How to Control the SMG-11 in Rainbow Six Siege

The SMG-11 fires faster than almost any weapon in Siege and kills faster than most primaries. It is carried by Mute, Smoke, and Dokkaebi as a secondary, and a player who can control it has an answer to every close-range fight.

It is also the most unforgiving weapon in the game. Hold the trigger and your entire magazine is in the ceiling before your target has taken two steps. The technique is short, and it is the whole guide.

Why it is strong

Damage. The SMG-11 kills in three to four body shots — faster than most defender primaries.

Fire rate. It empties a magazine in about a second. At close range, that is an instant kill.

It is a secondary. You keep your primary. The SMG-11 does not replace your MP5 — it covers the range where the MP5 is weakest.

Why it is hard

Vertical recoil. The climb is violent. The second shot is already above your target’s head if you do not pull down immediately.

No accuracy while moving. Firing while strafing sends rounds everywhere. This weapon demands that you stop.

Magazine size. Seventeen rounds. At the fire rate, that is under a second of sustained fire. Every trigger pull costs you a tenth of your ammo.

The technique

Two-round bursts. Maximum. Not three, not five. Two. Release, let the recoil recover, fire two more. The recovery is fast enough that two-round bursts at close range still kill faster than any other weapon in the game.

Pull down on the first shot. The climb starts immediately. The counter-pull has to begin with the first trigger pull, not after the second round has left the barrel.

Stop before firing. This weapon does not work while moving. Stop, fire two rounds, move, stop, fire two more. The movement between bursts is what keeps you alive.

Pre-aim head height. The time-to-kill is so short that the duel is decided by crosshair placement. Head height, always.

Know your range. The SMG-11 is a close-range weapon. Past fifteen meters, use your primary. Players who try to fight at range with it lose to recoil before they lose to distance.

The attachment

Compensator, always. The vertical recoil is the weapon’s only real problem, and the compensator is the fix. There is no other correct choice.

Sight: whatever you can see. The iron sights work; a reflex works. The sight does not matter — the burst technique does.

The practice routine

Step 1: Fire one magazine at a wall. Do not control anything. Watch the hole pattern — you will see the climb immediately. That pattern is the problem you are solving.

Step 2: Two-round bursts at the same spot. Pull down on each burst. The holes should land in a tight cluster. Repeat until the cluster is automatic.

Step 3: Move-stop-fire drill. Strafe, stop, fire two rounds, strafe, stop, fire two rounds. You are training the habit of stopping before the trigger.

Step 4: Terrorist hunt. Play a hunt and use only the SMG-11. Every engagement forces the stop-burst habit. Twenty minutes of this and the weapon becomes usable in ranked.

The matchups

Close-range attackers: The SMG-11 wins every fight inside ten meters if the bursts land. This is the range where it dominates.

Long-range attackers: Do not take the fight. Switch to your primary. The SMG-11 loses to any rifle at range.

Multiple attackers: The fire rate means you can kill two attackers in the time a primary kills one — but only if the first burst killed the first attacker. Miss, and you are reloading while the second pushes.

The mistakes

Holding the trigger. The single mistake that makes the weapon unusable. Two rounds, release, repeat.

Pulling down too early. The first shot is accurate. Pull down on the trigger pull, not before it.

Firing while moving. Stop. Always stop.

Using it at range. It is a close-range weapon. Switch to the primary past fifteen meters.

Forgetting the primary exists. The SMG-11 is a secondary for a reason. It covers the close range; the primary covers everything else.

The one thing to remember

Two-round bursts, pull down on the first shot, stop before firing. The SMG-11 is the strongest close-range secondary in Siege in the hands of a player who respects its recoil — and a bullet hose in the hands of one who does not.