Pistolers are good but Bursters are alot funner.Pstoler scenario: Sit there while mercs go apeshit and keep clicking till dead.Burster: Run after player with your 5 mercs like a warlord with your bad of merrymen and go apeshit with them.But burster is riskier.
Not sure, i don't play low luck chars to shoot anything, mainly because critical failures are the devil. Also if you have 5 mercs it can be a terrible mess to get bursts in (even if they are ranged mercs they might run right up to the enemy to shoot them) and dying to a burst from 15 squares away because a lack of toughness can be tough to deal with sometimes when you have 30-150k in a random encounter.
I am level 9 now with my leader / merc build, small frame , fast shot, 9 charisma, and 1 luck. I had only 2 weapon failures since starting. One dropped, and one busted, honestly I dont think its anymore than the average player gets.