Homefront Multiplayer Guide - Assault Rifles

An overview of the general use of the assault rifles in Homefront multiplayer. Covers basic tactics, shooting, cover and movement - as well as loadouts, abilities, purchase slots and vehicle use.

With an assault rifle, you'll be the bread and butter of any team: capable of being effective in both offensive and defensive roles, there are few weapons as versatile.

With relatively low recoil, a moderate rate of fire and good damage at range they're the most balanced of all the weapons, not demanding a specific style of play but allowing for a certain degree of adaptability.

The assault rifles comprise the lion's share of your total arsenal, and the two starting rifles are good all-round choices - the M4 boasts low recoil, while the ACR has the edge in damage.

This makes the M4 a superior weapon for long-range maps, and the ACR excellent at assaulting interior points, while still maintaining the ranged ability of the assault rifles.

The later unlocks are less versatile - the SCAR-L is a 3-round burst weapon that boasts considerable power, but demands precision in your shots - and the M16, a semi-automatic high damage weapon that suits a similarly accurate, long-range style of engagement.

The two later unlocks are the T3AK rifle, with high damage and recoil with a slower fire rate - and the XM10, a high fire rate weapon blurring the boundaries between the assault rifles and SMGs.

When spawning, your insertion onto the battlefield gives you a valuable insight to your enemy's position - your viewpoint will zoom down from the sky, with the red names indicating enemy threats.

This is a useful guard against enemies close to your spawn location - take careful note of any enemy close to where you spawn, and use your knowledge of their position to your advantage before they can do too much damage.

One thing to note is that you can spawn into the gunner seat of a teammate's vehicle if a slot is open.

This is usually a good choice, as a vehicle without a gunner isn't operating at its potential - and being able to spawn in the thick of it is a great way to keep in the fight.

Of course, it's entirely possible to spawn into a vehicle about to meet its doom - so there is an element of risk involved - but the benefits outweigh this risk.

The large maps of Homefront means that combat can occur across a wide spectrum of ranges, and the distance from your target dictates the way that you should be firing your weapon - aim time and recoil are both factors here.

At long ranges, the recoil of your weapon will mean automatic fire is ineffective - tapping the trigger will permit the recoil to reset and allow you to get another accurate shot.

At middle range, when your target is clearly visible, fully automatic fire is the most effective. As long as you aim for centre mass, the majority of your shots should find their target - putting them down more rapidly.

At very close ranges, such as when you encounter an enemy unexpectedly or when you find yourself inside a building - hip firing is probably your best option. You'll waste some ammunition, but the time saved by not aiming down your sight may very well save your life - and a target at close range is much harder to hit with precise fire, so hipfire will grant you some leeway.

Generally, when shooting you will want to be in cover - the smaller the target you present to the enemy the better you'll fare in a gunfight.

The absence of destructible terrain or bullet penetration makes cover a critical factor in winning gunfights - with something solid to hide behind you'll be impossible to kill, so if you're taking hits it's wise to step back into safety.

Ideally, when shooting you'll expose as little as possible, by adjusting your stance and position so that your point of aim is only barely above the cover - this will give you the maximum protection possible.

Should there be no good cover available, you can still present a smaller target by going prone - as well as providing a more stable firing stance, you'll be much harder to hit.

Movement in this game means exposing yourself to risks across multiple sightlines, so should be done only when necessary or when tackling an objective.

Once you've fired from a spot, it is wise to not linger for so long - every unsilenced shot fired will attract the enemy towards that location, so moving from cover to cover periodically is beneficial.

When attacking objectives there are times when you'll have to cover open spaces - often an unavoidable risk. Move from cover to cover when you're able and otherwise keep sprinting when exposed - a moving target is more difficult for a sniper to hit.

When assaulting a location, it's good to move with your team - doing so will allow you to hit a control point from multiple angles simultaneously, making life much harder for any enemy defenders.

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