So recently, Zofia, Ash, and Ace have all received recoil increases to their guns (and their gadgets in the case of Ace and Ash), thanks in part due to their heightened pick rate according to Ubisoft. I personally disagree with this and decided to publish my personal opinion on balancing instead.

To get into the meat of what I feel should be changed, I feel buffing the Gonne 6 will be a better balancing lever over nerfing guns on Attackers, the side viewed as weaker again and again. This can be done by allowing the Gonne 6 to have 2 shots instead of 1.

This would have the following effects:

• It would be viewed as an actual alternative for frag grenades since it could take out 2 pieces of utility in exchange for the secondary gun slot.
• It would give operators like Ash and Zofia more competition due to "freeing up" a primary gadget slot that'd be used for utility clear.
• This would let operators like Lion, Gridlock, Zero, and potentially Glaz get picked more due to their combination of very solid primary weapons - with the exception of Glaz for some people - and the potential to bring an entirely different primary gadget that helps further support the team without "losing" bulletproof utility clear.
• Finally, all of the aforementioned operators would still also have access to secondary throwables that help with utility clear, or setting up site takes, such as the Smokes on Glaz and Gridlock, or the stuns on Lion.

These changes culminate in lowering the "need" to bring an Ash/Zofia/overpicked fragnade operator because the Gonne 6 would ensure you could still get the same bulletproof utility clear mileage while being able to support your team in unique ways that Zofia and Ash can't, which would naturally lower their pick rates over time.

I do think, however, that such a change can't occur without a couple of loadout changes across the board. Thankfully, none of them are related to the primary guns any of the aforementioned operators use.

I feel that:

• Due to the Gonne 6 having 2 shots, it shouldn't be on operators that also have frag grenades for the most part. (Sorry Iana.) Maybe with a nerf like this, she could keep her zoom scopes to hold longer angles?
• Finka may have to potentially lose her access to the Gonne 6 as well, or she'd have 4 explosives.
• Glaz keeping frags and a Gonne 6 with 2 shots, I feel, since his primary gadget's smoke effect wouldn't have guaranteed value without bringing his own smokes, thus requiring more teamwork, and because his only weapon would be a DMR, meaning that he'd have to pay a hefty price for the ability to blow up 4 things.

Ash and Zofia would need a couple of buffs to feel worth bringing on a team after a change like this, since other operators would just have so much more value, making players have little reason to bring the two operators in their current states.

I suggest the following:

• To differentiate Ash from Zofia (who basically has the same gadget but blatantly better) and all the Operators with the newly buffed Gonne 6, she should get an extra breaching round, allowing her to destroy 3 pieces of bulletproof utility while still having access to her secondary utility, giving a unique reason to pick her over other operators once in a while. Her R4C recoil could also be lowered somewhat since she'd be less desirable due to other ops having throwables and decent bulletproof utility clear from the Gonne 6.
• Zofia could have her rifle's recoil lowered further due to the competition from operators with the Gonne 6 lowering her pickrate at higher elo. Her gadget is fine as is since the concusses both provide a lot of utility/intel and serve as ADS clears to let her fire off her explosives.
• As a little bonus, I think sledge could keep his SMG-11 since he wouldn't be brought as often to take out utility if the Gonne 6 is buffed and feels more worth bringing on the operators that have it.

And finally, some additional reasons why the Gonne 6 buff would be good for the game's health in no additional order:

• Buffing the gonne 6 would allow Amaru to break and travel down 2 hatches with her secondary gadget slot, or one hatch and still destroy a piece of bulletproof utility. This will help alleviate one of the issues with Amaru's shotgun being removed. (RIP Rush Instant Vertical Play strats)
• Gonne 6 on gridlock could be worth bringing sometimes over shotgun if the soft breach isn't needed. thanks to the combination of smokes, 2 gonne 6 shots, and her trax stingers making her a very good team player in exchange for losing that secondary shotty.
• As previously mentioned, Glaz could rock a pure DMR loadout in exchange for a grenadier-esque kit with 4 explosives. This could be an interesting choice. Or, the Gonne 6 could be paired with his smokes to offer up unique utility removal methods involving his thermal scope and the Gonne 6.

