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Destiny

Discuss all things Destiny.
Edited by xPLASMAx21: 12/22/2015 11:15:17 PM
159

The Handcannon Situation

There is a problem with handcannons in the Crucible right now. As legendries, they perform quite well where they are designed to be used, usually besting all other primaries at close range. The shotgun nerf also gives them some additional freedom up close, but there are two large problems with this right now; The Last Word and Hawkmoon. The Hawkmoon can still two-shot a target two headshots if one activates LITC. This is unacceptable in a balanced game. If you seek to use a handcannon on the border of range effectiveness, this is the only justified choice. The Last Word has a niche the size of Africa, despite what many think. It pairs the damage of a normal handcannon with the fire-rate of an auto rifle. Perhaps it suffers with range and stability but these do not offset the fact that the Last Word does what any other hand cannon does at twice the speed with infinitely less skill required; in essence, it is a primary machine gun. The counter-argument that it only works in 1v1s, due to low mag size, does not sit well with me; an OP gun is still OP if I have to reload it. Skilled players rarely miss with it and in PvP there are enough people using it to make it completely overwhelming in all close range situations. Previously referred to as a "shotgun counter", in the absence of the shotgun they have become the only efficient, effective and universal close range weapon. And herein lies the rub; these two guns do everything a standard handcannon can do better, the former with a broken two-shot regardless of armour and the latter with a blistering fire-rate that nullifies range problems. There is no reason to use any other handcannon (or auto rifle, in TLW's case) in that range. I would like to see an impact reduction on TLW to compensate for the ridiculous fire rate; if it shoots like an auto rifle, I want it to do auto rifle damage (or at least damage that considers how fast the damn thing fires). This would open up the playing field for mid-impact handcannons and auto rifles. I would like to see a decrease in LITC damage for Hawkmoon, considering it gets 3-per mag. Enough to keep it noticeable but not enough to allow double-headshot kills (which can occur 3 times per mag in the hands of an excellent player). This would also make the First Curse a more palatable selection. In summary, TLW and HM do everything handcannons and auto rifles do better, leaving no room for alternatives. This needs to change, but what do you think should done?

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