I think it's just about time that I talk about Maestro's primary weapons, specifically

the ALDA 5.56.

So let's not waste any more time and get straight into the analysis of this one.

As always, let's quickly skim over the basics of this weapon.

Sight options include the three unmagnified sights, plus the ACOG: a rare and coveted

attachment for defending operators nowadays.

You also have access to four barrel attachments including the suppressor, flash hider, compensator

and muzzle brake (all of which I have discussed in depth in previous videos).

Next up, you can choose whether or not to use the vertical grip (in this case attached

horizontally) and since there are no downsides to using a grip, there is actually no real choice here.

Use the grip for better vertical recoil control… or don't if you want to make things harder for yourself.

And finally you can also choose to attach the laser which for the first time ever might

be truly worthwhile, since the ALDA has characteristics that make hip-firing an almost viable tactic

in the right situations.

Over to the stat side of things, damage per bullet is 35 points up to 25m and 24 points

from 40m and onwards, the fire rate is a decent 900 RPM, the recoil is pretty decent (even

without modifiers attached) although it is worth pointing out that the first shot recoil

is about twice as strong as that of follow up shots.

Once you attach a grip and muzzle attachment, the recoil becomes very manageable.

Capacity is 80+1… and “Wait!”

I hear you cry.

“That can't be right!

Didn't they fix all of the belt fed, open bolt machine guns to no longer allow the 'one

bullet in the chamber' feature?”…

Yeah, they did… and then they put a new machine gun in that basically has the same exact mistake.

What can I say?…

I just don't know.

Anyway, while we're at nonsensical things, mobility for the ALDA is a full 50 points,

I'm sure you'll be glad to hear.

Good stuff but now let's start looking into what these stats mean for the gun, plus let's

also consider some of the hidden stats and less obvious features.

The ALDA 5.56 is the first portable machine gun available to the defending team in Rainbow

Six Siege, which of course normally only has access to weaker SMGs and shotguns.

With this in mind, it makes sense that the ALDA has the lowest damage per shot of any

LMG in Siege (both at close and long range) but the high fire rate actually more than

compensates for the lower power and results in a total close range damage output of 525

DPS which is the highest out of all 6 LMGs in the game.

Above 40m, the output is 360 DPS.

This falls short of IQ's G8A1 (which does 397 DPS) but is still the second most powerful out of the 6 guns.

These results are highly theoretical though, since when going up against full health opponents,

what counts is how many shots you will need to down or kill that opponent and how quickly

you can deliver those hits.

Against level 1 armour at average combat distances, the time to down/kill is only 133ms which

is an exceptional time, on par with the best DMRs and pistols and better than any other

LMG, better than most assault rifles and definitely better than any of the SMGs.

Having a defender weapon that is more powerful than most attacker options definitely makes

the ALDA look OP, but don't worry.

The effectiveness against level 2 and 3 armour is somewhat lower due to the 4 bullets required

to take out the opponent.

That means that the TTK is 200ms which is now slower than most attacker weapons (thank

goodness) but still on the exact same level as the very best defender primaries.

So yeah, there's no doubt about it: the ALDA 5.56 is an exceptional choice in terms

of it power when compared to the other options open to the defenders.

But of course, damage output is not everything we need to consider.

Since the ALDA is a belt fed LMG, the reload times are amongst the worst in the game and

counter intuitively the full reload time, at 5.7s is actually better than the tactical reload time at 6.2s.

This is because the tactical reload involves an extra step to remove the remaining end

of the belt from the feed tray first before then continuing with the rest of the process.

5.7 and 6.2s is still faster than any of the other belt-fed LMGs but it is around about

double or even triple the time taken by most other guns, so definitely a weakness, should

you manage to get through your 80 shot belt.

ADS (that's the Aim Down Sight) time is equally underwhelming at around 515ms.

This is the same as the Russian 6P41 machine gun and while it's only about 50ms slower

than most attacker assault rifles, it is close to double the time of the defender SMGs.

This could have been another weakness if the ALDA was reliant on aiming down sights just

like every other gun in the game is.

But here the ALDA stands out once again as somewhat unusual.

Not only does the gun have a great hip fire spread to begin with but it also behaves completely

differently from any other Rainbow Six gun.

As you can see on screen now, normally: the faster you move, the more the hip fire spread opens up.

In addition to this, once you start firing, the spread opens up even more.

Not so with the ALDA!

This LMG will not see any change in the hip fire spread when moving or changing stances.

Attaching a laser will reduce the spread by 25% which is a good start but it gets even better.

Once you start firing this gun, instead of the spread opening up, it actually starts

shrinking until it's about 40% smaller than the baseline spread.

And this applies with or without the laser, while stationary or moving.

The concept of a shrinking spread or diminishing recoil with machine guns is something we have

also seen in some other games and I guess, in a way, it kind of makes sense.

When you start firing a long burst with a machine gun, it will take you a second or

two to adjust to the recoil but once you are holding against the steady upward force of

the gun, you will become steadier.

So how to conclude here?

I have criticised LMGs in Rainbow Six Siege in the past because they simply don't seem

to quite measure up to the other attacker weapon options but not only is the ALDA arguably

the best LMG in the game (at least in some aspects) I would say that it can quite easily

be labelled as the best defender weapon in the game right now.

It has pretty much everything you could ask for, high damage output, fast time to kill,

manageable recoil and access to the ACOG.

Awesome stuff but still without being massively overpowered.

Of course, if you are playing as Maestro, you could also pick the ACS-12 shotgun.

I already discussed this gun in depth in a previous video discussing Alibi's guns and

if you want a detailed analysis for it, I suggest watching the previous video (link

coming up in the end card!).

The summary of that analysis was that the combat capability of the ACS is ok-ish (for

a shotgun – not great compared to other weapon classes).

It's breaching capability on the other hand is truly amazing.

Is that enough for you to miss out on probably the best defender weapon in the game right now?

I would say no, if you really want to play the ACS, then Alibi as a 3 speed is a far more suitable operator pick.

If you're going to be lounging around the objective for most of the round, getting off

those satisfying evil eye zaps, then the ALDA will provide you with an excellent tool for

holding long angles and stopping those last minute pushes.

So there you are, an easy choice to make, I think.

And with that, thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed the video and I will see you in the next episode!