Railgun: Strong or Weak?

[Combat]

Whenever my options for an ordinance are a railgun and a needler, I feel cheated. I seriously don't see how a railgun is really a power weapon. However, I've heard people that feel the gun is very good at its job.

 

To me, the gun is essentially almost impossible to get a kill with. It is like a joke version of the spartan laser, and it seems to have a very small blast radius if any at all. Essentially, you need to get a body shot. That means you have to lead your target, and that makes the weapon practically impossible to aim because of the high level of accuracy needed to use it effectively. If I miss and the opponent is shooting at me, I won't get another shot, and I have really bad luck trying to land a shot on people (and it seems useless against vehicles).

 

In general, it seems weaker than a BR or DMR. However, I've heard that a lot of people like the weapon. What are your feelings on it?

[Tommy]

Whenever my options for an ordinance are a railgun and a needler, I feel cheated. I seriously don't see how a railgun is really a power weapon. However, I've heard people that feel the gun is very good at its job.

 

To me, the gun is essentially almost impossible to get a kill with. It is like a joke version of the spartan laser, and it seems to have a very small blast radius if any at all. Essentially, you need to get a body shot. That means you have to lead your target, and that makes the weapon practically impossible to aim because of the high level of accuracy needed to use it effectively. If I miss and the opponent is shooting at me, I won't get another shot, and I have really bad luck trying to land a shot on people (and it seems useless against vehicles).

 

In general, it seems weaker than a BR or DMR. However, I've heard that a lot of people like the weapon. What are your feelings on it?

 

I love it, it's got a fast reload and if you can play it right you could get some really nice kills. It's good for surprise kills in my opinions, stay behind a wall and charging it up just a little bit then popping out and killing someone. It might be one of my faves.

[LiQuid BioniX]

Strong. I usually try and use it to destroy vehicles when the opportunity arises. It's got a quick reload time and that makes it very effective. Sometimes, though, I'll just go and kill some people on foot with it It's a blast (literally)!

 

I would say that it's either my first or second choice from ordinance, probably more of a second choice and I select it on a situational basis (i.e. if there are lots of vehicles).

[LanceLercher]

I love the Railgun! You don't have to wait the entire time to fire it, and you can release it a little early. It's got a fair splash radius and it reloads fairly quickly. I haven't tried it on vehicles yet, but on players, it is a boss if you have any aim at all.

[Combat]

It may just be that I have either no aim or hideous lag. I feel like I am threading a needle with a sledgehammer trying kill players at any distance with the railgun. Seems to require no-scope levels of accuracy, but the way the projectile works, it could be altered by lag pretty significantly.

 

Usually, when I get a power weapon I want something that I can kill a normal person before they kill me, but I cannot kill people in an equal fight with the railgun. The only success I've ever had is against people that weren't aware of me.

[Harbinger]

I consider it strong its a one hitter if you have good accuracy and it can hit long range. The reload and ammo are just enough to where its not over powered though.

[Cluegiver]

Railgun is my favorite ordinance weapon. I consider it a mini-laser, except it has shorter charge time. I like to use PV and dexterity with it and every shot is an automatic kill. I love it

[RedStarRocket91]

Once you get used to the charge time, it's a real threat. If your aim is good, you can finish most fights before your shields have even dropped. And it works absolute wonders when combined with Promethean Vision or careful use of the motion tracker, as you can get it charging before a target is even in a position to shoot you. It's also got a nice punch against vehicles: not wildly destructive, but certainly enough to make the lighter ones like the Ghost think twice before taking you on.

[Shadow15151]

i LOVE the railgun.

i get a kill with every bullet in most maps, its for mid/close range for sure though

and i usually use promethian vision to see where the enemy is and start charging before moving into firing range

[OsteoPerogies]

The Railgun is a tricky beast indeed. Sometimes when I use it and think i've aligned a perfect shot right next to an opponent, nothing happens. Other times, I can't believe that the shot even hit them. I'd say take it into custom games and get familiar with it.

[JONxJITSU]

I think the rail gun is pretty weak. I'm thinking it was given a nerf recently. Last night two dudes were rolling up on me with a Warthog to do a drive by so i got some space and blasted them with the railgun didnt blow up...the hog came back for more and i blasted them again on their backside...but it didn't blow up and drove away with them probably laughing at me.

[itssaul]

its really good, but imo it needs to be able to kill a ghost with one direct shot to the front....

also bigger blast radius.

 

regardless i get lotsa kills wif it

[Hᴜᴍᴘsᴛʏʟᴇs]

Definitely strong. I like to use it to split up groups of opponents, maybe if 2 or 3 are sticking together. It's also great to use indoors in small rooms to cause confusion and disorientation.

[RaptorUnbound]

When I first used the Railgun I didn't like it because I couldn't hit anything. However after a few tries with it I began to like it. So in my opinion it's a decent weapon.

[McBango513]

I love the Railgun for one big reason: it taught me how to use the Spartan Laser. I don't know what it was with me but I could not hit ANYTHING with the Splaser in Reach. Suddenly, after using the Railgun, I've hit nearly every shot in a Spartan Laser mag time after time.

[Wolfspector]

I think it's great. One of my favorite weapons, and it's about 60-40 chance in favor of getting a kill without PV. Then again I always use dexterity, so the reload is good enough for me to get a second shot usually if I miss. Try using it like a rocket. Charge up, jump, and aim down. I will admit that the radius in it isn't the best if you miss, meaning when I barely miss and hit by their foot or something they survive sometimes

[Fishy]

I love rail gun, it's more anti-infantry then anti-vehicle though. Seriously?! You don't even get enough shots to take down a tank with it..

[SatanicBagels]

It's essentially a skill based version of the rocket launcher.

 

*Can't rapid fire shots (Have to make it first time)

*Lower splash radius

*Requires good timing

 

I think it is meant to be a sort of midway point between the strength of standard loadout weapons and that of the rocket launcher. So in a sense it's only weak if you compare it with some of the other weapons. I wish it would show up more in personal ordinance.

[PHIL0S0PHY]

If you're accurate, than it is good, if not, than it isn't