Alright, to start let’s compare 2 pinnacle weapons that previously required the same things to obtain. Lunas/nf- Setup- 2 headshots activates the perk. Result- last shot does extra and 3 taps everyone Strong attributes- One the fastest kill times in the game, very very strong aim assist on consoles, meh range on lunas, crazy range on nf, high rate of fire in 3 shots kills. No additional set up needed and can win almost all primary 1 v 1’s. Pairs well with kinetic shotguns and snipers. Weak attributes- Lunas has ok range that means it can’t map people. Requires more precision to get the kill, although not as much of a problem on console, as the aim assist is very high. Somewhat difficult to obtain. To obtain it you need to do a series of quest steps and reach 2100 glory rank. The difficulty of this part mostly comes from the lack of weapon while climbing to 2100, as if you are around the same skill level/glory rank, but they have lunas or nf, they can kill you faster in all situations. Not time consuming, but difficult as a result of the weapon being so strong. Broadsword/claymore- setup- must get a precision kill first with the below average archetype of pulse rifle. Result- outlaw reload desperado activates, and now the weapon shoots very fast for a short time. Strong attributes- faster ideal kill time than lunas/nf with the perk activated. Used to be a good archetype when released in warmind. Weak Attributes- The recoil stays the same although the rate of fire changes, resulting in a drastic amount of recoil making it hard to get a lot of headshots at long range(this is console wise). The archetype is now very crappy post-forsaken. The amount of setup needed to start the perk is difficult with the archetype being weaker than most other weapons. This means a majority of the time is spent using a below average pulse rifle. The perk has a short duration, not lasting long enough to get health regen and to find someone. The weapon is fairly time consuming with multiple steps including 25 games of each game mode and 5 valor resets. I honestly believe that redrix needs something in the way of a buff, or lunas/nf needs somewhat of a nerf. Lunas/nf have become very powerful, and has remained at the top(or near it) of the usage rates in crucible for a very long time. Plus the ease of use on console makes its very powerful. This discourages many from playing crucible, as if you don’t have the weapon, you are already at a disadvantage. This adds onto the fact that the person without lunas is most likely lower skilled, with little to no chance of “gitting gud” in an environment flooded with people who are already skilled, plus have one of the easiest to use and most powerful weapons in the game. I firmly believe lunas/nf is hurting the game by both discouraging newer or lesser skilled players to play crucible, and creating a bubble of elitist attitudes when someone wants to “git gud”. I also believe that either reducing aim assist heavily, retiring/vaulting the lunas/nf, or possibly nerfing or reworking the perk, will bring a lot of balance to the sandbox. Now obviously, there will always be a weapon in top. But something like lunas or nf are so insanely above the others and easy to use, while also restricting it for only the use of those who are higher skilled, needs to be tuned and looked at. I believe the sudden disinterest in the game for many, and the leaving playerbase is somewhat a result of pvp becoming stale and unforgiving to those who are new or less skilled. This means that a small bubble of people are happy with the crucible, while the rest is unhappy. Let’s look at some of the problem/controversies recently. Solo matchmaking- I constantly see posts about this. Call out to Lost Sols, a forum goer about bringing attention to this and the next problem. Now we all know that people have gotten fed up with this. Competing against whole teams of people who completely overwhelm and beat them. They immediately take to the forums begging for a solo matchmake playlist. Those people who get in big groups most likely play crucible often and those who play often will chase after the best weapons, lunas and nf. Meaning you face teams of players where several if not all of them have lunas howl. This frustrates the solo player and they blame the fact of communication. Now obviously, communication is a slight advantage, but not by much. It doesn’t really help with the ttk so low. It’s the like minded people who are already good at crucible who all dominate with the same easy to use and powerful weapon. Skill based matchmaking- People also complain about this. “Why am I facing a team of lunas or not forgotten when I’m not even passed 1000 glory?!”. But that’s not the problem. It’s the problem of these people have these weapons. Part of it is psychological, in that it means these people have a weapon that mostly high skilled players have, meaning they are better than me. But although that’s not always the case, it’s a good thing to mention. I believe the fix to gambit(the team adding to the skill level) will fix the solo and skill matchmaking problem without implementing them. I also think tuning nf and lunas will drastically help. Staleness/lack of pvp content- More often, there are complaints about things like trials, and different game modes brought up. Questions like why there isn’t much pvp content releasing? I believe it’s because of the lack of people playing the crucible/pvp. The constant demotivation of playing the crucible with so many skilled players with lunas/nf is causing people to stop playing crucible except that bubble of players. Meaning, less people playing crucible will demotivate bungie to create crucible content as there isn’t much demand for it. Weak pinnacle weapons- “Buff redrix, buff mountaintop, buff loaded question” etc etc. Everyonr sees these posts and agrees, including myself at times. But, this is because none of the other weapons compare to lunas or nf. The claims of, “This weapon doesn’t feel like a pinnacle weapon” is because it doesn’t break the current meta like lunas and nf did. If you think about it, the other pinnacle weapons are pretty much on par with each other. Unique weapons that are slightly difficult to get. Except lunas and nf. They are around the same amount of difficultly, while still being crazy good. There are a few others but my thumbs hurt(doing this on a phone). So for now I’ll stop there. TL:DR - Lunas Howl, and Not Forgotten are entirely too powerful and easy to use, that it causes a lot of problems within the game that are connected. Either retire/vault the weapon, heavily nerf the aim assist, or tune/rework the perk.