I agree on the whole problematic that MCH has right now.

Not enough damage, No buff to the team (Aside from defense), poor AoE option (Battery doesn't give you anything to Burst AoE and Crossbow suck to be frank)

My suggestion would be to transform Flamethrower into the "PvP snipper". Surely a bullet from such a caliber would penetrate hard and put big target on Vulnerability right ?

With the removal of Flamethrower, we just have to readjust other AoE option too. Making Crossbow refreshing cooldown on the two oGCD to really have something amazing and a true AoE Burst. WF as AoE could also be a really good option.

I think Machinist, lorewise, should be able to found a target's Weakspot. Their is plenty of room to do stuff with MCH in order to make it far better.