So recently, Zofia, Ash, and Ace have all received recoil increases to their guns (and their gadgets in the case of Ace and Ash), thanks in part due to their heightened pick rate according to Ubisoft. I personally disagree with this and decided to publish my personal opinion on balancing instead.

To get into the meat of what I feel should be changed, I feel buffing the Gonne 6 will be a better balancing lever over nerfing guns on Attackers, the side viewed as weaker again and again. This can be done by allowing the Gonne 6 to have 2 shots instead of 1.

This would have the following effects:

• It would be viewed as an actual alternative for frag grenades since it could take out 2 pieces of utility in exchange for the secondary gun slot.
• It would give operators like Ash and Zofia more competition due to "freeing up" a primary gadget slot that'd be used for utility clear.
• This would let operators like Lion, Gridlock, Zero, and potentially Glaz get picked more due to their combination of very solid primary weapons - with the exception of Glaz for some people - and the potential to bring an entirely different primary gadget that helps further support the team without "losing" bulletproof utility clear.
• Finally, all of the aforementioned operators would still also have access to secondary throwables that help with utility clear, or setting up site takes, such as the Smokes on Glaz and Gridlock, or the stuns on Lion.

These changes culminate in lowering the "need" to bring an Ash/Zofia/overpicked fragnade operator because the Gonne 6 would ensure you could still get the same bulletproof utility clear mileage while being able to support your team in unique ways that Zofia and Ash can't, which would naturally lower their pick rates over time.

I do think, however, that such a change can't occur without a couple of loadout changes across the board. Thankfully, none of them are related to the primary guns any of the aforementioned operators use.

I feel that:

• Due to the Gonne 6 having 2 shots, it shouldn't be on operators that also have frag grenades for the most part. (Sorry Iana.) Maybe with a nerf like this, she could keep her zoom scopes to hold longer angles?
• Finka may have to potentially lose her access to the Gonne 6 as well, or she'd have 4 explosives.
• Glaz keeping frags and a Gonne 6 with 2 shots, I feel, since his primary gadget's smoke effect wouldn't have guaranteed value without bringing his own smokes, thus requiring more teamwork, and because his only weapon would be a DMR, meaning that he'd have to pay a hefty price for the ability to blow up 4 things.

Ash and Zofia would need a couple of buffs to feel worth bringing on a team after a change like this, since other operators would just have so much more value, making players have little reason to bring the two operators in their current states.

I suggest the following:

• To differentiate Ash from Zofia (who basically has the same gadget but blatantly better) and all the Operators with the newly buffed Gonne 6, she should get an extra breaching round, allowing her to destroy 3 pieces of bulletproof utility while still having access to her secondary utility, giving a unique reason to pick her over other operators once in a while. Her R4C recoil could also be lowered somewhat since she'd be less desirable due to other ops having throwables and decent bulletproof utility clear from the Gonne 6.
• Zofia could have her rifle's recoil lowered further due to the competition from operators with the Gonne 6 lowering her pickrate at higher elo. Her gadget is fine as is since the concusses both provide a lot of utility/intel and serve as ADS clears to let her fire off her explosives.
• As a little bonus, I think sledge could keep his SMG-11 since he wouldn't be brought as often to take out utility if the Gonne 6 is buffed and feels more worth bringing on the operators that have it.

And finally, some additional reasons why the Gonne 6 buff would be good for the game's health in no additional order:

• Buffing the gonne 6 would allow Amaru to break and travel down 2 hatches with her secondary gadget slot, or one hatch and still destroy a piece of bulletproof utility. This will help alleviate one of the issues with Amaru's shotgun being removed. (RIP Rush Instant Vertical Play strats)
• Gonne 6 on gridlock could be worth bringing sometimes over shotgun if the soft breach isn't needed. thanks to the combination of smokes, 2 gonne 6 shots, and her trax stingers making her a very good team player in exchange for losing that secondary shotty.
• As previously mentioned, Glaz could rock a pure DMR loadout in exchange for a grenadier-esque kit with 4 explosives. This could be an interesting choice. Or, the Gonne 6 could be paired with his smokes to offer up unique utility removal methods involving his thermal scope and the Gonne 6.