like a laser with infinite ammo. Would be really fun if you could use it as a drill melee weapon like thing but never lucky with the bugs I guess because of the no damage, would have been cool if every shot did 1 damage.

[@remz3377]

i love these rank videos

[@madmaxim3965]

Here's hoping you will do blunt melee weapons next, personally I think it's perk tree gives it the most improvements from base. And I just love the designs of most of them (baseball bat, Hammer, Elec Batons) also some of more unique iconics

[@johnroberts838]

Thank you Sam, 👍👍👍

[@SamBram]

Thank you John, glad you enjoyed!

[@mnorris790]

With my gorilla arms berserker build the HMG is basically a lynchpin of my strategy in most fights.

[@skullcowboy9609]

Love the ranking vids. SMG's soon?

[@sebatomic870]

Thank you very much

[@endkrieg5854]

Thank god a Sam bram Video 🙏❤️

[@editorrbr2107]

I just love the way the Defender feels. And it comes in some great paint jobs.

[@r1pbuck]

I am pondering my _next_ playthrough, making it a all-melee and heavy weapon build. I don't normally use the LMGs a lot, but I'll keep all this in mind for then.

[@GameWithDave]

Another preem video Sam. Your editing style is insane. What software do you use?

[@AdamOwenBrowning]

2:04 in versions of the game pre-1.6, you could stash the HMG in your car and retrieve it later and you could stash as many as you wanted. It's mentioned as "fixed" in the 1.6 patch notes.

[@matthewoconnor2742]

Wild Dog is pretty fun with ricochet, and the bigger mag and its special ability combine super well with the level 20 onslaught perk, the gun starts to feel like a minigun after you score a few kills and replenish your ammo without letting off the trigger, that said I do have the iconic recoil reduction hands cyberware(immoveable force). I have trouble deciding between wild dog and the ex mod 2, its very close

[@Mangoscats]

We can all agree Rebecca’s lmg should’ve been an iconic pick up somewhere

[@ShadowProject01]

Hey I’m early for one of your ranking vids! I live LMGs

[@Zymemaru]

I miss being able to put scopes on LMGs. Granted hipfire works great

[@delsus7580]

I never found the "explosive" aspect mention in the xmod gun to trigger the explosion perks. Put in the iconic explosive ammo mod, and that was fixed instantly.

[@bohba13]

I have one sugestion! Smart LMG.

[@gideon.drake31]

You can grab the xmod2 MA70 before even rescuing Myers if you bee-line up the road to your left as soon as you slide down the chute into dogtown. Any dilly-dallying after the crash will result in failing the mission so its touchy

[@stevegamming_16]

After you finish re ranking all the new class of weapons, you could do an all iconic tier list to see which, in your opinion, is the overall iconic gun

[@ZRAGE6]

I actually love LMG is that just wish there was at least a few different more varieties of them but there’s some pretty good ones now so

[@sirgaz8699]

LMGs have one of the few ways that increase mitigation chance(that don't just max it for a few seconds) So I made it with a cool mitigation build, and you don't need immovable force if you are already in cover.

[@chungusumungus4004]

I'm currently doing an LMG + Explosives playthrough and the Defender was so bad early on that I ended up sticking with ARs and shotguns until grabbing my first HA70. Meanwhile, the XMod LMG tears through enemies like tissue paper, especially with the Firecracker mod installed for additional explosions.

[@xt6wagon]

You used be able to stash the hmg in 1.0 and they would refill ammo. I used to have like 3 in the trunk.

[@Stoic_grimace]

MA70 with firecracker and bigmag or shuffler is NCPDs worst nightmare. I missed the xmod version before, but this playthrough I'll get it.

[@drunk_famasmf5135]

MA70 XMOD2 feels like an autocannon, and it's amazing

[@loonyman83]

I think that's your last weapon list right? Way to go man!! I assume you'll be tackling all the cyberware at some point and all I gotta say is, Good Luck Brother!! lol Seriously though, these vids are great.

[@SamBram]

Not quite the last one. I still have to remake Precision Rifles, Snipers, Blunt Weapons and SMGs for 2.0. also quickhacks but that won't be until they release a new patch which hopefully fixes sonic shock

[@loonyman83]

@@SamBram lol man my brain must really not be working. Would've sworn that you already made a sniper/precision rifle vid. Guess i'm getting 2.0 and 1.6 vids mixed up lol. Totally whiffed on the blunt weapons though... I tend to just use gorilla arms for blunt weapons and don't bother lol.

[@SamBram]

@@loonyman83 Yeah blunt weapons I don't expect to perform great (it didn't last time either, nor do berserk videos). Still gotta make it though for my own completionist agenda if not anything else

[@jimijenkins2548]

@@SamBram As a Cyberpunk baseball bat enthusiast, I will watch that video once it releases.

