What Beta Four Ought Have Been
ElectricSheep
Join Date: 2003-04-21 Member: 15716Members
Join Date: 2003-04-21 Member: 15716Members
<div class="IPBDescription">according to me.</div> Recently my hopes for NS have been falling, especially do to B4. Now I was hoping for some massive changes like a weaker fade and stronger skulk but alas it couldn't be. So I decided to jot on some notecards all the things in NS I think B4 ought have done.
-First off, remove alien bhop by at least capping alien ground speed to 100% instead of 170%.
-increase skulk speed 70%.
-Make skulk 50% quieter.
-Xeno does 250 Blast damage
-Leap does 60 damage on first touch ONLY
-Use old Psite sprite and make Parasite have a 20 degree cone of fire, marine closest to center of cone is the one who gets parasited.
-Gorge is 30% faster because of no bhop
-gorge spit does 30 damage from 25
-Health spray does a percent heal
-Healing via hive DC meta or heal spray no longer stops at full hp then takes another tick to get to armor, overflow to armor if over hp.
-Double web limit
-welder back to continuous for easier web welding
-MCs make aliens and OC 50% faster, including attacks, 50% quieter, stacks with silence and celerity, no more adrenaline boost
-Increase SC cloak range by 33%, show all marines in range ala SOF
-Lerk gets spikes back, 5 attacks total, spike bite and spores first hive.
-Umbra lasts 70% longer 20% greater range.
-Primal scream lasts 3 times longer 2 times range.
-Decrease Fade armor by 40 and health by 60
-increase fade walk speed 40%
-Fix fade crouch bug
-fade swipe does 88 damage
-Knockback applies to marines in the air at 50% strength
-Onos cost 80res
-onos gore does 110 blast damage
-Onos gore knockback when hitting buildings no longer applies
-charge does 100 damage every quarter second-- not blast
-charge takes 15% less adrenaline
-charge damage increases by same percentage as celerity increases speed or nearby MC increases speed.
-Electricity does 10 damage, costs 15 res, researches twice as fast, no TF needed
- Marine RT hp decreased 15%
-Shotgun cool down time doubled, damage increased by 50%
- GL does 200 blast damage- splash goes through structures- splash decreased by 50%- nolonger volumetric- hint don't be a skulk against the most expensive marine weapon in the game.
-Hand grenade does 175 blast damage- deploys twice as fast- can be primed and held for faster explosion, if held to long blows up in face- volumetric- splash does not go through buildings
-MT costs 40 Res
-(I do not know if this is possilbe) Beacon causes marines to spawn aropund obs as if there were a circle of ips around the obs, costs 20 res as it can now be used in hive assaults.
-All maps entity counts restored to make it look better, 1.04 servers ran fine no need to cut anymore.
-Laser mines restored, laser light blue, 30% transparent
-Maps more atmospheric like 1.04 (walk through the maps, you'll see what I mean, there are pipes running into floor and you see them running under grating to machines)
-NS_bast completely reworked only not really bright and fugly
Thoughts? Opinions? Flames?
-First off, remove alien bhop by at least capping alien ground speed to 100% instead of 170%.
-increase skulk speed 70%.
-Make skulk 50% quieter.
-Xeno does 250 Blast damage
-Leap does 60 damage on first touch ONLY
-Use old Psite sprite and make Parasite have a 20 degree cone of fire, marine closest to center of cone is the one who gets parasited.
-Gorge is 30% faster because of no bhop
-gorge spit does 30 damage from 25
-Health spray does a percent heal
-Healing via hive DC meta or heal spray no longer stops at full hp then takes another tick to get to armor, overflow to armor if over hp.
-Double web limit
-welder back to continuous for easier web welding
-MCs make aliens and OC 50% faster, including attacks, 50% quieter, stacks with silence and celerity, no more adrenaline boost
-Increase SC cloak range by 33%, show all marines in range ala SOF
-Lerk gets spikes back, 5 attacks total, spike bite and spores first hive.
-Umbra lasts 70% longer 20% greater range.
-Primal scream lasts 3 times longer 2 times range.
-Decrease Fade armor by 40 and health by 60
-increase fade walk speed 40%
-Fix fade crouch bug
-fade swipe does 88 damage
-Knockback applies to marines in the air at 50% strength
-Onos cost 80res
-onos gore does 110 blast damage
-Onos gore knockback when hitting buildings no longer applies
-charge does 100 damage every quarter second-- not blast
-charge takes 15% less adrenaline
-charge damage increases by same percentage as celerity increases speed or nearby MC increases speed.
