They're meant to be the most versatile and they should be your [b]primary[/b] method of killing. A special weapon is meant to be extremely effective in certain situations, more effective than primaries. Snipers for long, shotguns for close, fusions and sidearms for the distance in between. The problem now is that primaries don't reach far enough to challenge snipers, they don't kill fast enough to kill shotgunners running at you.