Shotgun Fall Damage: The Fall Of The Mighty

[RAVVSlathotep]

1. Let's get some facts straight before we start this show:
2.  
3. The Hek was the highest ranked weapon, at rank 4 it stood above the Gorgon.
4. The Hek is the third shotgun available, after the Strun and the Boar (if we disregard the Bronco), establishing somewhat of a hierarchy.
5.  
6. Now, let's ask a few questions regarding this new patch:
7.  
8. Why is the highest ranked weapon now inferior to the lowest rank shotgun? (Strun has polarities, more rounds, easier to get, cheaper)
9. What is the Hek's niche? (The Strun filled the usual videogame shotgun niche of high, close-range damage; the Board is the automatic shotgun. The Hek filled the medium-range shotgun, which is closer to reality. Now it fills the same niche as the Strun and gets outclassed by it. The Hek has no reason to exist anymore)
10. What is the motivation to get higher ranks, if both the Gorgon and the Hek are outclassed by lower rank weapons such as the Strun or the Boltor?
11.  
12. And with this I can begin my actual complaint:
13.  
14. Character progression. I assume that I don't have to explain what this is and how it affects games. Well, character progression here is tied with both the minor and major ranks and as it should be, you get better stuff the higher level you are. The Hek is the current peak of character weapon progression.
15. We've all known that the Hek was indeed the best weapon in the game. We've all known for a while that it would end up getting nerfed but I honestly never thought they'd simply destroy shotguns along the way. As the highest ranked weapon it should rightfully be either the best, most complete or more gimmicky weapon. Well, now it's neither.
16.  
17. Complaints regarding it being able to "snipe" people (clearly from people who spend too much time on "realistic" shooters like CoD and think that shotguns have the same effective range as a spit ball) have been voiced for weeks and I guess that DE's better judgement buckled under the pressure. It is true that the Hek did have a more realistic range than other shotguns but it was also its niche. And, as I stated before, that's all in the past. There could have been many "fixes", such as lowering the fire rate, increasing the reload rate, reduce the damage to 120 to strengthen the idea of precision over power. Any of these would be sound. Well, what they did was kill the only reason people had to raise in ranks (except for bragging rights but I'm assuming we're not children in kindergarten).
18.  

    Thank you for reading, I encourage you to share your thoughts on the matter at hand.

     

    ~RAVVS

 

 

EDIT: It came to my attention that people were going blind from the white. I dunno how it happened or why it happened but I managed to fix it

Edited April 27, 2013 by RAVVSlathotep

[ZefiruShrike]

Dear god, the white.

 

Anyways, I agree (and the fact that I just built it and have it at level 4 has nothing to do with this!).  As it stands, the Hek is only useful at the same ranges the Strun is useful at.  Hek doesn't do THAT much more damage, and it gives up two shots and a polarity for that.

Edited April 27, 2013 by ZefiruShrike

[Greene]

7/10, good read. 
ATM I'm at the point where my hek is my second to worst primary, only being beaten by the paris, which is sad.

[Sarbus]

Shotguns in general are useless now. May as well melee at that range.

[wolfenstian]

As a boar user this is even worse for me. The hek's current range is what the boar's was. Heavy melee weapons and the boar share the same range now, so why use the shotgun over a giant axe that can hit more than one person? Now to use the boar effectively is to not use it at all.

[biggians]

Shotguns straight up suck now, do not bring them to the battle. There's no point. Hell, my Gorgon is more useful than my Hek at close range now. What a stupid change. Shotgun rounds (especially in the future) certainly don't lose significant velocity inside 100 yards, and shotguns were hardly overpowered before this change. My suggestion? half the falloff damage penalty for the Strun and Boar, remove it completely from the Hek and take 10 - 15 points of damage off of it to compensate for the people who actually cry OP in a strictly multiplayer cooperative game. What a joke.