-Electricity does 10 damage, costs 15 res, researches twice as fast, no TF needed
- Marine RT hp decreased 15%
-Shotgun cool down time doubled, damage increased by 50%
- GL does 200 blast damage- splash goes through structures- splash decreased by 50%- nolonger volumetric- hint don't be a skulk against the most expensive marine weapon in the game.
-Hand grenade does 175 blast damage- deploys twice as fast- can be primed and held for faster explosion, if held to long blows up in face- volumetric- splash does not go through buildings
-MT costs 40 Res
-(I do not know if this is possilbe) Beacon causes marines to spawn aropund obs as if there were a circle of ips around the obs, costs 20 res as it can now be used in hive assaults.
-All maps entity counts restored to make it look better, 1.04 servers ran fine no need to cut anymore.
-Laser mines restored, laser light blue, 30% transparent
-Maps more atmospheric like 1.04 (walk through the maps, you'll see what I mean, there are pipes running into floor and you see them running under grating to machines)
-NS_bast completely reworked only not really bright and fugly
Thoughts? Opinions? Flames?
Comments
Personally, I still want babblers back for the gorge <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
ono's 80 res is scarry though
basicaly, all you did was put out alot of numbers.. its dosn't do anything.
Jsut saying 'change these numbers' dosn't help b/c you always have to do balance tests after sometihng like that.
try re writing it. But instead of putting in numbers just say:
Remove alien BHopp and buff skulk, gorge etc speed to compensate.
or, the onos needs a more powerful primary attack: what about increasing it to an area effect...
etc.
<!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
basicaly, all you did was put out alot of numbers.. its dosn't do anything.
Jsut saying 'change these numbers' dosn't help b/c you always have to do balance tests after sometihng like that.
try re writing it. But instead of putting in numbers just say:
Remove alien BHopp and buff skulk, gorge etc speed to compensate.
or, the onos needs a more powerful primary attack: what about increasing it to an area effect...
etc. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think just saying buff isnt specific enough, it could mean more hp more speed or anything, I though about the numbers for a while though so I think they would be ok.
stop a heavy train how?
stop a heavy train how? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
umbra (It would last longer and have more range remember), webs - by the time they have heavies you should have these. Onos also does more damage, has more health, and is 2 hive. Lets also not forget devour.
My favorites
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->-(I do not know if this is possilbe) Beacon causes marines to spawn aropund obs as if there were a circle of ips around the obs, costs 20 res as it can now be used in hive assaults.
-Laser mines restored, laser light blue, 30% transparent
-Health spray does a percent heal<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
NS just hasn't been as fun lately, I would rather see big changes and it unbalanced, than very few and not be fun. It's a beta, we should be testing lots of new ideas and balance changes to see what works best.
Bull. If marines are getting heavies, they probably have one of the hives, making this completely impossible.
What are you talking about?
PS: Oh, you mean in the suggested changes, don't you? I thought you were responding to me. Nevermind.
Bull. If marines are getting heavies, they probably have one of the hives, making this completely impossible. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
1 of the hives, you only need two hives umbra...
-Umbra, while useful, is not good enough to kill a heavy train.
-Umbra, while useful, is not good enough to kill a heavy train. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ahh I forgot that webs was third hive, but a buffed onos and the increased range and lasting of umbra could take HAs. If they havea lot of HA you ought have at minimum two Oni, 2 devour HA umbra protects, throw some skulks fades and percent healing gorges and let the better team win.
Drastic is good. NS needs change.
I did increase damage and HP, additionally the shotty nerf should make it more than potent enough against first tier marines. Eat one two gores for every other (regardless of armor thanks to damage boost) means 1 devour 8 gores. However you are correct, paralyze would be useless now. I'll change it back to stomp.
This post just about sums it up.
This post just about sums it up. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Agreed.
-increase skulk speed 70%.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What? You want to remove bhopping to slow skulks down, then change their movement speed to compensate.
What will that accomplish???
hmmm... strange fellow
-increase skulk speed 70%.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What? You want to remove bhopping to slow skulks down, then change their movement speed to compensate.
What will that accomplish???
hmmm... strange fellow <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
It will even the playing field between bhoppers and non bhoppers, disallowing scripts with +jumps could basically kill bhopping completely.
<b>First off, remove alien bhop by at least capping alien ground speed to 100% instead of 170%.</b>
This is more a benefit than a "balance"!
<b>-increase skulk speed 70%.</b>
Why? They're already fast enough with celerity.
<b>-Make skulk 50% quieter.</b>
Silence. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>-Xeno does 250 Blast damage</b>
Xenocide is already overpowered in combat and against marine's cramped together.
