Technologies

Battlefield 6 Tips: The Best LMG Builds

If you want to be a dependable machine gunner, you’ll want to eke the most performance out of your LMGs as possible.

Developer DICE’s iconic first-person shooter is back in good form with Battlefield 6, and players are hard at work capturing flags and trading gunfire in large-scale battles. As dozens of players collide in massive fights, teamwork decides the outcome of each match.

If you want to keep your teammates in tip-top shape, you’ll probably gravitate toward the Support class. Support players are able to quickly revive any downed teammate with their trusty defibrillators, as well as drop supply bags that restore health and ammunition to nearby allies.

The support class is also extremely good at laying down the lead. Its signature weapon type is the light machine gun, or LMG, which is characterized by its high-bullet capacity magazines, high rate of fire and generally cumbersome frame. These weapons are great for suppressing enemies, which slows down their health regeneration.

There’s a wide array of LMGs in Battlefield 6, which means it might take you a little while to find the right fit for your play style. Some of these bullet hoses are suitable for close-range play, while others might allow you to contest sniper nests across long distances. Here are my favorite LMG builds in Battlefield 6.

The best LMG builds in Battlefield 6

There are eight different light machine guns in Battlefield 6, so you’re not hurting for options when it comes to setting up a bipod and laying down lead.

Most of these options are locked behind high level requirements or challenge completions, though, so it can be tough to figure out an effective loadout early on. Here are some accessible LMG builds for every possible situation.

L110 ‘Factory’

The L110 is the first LMG you’ll have unlocked when you start playing Battlefield 6, and it’s a solid workhorse of a gun. Its high rate of fire and extensive bullet capacity mean you’ll be able to keep enemies suppressed at a distance. However, this thing kicks like a mule unless you have a bipod set up.

To fix this, you’ll want to add the heavy extended barrel and grip pod attachments. These add-ons will make vertical and horizontal recoil more manageable, giving you more mobility during tricky firefights.

The red laser attachment helps tighten the hip-fire spread for those emergency situations where an opponent gets the drop on you in close-quarters combat, and crucially, enemies won’t be able to see the beam emanating from your weapon.

If you’re confident that you can handle the L110’s recoil, I recommend swapping out the regular bullets for tungsten-core rounds — they’ll shred through multiple enemies at once when you’re holding a tight sightline, like a hallway or a doorway leading into an objective.

M60 ‘Huntsman’

If you participated in the Battlefield 6 open beta, congratulations: You automatically unlock my favorite LMG upon opening Battlefield 6 for the first time. The M60 usually unlocks at player level 20, but beta players can use a special M60 Huntsman build straight away.

This LMG fires slower than the L110, but its recoil is more manageable, and it does more damage. As someone who likes to set up machine gun nests and pick enemies off from afar, the M60 has been the gun I’ve used the most so far in Battlefield 6.

However, players can’t change attachments on a prebuilt gun before they hit the level required to unlock its original factory variant. That means you can’t swap out attachments before player level 20, and you’re stuck with the awful vision-obscuring iron sights on the M60 until then.

Once you’re able to swap around the gun’s attachments, though, a 2x zoom and red dot sight is an absolute necessity for firing at medium- to long-range targets. Set up an alternative zoom on the side of the gun with basic sights to trade out the usual M60 eyesore for simpler iron sights when shooting close-range enemies. A double-port brake and vertical handgrip help control what little recoil the M60 has, and the red laser remains on this build in order to tighten hipfire spread.

RPKM ‘Carnivore’

If you’re not looking to set up a machine gun nest, there are some LMGs that support a more aggressive play style. The RPKM is one of these weapons, with stats that make it feel like a hybrid between a traditional light machine gun and an assault rifle. You can’t fire as many rounds before reloading, but you get some much-needed sprint speed and mantling mobility back.

The RPKM factory variant is locked behind player level 30, but there’s a much easier way to unlock this weapon for multiplayer modes. The RPKM Carnivore build is unlocked through completion of Battlefield 6’s nine-level campaign. You can beat the levels on any difficulty in order to unlock the RPKM.

The RPKM matches the M60’s damage per shot and even offers a higher rate of fire than my favorite weapon. This is all tempered by a very low magazine capacity for an LMG — the stock magazine holds 40 bullets — and very high recoil. You can use the RPKM to run and gun alongside your Assault-class teammates, but you probably won’t win as many gunfights across long distances.

Once you unlock the RPKM at level 30, a heavy extended barrel and some sort of vertical handgrip or bipod are must-have additions to your build. Swapping out the suppressor for a compensated brake also couldn’t hurt. These attachments will bring the recoil more in line with other LMGs, providing you with a manageable run-and-gun buzzsaw.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Dec. 31 #668

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Dec. 31, No. 668.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle could be a challenge. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: One good turn deserves another.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: A merry-go-round does this.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

CIRCLER, LORD, TOUT, TOUR, ROUND, WHAT, RIOT

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

CIRCLE, SPIN, ORBIT, WHIRL, PIROUETTE, ROTATE

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is ROUNDANDROUND. To find it, start with the R that’s three rows in from the far left, down three letters and wind around.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Dec. 31

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 31.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

It’s New Year’s Eve, and today’s Mini Crossword offers a couple of fun clues looking back at the past year. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Many a participant in the 2025 «6-7» trend
Answer: KID

4A clue: Like 2025, to the French?
Answer: FINI

5A clue: The last one was minted in 2025
Answer: PENNY

6A clue: The O’s in XOXO
Answer: HUGS

7A clue: «Real» ones became required in 2025
Answer: IDS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: No ___ (2025 protest)
Answer: KINGS

2D clue: Travelers’ lodgings
Answer: INNS

3D clue: Home project inits.
Answer: DIY

4D clue: Drake and Kendrick Lamar had a high-profile one
Answer: FEUD

5D clue: The 2025 Super Bowl champion Eagles, on scoreboards
Answer: PHI

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Dec. 31, #464

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Dec. 31, No. 464.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

It’s New Year’s Eve, and two of today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories look back on the past year in sports. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Lights, camera, sports!

Green group hint: Best in their sport.

Blue group hint: College sports sites.

Purple group hint: Team names are hidden.