I have come to the forums today to defend my baby, The Last Word. Before ignorantly commenting, please watch CammyCake's recent video comparing The Last Word with a couple other weapons at average killing distances. You can watch that video [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDoCE2-TfUs]here[/url]. It's pretty obvious this gun took a pretty severe hit with the recent Hand Cannon nerfs, and after watching that video, The Last Word could definitely use some improvements.
[b]So, what's wrong with The Last Word?[/b]
"Is it rocket science?" For starters, there's absolutely no reason why you should ever fire this weapon from the hip. The Exotic perk and Hip Fire perk are both disgustingly inaccurate, which defeats the sole purpose of the weapon. You're far better off aiming down your sights for a kill. But even when firing The Last Word while ADS, you'll experience a handful of really unnecessary ghost bullets which can make a huge difference in getting those kills. Ghost bullets become more of an issue when firing it rapidly and continuously, which is also the sole purpose and reason for using The Last Word. The Last Word is suffering in this meta, and could definitely use some improvements on how the weapon is suppose to be used.
[b]How can Bungie improve The Last Word?[/b]
There are a couple options that would benefit The Last Word while keeping it in its intended range. You [i]could[/i] improve its range to compensate for the damage fall off nerfs, but why would Bungie ever do that? Everybody would hate to see this skilled weapon become viable again. You [i]could[/i] improve the damage when firing from the hip, but then it would just be too good. The best approach would be to improve the Exotic perk and Hip Fire perk, making it deadly accurate while firing from the hip. You could do this by increasing the magnetism when aiming and firing from the hip. You could also reduce the "bloom" effect when firing it rapidly and continuously, which would definitely reduce the amount of ghost bullets. If that's not an option, increasing the magazine size to 10 would be great to compensate for those unnecessary ghost bullets. One final option would be to increase it's base stability, making it easier to land headshots rapidly while ADS.
[b]Let's look at the numbers...[/b]
At 32m with Soft Ballistics while ADS, The Last Word kills with 6 body shots.
At 22m with Soft Ballistics while ADS, The Last Word has a 1.1s time-to-kill with 5 body shots.
At 22m with Soft Ballistics when firing from the hip, The Last Word has a slower time-to-kill with 7 body shots.
[i]Keep in mind, this was tested on a stationary target at a set range without moving. This does not account for TLW's awful recoil when fired continuously, ghost bullets, landing shots on a moving target, or any damage fall off.[/i]
To put this into perspective, a Wormwood can kill as fast as a Last Word 3 tap at any range. That should never be possible. You might as well reclassify The Last Word as a Sidearm and the Wormwood as a Hand Cannon.
-
Handcannons are already a meta, there's no need to buff any of them. It's like saying in the last shotgun meta: "let's buff the partycrasher so it can be as good as the matador64" Handcannons are already overused as it is. Other primaries need to be buffed, not handcannons.