Not formatted, low effort copy and paste from Discord. Other posts highlight the issues with them better, consider checking out Reginald’s post since it covers the same problems but has more detail and better formatting.
Chaxe is in the best spot right now, but any +power blessings nerf the light attacks. It should also do enough damage with the rev to where I don’t need to do weird chain weapon tech to 1 shot a crusher for such a risky special attack. Heavies being good cleave side to side gives it a nice horde clear option but in a world where BM axes exist it’s really not good. I’m not a Chaxe enthusiast so I’m not gonna pretend I know what to do with the heavies.
Chainsword has good combos, needs a different weapon special imo. It should have something powersword esque where it’s a few swings of increased power with different utility based on using the Heavies or the Lights (like it sticks on lights and has higher cleave on heavies). It also needs some vfx and sound tweaks, feels too much like a club with the normal attacks. I feel the lights need some love, I like the damage and the attack speed but I’m literally just smacking them with a club, even just giving them a lot of cleave with the overheads so they cleanly go through people for a slashing effect would be nice w/ sfx. I like the heavies on them, with better vfx and sounds it’ll be fine with the special mentioned prior.
Eviscerator needs to do what Thammer cannot, and well. This means killing hordes, mixed hordes, and groups of flak armored enemies fast. It’s more of a personal gripe but it should be reasonable to do a H1 L2 combo instead of H1 QQing (H1 QQing for like ~10-15% extra DPS even is ok). H1 shouldn’t stick, only H2 should stick into enemies. If I’m in a mixed horde and I H1 L2 (or QQing) I shouldn’t get stick’d and punished because a single Rager is mixed in. The weapon should get a part of Savage Sweep implemented into the base weapon, like minimum 8-10 cleave, also tied with way better damage falloff on cleave. On Damnation I should be killing at minimum 2 horde fodder per swing (assuming high base stats). I think it would be reasonable to include a hitmass reduction to any elites/flak enemies with at least H1, again so I can swing through a Rager or Mauler while dealing with a horde. L1 H2 needs a better single target profile, I shouldn’t get higher DPS with light spam on the Chainsword. It also needs weakspot priority because I swear it’s bugged on most enemies. The rev is in a weird spot, as it currently impedes on Thammer’s specialty a little bit with a high damage (cough) single target action. I think it needs the Chainsword treatment, give it a buff to any swings you make afterwards. If I rev and go horde clear, I expect to put up with a BB Ogryn for those revved swings. If I’m going into a mission and I want to make Ogryns, Mutants, and Bosses feel like a bunch of chumps I should take Thammer, if I want to make any composition of hordes turn into minced meat I should take Eviscerator. Having Thammer/Flamer and Eviscerator/Boltgun should be staple Zealot loadouts imo.
For the Chainsword and the Eviscerator, they need good blessings too. One of the reasons Chaxe has any viability is due to it having Slaughterer, Headtaker, and Thrust. Give them to the other two chain weapons. They at the very least need a buffed Rampage if it cannot get any of those three. Could also add blessings that expand on the weapon special, but Bloodletter and Bloodthirsty both combo really well with the rev idea I put prior.
As for the weapon specials, I’ll put them again (to bloat this already large post and also for clarity). Chaxe with better single target, Chainsword and Eviscerator with buffed normal attacks (single target stuff sticks, multitarget stuff cleaves through everything better.) For the Chainsword and Eviscerator, repeat revs should refresh duration instead of toggling the rev, keep Chaxe the same. If you stick, you should be able to cancel freely with dodging, or if you’re holding the block button and you get hit (idea being you can rev hit something but prepare for to be hit in advance without punishment). You should also get a less restricted camera movement, feels annoying if I get stuck on an enemy and I cannot look around fast enough to see if something is about to hit me.
I’ve touched on vfx and sfx but it actually makes weapons that much better. Take Boltgun for example, everything about that weapon feels exactly like a Boltgun, it echos, it’s heavy, the rounds truly feel like little bombs going off inside of a hollow metal box. Chain weapons need this treatment. I like the sounds they make sometimes, but only sometimes. The Chainsword doesn’t actually rev that much, not audibly. Eviscerator does way more, but it’s like a dull rumble. Chaxe is a combo of both. My touch on it is to give the weapon a light engine noise at all times. Nothing loud. If I swing it should pick up to how loud the rev attack is. With the rev attack, I’m expecting it to sound like a sports car kicking into high gear along with some better vfx to show that it’s doing that. Also, it shouldn’t just brake the chain once the rev is over. While revved, make the noise deeper, but once the effects of the rev end make it sound like it’s shifting back down to normal, then let the volume linger as it gradually settles to it’s normal idle engine noise. As a personal touch, if the weapon has any blood decals on it and you rev it, make the blood fly off the chain (obv make it scale with decals and settings as to not ruin performance lol).
That’s all. Make em cool, make them iconic, make them chain weapons :).