[Tomgs]

There are still some reasons to research other weapons especially if you have the organic trait. The range of the PPB isn't the best in the game (however it is very good) and range can be as important as damage in some cases especially tactical battles. The range issue could be the "fix" for the PPB what if the range was only 4? Wouldn't this offset somewhat the power and early use of this weapon vs some of the other weapons? Maybe add a few levels to the top of its research to get it up to 6 range gradually if you don't want to eliminate it completely. This way it would be a bit more balanced but might still be a great weapon after a bit more research points.

Also a better comparison between PPB and the APB is this:
APB VIII 30/25/20/15/15/15
PPB I: 30/25/25/25/20/20

so at level 1 its still better in every way than an APB VIII and goes through normal shields also as a bonus.

P.S. I hate to say this because I love the PPB the way it is but it is an awesome weapon right now.

[This message has been edited by Tomgs (edited 29 January 2001).]