If the devs actually plan to rebalance current equips (Acheron, Chaos, etc.),, then I'll stop believing that this is just an overhyped future release (not that the Elevator redux and BS update was BAD or anything).

They have to balance the introduction of more specialized damaging weapons.

Having elemental, piercing, an d shadow variants of every gun, where max dmg can bring it up to the dmg of a sword, would not make much sense.

Probably tons of other factors too.

Its obviously not as simple as an if - then statement.

My thoughts.

How many guns in the krogmo shop? 1 crafting line. Bombs + Swords, 2 each.
How many SL dedicated sets? 0. Bomb + Swords, 1 each.

My guess is they're putting a new recipe in the krogmo shop and adding new SL armors.
Well hey - they're already planning a new boss, why not make the new armor craftable from those new SL tokens.

I think the gunner update has been delayed for the continued story line with new missions and new boss (+new SL).
I think the gunner update is going to be big, not because of the guns, but because of the new content released with the guns.
*Disclaimer* Don't get hyped up. This is only a prediction and has no basis for actually being what they are planning. *End disclaimer*

All I can say is if we waited all this time for 2 dozens of new guns and no other gameplay content then I think most ppl will leave SK for good.

Almost waiting for half a year for this... I hope they aren't overhyping us

Oh right, they weren't working on creating a new miniboss/level sets/modifying the shieldbash mechanic/extra event/danger room hooks/new boss stage/other systems or anything like that over the past few months.

Silly me, I forgot, they only make costumes now.

/eyeroll

Also, the only people overhyping the gunner update are you guys, the players. Remember this post?

we're not going to give a new release estimate. It's clear that in the past, when we've tried to give estimates of this type, it hasn't made anyone happy; it pins the Spiral Knights devs to a release date that they might or might not be able to make, and it makes players feel worried and jerked around when the schedule slips.
...
In addition to work proceeding on the Gunner update, our art and level design folks are hard at work on the Tortodrone and accompanying levels,

------------

@OP:
Aside from the issues Xyka listed with either mechanics changes (I'm really hoping for enemy-piercing mechanics on the Magnus lines) or just general balance issues, I don't think the remaining gunner update is too large. Again, judging from how people have posted leaked models, that means those models are 'finished' and sitting in your game files - the non-art changes would be balance, mechanics, and adding the items where relevant (Hall of Heroes? Boss Token? Krogmo reward?).

I'm willing to bet that they're waiting for a better context to release some of the items together. Like if they're in the middle of making a new T3 boss, then there's a good chance that guns might be part of the new boss's token items. But while they're in the middle of doing that, they'll need to make rank missions to fit the T3 Boss in, because it's not like the old Arcade era where adding a new boss meant adding a boss stratum to a gate - they need to be paired with missions. Oh, and speaking of that, if they're not going to add another arcade gate (to avoid having a gate with two bosses, or a period of time where a boss doesn't show up in the Arcade gate until the next gate generation), then that might step into the Arcade Redux's territory.

TL;DR version:
Gunner update is probably not too big, but there are probably too many big patches coming at once and everything is sticky. And even if it weren't (like, if the new guns/armors had nothing to do with the boss content), they're probably not working 100% on that update, but probably putting their focus elsewhere.

Also, the only people overhyping the gunner update are you guys, the players

Really?

You mean this hype was from player base only?

Cause I'm pretty sure the hype is due to OOO by announcing it too early

And I could link another Announcement post about Gunner update being delayed but I'm too lazy...

Edit: Just a point of reference. First link is a post from Nick (who left OOO) and I had to go to page 2 of announcement for those 2 first links... We have been waiting for almost a year, Gunner update was announced back in September, hey look it's March already!

People were posting about gunner update AFTER they said it wasn't going to happen 'until it was ready'. I think it was a big mistake for them to announce it when they were any further than 2 weeks away from finishing it (much less, testing it) in the first place.

The hype should have died down after that, but people keep bringing it back.

I'm probably mislabeling this as 'overhype' but feel free to find the correct wordage for it:
People think the addition of new guns/armors are going to be such a big thing when in reality, it's more of 'icing'. I keep getting this feeling like you guys actually think the addition of more of your 'sidearms' and some armor sets are going to be the second coming of the game or something.

That's what I'm labeling as overhype.

You know, like people getting hyped whenever they announce another Zelda game with an awesome trailer thinking they're gonna get the revival of the action RPG and end up getting a puzzle RPG instead.

@ Seiran

You know what didn't help?

Behind the scene changes... Pretty much forced you to get spiral spy or to wander the internet for informations and we all stumble upon the guns, so of course we got hyped. The guns files are in the game, we can see them! There is also other things... Which we won't talk about for obvious reason.

3 patch notes with behind the scene changes... really? 1 might be okay but pulling 3 "behind the scene changes" as patch note is quite pitiful and will result in the community trying to find what it means.

I'm calling it lack of communication between the devs and the community manager/member (and they seem to be on the forum more often, thanks Gyre! I loved your blunt answer). A lot of misteps happened over the course of the past 6 months that is leading into this.

It's not just "a Gunner update" the Gunner update trace back way back to October... So after this announcement, we pretty much get hyped everytime SK gets an update... And I would hate to see another behind the scene changes...

Also let me quote Nick from This post

The Gunner Update is currently targeting a November release window, so keep your eyes on the Testing Server forum for information on when you can give these changes and new items a shot!

Test server didn't happened for Torto? nor for Grinchlins... nor for Apocrean...

I understand no test server release. They might care about hype spoiling stuff too early. A buggy preview that misses release to main client usually pisses people off.

A buggy preview that misses release to main client usually pisses people off.

no, that's the best thing to do. the earlier you discover bugs, the faster you can get rid of them. test server isn't a preview, it's a test. I might steal klip's character for a bit, but you should see this video about this. another quote I like on the subject is "you can't be too early for a playtest. even having squares crashing on a wall or a group of people going in a room is playtesting."