The Apsaras is rather lacklustre in N4, and her role of buffing remotes is greatly diminished. Not being able to buff remotes with regular hacking devices anymore means you have to take Probots or Scylla (who is a special character and isn't available in OSS). Apsaras has a cool model that I'd like to take. Probots have an awful model I will never take. It's a simple fix, and fits with the unit lore. It's hardly going to break the game balance. Give Apsaras an EVO hacker profile. Easy.
I now the Panguiling is not as ugly (or strange, to use a nicer word) as the Probot, but can the Daoying gets an EVO profile as well? I mean, she was used to buffed REMs a lot in N3 ;-) I think CB will not give EVO HDs easily away - this is the choice you have to make: Do I want my REMs buffed or do I go with a normal HD(+)? The look of the real unit is not taken to account by CB. In that, you are right the Probots are in dire need of an Update. And there are still factions outside, that not even have an EVO model. But I play Aleph too, so I support your request , not for the Apsara, she has REM-Driver already, but for the Danavas.
How is it worse then N3? It is the same stat buff. It lost giving them all number 2 and being able to jump from one rem in a fire team to another but instead can now go on individual rems like a lone Rudra. It can now stack with supportive hacking which it could not before. To me this seems reasonable as a trade off. If you do not like a pro bot model convert a hacker on a larger base at a workstation or something.
The Number 2 was a big deal, they also lost G:Jumper which let them keep their Order if they died as long as there was a Netrod around. They also compare worse now that much cheaper and arguably better REM Racers are available in Vanilla and other links' power levels going through the stratosphere with Heavy Infantry or powerful MI being easily slotted into Line Infantry filler.
If you really want number 2 Devas have it, and it is sometimes why I take a Deva. . I found the Apsara tend not to die unless I have really messed up and if it has then most likely my net rods are also dead. As OS does not have access to the rem racer it is not that they are competing with the Apsara directly or are you trying to make a case vs the Apsara in vanilla? If so all they need to do for me is drop the SWC cost. Rem racers give bonuses that really helps the Rudra the best being the +1 damage or the +1 armor where the Apsara bonus really helps the Dakini as I rather have a bs 13 then a damage 16 hmg or armor 1 on a Dakini to make that link punch as good as some of the mix links out there. The slotting in of HI and good MI has been a problem sense OS came out as it came out with TAK and the Vet Kazak in a light link is still one of the meaner point effective active turn links, though the Unknown Ranger, UKR, in a core in Kosmofloat edges it out a little now because of the MSV 1 on the UKR (oddly that is also a pure light infantry link so where it is not like what you suggested literally it is like it in effect).
The apsara is objectively worse than it was in N3. It used to be able to buff every remote in a fireteam (albeit one at a time) and you could hop around to whichever remote happened to be shooting for that particular order or ARO. It effectively made all of the linked Dakinis BS13 instead of BS11. Now, it’s one and done. If the remote gets removed from the table, the apsara cannot buff a different remote. with that said, I think it might still be worth using to buff a TR bot. If you’re bringing an EVO hacker for controlled jump and want to use a BS13 hmg with marksmanship, well, it only costs one order...and 60ish points. Buuuuut...because remotes can go prone and the TR bot (and Parvati with super jump) has climbing plus, it’s actually tough to remove the tr bot from the table because you have to do three wounds and it’s shooting back with four dice.
Apsara's profile is similar to other high-end LI (morat vanguard, securitate, celestial guard), and her BS 13 would put her at... 16-ish points, more or less. Killer hacker tends to be an increase of 3 points over the base profile, so I'd say her hacker loadout has a fair price. I doubt you'd field her often, but she's a killer hacker on the cheap with a serviceable statline. You can work with her. What about the remdriver profile? At most you're giving +2 BS to a Zayin or a Dakini, which you're theoretically paying 6 or 7 points for, and also have to make room for a 15-ish points profile that... doesn't bring much to te table, really (notice also the weapon downgrade). Would I like her to have an EVO hacking device? Probably Would I pay around 23 points and 0,5 SWC for that? Probably not, I'd stick with the Probot. What would I do to make the profile work? Give the RemDriver profile Specialist Operative and/or pitcher/deployable repeater/gizmokit (something that gives you an incentive to push her up the table by her lonesome, because the bot she's piloting will most likely die at some point).
aspara with a pitcher would be amazing. her khd profile would be a worthwhile inclusion and even her remracer profile for oss would be something to spend orders on. to help out the mk 2 if he can't camo walk into position.
I think the pitcher on the apsara, while appreciated at BS13, would make her too close to the Danavas. Gizmokit on the remdriver profile would be nice, and giver her some incentive to follow her chosen bot up the field.
I'd go with an altered REMdriver skill that allows the Apsara to relocate its buff as a Short Skill or ARO. The Apsara does its work by ghosting into REMs with more skill than anyone else around, lorewise, while the REM Racers mod their gear for top performance. The Apsara shouldn't be limited to one REM. This would also be great with an EVO device, since it would allow the Apsara to relocate its buff whenever the enemy acts under Repeater coverage while providing an additional vector for enemies to deal with it.