while the topic of the DS is being discussed a lot, this weapon also has serious issues.
as you know, this weapon used to have a trade-off of “high damage but hard to use (slow reload and high recoil),” which made it a somewhat balanced weapon. however, due to poor balancing adjustments, most of its drawbacks were removed (recoil reduced, hitbox expanded so that even slightly off-target shots hit, weapon switch speed increased), turning it into an overpowered weapon.
I think the high damage of the Boltgun is not a problem and should remain as it is. however, regarding the recoil and hitbox expansion, there may be disagreements, but if these are not adjusted, the ammo count should be reduced.
with the standard ammo count being 115 and the Veteran skill increasing it to 140, it’s clearly too much. there are ammo drops all over the map, and with the Survivalist, you can shoot the Boltgun indefinitely.
Bolter is an iconic weapon in 40K, and it’s a very powerful weapon. that’s why it should be used as a trump card, a weapon you use when absolutely necessary.
That all depends on how it’s being used. If you’re using it primarily to mag dump at enemy elite gangs then no, not even with survivalist will you be able to do it indefinitely. If you’re using it as a marksman weapon then maybe, if you’re intelligent about your ammo economy, but that’s the entire point of survivalist in the first place.
The bolter is finally in a good state after a long time. I’d say it doesn’t need any tweaks of any kind even.
The increased carapace damage and debatably the swap time buffs for the bolter were probably too far. The Bolter was in a decent place before these, but everyone complained it was “awful” so FS boosted it. (The recoil change was amazing and I’m super happy that was made).
But it goes back to what should we expect FS to balance around? I think boltgun is hinging on OP in normal Auric, but with the much reduced ammo in Havoc it’s fine (still a very strong pick however).
All in all it should probably go untouched and be fine. I still enjoy using it, but I do think it got pushed a bit too far in the strong direction.
Btw, with the brute condition, I play with Bolter… my god. How this thing is terribly easy to use to kill whatever you want / need on auric.
I don’t talk about havoc, I guess this weapon cannot be played in havoc. But in auric…
Not true. I don’t pick bolter for same use as if I pick plasma gun.
However, PG is also really too strong (light shots should not cleave like that).
I ain’t feeling it. I think if I worked backwards from where bolter is doing way too well I’d settle on Unyielding/boss damage.
A step further and I’d probably say Ambuscade and Purge the Unclean and Puncture probably. Shattering Impact is probably overkill but I honestly don’t use that blessing because it just deals that well with Crushers and so does all of my melee.
While I don’t see the Bolter as a problem, in the same way the DS is - and, to a lesser extent, the PG, too - I would like to see the Bolter nerfed a bit. If it’s any one characteristic, I’d pick ammo. (Or perhaps mag size? But that might be more annoyance than nerf.)
I think it’s fun when powerful weapons have a significant downside to work around. For all the anti-armor, anti-monstrosity … anti-everything, really … power the Bolter offers, I’m not feeling much downside.
bolter is the strongest gun in the game, yet it received 3 buffs starting with patch 14, all of them unwarranted
its only nerfs were related to the veteran class nerfs in patch 13 (also unwarranted) and the pinning fire nerf (much needed), and players disregarded it as the underdog until recent days
but the reality is that it never stopped being the best gun in the game
and yes, i think plasma gun is inferior
a gun is not just stats, bolter can solve more situations than a plasma gun, its the only gun in the game that allows you to create space for youself when cornered, and cc everyone around you in the meatime on top of the damage, and its not wastefull to use on single/spread out faction enemies, it has more applications, and those 15 shots can do way more than a revolver after unloading the clip or a plasmagun before having to vent
its VoC/Frag Grenade level of usefulness, meanwhile plasmagun is completely useless the moment you actually need a gun most
Sorry to nitpick but the recoil desynch/aim desynch shenanigan really did need fixing and the damage buff to infested is fine, it was ludicrously low before and showed that infested armor class is a very un-utilized/unnecessary distinction in the game right now.
Come to think of it, my problem with the PG isn’t so much with the amount of damage the weapon can cause, but with the lack of “downsides” to using it. Especially the colorful possibility of the player getting quick-roasted. That’s now more of a theoretical possibility than a balancing flaw.