Want a classic assault rifle? The Battlefield 2042 M5A3 is the perfect gun for you. If you hop into the game right now, you'll have the chance to give it a go as it's unlocked by default. It should be easy enough to get yourself loaded up and ready to shred some baddies with Battlefield 2042's best M5A3 loadout.
To plan out your Plus Menu loadout, you need to head into the "collection" tab and scroll over to "Weapons". From here, you'll have a variety of options with which to deck out your weapon and change its stats. Here's the best way to do that.
Best M5A3 Loadout
The M5A3 is great at medium ranges. It's not the most accurate weapon, but you won't have too much trouble handling the recoil pattern it has. Non-Battlefield players might find it slightly tougher, but with a bit of practice you'll get the hang of it and the M5A3 will be your go-to gun.
M5A3 Attachments
Here are our favourite attachments for the M5A3:
- Muzzle: Extended Barrel
- Scope: Fusion Holo
- Ammunition: Standard Issue / Extended Mag
- Mount: Rattlesnake Light Grip
We want this version of the M5A3 to be an accurate one. Of course, if you fancy yourself a bit of a sharpshooter and can control the recoil, the underbarrel grenade launcher is a fun addition for a bit of extra explosive action, but if you want a standard game, the Rattlesnake Light Grip is an absolute treat. Along with the Extended Barrel, you'll make the M5A3 a whole lot more accurate and able to hit longer shots than you'd otherwise be able to.
We could make this even more chucking on high-power ammunition to boost damage, accuracy and range. However, with this attached we only get a maximum ammunition capacity of 21, making it far less enticing since stopping to reload is liable to get you killed.
Instead, we're using the Standard Issue ammunition along with the Fusion Holo sight - it'll be much more helpful for snapping onto targets at medium ranges. With the Extended Mag, you get a maximum capacity of 40 rather than 30 at the cost of a little bit of mobility.
B5A3 Secondary, Throwable, and Gadget
- Secondary: M44
- Throwable: Frag Grenade
- Gadget: IBA Armor Plate
The M44 works an absolute treat alongside the M5A3. It's a powerful pistol with the potential to kill extremely quickly with a well-placed shot. If you run out of ammo in your M5A3 then switch to your M44 and finish the job.
As for throwables - we're going with the Frag Grenade here. Being able to blow up enemies from behind their cover is just so powerful, and it's helped us to get those kills on a retreating foe on more than one occasion.
Gadgets are very much a personal preference thing, but we're using the IBA Armor Plate with this one - it gives you that little bit extra defence which can give you that slight edge you need in a firefight.
M5A3 Stat Improvement
The M5A3's base stats are as follows:
- Firepower: 50
- Accuracy: 50
- Range: 50
- Handling: 50
Once you add the above attachments to your loadout, your stat spread improves to this:
- Firepower: 50
- Accuracy: 60
- Range: 60
- Handling: 38
So we've lost out on a bit of handling, but let's not worry too much about that. We've beefed the range and accuracy of this weapon significantly, which will be really handy when coming up against enemies a tad further away. It's a pretty balanced build!
That's all for our M5A3 loadout - check out some of our other ones too! We have tips and tricks on running the PBX-45, as well as one of our favourites - the LCMG.