Catalyzer: The chain reaction would already make it less important to keep track of how much time is remaining before each charge wears off, as they can all be set off at once with some skill. The charges eventually exploding automatically instead of disappearing is an interesting idea, but it doesn't make sense, since the whole concept behind the Catalyzer line is that the primary shot and charge shot are two different chemicals that explode when combined. However, it might still be a good idea for a tagged enemy to be dealt minor damage when the charge wears off, probably 1.5 times the damage of a regular shot, since that's the multiplier Pulsar line shots receive when they expand. Either that or maybe the charges shouldn't wear off at all, since I don't actually see a reason for the inclusion of that drawback to the charge attack.

Magnus: Since talking with Luguiru in-game, it's become clear to me that all damage values for this line probably need retooling. And if that's the case, then the suggestions for buffing the line that I presented in my first post may not be appropriate. The possibility of the charge attack piercing through enemies... may have potential and may not; you have to keep in mind that multi-hit projectiles in Spiral Knights can all hit the same enemy multiple times, which can ruin the concept behind the "piercing" shot. An alternate possibility that I've thought of is for the charge shot to explode upon contact with an enemy. (Of course it would also explode upon hitting a wall, its flight path ending, etc.) I mean a huge explosion for a projectile, like with a radius of at least two tiles. That would certainly make it more useful!

Cutter: I can't comment on this line because, well, I don't use it! The only swords I'm good at using are the slow ones; all others make me sad (especially the Cautery Sword)! It doesn't matter if a line needs buffs; if I don't, from my own observations, understand why it needs buffs, I can't in good conscience work on a solution.

Spur: Yes, a 5* addition to this line needs to happen.

Edit button: Haha yeah I know about it. In fact I even used it to add the "(Troika update!)" to the title of the thread. I didn't put my thoughts on the Troika line in my original post because it would have made the post too long, and it's in a different format anyway so it's fine for it to be separate.

Doctorspacebar, thanks for explaining that stuff so I didn't have to! Yeah, the reason buffs are warranted for some weapons is the same reason so few people use them: They're not as good. Still, to dispel any concern that I might be wanting to make things easier, let me state the following...
Wolvers should have shorter telegraphs for their attacks so players have to at least pay attention when fighting them; they're way too brain dead right now.
Zombies should have a faster walk speed so they have more potential for mobbing players; they're not intimidating, nor do they feel like zombies without that threat.
Scorchers should have more health so they aren't such pushovers compared to Thwackers.
(Disclaimer: These suggestions do not take into account the effects that these changes could have on danger missions.)
I could talk a lot more about this (and a bunch of other things that could be improved about SK despite how much I like it), but that would be getting off-topic.

Also... I think I should probably address some possible elephants in the room regarding two particular weapon lines.

What about the Troika line's charge attack? As problematic as the slower swing speed is on the Troika line (Likal: yes, it's definitely slower), I must admit I definitely prefer its charge attack to any of the ones on the Sealed Sword line. At Depth 24, it does 818 damage; eight hundred and eighteen normal damage in an explosion that can hit a whole bunch of enemies at once. This sort of damage instantly kills most enemies if you're adventuring solo, and on some depths even if you're not. (My record for simultaneous kills with it is nine, though that's not so surprising when you consider I do this every time I go through a Jelly Farm II because of that 3x3 square where jellies spawn.) It's also easier to use than, for instance, the Divine Avenger's charge attack because it starts with a lunge forward instead of a step back and creates an explosion instead of projectiles. The Divine Avenger's charge can actually do more damage because, again at Depth 24, the initial swing does 545 and the projectiles do 133 with each hit, but... you have to be close to the enemy during the long startup and you have to aim properly and even then its hitboxes aren't as good. Anyway, the Sudaruska's charge attack is the reason I still use the sword; I even find it more efficient for getting through Wolver Dens than the Dark Briar Barrage! However, this just isn't enough to make the weapon good, especially in the chaos that can ensue in full parties. And before I had any 5* shadow weapons, I had to rely on my Sudaruska's charge attack when fighting Darkfang Thwackers, which was a pretty frustrating experience because their movements aren't entirely predictable and could make the slow charge attack miss or glance off their shields. (Oh, one last thing to mention, responding to a concern from earlier in the thread: Movement Speed alterations have no effect on this charge attack.)

Don't make the Catalyzer line's charge attack overpowered! I want to say first here that most of the people who've posted in this thread so far seem to agree with my proposed changes for the Catalyzer line. That being said, this is an interesting concern. It's interesting because the Catalyzer line was designed around the concept of its primary and charge shots working in tandem. Armyunit, you say all it takes is practice? In a sense, that's true; it does take practice. However the problem is that the line doesn't reward that practice. Almost no players master these guns because there's no way for their DPS to measure up to other options. Even with the chain reaction, the charge attack remains risky to use because you have to position yourself and the enemies in such a way as to make sure the slow bullet lands, and it leaves you wide open while you fire. Right now, the risk-versus-reward is much too far in favor of never using the charge attack, defeating the point of the weapon; if you don't fire just right (which is made harder when you're fighting enemies that can dodge), you waste precious seconds and might even take damage. Even with the chain reaction, it may still take a lot of practice to make the line worth using, practice that could be better spent on weapons with more reliable DPS. Because of this, I think the risk (time usage and standing still) should be reduced by speeding up the charge attack animation in addition to the potential for reward being increased by the addition of the chain reaction. The line would still take some getting used to, and it could finally have the potential to reward the practice.

