Hegemony Deserter has a one in four chance of having a maximum of +2 to its only weapon and doesn't start with a melee weapon for its automatic +2 so having the attributes tied to callings seems like a great opportunity to cull "trap options".
Among other things, the Hegemony Deserter load out will start with a Jagg Bayonet in the next draft.Does the new calling increase the max number of players?
Yes, and the changes overall make the game more friendly to having more than one of each Calling at the table. I still personally wouldn't want to play with more than four Laser-Ritters, but I prefer GMing for small groups, generally.