News - 556 Icarus Warzone 2 Guide. Class Setup (fightlite Mcr)
Chris is here, and today we're going to be taking an in-depth look at the 556 Icarus in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. One of the game's fastifiers in LMGs, unlocked at rank 18 on the M4 platform, is.
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The 556 Icarus in Modern Warfare 2 is heavily inspired by the fight-light MCR, or Mission configurable rifle, a squad automatic weapon based on the older Aries 16. Its flexible design allows it to be configured to suit a wide array of combat scenarios, transforming from an infantry rifle to a carbine-time gun to a light machine gun and featuring Quick Change barrels, a rail interface system for mounting various optics and accessories, along with a dual feed system that makes it compatible with both belt and assault rifle magazines.
The MCR is derived from the M16 platform, so it can be found as a complete package or as a separate upper receiver performance upgrade that can be retrofitted to existing M16 type carbines and rifles, even the very first model made back in the 1960s, hence why it slots right in the middle of the M4 platform in the game in its belt-fed lmg form chambered for the 556 NATO cartridge, as the in-game name implies.
Given an assault rifle with a belt-bed upper receiver, this is something pretty unique and could even be seen as a competitor to the M249, with the Fight Light MCR offering better durability and reliability while being able to adapt to the task at hand in different military operations.
Fire-power
Moving over to Modern Warfare 2, the 556 Icarus deals 34 damage for a chair shot up to 24 meters, dropping down to 26 from here up to 40 meters, which is where the minimum damage of 24 will be dealt, giving it a three- to five-shot kill on the upper body, nothing too spicy, generally pretty similar to the HDR-56 but with a tad less range.
Hits on the stomach and limbs equate to less damage being dealt, meaning that it might take more bullets to put your target down, slightly increasing the kill time as a result. But with the Icarus shooting at 779 RPM, it's pretty close to the top regarding fire rate, just being beaten by the Rat Page, which shoots about 20 RPM.
This generally gives the gun some really nippy kill times within those earlier ranges up to 24 meters, beating most of the SMGs that have kill times comparable to the lagman sup, though it won't be quite as effective of a distance as a lot of the other light machine guns, many of which have a slightly sheltered time to kill here while being impacted less by stomach and limb shots.
Because the acre is so fast, its slightly lower power output shouldn't really put you off, as it can easily compete with a lot of the other automatic weapons, even at range, and has a fairly well balanced damage model overall.
Accuracy
So it's time for a little recall test. We fire from a distance of 10 meters. You'll notice that the Icarus generally drifts upwards when it fires, like most of the other fully automatic weapons, though after about 12 or so shots, the recoil is going to lean the gun over to the right along the horizontal axis, continuing upwards with that vertical recoil at play too.
Unlike the other LMG-type weapons, the 556 Icarus has a lot more in common with assault rifles, down to its MCR receiver. This also means that it's going to have some similarities in game one; one of those similarities is its hip fire spread being quite a bit tighter than those are the light machine guns and much more in line with a lot of the ARs.
This goes well with its rapid fire rate in close-quarters situations, allowing you to bypass aiming down sights in a short-range gunfight and giving you better stats for offensive tactics.
Reliability
Something else that's going to make the gun feel a bit more in line with the assault rifles is its mobility stats, as although they're generally pretty rubbish compared to the likes of the assault rifles and SMGs, to the other light machine guns The Icarus has a decent set with faster aim-down size times generally, which helps it be more maneuverable when playing closer to the action.
Having that 75-round belt should keep you busy for a while, although I'm only going to take care of several enemies before you'll need to reload. It's also great for clearing rooms and cutting down players one after the other over distance, as, although the Icarus fight is fast, a lot of its shots are sure to miss.
At least you'll have plenty to keep you going through most situations. Though one of the big disadvantages of having a belt-fed weapon is of course those reload times, which aren't the worst in the game but still pretty miserable, taking 7.7 seconds for both tactical reloads and empties essentially, giving it the best belt-fed reloads of the base game, but still not really something to brag about as you'll still have to wait around for a fair bit of time nonetheless, making you very vulnerable in between fights.
Gunsmith
For you, we're looking over at the gunsmooth attachments for your Icarus class setup. It's time for the barrels. You'll only have three to choose from: a longer 16-inch barrel for better range, a shorter f-tac SP for better mobility, and the standard one that comes with the gun, giving you a nice balance between the two.
I'd normally go with this one, though obviously if you're optimizing The Icarus for an aggressive or defensive loadout, then these two will help you do just that, and with the weapon suit in a pretty wide variety of play styles due to its nice spread of stats, this allows you to tweak the gun and make it function even more like an assault rifle with a large ammo count by going for all the stuff that's going to increase movement speed or go for the traditional long-range LMG, you can cut layers easier from afar.
By the way. I'd still choose to get rid of a bit of that recall regardless, even at the cost of slower shooting speed, and you can do this pretty well by adding on a different stock, such as the demo Precision Elite Factory for example, which is a pretty good one that doesn't really make the gun too sluggish, though you might want to pick something like the Ravage 8 to be a bit more aggressive with it, but this will limit its effective range and add even more unwelcome recoil.
Because the Icarus does have a fair bit of recoil to start with, lowering it slightly with a muzzle is another way to help keep it at bay by adding something like the VLK flash item to help stabilize it, or even want to reduce horizontal and vertical kick, which is going to do a similar thing as the RF crown, but once again, it all depends on how much the speeds matter to you.
Anything to reduce the recoil is going to effectively increase the gun's range, allowing it to land more shots on target easier, especially with the Icarus being a fast-firing gun. Another thing I'd recommend to help with this is an underbarrel like the f-tac Ripper or X10 Gravedigger, both good for precision.
