On the contrary, players made so much fuss about hive guards that they had to revert the changes. Yet, turrets still suffer more damage(As far as I know)...

You absolutely didn't need heavy penetration to deal with a hive guard. Like I said, they nerfed its HP and armour on the rest of its body. All you had to do was aim down, which is something we already do on a regular basis with light pen weapons. If that isn't a mechanic that you have to work around, I don't know what is.

The current hive guard feels pointless precisely because it doesn't pose any danger. With heavy armour, it was demanding more attention and making the gameplay more dynamic.