Did a post similar to this around this time last year, and a lot of the suggestions eventually came to pass. Almost certainly not due to my post especially with how they were implemented, but I think its worth putting down in plain black white what’s wrong, good, or too strong in plain black and white and within context of each other because they do not exist within a vacuum.
Most (but not all) of the weapons listed have been tested both in psykarium, and at minimum Damnation difficulty if not auric on gunpsyker, and mainly veteran.
Lasguns
Accatran MG MK II Heavy Laspistol - Actually in a great state now. Not amazing damage when looked at on paper, but within the context of its great mobility and hipfire accuracy I was very pleasantly surprised with this one. It has its place and that’s great. No real notes.
Makes the Braced Autoguns look even worse than they already did in my eyes, but I’ll get to those.
Accatran MK II Recon Lasgun - Awful. It wasn’t that great even when it had infinite ammo. It’s newer version was passable with it. Increase the damage per shot starting at 25% more. Remove the ICD on Shocktrooper to fix this gun along with the damage increase.
Accatran MK VId Recon Lasgun - Terrible. It was only ok when it had infinite ammo. With the damage nerf in place from Patch 14 you can remove the ICD on shocktrooper and this weapon will have a passable niche of high ammo econ with high level of usability.
Alternatively its been suggested that it give a stacking debuff if you land all your shots in a single spot on an enemy to do increasingly higher damage as you bore into them with the laser barrage. I highly doubt this will be done due to the coding involved.
Universal note for the following lasguns: Please remove the inverse fall off damage. It really introduces strangeness with breakpoint reliability devaluing player skill. Being able to one to two tap something then move on grows more and more important the higher the difficulty.
Kantrael MG Ia Infantry Lasgun - In a great place. No notes.
Kantrael MG IV Infantry Lasgun - Crap. It’s another middle child, and I understand identity preservation but it could really use a damage boost. 1a, and 12 are comparable DPS wise this one will give you an RSI and not give you anything in return.
Give it a 20% boost to damage, and it will still be lower than 1a and 12, but it will be the easier spammy one.
Kantrael MG XII Infantry Lasgun - The workhorse. Ol’ Faithful. I said it was the model gun last year, and I say it this year as well. Good upsides to balance out its downsides.
Could use a slight boost in damage since MG 1a is far too close to its breakpoints, but nevertheless even in current state it has its place if you are a truly good sharpshooter with its cleaner more reliable breakpoints.
Helbore
No need to really differentiate them as the main issue comes down to their usability. The swap animation I complained about last year is still here. A weapon that has to charge up after swapping does not need an animation of you turning off the safety.
Glad the bayonet is good now allowing you to keep the gun out longer in more situations, but it still does not justify the swap animation.
How many times can I say “swap animation”? A lot. Its awful. Get rid of the swap animation. Maybe boost the MK III’s damage a bit as well. 15% would be good.
Autoguns
Agripinaa MK I Infantry Autogun - Surprisingly good headshot weapon. Hard to use that way, but definitely possible. Great reload. Great on both psyker and vet for different reasons.
Slightly more body shot damage would allow it to be useable by a larger variety of players, but lowering the weakspot multiplier to have it do the same damage it does currently. By no means is this needed.
Columnus MK V Infantry Autogun - Great weapon. Great reload. Possibly overtuned, but the lack of long range power means its probably just in a good place. It takes a while to tap down gunners, and reapers in the distance.
If it feels like it performs too well increasing first shot recoil to set it further into its niche of close range will be the best way to go instead of lowering the damage.
Graia MK VIII Infantry Autogun - The awkward position of the middle child. Unable to give it better fire rate, or raw damage for fear of losing its identity I suggest making it a stability monster.
Give it slightly more weakpoint damage as well. Around 15% more base.
Braced Autoguns I have not tested enough. They feel like I’m trolling my team by using them especially when there are long ranged threats that I am supposed to be clearing for the team, but I understand what they are supposed to do conceptually, and I’ll stick to that.
