The Breach nerf probably had to do with Dropships more than anything else. Their effective HP without modules on is MUCH lower than it is now and if Forge numbers had stayed the same then they would have been in a pretty precarious position.

If you have a weapon capable of 1 shotting a fitted dropship from anywhere in a 300m radius that's costing the user between 700-900k then you set yourself up for a situation that we have now where they're simply no where near worth the price to bring them out on the battlefield. Their current numbers are already 10% higher than the most powerful Large Rail gun you can fit on a Tank so I really can't sympathize with that point of view.

It's one issue but certainly not the only one, I'd still argue that, thanks to their range not having changed, the Forge is still in a position where its got a HUGE advantage over anything flying in the air. With Swarms I at least have some sort of warning in which I can hear their approach and respond to their general direction upon being hit. Forges don't leave me that opportunity unless I already have line of sight on their position and am within renderable range of my target. The hit indicator is often misleading and turning on to respond to any one threat or another often doesn't gleam me any relevant information about where your shot may have come from. My only real option, as a pilot, is to run and hope that the hit indicators on my Dropship haven't glitched to the point where I'm running into another shot.

There's no sort of compelling or satisfying gameplay there, no back and forth between AV and Vehicle in which I can choose to gauge the threat of my target and decide whether or not to attack or flee; it's find a supply depot, find a nook or cranny, charge up and destroy.

You're a tiny glowing dot that may or may not render at any given time that could be literally anywhere on the map without me having a single clue that you've even spawned and you've destroyed me without me having any clue how or where I could have responded differently. Is that the sort of gameplay you want?

I'm glad that you mentioned snipers as it illustrates my point pretty succinctly.

It takes a considerable amount of skill for a sniper to 1 shot a proto with anything short of a headshot (or multiple given the HP values I see running around). There's multiple avenues of cover that an infantry person can take compared to a Dropship that's in the air. Having shot at me I can see a weapon trail that leads directly back to you, the sniper, and can choose whether or not your worth my time to try to pursue. If I choose to engage you and can navigate and avoid your shots well enough then I'm rewarded with having put you out of your effective range, getting close to you weakens you and strengthens me.

None of this happens with a Dropship vs. Forge. I get close to you (assuming I saw where you shot from to begin with) and you're in no way less powerful or potent, if anything you're MORE powerful because I've lended you a larger target to shoot at, your damage hasn't fallen off and its no more difficult for you to take me out at 30m as it was at 300m.

JudgeRhadamanthus goes over this point further in his dropship video series, if you're interested in seeing the other side's point of view then I'd suggest subscribing and checking out his videos. All credits to him for the original source of the argument I've (tried) to present.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w-sVXgJKSQ