The Polaris is a weapon that is looked down upon for many reasons.
In PvE, it disrupts the flow of the party with the random shock and knockback. People have gotten kicked for having it.
In PvP, the combination of speed, knockback, and AoE makes for a gun that is not suited to any PvP environment in any game.
Point is, most people don't like it in PvP, and most people don't like it in PvE. It is easily out-dps'ed in PvE, and allows unfair area denial in PvP with relation to other weapons.
Here is my suggestion (Both polaris and supernova)
Regular shots - unexpanded shot would act as it does now. The expanded shot would not detonate upon hitting an enemy, but rather go through the enemy and deal X amount of damage (X being less than the unexpanded shot damage) per 1/2 second to whatever is inside the moving expanded orb before it dies out. Shock reduced to a fair chance.
Charge shot - same as it is now.
This would allow some nice area denial to enemies in PvE and PvP, but not a cripplingly high amount of it. It would essentially act as a ranged dark retribution in terms of hit rate and possibly damage: In PvE, with some asi and dmg, this could destroy enemies easily, just like the Dark Retribution does. In PvP, it would allow for area denial (like the DR), but not to such a high level that it completely blocks off enemies with no chance of hitting the spammer. I think this gun would be very effective still, since the shock would complement the hit rate in PvP, yet not be to such a level that unbalances the gun.
A simpler version of a polaris nerf could be:
-Eliminate the knockback
-Reduce shock to a fair chance
-Reduce damage to Storm driver damage for the expanded bullet as well
What do you guys think?
"In PvE, it disrupts the flow of the party with the random shock and knockback. People have gotten kicked for having it"
I doubt I'm one to talk, having not played for quite some time. But personally, I've never got kicked for having a Polaris with me, in fact, most of the time, party members encouraged me to bring one with me.
The Polaris serves as a good weapon for keeping monsters at bay, while dishing out a considerable amount of AoE damage. If used correctly by people, it's tremendously useful as a support/damage weapon. Honestly, why do people hate us Polaris spammers so much :( (Ok, fine, I'm more of a Nitronome spammer, but more to the point I guess XD)
Many guns are out damaged by...many other guns...But, in the game, damage isn't really the whole point, more like control. There are million Youtube videos out there of people doing FSC runs with proto gear. Of course, there are weapons with flaws out there, but the Polaris isn't exactly one of them. Just like how the Nitronome isn't either. They can be disruptive, yes, but mighty useful if used correctly.
I can't say much about PvP, too laggy T_T.