Gameplay discussion: Increased Rate of fire variants.

Even more than yesterday's variants, some of my favorites are here.

Shadow Flower is my go to Sunflower for the target range. I've seen people say that she's simply better than stock as she has no disadvantage to counter her faster fire rate as she's not all that different in damage and dispersion, but I don't have the data to say, and I've never felt she was oppressive to fight against.

Sky Trooper is my boy! Absolute favorite foot soldier from any of the games. The sound and speed of fire of his Danger Zone weapon makes me happy. Just wish that he didn't lose his ZPG visual indicator on his back in GW2 when its ready and fires with the missile appearing and being fired off that he had in GW. Love this guy.

I love Zoologist's porcupine (hedgehog) weapon that fires its quills and grow back when reloading. And of course that meerkat (I think) that pops out of his hair, but this is one of the rare times I see the argument against variants, as he feels like he's overshadowed by both the Chemist and the Marine Biologist. That being said, I still like this character. Maybe rework him with some kind of gimmick to differentiate him from the others? Like maybe the barbs do a little less damage but they leave a DoT on the target?

Hockey Star is an oddball as he fires stinky gloves that look toxic, but don't actually have toxic effects. They also gave him a much needed buff in GW2 as he used to overheat insanely fast, making him one of the worst All-Stars before. Ever since that patch, he's a lot better and less frustrating to play.

Baseball Star has always been just alright for me. Not a bad character at all, but I've always preferred other All-Stars most of the time. Still, I'll play him with no problem, as I tend to switch all over the roster.

Golf Star is the sniper of the All-Stars. His vocalizations are like you say, unique and on a sidenote, one thing I don't like about BfN (minor though this is), is the fact that the All-Star doesn't do those vocalizations, which I miss. 

I believe they went and nerfed both Kernel Corn and Foot Soldier in BfN as they were such good all-rounders before in GW2 (and GW for the soldier), and they wanted to keep their jack-of-all-trades idea but rein them in a bit. The BfN rapid fire upgrade for soldier is weird too, it's uneven as it speeds up and slows down for no apparent reason, yet is almost required in multiplayer, as it's that good. Soldier does overall feel better to play than corn in BfN though, although husk hop is still very powerful.

@Iron_Guard8I think people take a shadow flower having potential to be better and just think that automatically makes her better when in reality she has problems at range and her own firerate can work against her. This applies to sky trooper too who in the right hands can outperforms stock but also comes with his weaknesses that most people often ignore when talking about them like baseball arguably has the best all star dps besides stock but he's often regarded as being in the middle of the variants for the character despite his potential.

Zoologist is good but it wouldn't hurt if he had a tiny bit more of any edge against his peers, though it's nice that Chester got a replacement unlike citrus.

Hockey star is a oddball but it's good to see that gw2 buffed as like you say he overheated far too quickly. Once again gw2 actually did a really good job at balancing the gw1 cast by making the the worst variants actually good.

Baseball star is actually my least played all star. I don't dislike him but I simply find other all stars more interesting.

The removal of variants in Bfn took away so many unique animations, voicelines, and effects that I feel everyone takes for granted. Looking back to back between the games and seeing how popcap could do 6 imp reloads in gw2 perfectly than absolutely flunk at just doing 1 for the stock imp in bfn hurts me on another level. They even removed the regular sunflower sounds and replaced them with stuffy.

They were such nice parallels in gw2 but they really fall apart in bfn since soldier's abilities are so much better and with upgrades get boosted to such a ridiculous degree above corns. The rapid fire like you say is also very inconsistent.

Fire away, fire away! These characters have an increased rate of fire compared to their default counterparts, allowing them to deal more damage per second. The increased rate of fire means you can afford to miss shots more often without missing out on much damage.

These characters are able to autofire to maintain their fast speed. These characters may suffer from a cost to counter their increased fire rate, such as reduced damage or an increased ammo usage and overheat time, which depends on how the character's weapon works.

