Suggestion:
Catalyzers aren't the greatest weapons and in Lockdown they got nerfed a ton by the gunner update which made their normal shots deal 1 damage on hit. Maybe the normal shots should deal damage equal to a detonated orb on hit (but not AoE). That way you can deal damage while you apply orbs and then once more when you detonate them.
This would work well to make them more useable. It would also be very quick and easy to implement; just changing one damage value. It wouldn't fix how spammy the weapon feels though.