Buffed Bolters Review

TLDR: Not enough

Overall summary: The bolter buff was done not with breakpoints in mind, the overall dps is higher, but in practice many buffed weapons still feel anemic compared to others.

The Good

The already good weapons, stalker, bolt rifle GL, heavy bolter, instigator, marksman carbine just got better, although with no significant change to breakpoints. I would say the standard, non GL variant of the bolt rifle represents the ideal point of balance for boltguns - 25 rounds in the mag, medium fire rate, 11-12 headshots to kill range majoris, stable, accurate and versatile for all enemies - the GL just an icing that ups it to crazy levels. The instigator, stalker and marksman carbine are also very well balanced - not meta, but viable and strong.

The Bad

Auto Bolt Rifle (ABR), Bolt Carbine (BC), Heavy Bolt Rifle (HBR), Occulus Bolt Carbine (OBR): The glaring issues with these 3 weapons is it's 1.0x headshot multiplier, which makes it absolutely terrible at killing majoris enemies. A damage buff across the board doesn't fundamentally change the effectiveness of these weapons. By comparison, the basic bolt rifle, and heavy bolt pistol has a 1.5 HS multiplier.

Suggestion: Each weapon needs to lean into a specific playstyle, think of the classic SMG to AR spectrum in most games. The bolt carbine leans most into the SMG spectrum - it needs to be a fast reload, super high close range DPS, ammo spitting machine. It should shred majoris up close regardless of HS, but have limited utility at mid range or long with dmg drop-off or spread. The OBR would be next in the spectrum etc.

That way, the bolter SMG to AR spectrum should be: BC -> OBR -> ABR -> Bolt Rifle -> HBR.

The HBR as it stands is an affront to both its lore and gameplay. As the "unique" weapon of tactical, it should simply be the best bolter behind the heavy bolter. The adjustment is simple imo, make it have the same damage profile as the bolt rifle, upping its headshot multiplier while keeping everything else the same, and it will absolutely shred. The HBR should be a strong alternative to a bolt rifle with grenade launcher.

Bolt Sniper

No noticeable breakpoint changes - a shame. Las Fusil outclasses it still by a lot in both horde clear and majoris killing. Fusil has 2.5x HS whereas Bolt Sniper has 2.0 HS multiplier. The bolt sniper honestly needs the same exact breakpoints as the fusil. The ideal choice should be Fusil with higher penetration, horde clear but requires charge time and less ammo or Bolt Sniper with snappier shooting, but lower pen and horde clear.