i know its been slightly shot down, but i'd like to mention again, my idea on the NC, and the reasoning behind it.
keep the scatter bands - they suck, but could be simplified, but for making the least changes... keep them.
the center hole of the blast template does D3 damage.
anything touching the template takes 1 damage (including something under the center hole)
The Lock-On SO allows the firer to re-roll the scatter dice.
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Now the math:
currently: hit (1/3) * avg damage roll (7/2) = 7/6 ~ 1.167 average damage per shot.
my way: hit (1/3) * avg damage roll + temp (3/2 +1 )= 5/6 ~ .83 average damage per shot
my way, locked on: hit (5/9) * avg damage roll + temp (3/2 +1) = 25/18 ~ 1.389 average damage per shot.
as you can see, my way, the NC is much weaker than the current version - however it gains a boost to 'just better' than the current version when locked on. however, its not extremely scary, because often it will only take down shields - it not longer has the random chance of crippling a cruiser with 1 shot (which btw is 5.6%)