Weapons, weapons, weapons.
I'm not saying all hit-scan should go. The ASMD prime, and link shaft are fine. I don't mind an instant beam with no zoom. The RoF could be slowed a bit, and maybe damage tweaked, but yes, it is needed for combos, and not a bad thing to have (one beam weapon option - it's two that gets silly).
Rockets, if the scale and movement is more like UT, could go back to the way they were in UT. It was much easier to achieve a lock back then, and the rocket was capable of 3 or 4 very sharp turns. It wouldn't veer back towards it's owner, would only travel in the 180º it was shot into, but easier lock, paired with the fact that it also accellerated (slow up close, but sped up at distance) made it much more useful at long ranges. At current, yeah, it sucks for anything but being up close.
At current, from what we know about the weapons, here are my "takes".
Impact Hammer - It's back, much rejoicing. Secondary fire is ytbd. I wouldn't mind seeing a deflection capability, like a tweaked version of the original, or maybe a full charge punch, that naturally doesn't auto fire, but good for people who learn to time their melee attacks, or want to do quick jump, etc...
Enforcers - Back again. They can be hit-scan as well, though I fast moving bullet wouldn't be bad either. Same RoF and Cone as it's predecessors, and damage as well would prolly still be appropriate. Making it a bullet projectile might be grounds to up the damage or the RoF, not both. Either way, I don't care, 'cause I'd use the Hammer until I got two of them anyways.
Canister - Didn't play U2, so I can't really comment on changing ammos, etc. I imagine it will rarely be dicated by a map that is has multiple ammos in it, depending on the nature of Grenades, currently, we have two different kinds of grenades, both appropriate for certain gametypes. If they comprimise them, then who knows. I'd like to see goo back to more of how it was in UT (in all ways) but this is the weapon I'm most uncertain about. Not worried though, I mostly trust Epic.
ASMD Shock Rifle - Here to stay, physics wise, probably not changing. Hit-scan beam, projectile core. Damage on both now is fine, though I'd like to see the beam RoF back to the way it was in UT. If not, either less knock back, or less damage (not both), especially now since we lack the SG. Really can't say where I think they will go with cores, and combos, though I have feeling they will be much like either UT2004, or UT.
Link Gun - Again, I like it how it is. Rapid fire hit-scan balanced by limited range. Bolts will get more lethal if the player scale goes up, they may not need to change at all (since right now they are hard as hell to use). The only thing I might like to see added would be some very small splash maybe on the bolts, but may not be a good idea if player scale makes them more lethal.
Stinger - The potential for a fully projectile "minigun" style weapon is here. It's got style, it's Unreal. It could be ½/½ hit-scan and projectile, like UC2 (from what I'm told). It could be taken a step further, and make to be all projectile. Dunno how big a fan I am of the "seeking projectiles" concept, but from hearing how it was balanced, I think it could work well, since the only seek one target, not whatever is near them. The warming up concep I don't mind at all, especially if they are projectile, because you have time to avoid it... IE: get the hell outta there. I'd be happy simply with a projectile crystal shooting version of our current mini, but they will prolly change it up slightly more imaginatively then that.
Flak - Most stuff about flak will never change. I dig the current "one bounce" rule on shards. Damge for it are ok, some could be jacked up a little, but then so could chunk RoF. Major change I'd like to see is some skill put back into bomb use. Less bomb damage, less bomb blast radius, more shards from bomb, and more gravity interaction with bomb shards. Bombs used to be used like distance chunk: Fire it from where you wanna chunk from, and the shards extend from there. This was really cool when planting a bomb on a targets neck. Now it's much too much like a RL with lob, and the occasional random chunk off the ceiling.
Rocket Launcher - I prefer the 3 load, and no grens, very good for spam reduction. Most aspects of this weapon as of late are good. Damage could be a little better, but as such, would have to move rocket speed back to UT, with slow up front, to be accelerated for longer ranges. Mainly, the biggest change I want to see is easier locks. Locking really isn't extraordinarily useful now, and is hard as hell to do. One or the other I'm fine with. I think, though, lock difficulty is just due to player scaling, so it at least should be fixed.
Sniper Rifle - The big mystery. Creatively, the LtG was a phenominal idea. A sniper weapon that shoots lightning, and gibs people or lights peoples heads on fire. What more could you want? It's removal IMO must have a good reason, and the only one that I can dream up is they want the sniper weapon to be projectle. Can't make lightning projectile. I don't like the idea of a traditional sniper -bullet firing- "rifle", so I hope they come up with something creative. Something with a bright glowing, projectile round, easy traceability, without having to cloud your face, something that doesn't have that point and click ease, and takes some skill to fire, and something that is balanced for maybe more damage then current. Slightly increased Rof maybe, but most importantly, hightened switch away time. LtG's most lethal aspect it's the ability to bail on it when somone is in close. Also, it if interacts with the world in a way that justifies gibs, then all the better. At least taking off body parts consistantly. We currently have limb dismemberment, and applying that to a sniper weapon, so that whateverbody part you shoot, lops off would be awesome, even if not quite as cool as a bellyshot over kill with lighning gibbing your entire torso and up.
As you may hopefully now be able to tell, most of my view and opinions aren't based simply on what I am good with, or think is cool, etc... This game has "personality", and that is why most of us who love it do. Weapon balance, as well as maintaining that "personality" is what it's all about. Sub 50 pings are making it really hard to balance hit-scan.
You can see it in the gameplay video from E3.
