The LMG arsenal is a half dozen strong thanks to the Bruen Mk9, the latest weapon in Modern Warfare, including Warzone, introduced as a part of Season Three.
In order to unlock the family, you can either complete a challenge, or purchase the Encryption bundle to get a blueprint version in the Light Machine Gun Foxtrot family before you have full access to it. Here’s what you’ll be adding to your Primary Weapon collection:
“This air-cooled open bolt 5.56 light machine gun features a competitive rate of fire and excellent stability that will dominate the mid to long range battlefield.”
Bruen Mk9 Overview
The Bruen Mk9 is a high fire rate LMG that trades off a low damage profile with the best accuracy in its class. With a slow and reasonable idle sway, placing an accurate first shot should not be a problem, and with enough manual vertical recoil control – or recoil control reducing attachments – downing an enemy will only take a fraction of a second.
Expect this weapon to take down an enemy in three shots at close range in Multiplayer, or in Warzone if that Operator doesn’t have any armor plates. That damage profile is especially true if one of those bullets is a headshot.
However, this weapon will ask for a maximum of five shots to down an enemy at extreme ranges.
In most cases, the Bruen excels at medium range, allowing it to compete with assault rifles and marksman rifles, and its long reload time can be combated with a 60 Round Mag attachment, a feature the Glitch blueprint includes.
Blueprint Review and Loadout
The Glitch
Available in the Encryption Bundle, The Glitch Legendary blueprint showcases this new high-tech LMG with state-of-the-art attachments to go along with its sleek and futuristic design.
This combination of attachments also gears the weapon towards its strengths in mid-range engagements, quickening an Operator’s mobility while using it to put the weapon on par with assault and marksman rifles. Specifically, the Skeleton Stock, Para Barrel, and 60 Round detachable magazines come together to significantly increase movement speed and ADS speed.
The Granulated Grip Tape comes in handy while you’re on the move with this weapon, reducing the weapon’s sway if you choose to walk while aiming down sights. And, while you aim down sights, you’ll have the benefit of a precision sight picture with the help of the Mini Reflex sight, which only adds negligible weight to this LMG.
Here’s a loadout you could use with this blueprint for Warzone and Multiplayer:
Primary: The Glitch
Bruen 18.0” Para, Cronen LP945 Mini Reflex, 60 Round Mags, Granulated Grip Tape, Skeleton Stock
Secondary: Good Company blueprint
Perks: Kill Chain, Hardline, Battle Hardened
Equipment: Frag Grenade, Stim
The Glitch has more than enough rounds to deal with enemies at any range, but if that clip runs dry, the Good Company is a solid handgun that can blast enemies back. The Long Barrel included with this secondary also helps it fight beyond its normal effective range, which is great when in those situations when you’re just one bullet short in your Glitch from taking down an enemy.
For perks, Kill Chain and Hardline are phenomenal complementary perks in Multiplayer, as they let you stack Killstreaks via kills earned through them, and those Killstreaks also come at a reduced cost. In Warzone, you’ll reap the rewards of increased Killstreak spawns out of Supply Boxes (Kill Chain), and discounts at Buy Stations (Hardline). No matter what game mode you play, Battle Hardened, the third Perk, is great all-around, as it reduces the effects of multiple tactical equipment pieces on your Operator.
Speaking of equipment, the bread-and-butter Frag Grenade is always a solid choice for lethal equipment. Stim will help you regain health quickly – or actually regain health in Hardcore, where health regeneration is turned off – which will help after intense firefights.
Two Warzone Loadout Suggestions
1. Smoke ‘Em if You Got ‘Em
Primary: Bruen Mk9
Lightweight Suppressor, Bruen 18.0” Para, 200 Round Belt, Thermal Hybrid, No Stock
Secondary: The Smoke Show Blueprint (Available in the Blunt Force Bundle)
Perks: Cold-Blooded, Overkill, Tracker
Equipment: Thermite, Smoke Grenade
If you can handle the high recoil, this configuration of the Bruen Mk9 can move fast and deliver plenty of smoke with a 200 Round Belt. Pair that with The Smoke Show, an SMG with the largest starting ammo capacity in its class, and you have more than enough hot lead to light up the competition.
As the name suggests, Smoke Grenades are a huge part of this loadout; pop those smokes to obstruct sightlines, then use the Thermal Hybrid scope to pick off enemy players within the smoke or past it. When the smoke subsides, finish the job by swapping to side-mounted reflex sight or the SMG.
Cold-Blooded will help you maintain a low-profile, as your heat signature won’t be outlined by Thermal scopes within smoke, and Tracker will help you hunt down players to ultimately smoke them out. If those vehicles show up, don’t fret: use your Thermite and burn that metal down.
