[b]INCOMING TEXTWALL; READ IF YOU'RE A NERD, WATCH IF YOU AIN'T GOT TIME FOR DAT ;) If you like the vid, feel free to drop by my channel any time and like/sub if you feel that I deserve it![/b] Hey guys. This week, I’m taking a look at the Arminius-D, a Hakke auto rifle that falls under the same archetype as Doctrine of Passing. At first glance, this gun doesn’t look like much to talk about; It’s basically a Doctrine of Passing with slightly worse stats and a different perk tree. There’s nothing to indicate that Arminius-D is anything more than the high Rate of Fire auto rifle for “casuals” who can’t make it to the lighthouse enough to have the “pro AR”. But after ordering it this last armsday, I have to say that this is a hidden gem among the foundry weapons--as long as you get the right roll. [b]The Perfect Roll[/b] Being, in terms of stats, a wannabe Doctrine of Passing, you’d expect me to recommend waiting for a Counterbalance roll, right? WRONG. The key perk to a good roll on the Arminius is the old Suros Regime favorite, Focused Fire. That said, the ideal roll (in my mind, at least) is as follows: [i]•Sights:[/i] ◦ Tier 1: GB Iron Sights. These agile, stable irons will play to the weapon’s strengths; the parallax movement of the sights while firing will allow you to easily compensate and manage recoil. ◦Tier 2: LD Watchdog. This scope has a nice reticle that I find conducive to my playstyle for getting kills at mid range with the archetype of weapon. [i]•Primary Perks:[/i] ◦Slot 1: Crowd Control or Army of One. Crowd Control will be fully appreciated on this roll of the Arminius, as you’ll usually have around 30 rounds left in the mag after a kill, allowing you to engage multiple targets within the unrestrictive mag size. Army of One is generally a good perk to have, given that any buff to ability cooldown is very useful on any weapon. ◦Slot 2: Focused Fire. Without Focused Fire, all you’re going to have is a boring DoP wannabe. Focused Fire allows you to proportionally drop the archetype down to that of the Zarinaea-D or Zhalo Supercell while keeping all 72 bullets in the magazine. Effectively, this turns your Arminius into a primary LMG that can hose down your enemies with a spray of bullets without requiring you to worry about how many bullets you have left. [i]•Final Perk Tree:[/i] ◦Tier 1: Single Point Sling. This perk doesn’t have a huge effect on the weapon, but it’s nice to have that slight extra equip speed and ADS movement speed given that a lot of your time with this weapon is going to be spent aiming down sights. ◦Tier 2: Speed Reload. Again, not a super useful perk, but it does help to have a bit more reload speed just to boost your “uptime” even more. ◦Tier 3: Braced Frame. A pretty good option that significantly buffs stability… as long as you’re willing to sacrifice 12 rounds of your mag, dropping it down to a still-high 60. [b]Strengths: [/b] The ability to switch between RoFs based on your ADS state is incredibly useful and versatile (see Strategy Guide for details). You’ll find that this weapon can excel where any auto rifle can reach its climax of effectiveness, and it’ll perform well everywhere else. The recoil is manageable, and it has a big enough magazine that you’ll be done fighting before you need to reload. It’s the ideal auto rifle, and it sets the standard for close-mid range tools of destruction. [b]Weaknesses:[/b] Unfortunately, however, the Arminius is still an auto rifle, and therefore must deal with shotguns, scout rifles, and pulse rifles as competition. Not to say that you can’t compete with it--I’m taking it into Trials this weekend--but you may find yourself struggling to keep up with an avid MIDA user at range. [b]Strategy Guide:[/b] The Arminius-D (Focused Fire edition) is an incredibly smooth and forgiving auto rifle. That said, there are some strategies that I’ve found to bolster the weapon’s effectiveness, making full use of the perks. The amazing thing about the Focused Fire perk is that it allows you to have the best of both archetypes of auto rifles… with fewer weaknesses. You can ADS and boom you’ve got yourself an auto rifle that can compete at low mid range--the perfect place for an auto rifle. But zoom out and you have yourself a hot knife that, when accurately fired from the hip, can slice through the enemies’ butter like… a hot knife through butter. A great application for this ability is to prime the enemy with a grenade or the ADS mode of fire, and then zoom out as you close the gap with a jump or skate, harassing them with a hail of gunfire. Not only is this effective, but it’s DANG FUN! Whenever I pull off a midair hipfire or a smooth swap from the high to low fire rates, I feel like I’m the coolest guy in the game. It’s really a rewarding experience. Tap firing (for those of your Battlefielders) also seems like a legitimate practice for hitting shots that are a little out of range. [b]Conclusion:[/b] In total, I feel that the Arminius-D is worthy of a solid 8/10. It’s a solid gun and a viable competitor, if you play it right. Should you buy it? Definitely. It’s worth holding as an order until Banshee decides to roll some more Focused Fire gems, but without that, it’s pretty average. Much like other ARs out there, the Arminius’ quality depends on a good roll with specific perks, but since you can get 3 “rerolls” per week, that’s relatively easy to get.