I may not play anymore, yet I still see a repeat of topics. Those topics are the un/balance, buff, nerf, change and all.
I will start with nerf/buff. Both these topics appear on weapon. "This weapon needs buff/nerf" The main issue with this is that the poster is either loosing with the item or getting killed when opponent uses it. They get frustrated and post buff and nerf. I been there and done that. Then when I get to the top ranks, I realized that there is really no issue. To understand this more precisely, you need to look at all weapons as different Classes that get your mech to certain ranks. Think of the weapons as D, C, B, A, and S class. You got the High rank L-M items that are A and S. You can even classify Some epic as an S. They can play out in high ranks. Then there is the Epic A and B items, and so on, that play out in different ranks. I'm not going into details on what I would classify items, yet as you progress, you will see that you will have to change your mech build over time. You don't stick with the same build through out time. Once you get to a certain rank, you will find out what needs to be changed. And If you become successful in the game and creative in mechs builds, you probably can use all weapons to get to high ranks.
Now, about unbalance and balance. You really can't classify SM as a balance game. That's like saying every weapon should do 100-300 rng damage, have -15 resistance in heat, physical, and evergy. It is maid to be unbalance. Weapons, overtime, will become better then the previous ones. They will do something better than an old one. The old ones will still do good, yet new ones will outdo them in different ways. You have to understand how each weapon plays out, and the effects it does. This is another issue why new players need a wiki on SM items. You also need to know how rng plays out in SM.