2. Ante Up
Primary: Bruen Mk9
Commando Foregrip, Tac Laser, Sniper Scope, Rubberized Grip Tape, FMJ
Secondary: Strela-P
Perks: Cold-Blooded, Pointman, Amped
Equipment: C4, Heartbeat Sensor
Built for taking down Operators who rely on vehicles, this loadout shreds through metal and Operators who lose their wheels (or blades) to your LMG and Launcher combo.
The Foregrip, Tac Laser, and Rubberized Grip Tape all help reduce and stabilize recoil giving you ridiculous accuracy after the first shot, and they pair well with the 4.4x magnification that the Sniper Scope provides. As for FMJ, it makes the 5.56 NATO rounds even more penetrable to vehicles and equipment, which is what you’d want in an anti-vehicle class.
No Launcher compares to the Strela-P in taking out vehicles, although its lack of lock-on makes it a high risk, high reward weapon. The C4, meanwhile, is better for planting on vehicles you think the enemy will take, so that you can blow them sky high when they try to escape. And, if they run out of the vehicle as you destroy it, the Heartbeat Sensor will aid you in tracking them down.
The perk combo is great for avoiding AI targeting systems and thermal optics (Cold-Blooded), boosts the rewards from completed Contracts (Pointman), and allows for faster weapon swaps (Amped) especially for launchers.
This loadout is great for taking out Killstreaks and vehicles in Multiplayer, too, making this a phenomenal loadout to always keep as one of your standard 10 Custom Loadouts.
Two Multiplayer Loadout Suggestions
1. When There’s Smoke…
Primary: Bruen Mk9
XRK Summit 26.8”, Tactical Foregrip, 200 Round Belt, Solozero NVG Enhanced, FORGE TAC Stalker
Secondary: Caldera Blueprint (Available in the Pyromaniac Bundle)
Perks: E.O.D., Overkill, Battle Hardened
Equipment: Flaming Throwing Knife, Smoke Grenade
Burn down your enemy’s defenses with this set-up that makes use of the LMG category’s typical support role with Smoke Grenades and Thermal sights.
The Summit barrel boosts range and mitigates recoil, while the underbarrel and stock attachments assist with keeping a steady aim. If an enemy pushes up close, you can switch to the Caldera Shotgun to really light them up with those Dragon’s Breath Rounds.
Firestarter Bundle owners who have the Caldera will also have the Flaming Throwing Knife, a great last resort weapon in a pinch that gives you one-hit melee swipes or crazy cross-map takedowns. Outside of the obviously necessary overkill, E.O.D. and Battle Hardened round out this class to give your Operator resistance to non-Killstreak explosives and some Tactical Equipment pieces.
2. Ursidae Americanus
Primary: Bruen Mk9
Compensator, XRK Horizon 23.0”, 60 Round Mags, Stippled Grip Tape, No Stock
Secondary: Guard One Blueprint (Available at Tier 85 in the Season Three Battle Pass)
Perks: Quick Fix, Ghost, Tune Up
Equipment: Frag Grenade, Stun Grenade
Without equipping a Tac Laser and the shorter Barrel, this is the closest way to kit the Bruen Mk9 to act like a fast-moving Assault Rifle.
The XRK Horizon 23.0” Barrel gives this weapon a sizable range increase without bogging down movement speed, while the Compensator helps with recoil control, which this weapon needs thanks to a lack of stock. The rest of the attachments are all based around moving quick and aiming even quicker, which helps an Operator better compete with snappy assault rifles at mid-range.
The secondary weapon is a Season Three Battle Pass gem, a reliable sidearm to swap to when that (slightly) smaller magazine runs dry, or if the fight devolves into near-fisticuffs. Everything else in this class is standard issue for a run-and-gunner: Quick Fix to bounce between engagements quicker thanks to how it effects Health Regeneration, Ghost to avoid those nasty UAVs and the like, and Tune Up to speed up Field Upgrade earn rates such as Dead Silence, which we recommend for this loadout.
Just like the perks, the equipment is also standard issue, as you’d be hard-pressed to find any typical soldier without Frag and Stun – or Flash, your preference – Grenades handy. When playing with this class, focus on the increased speed and agility to outgun bulkier LMG users, or go toe-to-toe with foes wielding those dangerous rifles.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tinkering with the Bruen Mk9 in Gunsmith and in-game. Have fun with it once you’ve completed its challenges – or unlocked it via the Encryption Bundle – and keep levelling it up to see the near-infinite possibilities it provides for your loadouts.
We’ll see you online. Stay frosty.
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