Now it's not a secret that mechanical pstols right now suck. Here are my though on what can remedy the situation somehow.
1) If we compare SMG vs Pistols shot byt shot we will find that same caliber SMG has much lower AP cost and only slightly lower damage, so even if you don't use burst fire, you can seriously outdamage pistols with smg just by simply attacking the target. If we use burst fire, we leave pistol in the dust. Just by swapping AP cost of similar caliber smg and pistols we go a long way of making them viable weapon. We also nerf SMG a bit, but they will be pretty strong even so (though may use some slight damage increase to offset the nerf). Since the pistols will have a lot less AP cost, Steadfast Aim can be returned to 1% for 1 AP after 10.
2) Pistols seem to be made with the critical shots in mind, so slightly buffing their critical chance (say by 5%) and critical damage (by 25%) across the board we can solidify their role. Right now even if you manage to get you critical chance high, you main source of damage bonus is Sharpshooter feat and 25% from hammerer, making their crits very unimpressive even with Critical Power.
3) Hammerer probably shouldn't have such big range. It would be fine to nerf the upper damage along with rising lower. Right now it feels like playing roulette. Being more reliable would be good.
4) Introducing some crafting components would be a nice idea, since right now a pistols don't have good one outside of smart module and perhaps rapid realoder (which is double edged sword, since it alse reduces bonus from Steadfast Aim).
5) New feats that would introduce new styles of using pistols. For example:
- Full Akimbo. If oyu have two firearms pistols equipped, shooting one will reduce the AP cost of the next attack from second pistol by 5.
- Adjustment Fire. Each next shot against same target with same pistol while in focus will increase the accuracy by x% and damage by y% (not sure about the numbers on that one)
6) Reduced AP cost for equiping them. Stacks with Quick Pockets.
Not all of those ideas have to be implemented, it's just a collection of suggestions on how to improve what is currently the weakest weapon in the game.
