Heavy Assault Rifle

The Heavy Assault Rifle is a new weapon in the Doom 2016 reboot. It uses .50 caliber FMJ rounds, and it appears to be a belt fed machine gun (possibly based on the M249) though with the ammo feed. It shares its ammo pool with the Chaingun.

Official description: "Although recently superseded by the Plasma Rifle as the UAC's standard issue weapon, the Heavy Assault Rifle is still in widespread use due to its dependable mechanical firing mechanism, high accuracy at long range, and an abundant supply of ammunition. The weapon is effective at all engagement distances, and is best used against a solitary target, unless a micro missile modification is present. The standard issue ammunition is a .50 caIiber FMJ round."

Based on its description and characteristics, the Heavy Assault Rifle is more like a heavy machine gun than an assault rifle by early 21st century standards. It fires from a closed bolt, but is belt fed. Additionally, it is stated that it fires a .50 caliber round. Judging by the cartridge's appearance, it is roughly equivalent to the .50 BMG round, which has historically only been used for heavy machine guns and sniper/anti-material rifles. It's size and powered might explain why it has been supplemented by the Plasma Rfile. However, at least some UAC soldiers utilize a form of power armor, which might allow a single user to fire the high powered, high capacity gun as if it were an assault rifle.

In terms of gameplay, the Heavy Assault Rifle is a very well rounded weapon that can be useful is virtually every situation, but is rarely the best weapon for any particular situation. It has a medium rate of fire, higher than that of semi-auto or pump action firearms, but lower than of the Plasma Rifle or Chaingun. Its rounds rounds are relatively low power (dealing 9 damage per body shot in multiplayer), but they have the highest velocity, as well as good accuracy. However, the Heavy Assault Rifle suffers from crosshair bloom during sustained firing, meaning the longer the trigger is held down, the less accurate each shot becomes. This means the user much restrict him or herself to increasingly smaller bursts the farther away a target is.

The Heavy Assault Rifle can be fitted with one of two modifications in single player. The first is a scope, and the second is an micro missile launcher, capable of firing several small explosive rockets in rapid succession. In multiplayer, the Heavy Assault Rifles comes with the scope attachment only.

Weapon Modifications

 * Tactical Scope
 * Micro Missiles

Trivia

 * If no ammo is available, the Heavy Assault Rifle's belt-fed cartridge will be visually empty.