Shadow Flower: You shoot at a faster rate compared to regular Sunflower, and you have the exact same amount of maximum ammo (which is 50) and damage. Your shots will deal 8-9 damage or 9-10 critical damage, depending on range from you and the enemy. However, your shots are more affected by damage dropoff and it takes you longer to reload your weapon. You may want to attack at closer ranges to maximise your damage and accuracy.

Sky Trooper: You shoot at a faster rate compared to regular Foot Soldier, although you deal less damage and have less maximum ammo. Your shots will deal 4-7 damage or 5-8 critical damage, depending on range from you and the enemy. You have 25 maximum ammo (instead of the default 30). You have around the same damage per second as regular Foot Soldier, however you could improve your damage at closer ranges and can afford to miss your shots more often.

Zoologist: You shoot at a faster rate compared to regular Scientist, and you have the ability to autofire. You deal less damage than regular Scientist at extremely close range, although more damage than Scientist when he attacks at further ranges. His primary weapon is limited only to close range, although he can deal huge amounts of damage quickly. Each shot deals 30 damage to enemies that you hit. Once you engage enemies at closer ranges, you may find that you need to reload often, but you will be dealing plenty of damage.

Hockey Star: You shoot at a faster rate compared to regular All-Star. This is the fastest firing All-Star variant, but with the least damage per hit. Your shots will deal 2-4 damage, depending on range from you and the enemy. If you engage with your enemies at closer ranges, you can maximise your damage output. You overheat faster than normal and your shots do not deal as much damage, although the greatly fast fire rate will allow you to deal plenty of damage per second if you can land your shots.

Golf Star: You shoot at a faster rate compared to regular All-Star. This is the fastest firing All-Star variant, except for Hockey Star. Your shots will deal 3-5 damage or 3-6 critical damage, depending on range from you and the enemy. You have increased zoom as well. If you engage with your enemies at closer ranges, you can maximise your damage output. You overheat faster than normal and your shots deal less damage, although the really fast fire rate allows you to deal lots of damage per second if you land your shots.

Baseball Star: You shoot at a faster rate compared to regular All-Star. Your shots will deal 3-7 damage or 4-8 critical damage, depending on range between you and the enemy. Your weapon has improved accuracy as well. If you engage with your enemies at closer ranges, you can maximise your damage output. You overheat faster than normal and your shots deal less damage, although the improved fire rate and accuracy should allow you to deal good amounts of damage per second.

Basic Notes

• You could use the Ammo or Overheat upgrade to keep shooting for longer before needing a reload or before you overheat. The increased rate of fire will cause you to reload more frequently or to overheat more quickly. Use these upgrades to allow you to continue shooting for even longer. Each character can only get one of these upgrades, so just equip the appropriate upgrade.
• You could try using the Reload or Overheat Penalty upgrade to make each reload faster or to be able to start firing again sooner after an overheat experience. This is an indirect way to improve your fire rate, and these upgrades are quite useful for these characters as you will need to reload often or you may overheat often. Each character can only get one of these upgrades, so just equip the appropriate upgrade.
• You may get better results from attacking single enemies at a time, as your weapons are not really suited to attacking multiple enemies at once. Use your fast attack speed to take an enemy down quickly, then focus your fire on a different enemy. 
• All of these characters have the ability to autofire by holding down the trigger. You will not be able to achieve maximum fire rate unless holding down the trigger, so make sure you do that. If you need to change direction or reload, you can take a break from the trigger. All-Star variants have to wind up each time before attacking, but hold the aim button before you start attacking to begin firing instantly.
• While the damage of these characters are reduced compared to their basic counterparts, attacking at closer ranges will allow you to dish out lots of damage to enemies quickly. The same could be said if you are accurate at longer ranges, although you will have improved accuracy at closer ranges.

Characters with high fire rates are some of my favourite characters, as I prefer attack speed over damage!