Automatic Rifleman

Overview
(*Affected by Rank.)

(**Affected by Belt Linking.)

Attack Speed
While Automatic Rifleman's listed base attack speed is 0.125, equal to 8 attacks per second, his actual shooting rate is slower. AR knows Burst mode initially, which works as follows: This averages to only 5 shots per second. It makes Suppressive Fire a significant DPS upgrade.
 * for 1 in-game second AR shoots at base speed
 * for 1 in-game second the attack is slowed 4 times

Soldier Skills 2 Burst Upgrade improves Burst mode: This averages to 6 shots per second (but bursts are longer).
 * for 2 in-game seconds AR shoots at base speed
 * for 1 in-game second the attack is slowed 4 times

Soldier Skills

 * Level 2 unlocks Burst Upgrade

Suppressive Fire (F)

 * Increases attack speed and decreases move speed by 80% for 8 seconds.
 * Suppresses Burst mode and applies attack speed multiplier to base attack speed.
 * Has a cooldown of 9 seconds.
 * Can be manually turned off before the 8 seconds duration.

Belt Linking

 * Passive effect: each point increases max ammo by 100 and reload cost by 1 magazine.
 * Active effect: spends 1 magazine to add +100 currently loaded ammo (but will not exceed max limit). This lets you make partial reload, reducing ammo waste, but at the cost of time and energy.
 * Activation energy cost and duration reduces with levels.

Incendiary Rounds

 * Increases base damage and decreases the move speed of Light targets in an area by 20% for a short duration.
 * Costs 0.6 energy per shot. Can be toggled on and off.

Burst Upgrade

 * Improves the unit's alternating attack speed buff uptime and attack speed debuff downtime. See Attack speed for details.
 * This ability is unlocked at Soldier Skills level 2.

General
The Automatic Rifleman is one of the highest auto-attack damage classes in the game. His role is to kill waves of zombies or huge health targets alike. Each and every build points increases his damage per second, either directly by increasing attack statistics or indirectly by reducing reloading / unjam downtime. As a super carry, Automatic Rifleman should be fed with damage item upgrades as a high priority.

With Suppressive Fire buidls, Automatic Rifleman eats quite a lot of ammo and needs a constant stream of supplies.

As AR brings a siginificant chunk of team's DPS it's important for him to be present at key fights.

Recommended Items

 * Automatic Rifleman is allowed to use the following weapons: M41 SAW, M241 MMG, and M135 Minigun.

Recommended Ability Build
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DPS Gunner
Build Order - Marksmanship 1 > Belt Linking 1 > Suppressive Fire 2 > Belt Linking 3 > Soldier Skills 2 > Marksmanship 4

Start with one marksmanship to unlock crit and help with early game, belt linking to minimize reloads, then start building up suppressive fire for damage.

Recommendations:

-SIs:  Energetic + LightArmor / Barbaric

-Items: This build works with any machine guns, Aim Assistant, Ammo Case

This build maximizes DPS from fire rate and Critical shots. The AR has great potential damage from Marksmanship because of the large magazines, allowing for multiple rapid critical hits on a target. Instructor is optional because AR doesn't reload as much as linking belts, getting EN is more important so you will have suppressive fire up at all times.

Role: Straight up damage-dealer. The AR's job is to kill enemies. Provide cover for teammates doing missions or kiting bosses, and post up on defense when necessary.

Incendiary Gunner
Build Order - Incendiary 1 > Marksmanship 1 > Belt Linking 1 > Incendiary 3 > Soldier Skills 3 > Suppressive Fire 1 > Marksmanship 4

Incendiary Rounds at level 3 is the most cost-effective (+9 dmg from previous level instead of +7 dmg from previous level).

Recommendations: 

-SIs: Energetic + Intelligence / LightArmor

-Items: M241 MMG, Aim Assistant, Ammo Case

This variation of the AR focuses on damage-per-shot instead of rate of fire DPS. He should go prone often to maximize his damage and range, aided by the MMG, AA, and possibly AP rounds. Incendiary rounds consume energy per shot rather than over time, so while out of combat, Energetic provides enough regeneration, along with the Mechanical boosts from Soldier Skills. Soldier Skills will boost just about everything else as well.

Role: Generally the same as the DPS Gunner, but a bit less mobile. He should stick near teammates or on high ground, and keep an eye on his map to avoid becoming vulnerable when prone.

Optional Items: Energy Cells would be good to have as a reserve in the later game as energy use increases. DU Rounds, only found in late game, provide a 40% damage increase against Armored enemies, which would be very useful for bosses.

Veteran
Build Order: Marksmanship 1 > Incindiary Rounds 1 > Belt Linking 1 > Soldier Skills 2 > Marksmanship 4 > Suppressive Fire 1 > Belt Linking 2 > Soldier Skills 3 > Suppressive Fire 3

SIs: Veteran + Energetic

Items: M41 SAW, Aim Assistant, M135 Minigun

Fitness from soldier skills ameliorates health penalty from veteran, Incindiary Rounds increases your survivability

Damage/Shot Effective

Build Order: Marksmanship 1 > Soldier Skills 2 > Incendiary Rounds 3 > Belt Linking 1 > Marksmanship 4 > Soldier Skills 3 > Suppressive Fire 3

Recommendations

SIs: Quick Thinking(QT) + Hawkeye(HE)

Items: M41 SAW, Aim Assistant, AP Rounds, M135 Minigun

Start off with marksmanship 1 to get critical chance with the added bonus of dexterity. Next get at least to Soldier Skills 2 for the improved burst which dramatically improve your DPS especially if you are unlucky in obtaining a weapon. However if you find yourself covering positions then you might want to invest into Soldier Skills 3 with the added bonus of extra stats and 15% reload/unjam time. After Soldier Skills, get Incendiary Rounds 3 for the obvious damage increase. You could chose to get Incendiary Rounds 4 if you want all the damage you can get but I prefer to spend the skill point in something else since the jump from lvl 3 to lvl 4 is 7 damage where as the damage from lvl 2 to lvl 3 is 9 damage. At this point you will find that you are reloading often and thus Belt Linking 1 is to help alleviate the reloading often by increasing your magazine capacity to 200 rounds instead of 100. That being said, due to the SI Quick Thinking with 25% Reload/Unjam + X * 15% Reload/Unjam time from Soldier Skills reloading is much more effective than belt linking thus improving your overall DPS. Lastly Max out Marksmanship for the increase Critical Damage as well as 4 dexterity/level which gives 2% more damage/points into dexterity as well as a slight range bonus.

Towards level 10 you should be doing ~100 damage/shot mixed improved burst fire from soldier skills and your items. For items its quite obvious to get one of the weapons however I prefer the M14 SAW and the M135 Minigun since it improves your burst damage allowing you to deliver those 100 damage/shot faster allowing you to wittle down mobs and bosses very quickly. That being said, it would be a smart idea to be carrying around an Ammo Case with you since bullets go by fast with the SAW or Minigun with your improved burst.