<b>-Leap does 60 damage on first touch ONLY</b>
Leap is just for moving around or leap+bite
<b>-Use old Psite sprite and make Parasite have a 20 degree cone of fire, marine closest to center of cone is the one who gets parasited.</b>
I propose what Flayra said in the bug database. Less energy for parasite, infinite range and no damage.
<b>-Gorge is 30% faster because of no bhop</b>
Gorge isn't supposed to be an Olympic Runner, unless he lost about 20 pounds.
<b>-gorge spit does 30 damage from 25</b>
Gorge is a builder, not an offensive class. It'd be. 5 hits to kill a marine with spit. <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>-Health spray does a percent heal</b>
8% health to alien's!
<b>-Healing via hive DC meta or heal spray no longer stops at full hp then takes another tick to get to armor, overflow to armor if over hp.</b>
Flayra's fixing that.
<b>-Double web limit</b>
More web's overall, not in an area.
<b>-welder back to continuous for easier web welding</b>
Fixed.
<b>-MCs make aliens and OC 50% faster, including attacks, 50% quieter, stacks with silence and celerity, no more adrenaline boost</b>
It's basically a stationary primal scream chamber, I don't like.
<b>-Increase SC cloak range by 33%, show all marines in range ala SOF</b>
Cloaking already has a huge range, it can cover the entire double nozzle on hera in the center. Showing marine's is so/so with me, but I'm going to say yes.
<b>-Lerk gets spikes back, 5 attacks total, spike bite and spores first hive.</b>
Flayra already said no to this, Lerk is a support class.
<b>-Umbra lasts 70% longer 20% greater range.</b>
Umbra is already Godly, this just make's a Lerk have to spam it less.
<b>-Primal scream lasts 3 times longer 2 times range.</b>
Enough with ubering the Lerk, Primal Scream is already great and can be spammed.
<b>-Decrease Fade armor by 40 and health by 60</b>
They'll just be as weak as they were before their 33% increase in hp/cara
<b>-increase fade walk speed 40%</b>
Fade has blink, why does it need to walk faster?
<b>-Fix fade crouch bug</b>
Bug = ?
<b>-fade swipe does 88 damage</b>
Fade swipe is already deadly enough, making it do 88 will just be as powerful as Onos Gore.
<b>-Knockback applies to marines in the air at 50% strength</b>
What do you mean?
<b>-Onos cost 80res</b>
75 is perfectly, Onos aren't powerful enough to make a huge difference in gameplay.
<b>-onos gore does 110 blast damage</b>
110 damage is a bit harsh, it's like giving Onos focus without the speed decrease. <!--emo&::onos::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tiny.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tiny.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>-Onos gore knockback when hitting buildings no longer applies</b>
That is the most annoying thing in the world! But it help's Onos kill by knocking the marine's around.
<b>-charge does 100 damage every quarter second-- not blast</b>
Charge is.. well.. crap.. on a mp_drawdamage server. I used charge and was only doing 16-dmg per touch!! If you're going to make charge potent, make it do atleast 40-dmg.
<b>-charge takes 15% less adrenaline</b>
Not really neccesary, charge lasts quite a long time and an Onos would be able to charge for atleast 30 seconds if he had lvl 3 adrenaline
<b>-charge damage increases by same percentage as celerity increases speed or nearby MC increases speed.</b>
Doesn't really make sense, going to have to say no.
<b>-Electricity does 10 damage, costs 15 res, researches twice as fast, no TF needed</b>
10 dmg?!?!? It'd be 9 zap's just to kill a lvl 0 Skulk! Leave it as it is!
<b>- Marine RT hp decreased 15%</b>
If you're going to take out a RT, grab a buddy.
<b>-Shotgun cool down time doubled, damage increased by 50%</b>
Increasing shotgun damage would be increasing it from 17 dmg per pellet to 25.5 dmg per pellet or 255dmg total!! That'd be two blasts to wipe out a Fade! No!
<b>- GL does 200 blast damage- splash goes through structures- splash decreased by 50%- nolonger volumetric- hint don't be a skulk against the most expensive marine weapon in the game.</b>
GL is balanced, it's just people whine when they're Skulk/Lerk/Gorge (They only whine in combat!)
<b>-Hand grenade does 175 blast damage- deploys twice as fast- can be primed and held for faster explosion, if held to long blows up in face- volumetric- splash does not go through buildings</b>
175 blast damage is a bit much, keep the damage it has now, but allow marine's to atleast cook it!
<b>-MT costs 40 Res</b>
Ditto.
