I am evaluating the New Bust HMG for my HMG Sentinel guide.

The Burst HMG was not nerfed or buffed in Hotfix Charli, it was completely rebuilt from the ground up. As I stated in the HMG changes thread, so many variables were being changed at once that it was imposable to predict prior to field testing whether the New Burst HMG would be Overpowered (OP) or Underpowered (UP). Experts in the Sentinel community suspected it would be one or the other, and that it would have to be further tweaked in Hotfix Delta, after proper field testing, in order to balance it properly.

My fist impression after one match with the Burst HMG where I went 20/5 solo, is that they got the GÇ£feelGÇ¥ right, but it is a bit on the OP side. Initial testing suggests that the balancing factors are working as intended, but that the DPS is still too high for those balancing factors to achieve balance for the weapon. I will likely be recommending a small damage nerf.

Rate of Fire:
The Rate of Fire feels right. It chews through ammo very quickly which acts as a balance factor. I am not a spray and pray heavy. I have been doing this since 1.3 and I try to aim with precision and not waste ammo. Yet mid match I found myself with 0 ammo in the clip and 0 ammo in the reserve (and no sidearm due to fitting limitations). Then after running to a Supply depot and completely topping up my ammo supply I again ran my reserve to 0 in under 2 minutes during a protracted 6 v 6 fight at a Research Facility medium socket objective.

With a normal HMG I might only run my ammo reserve to 0 once in 20 matches, so running out of ammo in under two minutes is quite a dramatic difference. This definitely works as a balance factor for the Burst HMG, and will make supply management part of the decision making process for its user.

I died at least once while reloading.


Overheat:
I overheated the Burst HMG at least 5 times during the match, mostly when fighting multiple assailants. With practice I expect I will get better at avoiding the overheat, but it will take skill and experience to avoid overheating in the middle of a fight. I think the heat buildup is in a good spot right now. If it was increased any further though, it could render the weapon ineffective, so increasing heat buildup would not be a good option for balancing it.

I died at least once due to my weapon overheating.


Burst pause:
I find the shorter pause between bursts to be much easier to work with than the pause was on the old Burst HMG.


Damage:
Damage is a bit too high. Yes the HMG is supposed to be a beast, and the Burst is supposed to be even more of a beast than other HMGGÇÖs, but the Time To Kill with the New Burst HMG seems too low. People donGÇÖt have time to react.

However, we need to be careful when adjusting damage. If my calculations are correct (is it 3 rounds per burst?) then reducing the damage of a round by 1 hp would reduce the DPS by 44.4 HP/s.

If possible I feel it would be a good idea to reduce the Damage per round by 1 immediately, before it has time to become the FOTM and the cries for big nerfs start. I would like to evaluate it at 12 damage per round (Adv) and 13 damage per round (proto), before deciding if any further changes are needed in Hot Fix Delta.

Edit: After further testing I think the balance factors may be enough to keep the Burst HMG from becoming FOTM without needing a nerf. This Weapon is still beast in the hands of a skilled user though.