My main point of contention is their range even within their supposed niche. They cannot be too accurate, or they will be too strong but I think they are too far in the praying portion of the spray n’ pray metric. I think a 25% boost/tightening to their accuracy will not affect their identity, and not make them overpowered.
A 15% bonus to their damage would not go amiss either. Especially the Graia. God Emperor that one needs some help.
Headhunters
Vraks MK III Headhunter Autogun - Very strong even post nerf (this is a good thing). Can’t take care of shooter packs as cleanly as the lasguns 1a, or 12 but has more damage on single target. It’s in a good place now.
Vraks MK VIII Headhunter Autogun - Not sure what the identity of this weapon is. It doesn’t one shot anything other than ranged mobs in terms of elites, and is painfully close to one tapping specials. So I have to ask if this is a 1 tap gun or a 2 tap gun.
Its fire rate suggests its a 2 tap gun, but it comes so painfully close to one tapping so many of the maniac crew I have to wonder. If its supposed to be a 1 tap gun then lower the fire rate by 25%, and increase the damage per shot by 25%.
Agripina MK IX Headhunter Autogun - The worst of the 3 Headhunters by far. I understand it needs to maintain its identity of the in between of the 3, but maybe lowering the delay even further between the 2 shots might help it feel better along with a recoil reduction.
Ultimately it always does come down to damage though. So a boost to its damage is always a choice to make this one not crap.
Shotguns
Agripinaa MK VII - Almost in a good place. I’m not sure whether its my aim, but the 1 to 2 taps are incredibly inconsistent sometimes for no real reason. Ammo econ is horrible, and the slug does not do enough damage for how much it asks of you.
Seems to take far too much stamina from deadshot as well.
My suggestion is increasing the ammo pool on all shotguns by a flat 20-25, and as for the agripinaa doubling down on it being the marksman style gun of this family you should boost the weak shot multi on its regular shot by another 15-20% total, and the slug by another 30% more.
Kantrael MK IX Combat Shotgun - In mostly a good place because of the fire shot giving it a good niche. Needs better ammo econ as listed above, and slightly better weakspot multi. It barely does more than an agripinaa despite having much higher base damage and lower range and firerate. 15% more should put it in a good place.
Lawbringer MK VI Combat Shotgun - Not sure what to do with this one. It has no real identity, but does more damage per shot than agripinaa I guess. I think a slight boost to damage by 12% along with the ammo boost I recommended.
Giving its special shell a 4 bleed stack might do something, but that might infringe on the Kantraels identity within the shotgun family. Perhaps high stagger would be the solution.
One offs
Locke MK IIb Spearhead Boltgun - In real need of a weakpoint boost. It has awkward breakpoints especially in regards to its usability. Also a big no no for being “lore friendly” to justify its awful breakpoint on pox hounds. Let it do full damage vs infested flesh. A 20% more weakpoint multiplier while ADS’d will put this gun in the place it deserves.
M35 Magnacore MK II Plasmagun - No notes. Might be too strong with its absolutely amazing uptime and guaranteed stagger on everything but bosses. Heat is a decent balancing factor.
All the same even with all the pros listed above its ammo econ is terrible. You need to change how the ammo from both survivalist and pick ups work on it.
Or maybe that’s the balancing factor.
Zarona MK IIa Quickdraw Stub Revolver - My absolute favorite weapon. I am biased. Regardless I will give feedback with the proper tone set, and say its in a great spot other than the Hand Cannon being overtuned. Cutting the blessings rend power in half would be sufficient, and it would then not become a bygone conclusion to pick it.
If this is not enough then lowering its multi vs carapace by one third would put it in a sufficiently weaker spot, and not destroy its identity.
I should add that this game needs a sniper rifle. Like an actual honest to god emperor sniper rifle. This is why I am currently attached to this gun as it acts as a proper one, and even last year I asked for a sniper. It was delivered though not how I expected.
Good things come in small packages I guess.
Shredder - Lol.