Sorry let me explain how it was not really a nerf , but more like a weapon that actually takes skill to use when uprising came out the blast radius was dropped down to 3.6 in the regular variants not sure about the assaults MDs, but anyways with that in mind people though this thing was still in use and wanted to get easier kills and of course it takes little to no skill to use MD right now because of its blast radius, but back in chromosome the EXO had a 4.4 blast radius and if you get to lv 5 it comes around to 5.5 meter blast radius so you really don't have to hit your targets when they are moving. So when uprising came out people complained about its really small blast radius and hardly can get any kills with it so they have decided to bring back the MD to its original state like in chromosome. If they never changed the blast radius and kept it the same 3.6*1.25= 4.5 meter blast radius making it a more balanced weapon and of course making it more of a skill based \.

Edit: 5% to blast radius per level.

So what if projectile speed was increased along with damage drop off and/or slight blast radius decrease? Would that be acceptable?

My two cents.

In battles where MD actually claims most kills it's the assault MD that is used. That weapon is prolly on the OP side. Likewise it's the most skill independent MD as it is designed for wide AoE blindfire. You will also see that 'better corps' who traditionally go for OP stuff all flock to ASSAULT md.

Then we have regular MD. All the crying AR 'leet' players who score high KDR on boards inevitably try this and realize that they cant do as well with it, then go back to AR and cry about MD in general on the forums. The regular MD is the work horse of ppl who play with MD. Now it's prolly well balanced in the game.

Lastly breach MD. This thing is so broken (like breach SG) that no amount of skill will make up for it. No one is using it. It's def UP.

Oh ok. Well yea that needs to go. And yes I rarely ADS my MD.

The problem is they wont just adjust the splash down 1 meter and remove the aim knock, they will keep to their track record and totally trash the weapon.

TBH i don't like to get into balancing discussions because i believe that until CORE mechanics(lag, hit detection aiming, controls, movement) are improved beyond the level they're at it's all f'in pointless - balancing discussions are just so much jacking off and everything is just going to need rebalancing once(if) CPP gets their game working.

Balancing now does make our gameplay experiences better in the short term, but it doesn't have any effect on whether DUST lives or dies.

But this thread does bring up two old discussions on these forums.

1) The primary and dominating difference between the MD and all other weapons is the unpredictable(maybe) camera shake and to some extent the obscuring smoke.

We used to talk about the effect of various weapon impacts on various suit classes. I'm sure beta vets will remember the cheesy, half-assed mechanic CCP implemented that did nothing more than predictably elevate your camera when you were taking fire. If memory serves correctly, the effect was laughably identical for 1200 hp proto heavies and militia scouts.

The Camera shake we see for MD explosions is the first real implementation of a mechanic that rattles your cage when you take fire, and by doing so prevents retaliation - exactly as the OP has detailed above. Should a heavy really get rocked like a scout?

And where's the effect of weapon impact for all the other weapons?

2) Seven, maybe 8 months ago we had a pretty big thread about damage falloff based on distance from epicenter for explosives. Afaik nothing came of that, but i'm thinking it would go a long way towards balancing the MD and other explosive weapons. With the MD, i would want to see the effect of the camera shake falloff also.

Wouldn't take me long to adjust to that tho i don't see what the point would be. I know some other ppl who do rely on the reticle more. I dont really see what the point would be tho in changing the sights.