[@BusaNZ1340]

MA70 XMOD2 with Firecracker and Pyro mods is addictive

[@SinistroEdits]

Were you the one who made a video with the location of the 113 iconic weapons in order from the story, open world and Phantom Liberty? I always use this video to progress in new saves, but now it's private.

[@basvanheumen4231]

The MA70 feels cooler to use in my opinion. Picking the Xmod from the choppa, almost makes you feel like you're Rambo or The Terminator. Same as with the hmg, it's like you have an autocannon in your hands, ripped straight from an helicopter or tank.

[@CtheBernwickle]

I have yet to touch an LMG in this game, except for the one you pick up but can’t keep from heavy enemies, as soon as I read “heavy weapon, decreased movement speed” I sold it faster than lightning and continued to dashscoot my way to victory. Or V for short. 0:10

[@christopherfleetwood5252]

There’s a BODY Perk to comp. for that.

[@ronchu4453]

MA70 with the Firecracker mod is pretty devastating.

[@colahe7301]

there was a time when hmgs can be stored in stash and you can pick up and equip weapons during fist fights , the rest speaks for itself 😅

[@rm2569]

i really wish there was a heavy weapons class A la fallout instead of only lmgs. Stuff like the Hypercritcal/Kolac, Hercules 3AX, maybe like a grenade launcher or a rocket launcher of some kind, or even a Flamethrower.

[@milagrosgutierrezmartin9506]

Reminder, if you put in Firecracker in the MA70 HB, every shot will proc pyromania, effectively giving you infinite grenades!

[@Vendacator]

My favorite guns!

[@rotsec]

Very intreedetsting

[@santamuerte4767]

The bipedal robots sometimes drop ammo

[@owenbrandon8370]

Wild dog is my personal favorite. Feels like a gatling gun!

[@andreauster1997]

I am late i know but i have to agree. I am a sucker for huge mags and insane firerates. Most guns feel slow with apogee. But wild dog even in 85% timeslow of apogee is still faster than most guns in realtime. This gun is insane and i love it. First iconic where i am happy not being able to mod it cuz firecracker would be an insane overkill XD

[@owenbrandon8370]

@@andreauster1997 Imagine your own personal explosive round rapid fire machine gun. it would be easily the funnest gun in the game

[@brynnwilson2450]

the Hercules is so weird bc it’s classed as an AR but uses heavy weapon ammo

[@clarencewalters338]

I love LMGs, which is why it saddens me that only shotguns really got any love in the big guns style builds. Also, i feel as though the Hercules should've been the game's one and only smart lmg

[@BadyearOakarus]

god i wish we didn't completely miss out on TWO iconics for siding with somi. they really should have went to the shop like the revolver does

[@ODST_Parker]

I kinda hate that some X-MOD guns have permanent scopes, because I tend to prefer iron sights. That said, it's still gonna be my favorite LMG and one of my favorite guns in the game when I find it. Definitely gonna try out a heavy gunner and projectile launcher build on my current nomad run. I LOVE light and heavy machineguns with a slower cyclic rate, like the M2 Browning. Just CHUNK CHUNK CHUNK through everything in your path, makes you feel like a god of destruction. Throw in an arm attachment launching explosives, and you've got the coolest solo in existence.

[@explodingtoilet6711]

One thing i wish to see in orion is a smart lmg. The truest form of spray and prey

[@andreasliljeklinga6171]

if you are into mods.... there is one 😅

[@wavereb]

I love the feel of lmgs just raining bullets and obliterating gangoons 😊

[@gustavosanches3454]

The MA70 feels soooo clunky to use and the fire rate is so low I always felt like the Defender was a lot ahead when it comes to DPS. I even tried the Xmod version but still cant help but go Defender all the way.

[@AzathothLives]

Yeah, the only thing bad about the air dash is the realization that you can never go back. All of my builds need it now. Who needs vehicles anymore? I am speed.

[@explainyourself6757]

I have the ma70 hb with the explosive rounds mod and big mag, and all the associated perks, its pretty crazy.

[@AintDatSweet]

I think Defender is actually the better one. With hip fire mod and explosive ammo, also after you find a 5++ one of course, it actually slaps

[@rotten6253]

I really wish the bugged one did damage because it’s fire rate is insane

[@EricIsntSmart]

I still wish that there was a perk that would let us put at least a single HMG in our inventory which we can reload and keep

[@cdgonepotatoes4219]

Let opening your car's trunk be more than flavor, drop one in and roll out, it's not like you could reload it anyway

[@xavierglaria8167]

The hmg should have an iconic variant or be craftable >:

[@That1kid16]

Smgs next? 👀

[@Conscientious_Objector7104]

How is it that I only learned about the MA70HB X-Mod2 through this video?

