Battlefield 4 Loadout Guide – What The Pros Use

The latest game in the Battlefield franchise packs a staggering amount of weapons, both old and new. Of course, players were quick to identify those weapons that are the most effective. Called them OP (Over Powered) or just plain better, they are the weapon of choice for professional teams in competitive matches. With this guide I would like to give a little bit more information on the most common weapons used, favorite accessories attached, as well as, a simple tip how to manage their recoil.

The most popular mode in the competitive scene currently is Domination. Since, this is infantry based mode, the preferred class here is the Assault and thus we will focus on Assault Rifles and Carbines as they are the most widely used types of firearms.

Assault Rifles

ACE 23

This is undoubtedly the most popular rifle by far. Its low recoil, spray and ease of handling, while also being quite accurate even in long distances (930m maximum distance) has made it a controversial weapon. Many players in pub servers have been flaming its constant use, but in competitive games you must use everything to your advantage, especially the weapons. The recoil increase as well as spread is small both in ADS and HIP firing, thus making it quite accurate even without attachments.

Max Damage	25
Min Damage	18
Drop-off Start	8m
Drop-off End	55m
Recoil Up	0.36
Recoil Left	0.15
Recoil Right	0.25

Source: Symthic.com

SCAR-H

The SCAR-H in game is maybe the second most used gun amongst professional players. It is quite effective in close range as it deals more damage than the AC3 23, but at the cost of more recoil. Its slower rate of fire and a magazine of just 21 bullets makes it a wee bit harder to master. Even though it has a shorter maximum distance, it deals more damage in longer ranges than any other weapons discussed here. If controlled properly, it can reward the user with deadly long shots.

Max Damage	34
Min Damage	25
Drop-off Start	8m
Drop-off End	55m
Recoil Up	0.5
Recoil Left	0.2
Recoil Right	0.2

Source: Symthic.com

AEK-971

The AEK-971 together with the M16A3 this was the most used weapon in Battlefield 3. This led to a large nerf of the gun in Battlefield 4. It is a personal favorite of mine although it’s not used quite often in competitive matches. As in real life, it has an incredible rate of fire of 900 rpm giving it a shorter time to kill in comparison with the other guns. A much larger first shot recoil multiplier and an increased recoil to the right though, makes the AEK-971 a challenging weapon to master. It does the same damage in short and long distances as the ACE 23 and holds the same amount of spread in all situations.

Max Damage	25
Min Damage	18
Drop-off Start	8m
Drop-off End	55m
Recoil Up	0.38
Recoil Left	0.15
Recoil Right	0.4

Source: Symthic.com

Carbines

ACE 52 CQB

This is the larger caliber version of the ACE 23. It has much more damage both at close and long range. It generally also offers tighter spread than the other weapons. These advantages come at the cost of higher recoil at all levels and a high first shot recoil multiplier. Also, this carbine has the slowest bullet velocity of only 400 m/s. Nevertheless, it can be quite accurate and both medium and longer ranges, thus used quite often by professional teams.

Max Damage	34
Min Damage	20
Drop-off Start	8m
Drop-off End	50m
Recoil Up	0.45
Recoil Left	0.25
Recoil Right	0.25

Source: Symthic.com

Attachments

The most widely used attachments is the Coyote RDS for an optic and Muzzle Brake for barrel, Laser Sight as an accessory and Ergo Grip for underbarrel. The Coyote is a Chinese red dot sight which offers a wider field off view while in ADS. The Muzzle Brake will offer more stability by reducing muzzle climb. The Ergo Grip will improve the hip fire accuracy while moving. Lately though, you will notice a lot players abandoning the Laser Sight and even only adding a scope and not using any other attachments on their weapons.

Recoil Control

There is a fairly simple method of controlling recoil that I am sure most experienced players already use. Just jump in a server with no people, stand in front of a wall, ADS and empty your magazine on the wall. Observe the pattern of bullet spray and see where these bullets go. To counter the recoil while shooting, just move your mouse in the opposite direction. For example the AEK-971 has an upper right recoil and in order to counter it, you must move your mouse down left. Of course make sure to burst fire in order to remain accurate. Usually a burst of 5 rounds will keep your sight in place. As an illustration, below you can see the recoils of all abovementioned weapons in the range of 30 to 50 meters.

This concludes our Battlefield 4 loadout guide. This was probably not anything new for most, but the idea was to illustrate the reasons why these several weapons are preferred by players and hopefully make it easier for people to select their own favorite based on the information provided.