The reason hybrids are failures is because they are actually not close-range / sniper weapons. Yet the devs are trying to make them work in a field they are not designed for.

And they can-¦t change that. Because they have already designed someone for these roles: the Minmatar. and since the Gallente mustn-¦t become like the Minmatar, they can-¦t become a dedicated close-combat/sniper race any more.

Cap-free weapons for combat exclusively within nos/neut range, multiple damage types to decrease the time to kill (thus making up for the increase of the ttk due to getting into range), the fastest and most agile ships to get into range (and shield tanks so you don-¦t need to gimp your speed to get EHP)... this is how a close combat race looks like. And yes, it-¦s 100% Minmatar, they are perfectly adapted for close range combat.

For sniping: sniping is everywhere all about fast and agile units, high alpha and low rate of fire (oh look, it-¦s the Minmatar again) There are reasons for it. You really can-¦t have a reasonable sniping mechanic without these characteristics. This is why sniping is pointless now and why the change to probing were needed when sniping was still a thing.

Meaning of course, you can only have sniping together with Artys and Minmatar. Trying to make rails and Gallente to do sniping is complete nonsense.

So, for close combat and sniping you need the Minmatar, and the Gallente will never be able to do it adequately (ironically they are designed to fit into the combat roles the Minmatar are currently covering... seemingly op, because all the advantages needed to make close combat competitive are married with the most flexible engagement ranges).

This is how the devs have designed the races, their ships, their weapons. It might have been unintentionally, the current state is the result of many many small changes over the years after all, so something like this can happen.
But unintentionally or not, the devs have done it and now there are so many problems with balancing that you can-¦t ignore it any more. And you can-¦t fix it with a little more dps here and tracking there, because you are trying to go against the basic design of the races, trying to force them into roles they are not suited for and prevent them to fill out roles they are suited for.