I agree, it needs a buff, it is useless against all these insanely high DPS rifles

and dont give me that crap like "its a support weapon"

ITS A FREAKING GRENADE LAUNCHER, you should be able to kill masses with it, people should fear it

It's ok on Min Commandos only because you're not using it as a main weapon(the point of the thread). The problem is that the MD is just going to be an extremely niche Min Commando weapon that will still be outclassed by Dual RIfles in some situation, or go home MD users because the MD is not viable as a main.

It's ok on Min Commandos only because you're not using it as a main weapon(the point of the thread). The problem is that the MD is just going to be an extremely niche Min Commando weapon that will still be outclassed by Dual RIfles in some situation, or go home MD users because the MD is not viable as a main.

And what is the MD doing that a Rifle can't? Against Heavies the weapon is a useless. Against Assaults or Commandos, the weapon is a liability, against Logistics it's dependent on whether the Logi is using the most common weapon in the game; if so, it's a bad match-up. The same goes for Scouts, the suit that the MD is supposedly most effective against.

Assaults shouldn't be using a weapon that's bad to useless against multiple classes, that contradicts their purpose. That leaves Min Commando because it can a better weapon with a range above 15 meters.

And why shouldn't the MD not a side-arm?

This isn't about optimal conditions, this is about a light weapon's usefulness against classes. Laser and Shotguns are still effective against all classes, the MD will not be in 1.8.

The MD was already one of the most situational weapons in the game, due to Shield v Armor actually mattering, vertical advantage and ammo + clip awareness being almost a necessity, while managing your optimal range that Rifles tend to out DPS you in anyway. All of this made it a mediocre choice, shown by how few people actually used the weapon pre-1. 8. But this changes in 1.8, because the MD will be the only weapon in the game(apart from Flaylock) that will be dependent on dropsuit class.

Against a Heavy - useless
Against Assaults or Commandos - Extremely Bad match-up
Against Logistics - Neutral but may change due to the weapon of opponent
Against Scouts - Favorable(what isn't, poor scouts) but may change due to weapon of opponent

Even Laser don't find themselves useless to the point where they need to stop using their weapon against a class. Combined with the elements that made the MD already situational, it makes the MD not viable as a main weapon. If this is the direction the game is going, it makes sense to put the MD together with the rest of the massively situational weapons. It's not like it's out-DPSing sidearms too, on the contrary, it's being left in the dust against any sidearm other than the flaylock when comparing optimals.