The First Curse was awarded to me last week. I must have been one of the few to get it so early. I had turned in all my Gunsmith research after getting the Nightfall rep boost that first week before TTK launched, so I think that's what made it possible. After a week of using it in Crucible and PVE, I feel I have a decent understanding of the weapon. A lot of you fellow guardians will be getting this gun today. Don't be fooled, this is not a trash weapon. The First Curse has the highest impacts of any hand cannon in the game, providing crucible kills in 2 hits regularly on players running agility or recovery builds. The time-to-kill [b]can[/b] compete with the current Pulse Rifle meta as the extra movement speed given to you by the first curse while aiming can make you strafe past full pulse bursts. I frequently out-shoot pulse users if we are at mid-short range distances. Longer ranges will give you trouble. It is a lethal performer in 3v3 gameplay - especially with coordination. One shot from the 'Curse will combo with a melee or grenade with perfect lethality - even besting shotgunners at close range if you can get the drop. The range is low, but since I don't believe Hand Cannons should be able to snipe people, it doesn't bother me. (take a Desert Eagle to a shooting range sometime and see how accurate you are pushing 50 yards - yeah. didn't think so. ) Really the only downfall with this weapon in Crucible is the reload. The First Curse buff goes away on every reload.. so it makes you unsure when to reload your weapon if you think you want to hold onto the buff a little longer. The buff is essential for extra acquisition at further ranges. It can be a lifesaver from time to time... but this can create some unfortunate situations of not having enough ammo to finish off an opponent because you decided to hang on to the buff. [b]It excels in strafing while aiming. Try it with max agility, try it with weapons of light to get guaranteed 2-shot kills from almost any range. Try it with Gunslinger's Trance or Chain of Woe. Complement the weapon and it will reward you in Crucible.[/b] Overall I would [b]strongly recommend[/b] it for PVP. It's a great weapon! Give it a shot, see for yourself. Don't listen to the hate. With max agility, this thing is going to DESTROY in Trials. You will strafe as fast as the MIDA while aiming. You'll see!! I can only imagine how devastating this would be when paired with Knucklehead Radar on Hunters. Now for PVE - does it perform? This is a harder question to answer. The triple tap and ridiculous impact make for some quick work on regular mobs. I typically 1-shot every TTK non-major mob with ease. I think the only ones that take some work are Taken Centurions. It's terrible at killing shields (like most kinetic HCs), but makes up for it with headshot damage once the shields are broken. Overall, it's an ok weapon to take into PVE. You'll typically find yourself wondering if you should use your exotic slot for something else with more pizazz to it. It's effective, though, so don't feel like you're wasting your exotic slot for nothing. I think if you want to use it in PVE, you'll do okay - as long as you pair it with a sturdy shield burster. I'd recommend pairing it with either of these combos: Fusion / Sword combo, Shotgun or Sidearm / HMG combo, or lastly a Sniper / Rocket Launcher combo. You'll honestly do solid even in the hardmode raid with it, getting easily over 5,000 damage per headshot. Just be sure to stow it away during Oryx.. your fireteam will boot you if you aren't using the Touch of Malice :P [b]-----EXOTIC ARMOR to PAIR with THE FIRST CURSE----- [u]***** Transversive Steps*****[/u] Increased crouch movement speed. Picking up ammo will fill mag of that ammo type. In addition to strafing at god-tier speed with this gun, we will be able to do so while crouched and off-radar... this should also refill the mag without reloading the weapon when walking over a primary ammo drop (kills will make primary ammo drop in crucible) - keeping The First Curse buff active continuously. [u]***** Radiant Dance Machines *****[/u] Increased movement speed. Stack on the increased movement speed of First Curse. 'Nuff said. [u]***** Sealed Ahamkara Grasps *****[/u] Chance to refill primary mag on melee damage - paired with two melees.. this is lethal. Getting this to proc off a ranged melee would be ideal - it would keep the First Curse buff active continuously. [u]***** Glasshouse *****[/u] Extended weapons of light for a longer rampage of 2-shot guaranteed kills. [/b] Lastly, people have asked for a numeric score. So here goes: Design: [b]10/10[/b] (talk about a sleek-looking brushed metal with a simplistic finish. the green LEDs! the black matte underbarrel!) TTK: [b]9/10[/b] (one of the easiest primary weapons to chain ability combos with at ANY range - guaranteed. hawkmoon is as fast, but not guaranteed - only 23% of the time will it perform the same) Range: [b]8/10[/b] (it's shorter than some hand cannons, but feels right for its bulk and handling) Perks: [b]10/10[/b] (high potentials here - especially when paired with exotic armors) -------------------- [b]Overall: 9.25/10[/b] I think this is just about a perfect all-around Exotic weapon as it is. Why? Because it's unique, not a clone (I'm looking at you Eyasluna and Hawkmoon), it [u]requires certain skill[/u] and [u]patience to master[/u], it had to be earned, and lastly - it complements exotic armor unlike any other primary weapon. The only other exotic out there that I can think of that works specifically with exotic armor choices is the MIDA Multi-Tool. This is not going to be a beast in the hands of everyone, but the masters of it will be forces to be reckoned with and guardians of a certain mettle. Watch out for it in Trials. It will be a common sight! EDIT: Call me naïve, hate on as you wish. I stand by everything I said. I never claimed to be the greatest at Hand Cannons, nor am I an expert at Hand Cannons in general. This is coming from a non-sweaty, casually competitive Destiny player that has been here since the Alpha. Here's some honest gameplay from the past week - a lot of it was either Salvage, Rift, or Mayhem since that's what the playlist was last week: ************************** https://youtu.be/vI_VEFt69dw *************************** Good luck out there with your First Curse, guardians! I hope this helps! Feel free to post your own opinions of the weapon below :) For me personally, I'll be alternating between my First Curse and my Uffern HC4 that I received today for the foreseeable future. [b]LAST BUT NOT LEAST -> WE NEED YOU TO HELP GET A YEAR 2 [u]HARD LIGHT[/u]!!! Vote/bump here: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/148145603/0/0[/b]