Recently I came into contact with an orbit gun, because I really wanted one and a friend kept taking loans out from me and paying me back in energy so I had a bunch laying around. There's a lot to be said about the gun, and some "theoretical bits" I'd come up with in the past are a mixture of true and false in action.

Before I begin, let me explain a bit of mechanics behind the orbit gun:

Upon firing:
• Shoots an entity that moves 7 or so tiles in front of the player
• Entity is server-side only, meaning you get no "predictive bullet" that moves slower. Instead, your attack is delayed

Bullet logic:

• Entity is orbited by 2 single-hit barrier orbitals

Note: this gun has a 3 shot clip, meaning 6 projectiles per clip. Yeah...

• Entity must exist for orbitals to exist - if the entity comes in contact with a wall, barrier, block, etc. the orbitals will disappear with it
• Entity is floating, and can cross gaps. As an entity, it will automatically adjust to the "walking" elevation. This means firing off the side of a level will make the bullet seemingly disappear, but it simply is on the "ground level"
• As an entity, bullets can go up and down slopes, such as stairs, without hitting the slope and exploding
• Since the gun shoots an "entity", enemies do not dodge, because there is no projectile
• Orbitals have same damage table as alchemer lines
• Upon reaching the 7 tiles, entity will "walk" towards the player for another 7 tiles, tracking their movements

^ This is the reason the gun shoots an entity in the first place. Bullet do not have "AI" built into them. This "bullet" tracks the player, so it needs its own AI.

Now, let's get to some fixes eh?

The orbit gun currently deals the same damage as an alchemer. Alchemers deal massive damage by nature, but are limited to their 2 shot clip. Alchemers do as much damage per clip that orbit gun does per shot. It's essentially switchshooting for you. No matter how I fix this, the first step will always be a reduction in damage. Personally, I believe damage tables equal to an unexpanded pulsar shot would be fair.

An alternative fix to straight up damage reduction is going down the pulsar route. Have the orbitals deal reduced damage upon being fired, but when returning to the player they deal current (or increased) damage. Unexpanded pulsar damage for the going, and current damage for the return would work best, but taking the pulsar's damage table would work with this change.

Orbit gun's use of an entity prevents enemies from reacting to its bullets. If there's a "projectile classification" tag, it needs to be applied to this entity, otherwise such a tag needs to be made. This tag could then be applied to rocket puppy's homing rockets (which are also entities), which would cause enemies to act more dynamically around those.

Lastly, the big one: acquisition.
This type of weapon is the rarest, most unique, and honestly one of the most fun weapons I've ever gotten my hands on. Other than the "rarest" bit, the only other weapon to come close to that description has been the warmaster rocket hammer. The warmaster rocket hammer is fun, powerful, and has a similar but different playstyle ingrained in it.
But the rocket hammer is locked off, not by a rarity wall, but by a reasonable paywall.

A new expansion mission would be the best possible time to introduce these weapons into the masses. This would keep it as off-limits initially, but those who are dedicated to the game would happily dish out a few bucks to get their hands on an awesome weapon (along with new content, that's a big factor too).