First of all a player must understand how damage work:
A soldier has 20 HP, 10 “normal” HP and 10 HP in downed state
A soldier with vitality has 13,5 “normal” and 10 HP in downed state
The problem with calculating downstate HP is that its chance based and is best explained through examples:
John has 20 HP, he gets hit with 10 DMG so he has a 0% chance to die without entering downed state
John is hit with 11 DMG so he a low chance to die without entering downed state
John is hit with 19 DMG so he has a high chance to die without entering downed state
Once a soldier has entered the downed state, he must suffer 10 DMG to die. (cumulative! if you hit John for 15 DMG and he gets downed, he only has 5 HP left in downed state).
Vitality and max upgraded guns are the norm for veterans so I will be using those by default!
Every shot hits the torso and the soldier is NOT wearing body armour and is NOT paratrooper or flame II.
Mp40, Mp38, M1 Beretta, Beretta 38/42, Lanchester.
SMGs that do 6.8-7.0 damage at 10m
Down a soldier in 2 shots
Kill a soldier in 4 shots
Pps42, Pps43, Type 2a SMG
SMGs that do 6.7 damage at 10m
Kill a soldier with high chance in 3 shots
In the worst case scenario, if the soldier was lucky and got downed from 3 shots (low chance) they need a fourth shot to kill.
M1A1 Thompson, M3A1 Submachine gun (Grease gun)
SMGs that do 7.9-8.3 damage at 10m
Kill a soldier in 2 shots (low-medium chance), but guaranteed to down
Kill a downed soldier with 3rd shot (guaranteed)
The M3A1 Submachine gun has been BR2 for a while now but did not break balance because it had low fire rate.
MP40, MP38, M1 Beretta, Beretta 38/42: base fire rate 500 rpm, max upgraded fire rate 570 rpm.
DPS max upgraded: 64,6 and 66,5 (MP40 only)
Pps42: base fire rate 600 rpm, max upgraded fire rate 690 rpm.
DPS max upgraded: 77
Type 2a SMG: base fire rate 600 rpm, max upgraded fire rate 690 rpm.
DPS max upgraded: 77
Lanchester: base fire rate 600 rpm, max upgraded fire rate 690 rpm.
DPS max upgraded: 78,2
M3A1 Submachine gun: base fire rate 410 rpm, max upgraded fire rate 470 rpm.
DPS max upgraded: 65
M1A1 Thompson: base fire rate 600 rpm, max upgraded fire rate 690 rpm.
DPS max upgraded: 95,5
With everything I have said so far, I think it’s pretty clear that the M1A1 Thompson will power creep the hell out of BR2