A little talk about Canister Shell (MBTank)

Thank you for the interesting topic!

I assume we are talking about the BF4 MBT canister shot. I think maybe there is a misconception that it being a shot gun style weapon means it is intended for cqc. And while you can certainly use it for that purpose provided your aim is steady the Canister shot is really more of a 25-80m weapon. It's advantage is that it can OHK enemies in that range and that is a big advantage over the LMG and HMG. The reason why is that with LMG/HMG the enemy at those ranges can run into cover before you can finish them off. Canister shell works wonders against enemies peaking out of cover to take RPG shots at you too. If I recall correctly the canister shell also murdered atv's, jet skis and jeeps and did significant damage to helicopters and jets whereas the LMG was infective against them.

Given it's slow ROF though it is as you mentioned not at all suited for cqc and for those maps the LMG is a much better fit. They all have their spaces:

LMG: CQC king

HMG: All around - Much higher ROF than canister but significantly lower ROF then LMG (also damages light armored vehicles)

Canister: OHK out to about 80m, fast projectile velocity and does damage to light armor