Patch Notes, The Short Version:

10,000 words too much? Here's my summary of the [predicted] effects of this patch;

1. If it was cheesy and overused, it got nerfed. No exceptions.
2. If it was underpowered, it got buffed. No exceptions.
3. overall hardest hit; VS
4. huge sleeper buffs by relative nerf; NC
5. players that will be most pissed off; max and vehicle jockeys
6. players that will be happiest; mid range infantry.

All I read in the notes is that the AC-X11 and the Reaper DMR are finally going to be viable weapons.

2 is wrong... Vanguard HE got nerfed hahahahahaha.

C85. So nopeh, this ain't right.

It's not like somebody cares, because he really enjoyed using Titan HE right?
Hell even if they removed the weapon from the game I think most NC tankers would not even notice.

re-read the notes. Damage per shot went down, # of shots went up. Overall damage is way up.

The c85 got its magazine size increased.

Dont' care, what PS1 cloaking AMS, PS1 mines, PS1 spitfires, PS1 motion detectors.

I predict dying by / killing with these weapons a LOT in the near future. AC-X11 has always been one tiny buff away from being godlike for skilled players.

Which is great since I am now because I was just about to start using reaper to get purple medal.

It's still terrible. If you disagree with me, you simply ain't a tanker

The patch is barely out. It was not even thoroughly field-tested yet.

Snipers are going to be more popular now.

You don't have to field test a piece of crap to know it's crap. A shotgun simply ain't going to cut for a tank like the Vanguard. You need to be able to engage atleast at medium range with the Vanguard.

It is a buff, but they simultaneously introduced hard limits to its effectiveness that further shoehorn it into an extremely niche role. While now it might actually be able to fulfill that role much better, it doesn't change the fact that it's a role that very rarely needs to be filled. The one thing I can say for it now is that it might be the single best weapon for fighting off C4 fairies, but given that it is still going to be extremely ineffective against essentially any target that isn't standing outside of cover within ~15m, I'd still choose the Kobalt or Basilisk pretty much any day of the week. I guess it remains to be seen, though! I'll give it a few weeks of Live before raising my pitchfork too high about it.

I'm also fairly livid that they made the AV Enforcer have a scaling projectile velocity! That weapon was quite fine as it was, and hardly a major threat against infantry (required 2 direct hits to kill, fairly slow projectile velocity, quite a bit of arc). Scaling velocity is a massive pain in the butt! It made using Falcons a huge chore.

Since they also added it to the Halberd, the TR and VS will finally get a taste of it too. If we all complain loudly enough, they might drop that terrible mechanic.

Otherwise, awesome patch! Very happy to see Battle Rifles and general NC inf weapons getting some tweaks. :]

I really don't think the VS got hit all that hard because...
A. One possible MAX ability got massively over nerfed. This just makes charge a no brainer. I may even go back to canister for my burster.
B. The certs spent on ZOE got refunded.

I didn't see shotguns or rocket pods mentioned anywhere in the patch notes?

If by viable, you mean not suck as much, then I agree.

How are people still complaining about rocket pods? I haven't seriously cursed rocket pods in months, and I'm not even a pilot. As for shotguns, come on dude. Those things are so hopelessly situational. You'd be better off with an SMG or a Carbine pretty much anywhere.

you might be right here; with carbines getting weaker, headshots counting more, and the CQB LMG's all getting a nerf, shotties and smgs could be the winner today. Althought shotties have already been nerfed hard thier release, so have ESF's and rocket pods, and the improvements to lock-on launchers are going to make lolpodding even more of a 'doing it the hard way for fun' than a farming method... (that's why the nose guns got nerfed against AI too, they were doing better than even lolpods..)