Charge rifle nerf? Yeah right..

[aisthebestletter]

I agree, it seems to have increased in usage over the last week as well. If there is a gun that will make me quit playing this game, the charge rifle is it. Ridiculous weapon and way too common. 

[Biochemikas]

CR is probably the worst possible weapon to have at close range. "Almost safe" really doesn't count XD. You have to be really desperate to swap to CR in CQC. Usually even reloading is better than switching to CR.

That's basically the main reason why I try to avoid it and happily drop it for a kitted out G7. G7 simply dominates it at mid range and is also a somewhat viable swap weapon for CQC (still not a preferrable option due to long swap time of snipers).

Ultra long range targets in open areas? Sure, CR simply dominates. But saying it can be used in CQC or that it dominates middle range is simply not correct. CQC weapons obviously dominate CQC. AR's/G7 dominate middle range (my goto weapon lately is none other than the powerhouse burst Hemlok (sorry, but CR simply has no chance vs my hemlok at 100m), especially if I can't get my hands on a kitted G7).

P.S. I played around some more with CR's on the weekend and I think it could maybe still use another drop in ultra-long range damage, maybe even start the damage dropoff at 200m instead of 250. But it's not OP, just still not fun to play against in situations where it dominates (300+m open areas).

[xx_Dante2k_xx]

@Biochemikas Personally I think it's more annoying than op.

[Biochemikas]

@xx_Dante2k_xx  I definitely agree with that. It's griefer's and kill-stealer's best friend XD. Also, still great for farming damage (ppl tend to be aware of close-mid range angles, but rarely protect themselves from 400+m shots - that's where CR comes in to get some damage numbers!).

Combine that with the fact that shield cells are quite often a luxury on this map (I find myself with either 30 of those or 1-5, rarely anything inbetween) and you do get some major unfun situations. Get tickled from 500m away once, twice, thrice and you're out of shield cells... Sure, griefing is a tactic, but it's a bit too easy to do that with CR.

But most have already adjusted their rotation paths to not get tickled too much, especially when low on cells.

P.S. I haven't experienced focused 3-beam fire much yet (that just doesn't happen in casual play, even in diamond ranked), but I think it can be ridiculous in some situations, considering that's a guaranteed 0.5 second kill vs moving target at quite considerable range. The nerf did put a hard cap on that range (only vs purple armor though), but it's still somewhere around 300'ish meters. Those are the situations that may require further balancing attention in pro play. Considering there definitely are some forced open area rotations on this map, the triple-beam gatekeeping can be an impossible-to-overcome obstacle. That beam-team will probably not win the entire game with such a loadout, but they could definitely make it 99.9% unwinnable to some other teams.

[DoYaSeeMe]

@xx_Dante2k_xx It's not supposed to be fun getting shot, regardless of the weapon. Dying has to be annoying

I'd say players getting hit with CRs are usually the problem. Some don't even run to cover, but stand their ground and try to shoot back with ineffective weapons until they get hit hard again. Others can't help it and peek from cover, even though they receive hit after hit. Some try to defend areas which are vulnerable to long range, even though they hear or see CR's being used by enemy teams approaching.

I think it's also important to estimate where the next rings may be and prepare accordingly. If first or second rings have a lot of open areas, if would be good to have a Charge rifleman in the team.

[MandatoryIDtag]

They should've just either dropped the damage or significantly reduced the fire rate. A weapon with an immense range shouldn't be combined with a reasonable fire rate. >.>

[xiXBlackHaloXix]

I must be a weird kinda scrub newb trash can because I do not do very well with the CR, but wreck house with the PK. It's not easy to hit those squirmy little devils from distance unless they are standing or kneeling still. PK I can spin in circles both IRL and on screen and drop my controller and knock someone down.

Not being so heavily invested in the game (the game, you know, the thing that's fun) helps a lot. Personally, putting 20-30 matches in a night, haven't seen a significant increase of usage or a dramatic change in power, but that may be because it's always been terrifying from day one or because I find cover and make them come to me. Like most predators, Charge Riflemen get bored after a while and move to find another target. 

It's strong, but not impossible, my scrub trash can self and a couple randos got a total squad kill of 5 and beat a whole squad of Charge Riflemen on the only remaining high ground because we kept covered and moving.

Just a Scrub-Newb-Trash Can and his opinion. My KD is 0.61 as of this writing...  but we're getting better

[Koochi-Q]

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@Biochemikas wrote:

CR is probably the worst possible weapon to have at close range. "Almost safe" really doesn't count XD. You have to be really desperate to swap to CR in CQC. Usually even reloading is better than switching to CR.

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After that first line I was already like: yup, you got a reply incoming with high damage from close range... I use that thing as a shotgun LOLZ. I’m better with it as CQC weapon than as a sniper. 

The panic in ppl’s movement’s when they see a person using that weapon as a cqc weapon is fun! XD. Basically all snipers I use as a shotgun! Except G7 cause I suck with it.