The weapon itself is balanced. And then the exotic poison perk suddenly makes it a crutch weapon. I die more by the poison than the actual weapon. This is coming from a constant hand cannon user in the crucible, I don't use anything else and I agree that both TLW and Thorn are both major crutch weapons. Thorn has its poison so that if you can't kill him, the poison will. And TLW's exotic perk triggers even while aiming down sight and does 101-111 to the head (aka half of your guardian's health). I think taking the DoT damage on the thorn and not letting it be able to kill you with be a healthy way to balance the weapon.