[quote]HAND CANNONS During the last set of changes we made a very small adjustment to Initial Accuracy, Range, and Damage Falloff looking to curb the long range effectiveness of Hand Cannons. However, anyone who has been cross-map-zapped by Thorn or Hawkmoon knows this is still very possible. So we pushed this a little bit further. Landing a long range shot now requires slow careful aim, and a hit at that distance won’t deliver on the weapon’s full damage potential. In PVE, the role of the Hand Cannon is very close to the role of the Scout Rifle. Hand Cannons do slightly more base damage, Scouts have slightly more ammo in the mag, but otherwise their functions overlap a great deal. To help separate these two we made the range changes noted above, but also reduced magazine size on Hand Cannons while simultaneously increasing the magazine size on Scouts. This should help push these two weapons apart, and make the player choice more interesting. Hand Cannons do more damage up close, but with fewer rounds. Scouts with greater range and magazine size, but slightly less damage per bullet. Goals: Hand Cannons are optimal at close to medium range Hand Cannons are optimal when shots are paced, but become less effective when fired quickly Rewards agility under fire, precision targeting, and snap shots Hand Cannons cannot reliably compete with Scout Rifles at long range Changes: Start damage falloff closer to the player to limit long range lethality Small reduction in ADS accuracy, targeted at making long range snap-shooting less reliable Reduce final accuracy when firing from hip Fast firing from hip is less reliable Reduce magazine size for all base inventory stats Reduce base Optics (zoom) for all Hand Cannons ADS now grants more width in favor of depth[/quote] As of 2.0, they are crippling hand cannons across the board because they perform too well in PvP. Why not just change their damage output to do 3 shot headshots or 2 Shots on all but heavily armored guardians? Maybe they want to keep that 2 shot power, but screw with aiming to make it that much more difficult to hit. Either way, the previous range nerf really hurt my HCs and their PvE performance. We're getting another one and I'm confused as to how the HCs are useful compared to scouts, pulses, and the newly buffed ARs. This is what HCs need: Faster Reload - If we are supposed to use them in close quarters and high speed engagements, then we need that [i]speed[/i] to handle the increased threat of fighting in close quarters. With magazine sizes already laughable, a reload speed increase is necessary. Considering the one-cell style magazine reload on them, they should be the fastest reloading weapon available. Watch some speed loaders with moon clips on youtube. If they can reload that fast with 6-8 rounds, we should be able to do that with a single cell insert. Increased Reserves - For two reasons. First, that style of close quarters combat merits a high risk, high reward style. This means more movement in confined spaces and engaging more targets. Plus, if the range is decreased, we will need more ammo to plug targets that enforce a distance gap (one-hit boss melee, titan shoulder charge, Knights with swords). Given that, we need more ammo to execute combat where other classes have a surplus to deal with those threats. Second, our mag sizes are low, which means more reloading, which means more down time. To top that off, a 1-k crit on a Dreg is overkill, on a Vandal, it's just enough to 1-shot. Therefore, you could kill two Dregs with the damage one bullet can do. Essentially, you are wasting your damage output on lesser mobs and burning through ammo when the extra damage is not needed. This is less of a problem for other weapons that have more than enough reserves and magazine sizes to burn through smaller ads without sacrificing overall damage output. Higher Aim Assist Up Close, None at Sniper Ranges - Easy fix here for those upset by your cross map zapping. Instead of reducing the damage we do at range, it makes more sense to decrease the ability to make those shots. The Vestian Dynasty can barely ever make those headshots at its already terrible range. Apply that to the HCs. Let their bullets still touch you at sniper range but require infinitely more skill to hit. In fact, adding a slight velocity lag (like with fusion rifles) will also improve the desired result, making players lead targets at range (which makes sense assuming the HCs fire a large slug). This still upholds the original design of HCs being a closer quarters weapon while also emphasizing it as a Marksman's weapon requiring great finesse and skill. With the current changes, Hand Cannons are on the track to becoming a 1-shot, whimpy version of a Felwinter's Sniper. I mean, Felwinter's Lie.* Fav this if you think I'm on point, or add your feedback below.