SMG

Lore & Background

In the tribal conflicts that define the Tribes world, warriors are divided into Red and Blue factions locked in a perpetual struggle over territory. The SMG emerged as the weapon of choice for skirmishers and flanking riders who favor speed and aggression over the heavy ordnance carried by entrenched defenders. Its rapid, staccato bursts of small-caliber rounds are designed to chip away at opponents who are moving, strafing, or caught in the open between capture points.

Across the franchise's iterations, the SMG has consistently been positioned as the lightest dedicated firearm in the loadout. Where a Machine Gun demands a player slow down to control recoil and feed sustained fire, and a Sniper requires a stationary, precise shot, the SMG is built for the Tribes player who is almost always on a bike or on foot, closing distance and delivering a high volume of rounds in seconds. Its low per-round damage means that a single hit rarely threatens a kill, but a well-placed burst at close quarters can empty an opponent's health bar before they react.

The weapon's design philosophy in each Tribes title reflects the series' broader commitment to fast, vehicle-centric combat. The SMG rewards the player who can track a target while both parties are in motion, turning the franchise's signature high-speed chases into a weapon's natural hunting ground.

In Their Own Story

The dust kicked up by a dozen bikes settling into a narrow canyon pass. Rhea dropped her bike's throttle, the SMG already in her hands, the magazine clicking as she racked a fresh one. Blue riders were pushing through the chokepoint ahead, their armor catching the low sun in flashes of steel. She didn't aim to kill on the first pass. She aimed to track. The SMG barked in short, controlled bursts, rounds sparking off rock and ricocheting, each one a small thread pulling at the enemy's health. A Blue rider wrenched his bike sideways, trying to break the line, and she let him go, repositioning, letting the canyon walls do the work for her. Then the second pass. Closer. The SMG's rhythm was a heartbeat, fast and relentless, and by the time the Blue rider found cover behind a boulder, he was already down. Rhea kicked her bike back into gear and was gone before the next Red squad rounded the ridge.

Reader's Guide

The SMG solves one problem in a Tribes match: you need to deal consistent damage on a target that is moving, at a range where a Sniper can't reach and a Shotgun is too tight. It is your pressure tool for close-to-mid engagements, especially when you are on a bike and closing fast.

Key traits to internalize: very high fire rate, low damage per round, light handling. You will not one-shot anyone. You are trading volume for speed. A full burst at point-blank range will out-DPS almost anything else in the loadout, but past a few dozen meters your accuracy and per-round damage both degrade and you become vulnerable to a single well-placed Sniper round.

In practice, the SMG shines in flanking routes, canyon chokes, and open-map duels where both players are on vehicles. It punishes players who over-commit to a Machine Gun or Rocket and get caught in the open. Its weakness is obvious: sustained fire at medium-to-long range against a stationary, armored opponent. You will lose that fight. Use the SMG to create the opening, not to close it.

Balance across the franchise has generally kept the SMG in the high-DPS-at-close-range tier without letting it outperform the Shotgun at point-blank or the Machine Gun at sustained mid-range. Expect it to feel fast, forgiving, and slightly underwhelming if you are used to one-shot weapons.

Did You Know?

• The SMG has been a staple weapon class across the original Tribes, Tribes 2, and Tribes: Vengeance, making it one of the few weapon types to persist across the franchise's major console and PC releases.
• In the Tribes franchise's vehicle-centric design, the SMG's high fire rate is specifically tuned to reward tracking a moving target while both players are on bikes, a core movement mechanic of the series.
• The SMG's low per-round damage means it is inherently a volume weapon: players must land multiple hits to secure a kill, making positioning and burst timing more important than raw accuracy.
• Tribes' open, large-scale maps with natural choke points and long sightlines create a meta where the SMG's close-range strength is often paired with flanking routes to avoid the long-range dominance of Snipers and Rocket