In this thread, I will be giving my opinion on the best reforgable heavy machine guns and perk combos. For other weapon classes go here :
Let me start off by saying that I think Heavy Machine Guns aren't as good as Rocket Launchers in PvE. In PvE I want alot of damage fast. With a rocket launcher I can jump out of cover, shoot a rocket and immediately jump back in. With an HMG I need to stay out in the open, where all enemies can see me, and fire at what I'm firing at. Rockets are less risky for PvE.
[b][u]PvP[/u][/b]
For PvP, anything between HMGs like the NM vendor one and Corrective Measure are great HMGs. My favorites are BTRD-345 and THE SWARM.
For the first column I'd suggest Spray and Play, as I always like to reload it fast(Note : I have not seen the Counterbalance or the Rodeo perk affect any HMG).
For the middle column, try to get Casket Mag(-Stability +Mag Size). Casket Mag doesn't take that much stability off from what I've seen.
For the final perk, go with Persistence(Grows more stable the longer it is fired), Army of One(Reduced melee and grenade cooldown) or Feeding Frenzy(Faster reload after a kill). These are all great perks for an HMG.
[u][b]How To HMG[/b][/u]
When picking up HMG ammo, don't just run into the other team, as atleast one will have a Rocket Launcher, and that rocket could cost you your heavy ammo. Go the long way around, try to flank them. When you arrive at the battle scene, most people will be dead, and no rockets to threaten you. Then just play carefully the rest of the game. Don't be afraid to use Nova or FoH if you have over half of the mag left. Those bullets may get you another super.
[b][u]PvE[/u][/b]
As my introduction told you, Rockets are superior in PvE. But I will still post the best perks for PvE.
For the first column, try to get Surplus. This is the absolute best on an HMG in PvE(Surplus [u]does not[/u] affect the amount of heavy you get from Crucible).
For middle column, again, try to get Casket Mag. For the final perk, try to get Army of One or Grenadier, as HMGs are meant to clear out small trash mobs, and so they get more kills, and with Army of One or Grenadier, you'll have tons of grenades and melee charges all the time.
That was my opinion on HMGs. Feel free to argue with me about perk choices/combos but please tell me why you think otherwise too. Next I will be making a Reforge Guide for shotguns.
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On my BTRD-345 for the final perk I think crowd control is a lot better than most other perks. (If you do view you can look at my perks for my machine gun) With counterbalance and high stability with high impact and lower rate of fire HMG is great. Close to perfect stability which will leave you with almost a nonrecoil HMG. Personally for the middle column I would go for those armor piercing rounds skip rounds, or high caliber rounds cause you know better impact means betters kills in PvP. For scope I would go accurized ballistics, counter balance counters that while giving more impact and range to the gun. As a hunter landing headshots with gunslingers trance pretty much gets you perfect stability but other than that the stability is amazing from base stats. The last perk imo has to be crowd control, I mean who doesn't want to mow down a lot of enemies. If you're anything like me landing headshots with any gun is second nature. I used to use Zombie apocalypse with 100% stability doing around 43 headshots. With my BTRD at around 80% stability (with all the perks on and no gunslingers trance) I am doing around 63 headshots w/o crowd control and 71 headshot w/ crowd control. Fast reload speed is a good thing for HMG as well but from my experience running around as a gunslinger hunter with chain of woe, landing headshot kills pretty much gives me a fast reload and makes it not really needed to be part of the gun perks.