SMGs

SMGs, short for submachine guns, are close-range automatic guns built for fire rate and mobility. They work best in a Reflexes build that keeps moving and slides into cover. The user empties a magazine into any enemy who comes near. SMGs come in Power, Tech and Smart types. Power SMGs favour headshots, Tech SMGs fire charged bursts, and Smart SMGs fire guided rounds.

Combat

Pros

The fire rate is high, so the damage keeps coming while the user stays on the move.
Power SMGs carry +100% headshot damage. Most Smart SMGs have half that bonus.
Smart SMGs spray guided rounds. Prototype: Shingen Mark V guides its bullets to up to three targets while aiming.
Some SMGs speed up as they fire. HA-7 Warden and Pizdets both gain fire rate with each shot in a row.
Reflexes perks let the user shoot and reload while sprinting, sliding and vaulting.

Cons

Smart SMGs carry only +50% headshot damage, so headshots matter far less with them.
Effective range is short, at around 20 to 30 on the Iconic SMGs. A rifle is better for long sight lines.

Weapon Categories

Best SMGs

Name	Image	Why
Fenrir		Electrical rounds that can disable enemy cyberware
Pizdets		Crit chance and fire rate climb while firing, with a silencer
Prototype: Shingen Mark V		Explosive smart rounds on three targets
Buzzsaw		High-penetration rounds and extra limb damage
Senkoh LX		Tech SMG that goes full auto when charged
HA-7 Warden		Smart SMG that speeds up with every shot

Fenrir is the best SMG for shock damage. Pizdets is the best for steady crits over a long burst. Prototype: Shingen Mark V is the best choice against groups.

Character Builds

Reflexes perks improve SMGs, along with assault rifles and blades. Kills with an SMG level up the Shinobi skill, which grows with Reflexes.

Ready, Rested, Reloaded cuts the Stamina cost of shooting assault rifles and SMGs by 10%. It also adds 30% reload speed while Stamina is above half.
Submachine Fun makes swapping to an SMG faster and reloads it automatically on the swap. It also adds 22% fire rate until the next normal reload.
Sharpshooter grants a stack with every successful shot, up to seven stacks. Practice Makes Perfect gives +7% crit chance and crit damage for each stack.
Shoot To Chill gives automatic weapons +4% armor penetration for each Sharpshooter stack.
Salt In The Wound triggers after seven hits in a row on one target. It then deals bonus damage equal to those hits.
Multitasker and Muscle Memory allow shooting and reloading while sprinting, sliding and vaulting.

The Technical Ability perk Bolt also helps Tech SMGs such as Senkoh LX. Smart SMGs benefit from the Intelligence perks that widen the targeting circle and keep the target lock.

For cyberware, a Sandevistan slows time while the user moves at full speed. The Dynalar model also adds crit chance and crit damage while active. Kerenzikov allows aimed shots during a slide, dodge or Dash, and slows time when it does. Shock Absorber and Immovable Force cut recoil. Swiss Cheese is a Power mod that adds armor penetration, but each bullet costs more Stamina. Smart SMGs cannot track anything without Smart Link.

Notes

Power SMGs such as DS1 Pulsar, Guillotine, M221 Saratoga and Shigure all carry +100% headshot damage. The choice between them comes down to tier and mods.
Fenrir deals Electrical damage with +20% Shock chance. It is looted from a table next to the captive monk during Sacrum Profanum.
Prototype: Shingen Mark V fires explosive rounds with +30% Burn chance.
Buzzsaw is the reward of Vice Control. Its high-penetration rounds add damage to limbs.
Pizdets carries Boris's mods. The longer it fires, the higher its crit chance climbs.
Prototype: Shingen Mark V waits inside trailer 667 at the exterior loading dock of Arasaka Industrial Park.
Problem Solver drops from a Wraiths Boss Hunter near the entrance of the Wraiths camp during Riders on the Storm.
Guillotine x-MOD2 sits in a container home in Longshore Stacks, Dogtown. The door needs 10 Body or 10 Technical Ability. The window can be broken instead.
Raiju is in the gated cache of the BARGHEST Increased Criminal Activity. Ross Ulmer carries the key.
Iconic SMGs can be upgraded through crafting. Standard SMGs are swapped for better drops.

All SMGs

Every SMG is listed below. The Iconic weapons come first, then the standard ones.

Iconic SMGs

Name	Headshot	Armor Pen	Location
Buzzsaw	+100%	25%	Northside
Chesapeake
Erebus
Fenrir	+100%		Northside
Guillotine x-MOD2			Dogtown
Pizdets	+85%
Problem Solver	+100%		Badlands East
Prototype: Shingen Mark V	+50%		Arroyo
Raiju			West Wind Estate
Yinglong	+50%		Wellsprings