Did I need to say all that?! I don't know! I said I'd respond to any concerns, though, so at least I'm keeping my word!

Lastly, to everyone who has expressed support thus far, thank you! It means a lot to me.

Plate: My biggest beef with these items is how they clash with weapons like the Troika line. Even if enemies still never dealt pure non-normal damage, I would personally still avoid all Plate items that aren't shields because the extra defense is just not worth their current penalty. It's not worth the lower DPS and the increased chance of getting hit due to slower attacks. They need to have really substantial extra defense to make them worth using with a Sudaruska, but then they'll be overpowered when paired with some other weapons (particularly bombs). Yes, their defenses need to be fixed, but I still favor a decrease to movement speed over attack speed. That way the player won't be able to dodge as well, and will have to rely more on shielding or even tanking. Bombs won't be overpowered because the player will move even slower while charging them. ACTUALLY... while writing this, I just realized something: The reason the items decrease attack speed is because the concept behind them is to trade offense for defense. But OOO went about it the wrong way (in my opinion); they should lower attack damage, not speed, to accomplish this. This way, slow sword lines will actually be good to use with Plate helms and armors, as they'll still do good damage and they have good knockback so they can be used defensively (which is important because Plate items focus on defense). Wow. So hooray I think I just figured out something big about these items! DISCUSS.

Big Angry Bomb: Hmm. The slow-but-strong aspect really is diminished by greatly shortening the fuse, I have to admit. But I still think it makes the most sense for the weapon! Maybe a different bomb should be introduced that's more of a slow-but-powerful type. Maybe the Irontech Bomb and Irontech Destroyer should be changed to be like that instead. These options are the ones that make the most sense, in my opinion, and create more diverse normal-damge bombing options. Speaking of Irontech, though...

Irontech Destroyer: "Once it starts, it'll out DPS the Nitronome every time without question." Well... hmm... Yeah, the walk speed was basically intended to balance this out, but that balance wouldn't just come from "increased risk." It would come from handicapped positioning when trying to use the bombs as quickly as possible, because the slower movement speed means the player can't walk nearly as far as they could with a Nitronome before placing the next bomb. Combine this with the bomb's extra knockback, and enemies won't be so easy to efficiently catch in explosions over and over. At least that's the theory. Also, heh, this is of course all assuming that this bomb and its little brother aren't going to be changed to be the heavy-duty normal-damage bombs as I talked about in the paragraph above.

Catalyzer line: Now that's an interesting idea. It doesn't quite make sense when it comes to the two-chemicals concept behind the guns, but the charges being set off upon enemy death would definitely help the line a lot. I wish I'd thought of that! Though the line would probably still need a little more than that one change to be good.

Magnus line: I've learned a lot more about this line since making my initial post in this thread, so much so that I'm considering adding a disclaimer about it to that post. The Iron Slug's badness shows that this line is flawed at a basic level; it needs more damage. The reason the charge attack has a slow walk speed attached to it is because that was supposed to balance its extra damage. Yet the extra damage isn't enough to warrant a penalty like that. But it should be! Also, I think the slower walk speed should be added to the Autogun line's charge attacks because there it is appropriate. (Specifically it was made appropriate by the universal gun buffs that happened a bit ago.) It should probably be kept on the Magnus line while its charge attack damage is changed to make it appropriate.

Iron Slug: I touched on this gun in the previous paragraph, but I'll add a couple things here. Yes, it should do a little more damage than the Callahan. And yes, I still like the stopping power buff, but I think it may be good to add to all Magnus line guns, not just this one.

Pulsar line: Okay... yeah... I'll be honest: I thought of the possibility of nerfing the hitbox on the explosion ages ago, but I didn't think it was a good idea because I wasn't sure how big the hitbox actually was, and I also didn't want to make the hitbox smaller than the visual blast. Well all I can say now is MY BAD to both those things, as I should have done my research before posting about the line and I should have realized that, well, OOO can make the expanded bullets and visual blasts smaller if they want to! WHOOPS. Yeah, I have to say your suggestion of making the expanded shots/explosions smaller is probably the best possible way to nerf this line. The charge shot staying the same size would also help differentiate it from the expanded regular shots.

