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[Wolfgang2685]

There's those in the community that hate the chargeup mechanic of the gauss.

But then there's guys like me, who hate that it can also be used in a brawl like something between an AC10/AC20 with a bit crappier DPS (but the instant 15 damage is still no joke). I'm guilty of doing it myself because it's very damn effective to have a dual purpose rediculously long range/maximum effect short range AC15 up my sleeve. The chargeup time doesn't effect my brawling at all. Lets not even get into the screenshake, which is more than double an AC10.

I do it on my orion-M for instance:
http://mwo.smurfy-ne...47c914f9deb8097

Oh look, it even has a CASE to nullify that big gauss explosion. Just like dire wolves who get CASE automatically wherever they put it.

That's a problem right there. You have a sniper weapon that's supposed to have a glaring weakness that's nullified by 0.5 tons on an IS mech OR instantly nullified just by being in a clan mech.

In the case of XL on IS mechs, Gauss are more or less balanced right now in my PERSONAL view.

Possible Argument:
-But it takes so many crit slots! its so easy to destroy it once armor is gone!!! : You can lower the chance of it being blown off by crit just putting the gauss ammo in the same location anyways. This further nullifies the gauss "Weakness". Its not as easy to destroy as say...an AC 20, but the fact its ammo is nonexplosive and thus a great critpadder means its still harder to kill than an AC10 (unless you stuff DHS in there with the AC10, which you can only put 1 because it takes 3 slots).

Lets keep the gauss rifle as a sniper weapon, while reducing brawl effectiveness via skill-nerf.


Suggested Change(s):
-Remove the charge up time alltogether, This keeps snipers very happy.

-Increase the reload time by the same amount as the now removed charge up time. Very minor change but ensures DPS stays the same.

-Make the weapon only fireable in a zoomed state. If you're sniping you're doing this anyways. If you're trying to brawl with the weapon you're gonna have to try a LOT harder to pinpoint a specific part with a fast mover or torso twister. And that's not even considering your other weapon system(s) that will be harder to pinpoint as well.

-Make the weapon damage variable (or outright ineffective) at 180m or less ----- NOTE---- this may not be a good solution, but im listing it to hear thoughts on it. Combined with zoom-in fire only it may be an overnerf.

-Even with CASE, make the gauss explode for halved damage to adjacent components, further keeping it a poor choice for the brawling role. ---- NOTE ---- might be an overnerf, awaiting community/dev feedback.

I'd like to hear input on this, because I think a full change is necessary for the gauss rifle in general. I wouldn't want to see it overnerfed, but I would like to see it more specialized in its very specific high damage sniper role.