No this isn't a nerf post, so you can hop off and save the rant before it even begins. I don't like to use the Thorn. I'm not a hand cannon kind of player in PvP. My preference can be summed up rather briefly. Mida Multitool. That said, I've felt since the auto nerf that the exotic hand cannons have held the high ground. They're arguably the most versatile and lethal weapons in the Crucible at the moment. Thorn, of course, being the most notorious. I picked up the hand cannon kills bounty the other day and said, "Screw it, I'll use Thorn and get this over with quickly." I didn't even realize how good of a choice that was. Thorn is easy mode. It wasn't even a challenge, it only took one game. I now understand why so many bad players use it as a crutch, and so many good players use it to mop up the competition. I now understand why I run into full fire teams in the crucible with it equipped. It's broken. Yes, the Thorn is overpowered. Don't try to deny it, everyone knows it's true. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's an exotic after all, they should excel past other weapons. The issue is more in that the Thorn doesn't have any real weaknesses. It has the range of a scout rifle, a great fire rate, stability through the roof, almost no sway whatsoever, it doesn't recoil badly at all, and has incredible aim assist for something that packs that kind of punch. Couple all of that with the DoT and you have yourself something that will drive nerf babies crazy. Low magazine size? Oh no, guess I might actually have to reload every now and then. I'm not sure what the solution to this problem is. I don't think it needs to be nerfed. I still tend to kill thorn users in probably 4/5 encounters I meet them in, because of the way I play the game. But not everyone plays that way, so I can see why people tend to get frustrated by it. One thought is to buff auto rifles back to give players more options at close range (let's face it, Thorn and The Last Word will not be beaten by a pulse or scout at very close range). I don't know how viable that is anymore with the slew of shotgun-snipers now blinking through the Crucible, but it's a thought. Maybe returning fusion rifles to some degree of power could help as well. The point of this long, rambling thread is that I'm interested in suggestions to balance the hand cannons, Thorn in particular. I want to see what might work, outside of nerfing another good weapon into oblivion, like what's happened to my poor Suros Regime and Vex Mythoclast. Can we come up with a better idea than that? TL;DR Thorn is easy mode in Crucible, definitely overpowered. Looking for balancing suggestions that don't include "Nerf Thorn!!!11". >inb4 Thorn isn't overpowered It is, you use it as a crutch or are in denial. >inb4 git gud scrub, stop crying, guardian tears collected, etc. I don't care if nothing changes, I like my odds against any and every Thorn already. The game is easy. Will post the better suggestions I see here below this line. ------------------------------------------------------------ --Removal of send it and a slight increase to the damage drop off at range might work. Could be seen as a nerf, I suppose, but wouldn't destroy the gun's overall function and would still wreck at intended hand cannon range. --Reducing DoT damage to the point where it cannot kill in 2 shots, or at the very least requires the entire burn on each shot to do so.