Cautery Sword: Yeah... there has to be a better option. And maybe there is! Perhaps it would be best to change the sword from normal damage to split elemental-shadow, and keep the bonus to slimes as-is. That way it'll be super-effective against both constructs and slimes, the main population of the Royal Jelly Palace. And then its base damage could even be changed to match that of the other 3* Brandish line swords, as then it will still do less damage than the Tempered Calibur to all enemies that aren't constructs and slimes. How about that for a solution?

Omega Shell: Thanks.

Dark Retribution: Yeah, PvP is kind of... broken right now. So I'll just focus on PvE and say... well... it just seems to me like the player has to try overly hard to make the bomb good. I still think it could use maybe a ten percent damage buff.

Pepperbox and Poison Needle lines: I honestly don't have enough experience with Autogun line guns to determine if what you're suggesting here is a good idea. You did agree with my suggestion, though, so that's cool at least!

Silversix and Argent Peacemaker: When I wrote my first post, I actually didn't know that split non-normal damage meant doing less-than-base damage to enemies the weapon isn't super-effective against. I know, I know, I apologize for the research fail. This is all a learning process! But anyway... this new knowledge makes me realize a potentially perfect solution for balancing these guns with split damage: Increase their base damage! That way changing them to split damage could be not so much of a nerf compared to how they are now, as they could still do damages to undead and fiends that are relatively similar to what they do now to undead and constructs. If this works, it would also allow all family bonuses on Antigua line guns to stay the same, keeping the parallel between the light and dark guns intact.

Troika line: Yeah, get on this, OOO! (I mean get on it if you're not already on it!) Also please fix the displayed speed stats on slow swords. It was because these stats are identical on all of them that I didn't buy a Sealed Sword for so long.

Thanks very much for your awesome contribution to the thread, Trollingyou!

Tsubasa-No-Me

The Neutralizer's bullets are faster than the Biohazard's?! I must test that.

Wow, stopping power sure is confusing! Sounds like we really do need more data on it from OOO.

The reduced fuse time on the Big Angry Bomb is basically me trying to give it a use, as you may have already figured out. What you say is true: We don't really know right now what use the weapon was intended to have. Though even if it was supposed to be like a nuke, maybe its design should change.

Trollingyou

Plate - Oh definitely. I guess I should have clarified this in my last post. By no means do I think changing the Attack Speed Decreased to Attack Damage Penalty will fix these items. They also very much need changes to their defenses.

Silversix and Argent Peacemaker - All I can say is thanks!

Catalyzer line - This won't entirely work, though, since enemies can still be killed away from other enemies. Also it could be unpopular for other party members (unless of course they all use Catalyzer line guns) due to its potential for making things more chaotic. Perhaps a better idea would be for the orbiting charge to freeze in place if the enemy is killed, and then detonate if shot by a regular shot or caught in an explosion. This assumes chain reactions are enabled, but it seems pretty clear at this point that they should be. Would the charge attack animation still need to be shortened if both those buffs were put in? What about the possible extension to the time it takes for the charges to wear off? There seem to be quite a few possibilities for this weapon now and I'm not sure how many need to be implemented. I'd really like to see on the preview server what the weapon would be like with all the buffs listed in this paragraph: the charge that stays after death, the chain reaction, the shorter charge attack animation, and the charge never wearing off (though probably disappearing after a while of sitting there after the enemy dies).

Realnight

Honestly I don't see that idea contributing much to improving the line. The charges not wearing off in the first place would be more practical and less chaotic.

That "glitch" with guns isn't something I've really thought about because it's hard to tell if it's a glitch or if devilites (for instance) are just supposed to be invincible when they dodge.

The Big Angry Bomb having a chance of inflicting Curse would be hilarious and great!

Yes, I was the sole developer behind Unstoppabrawl (which definitely qualifies as massive, though isn't as well known). I'd link to it, but it was my first big foray into balancing and has a lot of problems. (It's easy to find via Google if you really want to see it.) Still I'd like to go back and finish it someday. Actually I would have already continued work on it, but unrelated technical issues and real life got in the way after the last update. Hopefully I'll be able to resurrect it... yeah, someday.

Huh. Oh? Is that what Autofire was talking about? Interesting. My connection is usually two-or-three bars, but this is something I rarely see, except involving opening gates. (I mean, the bullet disappears on my screen upon hitting the opening gate, but actually still exists and can hit enemies beyond it.)

Would modifying bullet speeds be appropriate for compensating for this? I personally doubt it, since it's a problem with how the game handles latency, not the balance between the guns.

Yeah I've been rethinking my suggestion about the Omega Shell. I need data on exactly how much HP it has compared to other shields. When I made my initial suggestion, I hadn't realized how big of a difference there might actually be.

As for the Big Angry Bomb and Irontech Destroyer being updated... I'm still a bit concerned. I could be wrong about this, but the changes that were recently shown on the preview server smell like a quick fix to me. I hope OOO has more in store for these bombs, as removing one of their weaknesses and adding still-glitchy Stun is not going to make them worth using. Not remotely.