So a while ago, I was requested to do a guide on the X-43 Microwave Incendiary Klystron Emitter (MIKE) or should I say: Flamethrower 2.0. I first had to unlock it and play with it for a while. After about a week of unlocking and playing with it, I think I have enough info to write the guide.
So here we go!



Info:
I'm going to be honest with you, if you get the hang of this gun, you will destroy people, if you can't get the hang of this gun, you will BE destroyed by people. The first couple of games that I played with the MIKE were nothing but a big, oversized pile of damp, steaming, delicious (WHAT?!) bullsh*t. I usually got to close or to far from people to hit them correctly and that happened to me in about every match I played. Untill I started taking a little more time, being careful around corners (it can be very difficult when trying to shoot at somebody when they are right infront of you) and keeping my distance to with other players.

The damage is the lowest of all guns in Crysis 2 at 11.5 damage. However, it makes up for that with an insane rate of fire, 1500 RPM. If you thought the Feline fired fast, the MIKE fires 300 RPM faster. Yeah, it's fast! This gives the MIKE a theoretical kill time of about .44 seconds. Less then half a second to kill somebody if all 11 or so shots connect, I usually use up 30 rounds for a kill (due to lag and other issues). That would be overpowered at long range ofcourse so Crytek reduced the range to just under 20m.
Further more, it has a magazine size of 100 with 300 spare rounds, 400 with side pack (belive me, you will burn through those 400-500 rounds in no time). The reload time is also fast, 2.5 seconds for a full reload, the add time is at 1.5 seconds.
Did I tell you about the best feature of this gun? It ignores armor. That's right, the gun cuts through armor like microwaves through a nanosuit, perhaps not the best comparison, but it's true... So when they turn on armor mode, they are only going to make it harder on themselves.

Why you should use this gun:
It's the best weapon in the 'heavy' category (besides the HMG ).
Once you master this gun, you will destory everything!

Perks:
Unlike my previous guide, I'm not going to adress all perks, just the ones that I think are useful with the MIKE.

ARMOR:
Armor enhance: Since you are going to be close to enemies, you will want to survive and deal the max amount of damage possible, armor enhance prolongs your lifespan and therefore, you can deal more damage. (make sure you switch on armor mode first!) Upgrade 2 is usefull because you want to be mobile (armor enhance 2 increases mobility in armor mode) upgrade 3 is not so useful, but can be okay if they drop a Nanosuit jammer on the crash site or something...

Nano recharge: This is gold once you get it up to level 2 or, even better, 3. You can sprint towards the action, deal some damage, run the F back, recharge/reload, rinse and repeat.

Energy transfer: Same as NR, but this allows you to stay in battle as long as you don't take to much damage, can be helpful against 2 enemies. (Protip: Never attack a group of 3 or more people, YOU WILL DIE! The ammo usually runs dry after 2 enemies so after that, you are helpless).

STEALTH:
Stealth enhance: This is pretty much THE perk you will want to be using. You need to get close to people, fast, and stealth enhance helps ALOT with that. Fast uncloak/re-cloak speed for striking and running at a fast pace. Upgrade 2 for increased invisibility (shadow gives away my position most of the time when I'm not using this perk) and 3 for longer cloak duration.

The rest is not very useful, but I could see how Cover ops 3 could help, reduced sound of your own footsteps and incresed sound of enemy footsteps helps you spot cloaked enemies. Use cloak tracker if your eyes are not very good or you have yet to master the art of spotting cloaked enemies. Tracker could be used for following enemy paths, but it could just as easily make you run into a trap.

POWERRRR:
Weapon pro: This is okay if you think the reload is slow, but has no further uses.
Side pack: Useful for first-timers and people who are concerned about ammo.
Rapid fire: Good to increase the rate of ammo consumption and to drop people even faster, not the best perk, but it's okay for quick kills.
Mobility enhance: The KING when it comes down to power perks. The first upgrade lets you run twice as far, as it cuts your energy consumption of sprinting in half. The second upgrade is faster ledge grab, this allows you to get to targets faster if they are on higher ground. The third upgrade, and possibly the most valuable one, allows you to aim faster after sprinting. This is of great help when you need to fire at someone after sprinting around a corner.

Tips:
This gun can be awkward at times, sometimes it kills in the blink of an eye, sometime it takes a while.
Use hip-fire. The spread is tiny. It's 0.7-0.7, when you compare that to the, say, SCAR's 5.5-12. It's more benificial to fire from the hip. Also, the ironsights on this thing are very obstructive, they are like a big block of metal which doesn't help when aiming.
Find a balance between Feline rushing and shotgun rushing. Shotgunners want to get close, Feliners want to get a bit further, they take it easier then shotgun rushers. You need to find your zen-zone between those rushing tactics. That's how I play.
Cloak whenever in the open, armor up when in CQC. You are not going to be the fastest anyways because your mobility is meh, the MIKE is still a heavy weapon.

My class:
Primary: X-43 MIKE
Secondary: Hammer Silencer, ext mags (personal preference)
Explosive: Frag (again, preference)
Armor: Nano Recharge
Stealth: Stealth Enhance
Power: Mobility enhance

All I can say is, just get out there, try it out, and love it!
Good luck, see you on the battlefield.

Well done, good guide. I use the same perks but with armour enhance, all upgrade three.

Great write up! Im excited to try it out now.