Posted 08 November 2014 - 01:06 PM
So far I actually like the fire rate increase. One thing that you have to keep in mind is that other mechs have these weapons too, and a 4 second cooldown is right around the standard for a ton of weapons, so it's very easy to get into a scenario where you're trading blows every 4 seconds or so. When that happens with, say, an Atlas, you will lose every time simply because he's mounting the same AC/20 and 3xML (or 2xML) as you, plus more. The increased cooldown, however, means that you can put out 2 or 3 shots and still have time to torso twist or go back around around a corner before his second volley, thus getting a bit closer to an equal exchange of firepower if you're a good pilot that avoid a face to face stare contest.
Increases to cooldown also effectively mean an increase to heat as well, since you're not getting the same amount of time to bleed off heat between shots. This might reduce your effectiveness in a long term engagement, but you're a Medium mech, you shouldn't BE in a long term engagement because you don't have the armor for it. So again, this plays to what should be the strengths of the class, which is faster and more lightly armored flanker that can dish out damage over a short period, but can't keep up the sustained pounding that many Heavies and Assaults can. I think that's a good thing.