The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

[vbl]

I've posted this about 6 times and people still ask whether the P90 is good or not. Worse than that are the people that continue to recommend this gun despite overwhelming data to the contrary.

So then, let's be plain - the P90 is useless. It's crap. It's arguably the worst unlock in the game. Here's why...

Weapon effectiveness in BF2 can be measured on three primary dimensions:
1) Damage
2) Accuracy
3) Rate of Fire

The philosophy here is simple. Either:
1) Hit hard
2) Hit where you want, when you want
or
3) Put so many bullets into the air that it doesn't matter how accurate you are and how much damage you do because the target is going to be buried in hot lead anyway

The best weapons (AK-101, G36E) have a good mix of all of them. Most weapons have good showings in 2 categories. Poor weapons excel in 1. The P90 excels in NONE.

Using my numbers above:
1) It does 19 damage, the lowest in the game. Lower than a pistol.
2) It shares the worst deviation in the game, .6, with the other submachine guns. (Shotguns do not count in this comparison because they're supposed to spread)
3) Its rate of fire is 600, less than all of the other SMGs (MP5, PP-19, Type 85, MP7).

Superficial advantages like the red-dot sight and 50 round clip are just that, superficial. The sight is pointless on a gun that deviates so badly. The clip is pointless because you'll rarely live long enough to use it all. Another interesting note on clip size is that you can actually fire 60 rounds from the MP5 (including the reload) in the same time it takes to fire 50 and reload with the P90.

In a game where "spike damage" (lots of damage in a short amount of time) is critical to take out your target before it heals, runs, or fights back, the P90 is absolutely horrible.

That means the not only is the P90 NOT an upgrade to the default SMGs, it's not even a equal alternative. It's worse.

I am sorry that the P90 sucks so badly - hell, I wasted an unlock on it too. I remember the days of CS where its rate of fire was just about all it had going for it. I had high hopes for the P90, but it really is lame.

I recommend the DAO-12 if you plan on operating in close. Otherwise, give the MP5/PP-19 another try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with their adjustments, and find them infinitely more useful than the P90.

[Talus]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

Yup..I wasted an unlock on it.

But since I'm 'AT class', I figured I'd better unlock it

[Digital-Boy]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

Kind of unfortunate that that's the case. It might have been more useful if it did more damage than the other SMGs. They could have just left the MP7 and P90 at 24 damage/shot, which would "make sense" (hypenated because BF doesn't always make sense) since they both fire the 5.7x28mm round.

[megamanfre]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

According to the chart someone posted, its more or less the same as the other AT weapons across the board, except for slower rate of fire, Sub Deviation per shot, and the time to kill. The time to kill is reflected through the rate of fire though, which would have an effect on how long it takes the target to realize theyre getting shot, find you, and kill you.

Overall, hard numbers suggest its not really much worse than any of the other unlocks. I tend to use single shot on all the weapons I can, because Im a sniper at heart, and tend to try and use stealth as much as possible. That, and the fact that if I use single shot, Im more accurate.

Im actually pretty excited the new support gun has a burst mode, because thatll make me a lil more accurate, cause Ive started to play that a lot lately.

[Digital-Boy]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

What does sub deviation per shot mean anyway? I've never seen/heard of that trait before the v1.2 weapon chart.

[vbl]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

According to the chart someone posted, its more or less the same as the other AT weapons across the board, except for slower rate of fire, Sub Deviation per shot, and the time to kill. The time to kill is reflected through the rate of fire though, which would have an effect on how long it takes the target to realize theyre getting shot, find you, and kill you.

Overall, hard numbers suggest its not really much worse than any of the other unlocks. I tend to use single shot on all the weapons I can, because Im a sniper at heart, and tend to try and use stealth as much as possible. That, and the fact that if I use single shot, Im more accurate.

Im actually pretty excited the new support gun has a burst mode, because thatll make me a lil more accurate, cause Ive started to play that a lot lately.

P90's minimum deviation is too high for single shot to be reliable.

[Hu.Z_of_PLA]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

P90 = the bf2 offical snob gun

think you are leet? try to own with P90. You cannot possibly have worse firearm than it (yes, IT IS the WORST weapon in game)

[vbl]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

What does sub deviation per shot mean anyway? I've never seen/heard of that trait before the v1.2 weapon chart.

For every consecutive bullet, a certain deviation modifier is added up to a maximum deviation modifier. You can reset this by not firing, which lets the gun "cool down" - you can see this at work when, after shooting, the lines on the crosshair tighten back up after spreading out.

[rombaft]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

it's no secret, the P90 sucks hard, I have it unlocked , used it the first day of 1.2 patch just to see what it's all about, and now it's back in the closet and it will never get out

[FordMustang]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

I like it, its better than the Mp5 to me, becuase i have about maybe 5 kills with the Mp5, i have the same amount with the p90 only using it once

[Xurreal]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

So how good is the P90!? j/k

You're dead on about the red dot sight and 50 clip being superficial advantages.

When I saw the P90's stats off duck's chart I was appaled, yet I unlocked it to see how bad was it anyway. One unlock later and a few games of staring at the sky with the message "You have been killed", I have officially selved the P90.

Dice seriously needs to review the P90, I know that DICE has been always referring unlocks as "alternatives" but what exactly is the P90 an alternative of? I just can't help but think that DICE left the P90 that way as on oversight when they improved the existing SMG's.

Well in the end, I still have the DAO-12:/

[wbcninjaofmist]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

I actually enjoy when the ENEMY uses the p90 on me.... I get that "well this will be easy feeling" like when an enemy chases me with his knife out and ive got my iron sights on his head. Its like i dont even bother looking at my health bar... ill be suprised if ive lost more than a couple small bars when the shooting is over.

[WarGimp]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

Interesting how personal experaince and numbers can conflict, eh?

The first burst from my P90 resulted in a kill. Since then, I've been in many tight situations and came our alive with a dead opponent. I don't know what it is, but for some reason the weapon *feels* better than it's stats.

Could just be that I've been lucky.

[Blahman]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

Funny... when I use it I seem to be raking in the kills and consistently ranking first on the server. That of course is in conjunction with the AT missle, but the P90 is a decent all-around weapon and is plenty accurate enough for scoped headshots within 50 meters or so. See my 1.2 Weapons Test for an example. And that's not even my best work with it, when I have FRAPS off and have 60+ FPS I can really start tearing it up.

That's not to say that it doesn't need to be buffed. The real P90 fires 900 rds/sec, the BF2 P90? 600. That is a huge oversight by DICE and they need to fix it. Also, it should have higher damage per shot against armored targets than the other SMGs, since it uses an armor piercing round. Against unarmored targets the damage seems about right, but again the rate of fire is what's holding it back.

So in short, P90 is a decent unlock that expands the effective range of the AT class in a much needed way, but it still needs some lovin' from DICE to make it more realistic.

[vbl]

Re: The FN P90. Have questions about it? Read this.

Interesting how personal experaince and numbers can conflict, eh?

The first burst from my P90 resulted in a kill. Since then, I've been in many tight situations and came our alive with a dead opponent. I don't know what it is, but for some reason the weapon *feels* better than it's stats.

Could just be that I've been lucky.

Most of the other respondents, myself included, have had bad experiences that reflect the P90's poor stats.

It's sad that you can put 5 rounds into an unarmored target and he can still turn around and kill you, which is to say nothing of armored foes. And at 600 ROF and .6 deviation, managing 5 hits takes way too long.