Okay, so I don't quite know how to feel about this. This is the exact "fix" I proposed to the Gauss / PPC issue a while back but, to be fair, I never expected PGI to actually follow through with it. Let me also say that I do believe taking Gauss / PPC down a notch wasn't a bad idea in general. It's easy to call it "balance by potato", but I don't think that loadout performed worse the higher the average skill level in a game became. I know there's potato players complaining about it, but that in and of itself doesn't mean a nerf is unwarranted.
The upsides, to me, are pretty clear - some of which have been stated by PGI themselves in the patch notes, even: They can now balance both weapons better without addressing the combo (not sure why the cERPPC received a nerf if it wasn't overperforming outside of the PPFLD combo), they can stop nerfing 'Mechs into the dirt because they have the tonnage and hardoints to combine both weapons (which is the primary reason I'd rather the weapon combo nerfed than have PGI continue doing that) and maybe, just maybe, can turn Jumpjets up a notch again.
I also don't quite subscribe to the idea that PPFLD, or the Gauss / PPC combo is dead. The Night Gyr ought to be able to do 2 Gauss + 1 PPC despite of Ghost Heat, presumably, if a little less efficient. And the quad PPC Warhawk also shows that having to stagger fire your weapons two by two isn't the end of the world either - Gauss / PPC still has upsides compared to that.
That said, the downside I'm expecting here is rather simple: Build diversity. While the change probably won't kill the Gauss / PPC combo, it might take it down far enough that another build supersedes it completely, namely Laser /Gauss Vomit, what with the recent changes to cERMLs and IS ERMLs being released. Laser Vomit will have a field day, as will AC + PPC on the IS side. Big downside, in my opinion, because those builds are all doing fine and run around by the dozen as is. As good as PPC / Gauss is, this'll take a chunk of diversity out of the game.
Kin3ticX, on 15 July 2017 - 02:04 AM, said:
or just have gauss rifles make their own heat
I have a feeling PGI won't do that because that lowly one point of heat is the Gauss Rifles trade mark... For better or worse.