Just an observation of mine, I really don’t have a solution yet.
In CBT, there was reason to choose the box PPD over the drum PPD. That being you couldn’t resupply ammo from bots with the drum, so you had a choice between 2 73 round drums or a theoretically infinite supply of 25 round boxes for more longevity.
Now that ammo bags were added, the downside of the drum is seriously alleviated disproportionately to the box.
With either of them, you get 1 extra magazine per tier.
So you get 73 extra rounds with the drum or 25 extra rounds with the box. Now with 3+ drums, overall ammo stock isn’t so much of an issue for the drum as it was previously, as it gains so much from the ammo bag.
Thoughts?
There really isn’t one I can think of either. Functionally, taking the drum would be better, it’s just a step up now like changing out the Mosin’s for the SVT’s. There’s a lot more people throwing down resupply points these days too so ammo in itself, aside from the ammo bag’s you mentioned, isn’t a problem.
If someone really wanted to balance them, they could add a bigger stamina drain to sprinting with the drum version, that’s a stretch of course.
In Rising Storm 2 I know they made the PPSh w/ drum mags take a lot longer than stick mags to aim down sights since the drum mags were quite heavy. They overdid it though and it just made stick mags way better.
I always carry a large ammo pouch on all my PPDs especially my preference on drum mags for an SMG like PPD and PPSh because of their high rate of fire. I don’t always have a time to build an ammo box especially as attackers.
I still prefer the drum mag in Rising Storm 2 though and this is my 2nd gun that I have kills the most with the AKM being the first. I learned how to shoot short bursts with the PPSh from Red Orchestra 2 though while in this game, I get to short burst on ranges with the PPD.
I found out that the PPD w/ drum mag can be used in leu of a MG for longer ranged if you mount it before shooting. All the recoil is gone.
Box mag is the same really