I managed to jump on the gatling last night for the first time since the patch and I've got to say, it feels a lot better with the new muzzle flash and tighter firing cone (presumably that's to do with the way raycast weapons are handled now?). It just seems tighter and punchier. As for whether it is or not, I'm not sure because I didn't get to test many ammo types with it. The bigger clip definitely opens up a bunch of possibilities with regards to ammo. Of all the changes suggested for this gun I'd be happy with increased RoF because knowing how it feels now that would make it even more satisfying, especially with the bigger clip. And besides, that's kind of what gatlings should be all about.
As for the engagement distances/range cuts I'm really liking the paradigm shift. (I'm not sure whether this belongs in this thread or the pilot thread to be honest.) I've been playing with/against a very well crewed Valiant sniper Spire the last couple of nights. I was part of their crew, I played against them as crew on other ships with different builds, captains and approaches, and as a captain on my own Mobula with randoms and with friends. What I've quickly realised (and I suspected as much when I read the changes) is that you really have to be inventive and use everything at your disposal to close the distance between you and the sniper. I'm sure this has always been the case against good snipers anyway but the closer brawling changes coupled with the Spire buffs really highlights how (much more) important your approach is now. It was pretty much a case of 'stay out of the sight of the Spire' because they were that good at popping ships out the sky. (Now to face a well crewed Galleon...)
On Paritan Rumble it reminded me of good ol' The Sentinel on the Spectrum, avoiding the deadly gaze of the sentinel (the Spire) watching over the map by keeping low but working your way slowly towards it to deal the killer blow. That's Paritan Rumble. On Battle of the Dunes however, there isn't so much obvious cover so we had to start moving along the dunes, amidst the wreckages and through the moving clouds, and risking the cover of sandstorms. We had to be opportunistic but careful and sly. Telling our teammate to 'avoid the Spire: you'll die if it sees you' and them learning the hard way meant that they started trying the same tactics. There was something incredibly satisfying about traversing the map out of sight only to park ourselves inside a sandstorm directly behind both enemy ships to lay waste to them. They didn't see us coming. One of the best moments I've had with GoIO so far without a doubt.
The thing is, while this quality may not be a direct result of the patch (the Spire was still a pretty solid sniper before) -- and I'm sure many here already do stuff like this for higher level play -- the range cuts are going to seriously highlight it for pub games and compel more players to utilise more of what's on offer -- different ships, gun loadouts, ranges, arcs, ammo types, the environment, altitude, teammates, communication, timing.
I can also vouch for the sighting difficulties.
While I do love the Hades cannon, in the hands of my gunner before the patch it was pretty devastating so now coupled with its increased piercing damage and projectile speed, and its range flexibility (greased or indendiary for short, lesmok for long) it might very well become the go-to gun for a lot of different builds. Having said this, my gunner's very good with it so I've no idea how effective it is in the hands of others on different ships.
