Time for another Black Ops weapon guide – this time, it’s the AUG.

16 guides remain, 23 upload slots remain. My word, we’re shifting into the endgame already – and Black Ops 2 isn’t out for another 5 months!

Transcript

Hello, this is XboxAhoy and this is the twenty-sixth episode of my Black Ops weapon guide.

Are you ready?

In this episode we’re covering the AUG.

It’s a fully automatic weapon, unlocked at level 26.

The AUG – or Armee-Universal-Gewehr – translating as ‘Universal Army Rifle’ – is of Austrian origin, developed and manufactured by Steyr Mannlicher.

The design dates to 1977, and was intended as a replacement for the earlier FN FAL design, then in service with the Austrian military as the Sturmgewehr 58.

The AUG entered service in 1979 with the Austrian Bundesheer, and since then has been adopted by many others: The Australian Defense Force, Irish Army, Polish GROM special forces, to name but a few.

The weapon is of a bullpup configuration, with the magazine behind the trigger for a longer barrel with any given overall length.

The weapon is best known for its futuristic appearance, with all-polymer olive green furniture and rakishly angled handguard and integrated scope.

Functionally, the weapon is similar to any other NATO assault rifle – perhaps most closely resembling the FAMAS, a similarly bullpup weapon that was introduced at around the same time.

The AUG fires the NATO standard intermediate cartridge, the 5.56×45mm.

Magazines are of a translucent polymer construction, and are manufactured in both 30 and 42-round capacities.

The weapon is depicted in-game with 30-round magazines by default.

The AUG is a low damage assault rifle, on par with the FAMAS and Enfield, requiring up to 4 shots to kill.

Its low damage is made up for with a tremendous rate of fire – 937.5 rounds per minute, equal to that of the FAMAS.

The AUG’s performance is very similar to its French peer, then – but there are some differences in handling.

Recoil performance is one key differentiating factor: while the FAMAS tends upwards and to the right, the AUG has much less predictable, omni-directional kick, with a slightly slower rate of recovery.

This means you can generally expect less consistent performance, and although automatic fire will tend to remain on target – the AUG is less effective than the FAMAS when fired in short bursts.

Aim time is standard for the assault rifles, at 250 milliseconds – which post-FAMAS-patch means the AUG gains an aim speed advantage.

Reloads are a little slower, however – at 2.6 seconds.

The iron sights are very good on the AUG, and so generally the optical attachments are less useful overall.

The red dot sight does provide an all-round view of your target, however – and so may assist slightly in tracking moving opponents and ensuring accuracy.

The reflex sight is the same, functionally identical to the red dot and providing a similar benefit.

The illuminated reticule will provide more contrast against your target, especially in dark areas – but there are more useful attachments overall.

The ACOG scope is of a unique type – with the attachment represented as the Swarovski Scope, reflecting the real-life weapon’s integrated optic.

Functionally, this scope is identical to the ACOG – you’ll gain a greater degree of magnification on-target, at the cost of slighter higher aim time and recoil.

It’s a very usable optic, and can improve performance over longer sightlines – but once again, the AUG performs just fine without optical assistance.

The same remains true for the Infrared Scope – which will highlight most enemies in white, at the cost of magnified recoil, and a slower aim time.

You also lose a large degree of definition while aiming, and given that Ghost Pro users won’t be highlighted, it’s easy to be blindsided while scoped in.

Instead, it’s the non-optical attachments that prove most useful – and extended mags, paired with the AUG’s high rate of fire, will enhance your ability when facing multiple enemies at once.

A 50 percent increase grants 45 rounds total between reloads, which will prove very useful – however unless you’re careful with your trigger you’ll burn through this supply quickly, so Scavenger would be an ideal pairing with extended mags for those who favour sustained fire.

If you’d rather not use Scavenger, then Dual Mags will prove very useful – granting two extra magazines worth in your starting supply, in addition to quicker alternate reloads.

This attachment lessens the need for both Scavenger and Sleight of Hand – and given the AUG’s versatility and good iron sights, Dual Mags is a solid choice.