<b>-(I do not know if this is possilbe) Beacon causes marines to spawn aropund obs as if there were a circle of ips around the obs, costs 20 res as it can now be used in hive assaults.</b>
No. It basically mean's the marines can run into a hive, build an obs. Get slaughtured and be beaconed in seconds later.
<b>-All maps entity counts restored to make it look better, 1.04 servers ran fine no need to cut anymore.</b>
Hmm..
<b>-Laser mines restored, laser light blue, 30% transparent</b>
Good ol' 1.04 mines.
<b>-Maps more atmospheric like 1.04 (walk through the maps, you'll see what I mean, there are pipes running into floor and you see them running under grating to machines)</b>
Yeah, no new map's can ever beat the original 1.04 map's. They were so breath taking at first!
<b>-NS_bast completely reworked only not really bright and fugly</b>
Seem's fine to me, I just don't like some of the placement's of nozzles.
- Notes: You're to into ubering the alien's.
<b>First off, remove alien bhop by at least capping alien ground speed to 100% instead of 170%.</b>
This is more a benefit than a "balance"!
<b>-increase skulk speed 70%.</b>
Why? They're already fast enough with celerity.
<b>-Make skulk 50% quieter.</b>
Silence. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>-Xeno does 250 Blast damage</b>
Xenocide is already overpowered in combat and against marine's cramped together.
<b>-Leap does 60 damage on first touch ONLY</b>
Leap is just for moving around or leap+bite
<b>-Use old Psite sprite and make Parasite have a 20 degree cone of fire, marine closest to center of cone is the one who gets parasited.</b>
I propose what Flayra said in the bug database. Less energy for parasite, infinite range and no damage.
<b>-Gorge is 30% faster because of no bhop</b>
Gorge isn't supposed to be an Olympic Runner, unless he lost about 20 pounds.
<b>-gorge spit does 30 damage from 25</b>
Gorge is a builder, not an offensive class. It'd be. 5 hits to kill a marine with spit. <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>-Health spray does a percent heal</b>
8% health to alien's!
<b>-Healing via hive DC meta or heal spray no longer stops at full hp then takes another tick to get to armor, overflow to armor if over hp.</b>
Flayra's fixing that.
<b>-Double web limit</b>
More web's overall, not in an area.
<b>-welder back to continuous for easier web welding</b>
Fixed.
<b>-MCs make aliens and OC 50% faster, including attacks, 50% quieter, stacks with silence and celerity, no more adrenaline boost</b>
It's basically a stationary primal scream chamber, I don't like.
<b>-Increase SC cloak range by 33%, show all marines in range ala SOF</b>
Cloaking already has a huge range, it can cover the entire double nozzle on hera in the center. Showing marine's is so/so with me, but I'm going to say yes.
<b>-Lerk gets spikes back, 5 attacks total, spike bite and spores first hive.</b>
Flayra already said no to this, Lerk is a support class.
<b>-Umbra lasts 70% longer 20% greater range.</b>
Umbra is already Godly, this just make's a Lerk have to spam it less.
<b>-Primal scream lasts 3 times longer 2 times range.</b>
Enough with ubering the Lerk, Primal Scream is already great and can be spammed.
<b>-Decrease Fade armor by 40 and health by 60</b>
They'll just be as weak as they were before their 33% increase in hp/cara
<b>-increase fade walk speed 40%</b>
Fade has blink, why does it need to walk faster?
<b>-Fix fade crouch bug</b>
Bug = ?
<b>-fade swipe does 88 damage</b>
Fade swipe is already deadly enough, making it do 88 will just be as powerful as Onos Gore.
<b>-Knockback applies to marines in the air at 50% strength</b>
What do you mean?
<b>-Onos cost 80res</b>
75 is perfectly, Onos aren't powerful enough to make a huge difference in gameplay.
<b>-onos gore does 110 blast damage</b>
110 damage is a bit harsh, it's like giving Onos focus without the speed decrease. <!--emo&::onos::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tiny.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tiny.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>-Onos gore knockback when hitting buildings no longer applies</b>
That is the most annoying thing in the world! But it help's Onos kill by knocking the marine's around.
<b>-charge does 100 damage every quarter second-- not blast</b>
Charge is.. well.. crap.. on a mp_drawdamage server. I used charge and was only doing 16-dmg per touch!! If you're going to make charge potent, make it do atleast 40-dmg.
<b>-charge takes 15% less adrenaline</b>
Not really neccesary, charge lasts quite a long time and an Onos would be able to charge for atleast 30 seconds if he had lvl 3 adrenaline
<b>-charge damage increases by same percentage as celerity increases speed or nearby MC increases speed.</b>
Doesn't really make sense, going to have to say no.
