Just a passing thought Iwanted to leave here. Don't think I've ever heard of it being suggested before but hey, I'm not sure.

What if mastercrafted weapons had access to mastercrafted versions of mods that could only be equipped to mastercrafted weapons (might be a good place for the drum mag). They could still equip the cheaper version, or they could equip a more potent and expensive version that has a stronger effect than the regular mod. For example the drum mag being an upgrade over the box mag: holds more rounds, takes longer to reload, costs more.

Or the armour piercing rounds having Kraken Bolts as their mastercrafted version. Another 5-10 armor pen.

I don't know, just a thought.

I feel like that wouldn't work too well. If we remove mods from basic weapons then we'll see a lot less variation in standard builds.

I have a few different builds. Two of them have that combination but the others have combinations of muzzle brake, compensators, 2x scope, dampener grip, fast reload and armour piercing bolts.

Also, I said variation in standard builds. That includes the whole build. If you remove the bolter mods any tactical that takes a bolter is just gonna stack more armor regen and armor. Maybe some people might take more grenades or a health box.

I don't know. Feels like damn near everyone would just take the same loadout if mods disappeared on bolter loadouts but I can see how that would also apply to everyone taking the same bolter mods. I suppose the same argument applies to both.

If I'm right recoil and spread were increased, some fancy Gaussian modifier changes were made too. Oddly enough when I played yesterday I actually forgot to use my bolter. The allure of using my powermaul and chainswords was too great. Also, Grebguns.

Optimally, the weapon system would be based on equipping a "default pattern" and then from there you could apply variations through mods.

For example;
You equip a power maul as LSM, then choose what you want equipped on it. From there, you could go pick something that takes up all slots/makes it unmoddable past that one equipped pattern, like the Mace of Punishment.
Alternatively, you pick a "skin" to make it look a certain way.
An example of that for instance with Iron Warriors on chaos, you pick "Boltgun", then you pick a skin like the striped bolter skin, then you equip "master crafted" in another slot that affects accuracy instead of a grip or something. But some skins are are not compatible with master crafted, like the venerable boltgun with wear etc.
Or maybe equip the IW striped chainsword, and apply the "necrotic chainsword" variant on it, so it looks like the striped but with the effect of NCS. But something like a power axe default pattern combined with the scythe takes up both the skin & mods slot.

So all non-unique weapons can be swapped skin and effects between, and some unique weapons that have effects but no particularly unique look to them can also be applied a certain skin/look to.

Would to an extent allow people to pick the look they preferred, and then apply the effects of some other weapons to the look.

Love all those ideas. However this is just pipedreaming as usual. It's like going to your local kebap store and dreaming it to be a first class italian or french resturant by just adding here and there a few kitchen machines, switching and extending the menue and adding some international wine while not investing a single dollar and not switching the single guy who never finished a professional cooking school running the store. Sadly that is not the world we are living in, so as much as we dream that someday there are cosmetic skins acting like a modslot and upgrades to a higher weapontier acting like a modslot and all the other huge dreams of recovery and total rebuild, the 1 QA guy who is still working on this game (for the time beeing) will not deliver on that. So put all those dreams in that huge bin in the corner alongside planetside2 40k, massive 100 vs 100 battles, guildships, terminators, dreadnoughts, vehicle revamp, new subfactions, new factions, MMR-filters, pvevp, 4 factions 1 map and all the other jazz which is just miles out of anyones reach at this point. Wait for the next remolded helmet, the next recoulered gun, the next remerged weaponskin or the next numbertweak on existing stuff and enjoy the ride while it lasts because this is the reality.

I always thought that weapon skins should've been a trinket like accessory that has its own slot on your weapon.

Once you unlock the weapon itself a trinket for that weapon should also be unlocked. Though that trinket should only be allowed on certain weapons. After all we dont want people shooting a bolter that looks like a NCS.