The suppressor is another fine pairing with the AUG – given the weapon’s flatter damage profile, the range you lose by going silent isn’t a major factor.

You’ll remain off the minimap while firing, an especially useful trait if you prefer not to attack your enemy head-on, instead striking unseen from the side or rear.

The AUG is surprisingly versatile, then – which may mean that the 3 underslung attachments offer only limited value.

The Masterkey offers a potential one-hit kill in close-up encounters, but given that the AUG is generally pretty effective up close anyway, the shotgun is less helpful.

The same applies to the underslung flamethrower – although incinerating your enemy can be its own reward, the performance differential means it isn’t worth selecting this attachment.

The grenade launcher is perhaps the most useful of the three underslung attachments – adding an explosive capability to your loadout.

However, while as effective as it is on any other weapon, the grenade launcher ties up your attachment slot, which is arguably better filled with another option.

For our class loadout, we’ll be using the benefits conferred by Dual Mags – extra ammo and a faster alternate reload will help us to construct an agile assault class with the weapon.

The AUG is effective with most other attachments, of course – one strong alternative would be the suppressor, for those instances where remaining off radar is essential.

For our perks, we’ll be maximising the handling speed and mobility of our loadout: the AUG is an effective weapon up-close, and with the right pairings will be nimble enough to ensure you’re always in the right place at the right time.

Our first perk, Lightweight, elevates your usual assault rifle mobility closer to that of an SMG, allowing you to run circles round slower opponents – and defy their expectations as to when you’ll appear.

The extra 10% movement speed makes all the difference when it comes to capturing or defending objectives, and makes escaping enemy fire much easier.

Our second perk helps eliminate downtime, and further enhances close-range performance – after all, your mobility will be all for naught if your weapon requires a lengthy reload.

Sleight of Hand will halve the time it takes to refill – and when paired with Dual Mags will mean half of your reloads will come with only the briefest of pause – less than a second, in fact.

The pro benefit is also useful for snapping onto close-range targets: your hipfire is less effective than that of an SMG, so aiming at a close range is often beneficial.

Our final perk gives us the stamina needed to keep up this offensive pressure: Marathon doubles your sprint endurance, and the pro benefit will extend it indefinitely.

This will allow you to remain on the offensive at all times, and effectively defend and deny the enemy objectives, no matter where the fight is.

For your lethal grenades, semtex will prove useful against groups of enemies, or simply to deny a chokepoint or objective to incoming foes.

Concussion grenades will let you stun your enemy, further enhancing your mobility advantage, and oftentimes permitting an easy kill.

For your equipment, tactical insertion is the most useful – place it in a safe place close to an objective to keep up offensive pressure.

For your secondary, a pistol will prove useful in a close-range firefight: for me, the trusty CZ-75 with extended mags is unequaled.

Aggressive use of the assault rifles relies on positioning, and intelligent use of cover and sightlines.

With a loadout designed for speed you can change positions often, keep the enemy guessing – and extend your reach to wherever the fight may be.

With an eye on the radar you should be able to anticipate enemy spawns and movements – get into position ahead of them and they’ll stumble straight into your sights.

With lightweight and marathon, you’ll be long gone before they can come back for revenge.

The AUG is a weapon on par with the almighty FAMAS; it shares many of its traits, and handles in a similar way.

It’s little surprise that the AUG offers similarly top-tier performance, then – with consistent damage and a fearsome rate of fire, if you’re on target there are not many other weapons that can compete in a firefight.

The AUG’s moderately high recoil does lessen its effectiveness at a longer distance, however – to reach over the greatest sightlines you will need to burst fire, which can give the advantage to sniper rifles, or some of the other assault rifles.

Still, given that you can easily avoid unfavourable odds at such distances, the AUG will prove to be deadly at the close-to middle ranges where most gunfights occur.

This weapon is universally effective, versatile and relatively easy to handle. Should you seek victory: elect this weapon: and AUGment your performance.

Thanks for watching, this has been XboxAhoy.

Until next time, farewell.