So what about those MP5s in Rainbow Six Siege?

Same damage, fire rate, capacity and uhm, yeah I guess mobility is the same too…

So they're the same right?

Well, no.

They're actually surprisingly varied.

What differentiates these guns?

Let's find out!

This video is divided into different chapters, links to each section in a pinned comment below.

In Rainbow Six Siege, there are five different characters that can use one of the three MP5 variants available.

Rook and Doc get the MP5, Mute gets the MP5K, Echo has the MP5 SD and the recruit can choose

between the MP5 and MP5K.

While all three guns have the same baseline damage of 30 points per shot, the damage drop-off

and minimum damage stats from 28m and onwards are slightly different, with the MP5K surprisingly

turning out to be the most powerful.

The differences may be subtle but they still result in one extra shot to kill at range

for the SD against level 1 and 2 armour and also for the MP5 against level 3.

But of course the SD variant features an integral suppressor, so how does everything shake out

if we suppress the other two guns as well?

According to the stats, the baseline damage for both guns takes a significant hit although

in game, the damage reduction only ends up being 4 points instead of the advertised 5.

At range, the K and SD variants are equally powerful while the standard version falls slightly short.

What does this mean in practice?

Well, up to 18m all three guns require the same number of shots to kill against level

1 & 3 while the SD has an advantage against level 2 armour opponents.

At range, the standard variant is disadvantaged against level 1 & 3 armour while all three

are the same against level 2.

All in all, in terms of damage output, the MP5K inches out the win while the MP5 beats

the SD as long as it stays unsuppressed, otherwise the roles are reversed.

But damage output is irrelevant if you can't land your shots, so let's look at controllability next.

Recoil can be managed with grips and muzzle attachments and here, the choices available

to each of the guns is a little different.

The MP5 SD can attach both the vertical & angled grip, while the MP5 only gets the vertical

grip and the MP5K can attach neither, since it already includes a pre-attached vertical grip.

Not that anyone seems to have told Mute about this because he still has prefers to jam his

hand in between the grip and the mag well instead of using it like a normal person.

The baseline recoil for the MP5 and MP5 SD is the same: reasonably mild vertical recoil

with a tendency to wander off to the right.

If you attach a vertical grip, the upward recoil improves considerably although the

horizontal drift stays the same.

The MP5K, with its pre-attached grip falls in between these two recoil patterns.

The vertical recoil is only slightly improved over the baseline of the other two guns and

significantly worse when they attach a grip but the MP5K's advantage is that its horizontal

drift is much less, resulting in a straighter and more predictable pattern.

At least that is the case as of the Blood Orchid mid-season update.

Maybe this subtle differentiation will be lost once the new standardised recoil patterns

come into play, we'll have to wait and see.

The time to aim down sight, is the same for all three guns but once you slap the angled

grip onto your MP5 SD you can snap that gun up to your cheek fast enough to make your

enemy's head spin with all the bullets you'll be spraying at it.

And given that the recoil for these guns is relatively mild, using the angled grip instead

of the vertical one is well worth considering.

Over to the muzzle attachments; here the MP5K is the most versatile and gets four to choose

from, the standard variant gets three and the SD of course gets none because of its integral suppressor.

If we aim for maximum vertical recoil reduction using the grips and muzzle brakes, we can

see that the MP5K still ends up the weakest in terms of muzzle climb but retains its nice

tight groupings (which can be improved even further by choosing the compensator muzzle

attachment), the SD has lower muzzle climb but significantly more side sway and the standard

MP5 ends up with the best of both: the lowest climb and still decent horizontal spread for

the first couple of shots.

In summary, the MP5 can clearly be modded for the best overall recoil and while the

other two variants end up with quite different recoil benefits, I would class them as equivalent.

In addition to damage and recoil differences, there are a whole bunch of smaller distinctions:

The MP5K is the only variant not to get an ACOG sight, a considerable drawback.

But on the other hand, its reload time is slightly better: around 2.8 seconds instead

of the 2.9s for the other two guns.

If three round bursts are your thing, then the MP5 and MP5K have you covered (despite

the in game model for the MP5K featuring a fire selector switch with only three positions)

while the MP5 SD will give you semi or fully automatic fire only.

And last but not least, it's also worth discussing the suppression mechanics for the

two suppressible variants versus the integrally suppressed one.

As I discovered in my video comparing the Six12 and Six12 SD shotguns,

(link coming up at the end)

the advantages of a suppressed weapon are not always included for integrally suppressed weapons in the game

So the question is, how does the MP5 SD behave?

Well, good news everyone!

The most important aspect of a suppressed weapon in Rainbow Six Siege (in addition to

being quieter of course) is the fact that the white incoming fire indicator is hidden

and the MP5 SD does in fact do this, as well as completely hiding the muzzle flash.

So the SD variant functions almost exactly like the other two guns once they have been

suppressed with two notable exceptions.

Of course there is the significantly higher close range damage I mentioned earlier but

this comes with a significantly higher noise signature.

Here have a listen.

The SD's gunfire sound is still quieter than that of unsuppressed weapons but it is

audible from considerable distances and it is the loudest suppressed weapon in the game by far.

So there you have it, the guns are similar but subtly distinct, each with its own unique

set of strengths and weaknesses.

For raw damage output, the MP5K edges out the win while the MP5 is the most controllable

and the MP5 SD is a close range powerhouse if you want to go suppressed.

Which of these marvels of 1960s German engineering is your favourite and what do you want me to test next?

Leave your comments down below and while you're there if you found the info interesting, useful

and/or entertaining, then do go ahead and leave a like (dislike if you didn't like it).

And with that, as always: Thank you so much for watching, I hope you enjoyed the video

and I will see you in the next episode!

[Music swells]