M249

Summary
The M249, formally referred to as the M249 S quad A utomatic W eapon (SAW), is a light machine gun added to R2DA in its 100th update—otherwise known as v1.0.0.

It has quite a bit of ammo, great range, decent accuracy, and can be compared to the Minigun due to the fact that they both tear zombies to bits. The most important difference between the two, however, is that the M249 is refillable.

However, this does come with some trade-offs: higher rank requirement, higher price, longer reload, and the shared trait of slowed walkspeed. This makes you an easy target for Brute clubs, Elemental fireballs, Edgars' tongues, etc, so you must be aware of your positioning. This is also a crowd control weapon, like the Minigun. Treat it as such.

Background Story
The M249 was a weapon to behold - a most powerful machine gun, capable of mowing down waves of zombies in the matter of seconds.

Unfortunately, the engineers at R-Brain Hardworks couldn't develop a 200 rounds box magazine that were in military usage prior to the SANI Virus, so they went for... downsized 55 round box magazines.

...So yeah. It trades out the lack of ammo for a slow-firing high-calibre Light Machine Gun that could critically damage or wipe out a charged brute in a minute or so. And it's damn heavy.

Still, better than nothing. Its ability to penetrate multiple zombies at once is a great advantage!

Tips

 * Aim down sights as often as possible when shooting as spread is decreased.
 * This weapon slows you down when it is equipped.
 * Be aware of any mobs the same way as if you had a Minigun.
 * However, it only takes a quarter of your speed.
 * Compared to the Minigun, your movement speed is increased by +4.
 * Fire in short bursts of rounds to conserve ammo.
 * This gun is also decently accurate and long-ranged, so don't be afraid to attack far away enemies.
 * You can bring it a step further and try aiming for the head. A simple headshot with this deals 130 damage, one-shotting most Normal Zombies without any levelling.
 * You can also crouch and ADS to improve the accuracy even further to achieve maximum efficiency.
 * Bring in a reliable secondary that can help with the long 4.85 second reload.
 * The CK Swat and Axe can quickly take care of zombies that are closing in.
 * The Steyr M is also a good choice to use with its abundant ammo.
 * The Mini Uzis are the most reliable weapons to use against zombies chasing after you while reloading since their Rate of Fire (~0.12s 500 RPM) can mow down a horde of zombies in a matter of seconds.
 * The Rambo Knife, Karambit, and Tinpot are nice and light weapons to use to get away from zombies while having to reload.
 * The Baseball Bat, with the Tactical II or Scout, can clean a huge horde of zombies.
 * If your secondary isn't enough, stick with teammates so they can protect you when reloading.
 * Bring a Tactical II or Scout with you, the vests provides bonus stamina which can be useful if you need to run away from the battle to reload.
 * Unlike the Minigun, the M249 does not need to use the Bandolier to gain extra mags. Normal vests are fine.
 * Like the Minigun, this is a good tool to use against a Brute.
 * You should consider this weapon a reloadable Minigun. Treat it as such.
 * If Killstreaks matter to you, this weapon can be used to rack up combos.
 * It's best to bring the Hipfire attachment on small maps like Café County as it increases your accuracy.
 * This can penetrate through 2 targets, hitting 3 targets in total.

Pros

 * High Damage
 * Hard Impact
 * High Magazine Ammo
 * High DPS
 * Very High Damage per Magazine
 * Very High Total Damage
 * Automatic

Cons

 * Slow Walkspeed
 * Slow Reload
 * Expensive
 * High Ranked

Updates

 * Rank changed from 25 to 30 in v1.0.2.
 * Accuracy changed from 100 to 50 in v1.2.0.
 * Damage changed from 95 to 65 in v1.2.0.


 * This is the second machine gun to be added to R2DA, with the Minigun being the first.
 * However, this is the first light machine gun in the R2D series, as the Minigun is a heavy machine gun.
 * This was the first Prestige Rank weapon since the days of the former Rank 25 requirement for the Spas-12.
 * This is the first gun to offer animations as Attachments.
 * This is the most expensive primary weapon in R2DA, although the Debug SCAR-H was more expensive at the time.
 * The Tri-Blaster has since beaten it.
 * This is the second weapon that you cannot sprint with, the Minigun being the first.
 * This is one of the five guns currently capable of penetrating zombies.
 * In real life, the M249's rate of fire is faster than in-game.
 * About 800 RPM to be exact.
 * The M249 is sometimes referred to as the "Squad Automatic Weapon" alone.
 * An actual M249 has a 200 round capacity compared to the 55 you see in-game.