LMG

LMG
Specifications
Type	Light Machine Gun
SoldierClass	Heavy
Base Damage	3 - 5
Critical Damage	6 - 7
Critical Chance	0%
Effective Range	Medium
Damage to environment	60
Clip Size	3-8 bursts of 10 rounds
Cost	None

The LMG (Light Machine Gun) is a heavy weapon in XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

Availability

As with all conventional weapons, the LMG is available at the beginning of the game. Supply is unlimited.

Tactical Info

“	▪  Capable of suppressing enemies, if the Heavy has appropriate training ▪  Expends ammunition at a high rate	”
– Tactical Info, XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Notes

• The LMG's Critical Damage is incorrectly listed as 6-8 in XCOM: Enemy Within.
• The LMG and the Minigun are the most terrain-damaging conventional weapons available in Enemy Unknown/Within: Both inflict roughly 1/4 of the damage dealt by a Frag Grenade against destructible cover (three times more than the Assault Rifle), therefore being the most reliable weapons at the beginning of the game at exposing aliens via gunfire.
• Given that a missed shot might miss both the enemy and the cover used by him entirely, however, cover destruction cannot be reasonably expected. Rather, it is a possible benefit that may occur by chance, that can be taken advantage of in situations where the entire squad takes average/low percentage shots against an enemy in Overwatch, for instance; if all members of the squad are planning to fire their weapons anyway, it is beneficial for the Heavy to fire first, to take advantage of the possibility that the shot may destroy the enemy unit's cover and expose it to the other squad members' attacks.

Trivia

• The real world influence for this gun may be the FN Minimi machine gun, known as the M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) in the U.S. military. The EXALT version of the LMG is an almost exact duplicate of the real machine gun's appearance.
• When fired in a normal attack, its rate of fire sounds to be roughly 600 rounds per minute, comparable to LMGs/GPMGs firing the heavier 7.62 NATO round. The bursts that are fired from the Suppression ability, however, have a cyclic rate that is audibly much higher, at 800 to 900 rounds per minute, like the M249, chambered for the 5.56 NATO round. This is not a discrepancy, as it is possible the LMG used by XCOM, like certain firearms in real life, has a switch to set the cyclic firing rate, by means of a regulator valve on the gas return tube. This discrepancy is no longer present in XCOM: Enemy Within; the cyclic rate is portrayed consistently in both attacks and Suppression.
• Judging by its size, ammunition consumption per attack and damage, it could be assumed that the LMG is fired without focused aiming. Compared to the other conventional weapons, the LMG's rate of fire should tear apart targets easily if the majority of the rounds hit, especially at close range. However, the damage values are likely designed around game balance rather than realism.

Gallery

A Heavy fires an LMG.