One of the few casualties of the proposed dropsuit overhaul and expansion is laser-based weapons. The Scrambler Rifle being the most notable in that class as it is quite a versatile and deadly weapon in the hands of a skilled player. The Amarr Assault suit will be dropping the 5% decrease in heat buildup per level in favor of a 5% boost to active armor repair modules per level. Active repairing for a role that relies on speed and in your face firepower seems a bit ridiculous. However, since the Amarr suits come with the highest amount of base armor, it is probably the only race that could pull it off.
The Scrambler Rifle is one of the four major rifles in the game, and is currently widely used. I only have experience with the Collector's Edition version, which is basically a free basic version. Same goes for the Amarr Assault suit I use, except I do have that skill trained to level one on that character. My experience using it is only about a month after my main account is SP capped, but I do have to say I like the weapon a lot. Most face-to-face encounters I will either win or lose based on when it overheats. If I had the suit skill trained higher, it would be a different story. SOme people I play DUST with boast of how many rounds they can get off before overheating and my thoughts are that it seemed a bit overpowered. That may be why CCP is doing away with the bonus. Players can run around in cheap suits reaping the benefits of rarely overheating, which isn't thpoint of the Scrambler Rifle mechanic. Still, many people have said they will be dropping the rifle, which is too bad given how unique it is.
For a solution, I would look to a module in EVE Online: the heat sink. In that game, the heat sink acts as a damage and rate of fire bonus pretty much the same way other damage mods work. The heat sink is specific to Amarr laser weapon, and this proposed DUST mod would work in a similar fashion. DUST damage mods fit in high slots, different from EVE. I would put heat sinks in DUST low slots, allowing for maximum versatility for Amarr suits (which typically have the least amount of module slots).
For stats, I would have basic heat sinks come with a 3% heat buildup reduction, followed by 6% for enhanced, and 10% for complex. I would also introduce a skill for the mod, put it in the Engineering or Weapons Upgrade tree. Each skill would add 2% to heat sink module efficacy per level. Using stacking penalties, that would give a maximum of 26.84% heat reduction for someone wearing a Prototype Amarr Assault suit with three complex heat sinks in the lows. That is slightly higher than the maximum current reduction, but it would be costly to run that build. For more economic suits, the bonus is much less. However, it would still be enough to keep the scrambler rifle viable without being overpowered.
The addition of heat sinks would also benefit the Scrambler Pistol and Laser Rifle. With the new heavy suit variations coming soon, it is only a matter of time before a heavy laser weapon is introduced. Is it worth sacrificing an armor plate for a heat sink? That is something I would enjoy figuring out.
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