Hmm I disagree. Just look at the reverse situation. While competing against thorn one must be clever and diligent, as you said using cover, retreating and other tactical manoeuvres..... But on the flip side the thorn user can disregard tactics and just whale on someone. If their opponent doesn't back up they die, at best they can trade. Thorn couples the fastest fire rate(excluding fan fire) with the minimum number of shots to kill as a guarantee. If a player does decide to use strategy, then obtain and overwhelming advantage as hand cannons lend themselves to pop shots. And since thorn only need two pop shots it's has a huge advantage. Last but not least it requires minimum commitment in gun fights. Much less than auto rifles, pulse rifles etc But don't get me wrong I like thorn I used it before the patch and only don't use it now because I've simply moved on. But to say that it's not overpowered is silly. If it were me I'd use the "it's effective that's why I use it" argument