I agree, completely, which is why earlier in this post I did say that I really do like the change. But Having a perk be required to use on it, would be massive, especially if it has a great cost, blocking beefier predators from taking it without sacrificing other really important perks. Earlier I did say that I want the aoe to be more consistent, and that is true for the plasma caster as it is now. But if the downrange perk would be able to make the plasma caster one shot fully charged, that should be only for DIRECT hits.
Also keep in mind, snipers can still pop a ranged predator biomask in just a few well placed shots, which arent difficult to hit at all. And if pred loses that mask, its game over for the plasma caster.
No fireteam member should be able to beat pred in a 1v1, but they should be able to parry 2-3 times to stall for time while their teamates come in and blast predator away. Making a risk/reward for pred.
I will agree with you that I think that they may have made pred a bit too damage resistant, as ive played mainly scout today, and I am not very afraid to get into the knitty gritty of melee, but I can only imagine that both of the other classes are a bitch to kill with just one team member down when he goes melee. So I do think preds need to be toned down slightly. But Not so much that it is as much of a slaughter as it was before.
Another argument you could make, is that assault rifles/smgs need a decent buff. A good reason why pred is so beefy, is because those two classes of weapons are the weakest, and yet most fireteams run them. Just as preds smart disc/handheld plasma need a buff, I think that assault rifles, as well as smgs could use one too. This would probably go a long way.