[@SyntheticShinobi]

It didn’t exist up until patch 2.1. Its one of the newest weapons

[@RivadoValon]

Next up precision & sniper rifle please 🙏

[@opfreak]

Lol exactly what the goat did

[@tonyshum5569]

shame there are so little LMGs in this game

[@Ippii]

xmod2 hb70 with firecracker and swiss cheese 🎉

[@YoloToSolo]

MA70 HB X-MOD2 is really the best and there 3 reasons for it The first reason is you can get the weapon right away once you're in Dogtown no missions or side quests or gigs are required The second reason is the LMG itself shoots slowly but it also does more damage per shot which means not only you're doing more damage you're also saving yourself some heavy rounds The third reason is that this weapon is the best when combined with the iconic mod (firecracker) it is brutally fun And for my own reason, I really think this LMG is the best looking LMG in this game the matte black with the slick gold and last but not least the unique (Arasaka scope) So if any of you guys have a high body build I truly recommend you guys getting this weapon and start blowing some NPCs up Enjoy Choombas!

[@DigitalVirusX2]

Personally I never bother with anything ricochet, its such a bass ackwards way of taking out enemies my brain refuses to do it, why would I shoot at the floor to kill them slowly when I'm accurate enough to get consecutive headshots and kill them quicker?

[@fatguy4137]

To let go of the Invisible Chaotic HMG just equip another HMG. Your character should be able to drop.

[@The_Jho]

I have more armor than your build, why do I feel like I’m made of cardboard? Definitely better than how most other builds feel, with them usually feeling like paper or wet tissues, is this literally the tankiest you can get in the game?

[@shock12345671]

I keep sandy bc i run xmod 2 lmg with dezerter

[@HelloChief117]

Yeah, it's a crime that there are only two LMGs and one HMG, considering that they make you feel so damn powerful.

[@Species1571]

The list of LMGs includes an HMG?

[@supportlife669]

I wanna ask... Is the Hypercritical gun an LMG or Rifle?

[@Jay-ho9io]

Precision rifle

[@lergeek1326]

Still waiting for Warhammer build

[@crazy-tommy]

As a pure Netrunner I went also full body as more health = more RAM, so I also tried out the LMGs. Using the MA70 HB with Firecracker was quite fun, as it does even bigger explosions with the mod and stacked Pyromania quite fast. But it was a pain to get a Tier 5++ version with full free mod slots. With the addition of a x-MOD2 variant in patch 2.1 this playstyle is now probably easier achieveable.

[@LASAGNA_LARRY]

How does more health = more RAM? I thought body increased max health and intelligence increased max RAM.

[@crazy-tommy]

@@LASAGNA_LARRY Because of the synergies with Overclock mode. Overclock lets you turn 10 health into 1 RAM, so having more body/health and health regen increasing perks and cyberware lets you use more quickhacks. This is especially good if you also invest into health item upgrades under Technical Ability and use a Biomonitor cyberware in combination with a high level Max Doc item or the Blood Pump cyberware to automatically heal you.

[@TheRyGuy1776]

I need the SMG list

[@tazwarrabab3452]

how do have 600 hp. i struggle to go above 300

[@jackdugan4775]

You can kill civilians for ammo refill

[@conormartin8894]

LMGs just lack impact for me, it feels like using a rapid fire pea shooter honestly. The TTK makes it a really tough choice to use on Very Hard.

[@xthewated]

LMGs are shockingly good considering there’s only 2 iconics of them in the whole game

[@GeneralTheGuy]

Machine guns were really let down in this game, I hope in the sequel they're treated better. Maybe let us get some fancy plated armor too.

[@bloodmoonangel8925]

I'll be honest. I have 20 body and all perks for LMGs, and even with that, I still find LMGs to be weak. I've been playing on Very Hard difficulty so maybe LMGs just don't work in that difficulty

[@char6249]

Oh they do

[@lv83bloodknight]

I got Better HMG mod, so MK31 is the greatest for me lol

[@TheOppossum]

Merci !

[@SamBram]

Merci beaucoup!

[@90lancaster]

#getveeablouse

[@jennifercox6541]

What about Rebecca's lmg

[@rampage8617]

Lmgs are so underwhelming

[@blacksky121_]

Its unfortunate that these guns are ugly af

[@2livecrew88]

LMG’s are super disappointing the time to kill is so slow that it’s jarring compared to every other weapon type. They should hit 2-3 times harder than they do gimmick weapon class