In terms of primary weapons scouts are in a really good spot. Polaris Lance can 1 tap a lot of things that couldn't prior to the scout buff (Acolytes and a couple other things). I wouldn't mind a buff to make it one tap goblins and hop hopgoblins. It comes down to how tanky bungie wants enemies to be. Like do they think a harpy should have more health then a Acolyte or dreg? Compared to pulse rifles and auto rifles they auto perform them. Handcannons can 1 tap a lot of things but that's expected, as they have to be up closer to fight. But the downside is actually lower dps. https://www.blueberries.gg/weapons/destiny-2-dps-weapons/ According to this chart handcannons never went past 3000 dps while scouts never go below 3000 dps. Auto rifles never went below 3000 dps while pulse rifles never went over 3000 dps. When I bring up dps I'm referring to the average dps number shown on the chart. Dps isn't just for bosses but for higher health majors as well. Which in that case you would use a special weapon to kill but you don't always have a special weapon. So you might go for a primary weapon. If you go for a primary weapon you need to determine if lower number of shots to kill will be faster than higher number of shots to kill under the condition that the rate of fire is faster. If the first is true then a handcannon is your best option. If the 2nd is true a scout or a auto rifle is your friend. The main reason that scouts and most primary weapons may seem to struggle is because of the pve crit multiplier change in shadowkeep when finishers were introduced. Bungie has stated they don't plan to revert this change.