Heavy Laser is also really a slow Laser Rifle in means of DMG/TU. It also has less ammo and accuracy, so it's a waste IMO.
I would say that the difference here is really not that big, with a slight favouring of the Laser Rifle over the Heavy Laser. Obviously against Medium Alien Armour, the balance shifts wholeheartedly against the Laser Rifle. The Heavy Laser is slower but does more damage and thus is really comparable to the Laser Rifle right up until you effectively have half the ammo..
Is twice the damage against medium armour worth half the ammo capacity? Unless every enemy is wearing their med-armour duds, that extra turn you gotta spend reloading is just ugg, but as a transition from the MG the heavy laser is an viable option for those units. Although the increased stat growth makes this much less of an issue.. re: light assault v. heavy assault.
I've switched to EP Assault Rifles and they DO rock - even armored Ortnoks do not stand a chance, so I don't feel MGs are necessary for battling them.
pewpew? Its a range thing / playstyle where you have the throughwall coil guns and MGs softening up and or finishing all the enemies from respective distance. So that by the time you are really engaged in 'close' combat the enemy is at considerably reduced HP. pewpew?
The thing with the EP ammo is that it manages to use the original weapon ammo capacity specs. Usually with increased damage comes less ammo but here that particular tech effect is not observed, with an effective doubling of d/TU at the same ammo caps. Unheard of really. It seems completely unbalanced with respect to how everything thing else is weighted.
Also, are AM Bolters superior to Coilguns? The latter oneshot or at least critically wound and cause berserk almost everyone, is there a reason to employ Bolters if I just don't feel like it?
Well if your definiiton of a sniper weapon is one shot=one kill than the AM Bolter is your weapon. Otherwise in no way are the AM Bolters superior to Coilguns.
You don't need to pay attention as much to obstacles with the coil gun, allowing if you want; to always stay behind cover while firing. This huge advantage over the Sniper Rifle ( even with EP ammo), and w/o the limiting ammo capacity of the Bolter; should signify the Coil Gun as the goto ranged weapon.
Damage wise the EP Sniper, Bolter and Coil gun are comparable to each other. Its the further throughwall capacity of the Coil gun v. the sniper rifle that truly sets it apart.