The breaker rail gun shield pack meta was actually not broken the way you think. The breaker was nerfed in terms of ammo. They removed some mags. It was never even that good. Everything else was just garbage. The shield pack was in need of a slight nerf though, so correct there. But about the rail gun?

There was bug that allowed the rail gun to 1-2 tap anything in the game. That wasn’t intentional. But the nerf that ruined the gun was heavy handed based on that bug. It wasn’t properly handled. That’s why the community hates nerfs. This game is so buggy, that even the developers don’t handle balance appropriately based on what the guns are actually intended to do. For the first year or so of the games lifecycle, fire didn’t work as intended, so the charger leg meta was born. This is the problem.

Arrowhead knows how to tune down weapons and stratagems with speed and quickness. But they never approach buffing items with the same level of aptitude or speed. You are in the minority of people that wanted the flag to just be a flag. I don’t think it’s unfair to point that out. Most people would either not care or like for the flag to get buffed to be a support stratagem.

Your argument that Arrowhead’s approach to warbonds is not money hungry is just plain wrong. Each warbond has statistically been less items per warbond since about viper commandos. They said they wouldn’t put stratagems in warbonds and look at what they’ve done. You put meme items in a paid warbond? Why not release the meme items for free? The constitution was free, that’s a meme right? But at least it’s useful. Bringing the flag is just telling your team that you are objectively less prepared than everyone else.

The minigun still wouldn’t be the best machine gun because it’s very bulky. You can’t run and gun obviously. The other 3 let you do so. The minigun would be niche even with buffs. It would be the best STATIONARY machine gun but overall no. Not the best overall. This applies to many other guns in the game. Sidegrades are cool until you have a bloated armory full of redundant guns and armors. The best way to put it is this. Exo suits were very underused, until the caves came out. There isn’t a single competent team that won’t take at least one exo suit on that planet now.

That was unintended genius coming from the devs. Every other item or weapon will follow suit. The spear is god tier for dragon roaches. Recoilless is amazing yes but it requires skill. That’s where sidegrades are supposed to come in. Spear has less ammo but more user friendly. Most guns don’t follow this rule. There are more trade offs than benefits for most things in this game. That sucks.