I have always been of the opinion that current HMG damage and application is damn near perfect, and heat management and aiming should be what defines a skilled heavy. So thank you for the detailed input and feedback.

At 50m, HMGs only wreck low-HP units like sneaky scouts. Funny thing is, folks will tell you that this is fine, all the while complaining that the same squishy scout can kill a sentinel "too quickly" with an RE or multiple shotgun blasts.

Seriously.

Get out.

Yes because a DPS weapon at shotgun range is better.

No wait. At your proposed ranges a shotgun is better.

Back to the days of the shotgun heavies. I can see it now.

-With the exception of the Assault HMG, HMGGÇÖs are only effective when camping from single story buildings. With two story buildings, such as the GÇ£TabletopGÇ¥ an HMG has reduced effectiveness on targets due to range until they come very close to the base of the structure. This is because dispersion starts to reduce HMG dps at far less than Optimal Range. Therefor the real optimal range of the HMG is less than the Optimal Range numbers would suggest.

I get kill mostly by normal HMG from 35-45m all the time. And it's not as if they were dealing low damage! They really hurt at such a range.

-A Shotgun is only effective at short range because it is used by fast, stealthy suits that can get into short range quickly, or they are used on Commando suits which have a long range option and only need the Shotgun in CQC. There is a reason why you almost never see a Sentinel using a Shotgun. A slow suit with a very short ranged weapon is not effective at all. Everyone can see it on their radar. Everyone can outrun it. People would only engage a Sentinel who is using a very short range weapon when they feel they have the advantage. This would be just as true with an HMG if the range was severely nerfed as it is true for a Sentinel with a Shotgun.

The shotgun is quite buggy with the hit detection, and requires to be very close to the target (~5m) to deal its full damages. It's a semiautomatic weapon that have a slow rate of fire. There are absolutely no links between the shotgun and the HMG which is an automatic weapon, with ultra high rate of fire, really forgiving if you miss your aim for a while, and that deals a huge ammount of DPS.
Moreover, 20m is a far more decent range than a shotgun. In buildings, 20m is more than enough to reach any target and wreck it. With such a huge DPS, with low aim skill require (kinda spray and pray) used on a high HP suit, it shouldn't be able to reach targets for more than that.

-If HMG Optimal Range were reduced to less than 20m, then HMG Sentinels would only be used in very specific situations where an objective is located in a confined space. The HMG Sentinel would not be a viable specialization, and would only be worth skilling into for people who had already maxed out their primary role. You would still see some HMG Sentinels (mostly militia) in Gallente Research Facility Domination, and a few other places, but in most matches you would not see a single HMG Sentinel.

I agree with you on that. But people got used to a mid to close range and very powerful weapon (even at standard lvl) that is far from being balanced with such a range.

-Your suggestions would kill the class. Is that your intention?

I don't think so, heavies will only have to move more carefully, to learn how to get closer to their target to destroy them easily. Or play the objective and their role : guarding a point like turrets. They are not assault or commando, they are not meant for mid-range kills. They are not scouts either as they have much more HP and aren't sneaky and speedy at all. They are meant for face-to-face engagement in CQC. People must deal with that when they pick the role.