<b>-Electricity does 10 damage, costs 15 res, researches twice as fast, no TF needed</b>
10 dmg?!?!? It'd be 9 zap's just to kill a lvl 0 Skulk! Leave it as it is!
<b>- Marine RT hp decreased 15%</b>
If you're going to take out a RT, grab a buddy.
<b>-Shotgun cool down time doubled, damage increased by 50%</b>
Increasing shotgun damage would be increasing it from 17 dmg per pellet to 25.5 dmg per pellet or 255dmg total!! That'd be two blasts to wipe out a Fade! No!
<b>- GL does 200 blast damage- splash goes through structures- splash decreased by 50%- nolonger volumetric- hint don't be a skulk against the most expensive marine weapon in the game.</b>
GL is balanced, it's just people whine when they're Skulk/Lerk/Gorge (They only whine in combat!)
<b>-Hand grenade does 175 blast damage- deploys twice as fast- can be primed and held for faster explosion, if held to long blows up in face- volumetric- splash does not go through buildings</b>
175 blast damage is a bit much, keep the damage it has now, but allow marine's to atleast cook it!
<b>-MT costs 40 Res</b>
Ditto.
<b>-(I do not know if this is possilbe) Beacon causes marines to spawn aropund obs as if there were a circle of ips around the obs, costs 20 res as it can now be used in hive assaults.</b>
No. It basically mean's the marines can run into a hive, build an obs. Get slaughtured and be beaconed in seconds later.
<b>-All maps entity counts restored to make it look better, 1.04 servers ran fine no need to cut anymore.</b>
Hmm..
<b>-Laser mines restored, laser light blue, 30% transparent</b>
Good ol' 1.04 mines.
<b>-Maps more atmospheric like 1.04 (walk through the maps, you'll see what I mean, there are pipes running into floor and you see them running under grating to machines)</b>
Yeah, no new map's can ever beat the original 1.04 map's. They were so breath taking at first!
<b>-NS_bast completely reworked only not really bright and fugly</b>
Seem's fine to me, I just don't like some of the placement's of nozzles.
- Notes: You're to into ubering the alien's. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Skulks don't have celerity much of the time, the only time they can at all survive is if they know how to bhop. A large portion of players don't know how to bhop. If bhop is removed however skulks need a speed boost to compensate. Skulks are pretty loud, much too much for ambushes and silence is usually two hives again. In combat 3rd hive abilities cost 2 points now and in normal NS if aliens have 3 hives the marines deserve to lose. 60 damage first hit only leap would help skulk kill marines in 3 bites when they have armor 2. A gorge at current is faster than a marine while bhopping, if bhop is removed he would need to be a little faster. It was 5 hits in 1.04 and 2.0 and 2.01, it worked quite well giving a gorge an at least marginal chance at victory againt a light marine. Mcs would have to be boosted in order for them to be viable at hive 1 as would SCs. Umbra is hardly godly as is, its range is so small that most creastures often move out of it, and then it dissapates in 3 seconds. Primal scream? Great? What!? The cooldown for Primal scream is longer than how long primal scream lasts, it's a 3 hive ability, it only affects things right next to the lerk right now, and its bonus is nothing compared to 1.04, if I knew the exact percentage attack speed bonus primal scream did I would know how much to buff that to. Fades walk almost as slow as marines, it shouldn't need to blink when it's five feet away. The increased damge is for leveled armor, its only 8 more damage. 5 More res as it would be more powerful. 100 damage per quarter second is alot, thats 400 damage per second... good for a third hive abaility of the heaviest alien class. And if an onos is charging faster he'd definately do more damage. 9 zaps to killa skulk so as to not require DCs first, only a good gorge skulk team, however if it's cheaper you'll be seeing it on a lot more RTs. 2 blasts yes, however with a doubled cooldown time it would take twice as long to shoot actually losing damage over time. Yes they do whine, I didn't suggest weakening it, I suggested beefing it, did you even read it? And honestly how often do you see HG used or HG kills? They can already do that with PG.
<!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='skulk.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='skulk.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='skulk.gif' /><!--endemo-->
This is way over the top even for me. Marines might as well not play. If they do bother to play, they'll absolutely HAVE to go for the new GL, shotguns become basically pointless, even though damage is upped, if you only have time to get off one shot it doesn't matter (and with the accompanying boosts to fade speed, lerk super boost, and chamber boosts, you'll be lucky if you get off that first shot before you're dead)
I guess if you like grenade spam, this'd be the version for you.