Well... my rate of fire isn't amazing at all, I max out at 6-8 (9 if I'm very very lucky) balls a second, shooting an Angel LCD with a single trigger. I think this is good for me, though since it makes my paint last that much longer. In a 5 man game I'll go through anywhere between 3 to 5 pods playing in the back center, and try to carry at least 6 out on the field (although if I played 10 man I'd double it and add a couple extra). My gun shoots a little more than half as fast as most guns out there now, which is fine by me, because it helps cut down paint costs, and I feel like I can still do my job from the back. I even shoot people off the break every once in a blue moon
Rule of thumb... 1 pod per opponent?