We all know that a major gear rebalance is coming. Instead of just focusing on which weapons to rebalance, first, allow me to lay down a couple foundations on which to build.
Present Meta
Currently, only two armor sets are really viable, one, maybe two sword families, and only a handful of guns. Chaos and Black Kat armors are the only ones that provide global damage increase, Chaos gives global CTR, and Black Kat movement speed, three stats that by far contribute the most to speed. There are some armors that provide selective damage bonuses, such as the Wolver family, however, they lack the other bonuses of the aforementioned sets, as well as restrict the bonuses to one weapon type. As for the weapons, Brandishes, Autoguns and Blasters are by far the most useful, with Magnuses seeing some use as well. The sheer damage output of Brandishes on groups, and Autoguns on single targets, as well as the consistent damage of Blasters is simply unmatched by other weapons. Acheron in particular is infamous for being better against beast enemies than a lot of piercing weapons.
Buff Everything Else
I myself, and many other knights I play with, enjoy the current pace of the game. Nerfing the current meta gear would only worsen the player experience, and balancing is meant to do the opposite. Instead, buff everything else to perform on a similar level, or even outperform it, if the weapons are specialized enough. For most weapons, a sweeping damage buff is enough, maybe with added charge time reduction. This simple fix would do wonders for weapons such as Faust, Leviathan Blade, or Antigua.
Swords
The big elephant in the room are Brandishes. If you see anyone running with a sword other than Combuster in vanaduke, You'll probably want to blow him up.
Calibur
My candidate to challenge that would be the humble Calibur. The normal damage sword should receive a large damage buff, with the charge attack being able to almost oneshot many enemies. I say almost, as I also believe Caliburs should have all types of damage, like Blasters. This would singlehandedly challenge Brandishes, while not immediately outclassing it. Brandishes can still be the #1 choice for crowd control, while Caliburs would be the #1 choice for single target damage or small groups. The Cold Iron Carver line should be repurposed as the new Elemental Caliburs, as they’d do the exact same functionally.
Sealed Swords
Another candidate to dethrone Brandishes, or more specifically, Acheron, are Sealed Swords, particularly Faust. Self curse on the charge is such an insane drawback, it should be the strongest sword with its main attack. While Shadow Calibur would be good for charge attacking, Gran Faust should have the strongest main attack, allowing for quick and consistent clearing of dispersed enemies, such as Lichen. Divine Avenger, even though it doesn’t have self-curse, also doesn’t inflict a status effect, so it should receive similar treatment.
Honorable Mentions
Other types of swords shouldn’t be the #1 in anything, as most have some sort of niche of their own. Swords such as Striker, Flourish or Winmillion look fine on paper, they just need a touch more punch, so that you actually use a Wild Hunting Blade over Acheron inside a Wolver Den.
With Guns Blazing
Guns are a little more interesting, since several families are useful in many situations.
Blasters vs Antiguas
At first glance, Blasters and Antiguas do the same thing: a steady stream of damage. Upon closer inspection, Blasters straight up do more damage. Antiguas could have another use instead. By buffing their range slightly, and allowing the projectiles to pierce through enemies, hitting multiple, we leave Blasters the go-to for single target clearing, while letting Antiguas be great at clearing crowds.
Catalyzer
To be blunt, Catalyzers are bad. The playstyle can be incredibly fun, but the damage output is just not there. Instead of just a flat damage buff, let it have a scaling one as well, where the more projectiles orbit a target, the more damage each projectile deals. This way, smaller enemies would need 2-3 projectiles to wipe them out, while not requiring a whole minute of fire to take down a single lumber.
Tortoguns
What on earth is a Gorgofist? Have you ever seen one? Not outside the Alchemy Machine! The idea is sound - Fire from Above. But, again, the damage is not there. A significant damage buff is in order, while also making the charge attack’s shards explode immediately would help make tortoguns a niche, but still viable option. Having a gun that can damage enemies over walls is a sure way to add some use to them!
Diskguns
Don’t think I forgot about the infamous Orbitgun and Mixmaster! While I don’t think they should have their statistics changed, their accessibility is a different beast. Having to spend upwards of 14 MILLION crowns on a single gun is absolutely mental. Nevertheless, the Celestial Orbitgun and Overcharged Mixmaster should remain the diskguns to preserve their value, some other versions, possibly tapping into the color theming (Military, Regal, Celestial, etc.) would help increase the availability of diskguns overall. For example, a Frosty Orbitgun would have shadow damage with freeze, to mirror Permafroster, while a Vile Orbitgun could have poison instead. These would be available in boxes, just like the original Orbitgun. In addition, some version of a diskgun should be a mission reward, either for Vanguards, or for a Prestige rank, so that everyone can at least try this type of weapon.