First off, let me say that I don't care about anecdotes about going unbroken against a team of trash players with X scout. I as a mediocre player went 23-1 with NLB/Vestian once and so what? Those weapons are good now? Of course not. That was simply an anomaly. In the big picture against tens of thousands of games, games where individuals dominate with scouts are as significant as a drop of water in the ocean. Anyway, let's take a look at how often scouts are used. That should give a rough indicator on the general popularity of scouts. Since launch, they're the [url=http://destinytracker.com/destiny/population]second least used[/url] weapon in pvp behind sidearms. Crucible statistics for [url=https://reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/3cozqp/june_2015_crucible_statistics/]June[/url] paint a similiar picture for scouts. So, why is a PRIMARY weapon with plentiful ammo used less than heavy which drops a couple of times a match? I can think of several reasons. [u]1. Margin of error[/u] The margin of error for scouts is low. Having a high precision multiplier also means that their bodyshots deal significantly less damage than headshots. Here is a list of the scout archetypes(listed in bodyshot dmg/headshot dmg) and the headshot ttk, bodyshot ttk and minimum headshots(HS)+bodyshots(BS)to achieve max TtK. 29/43 0.93 1.40 4 HS 1 BS 37/55 0.90 1.50 3 HS 1 BS 41/61 1.00 1.33 2 HS 2 BS 49/73 0.80 1.60 3 HS 0 BS As you can see, for most scouts, missing a SINGLE headshot will require you to follow up with an extra shot, dramatically increasing the TTK. The only exception is the 41/61 archetype scouts, but those suffer from a horrendous TtK that's worse than some auto rifles. If you don't hit any headshots, you might as well sit down and let the enemy kill you because there's no way you're winning gunfights with that kind of bodyshot damage. Comparatively, the most popular primary, handcannons, only require ONE-THIRD of your shots to be headshots to achieve max TtK. Precision weapons my ass. [u]2. Low damage output[/u] On average scouts have got slower TtKs than pretty much everything except autos and low impact pulse rifles. They don't kill as fast so people don't want them. Pretty straightforward. [u]3. Effective range[/u] Average kill distance for 90% of the population is probably below 20m(21m puts you at top 3%). That means most engagements happen at medium to short distances. Within these ranges, scouts with their low TtK and forgiveness are completely outclassed. Their zoom is also really high, so they're difficult to handle at closer ranges. Scouts are indeed effective at long range where other primary weapons can't hit them. Such ranges however, are rare in most of our current maps. And let's face it, unless Bungie dumps a dozen large maps into crucible in the next expansion, scouts will be stuck fulfilling a near non-existent niche. Even at those long-but-not-that-long ranges, scouts can be soundly beaten by handcannons and pulse rifles which have so much impact that they'll still kill wonderfully even after the range drop off eats away at their damage. And let's not forget about everyone's favourite weapon that starts with a T. So, scouts are only really dominant at sniper ranges. But you know what else is great at sniper ranges? Snipers. Even in combined arms you're likely to see more people running around with a non-scout primary+sniper than people using scouts. [b][u]How to buff scouts without breaking crucible (again)[/u][/b] We can't do anything about maps and engagement ranges. Guardian mobility and the widespread use of power weapons forces most engagements pretty close. We can however, make scouts more effective at their not-so-optimal ranges, i.e. Mid-short range. Since they'll be operating outside their optimal range, it'll be more difficult to reliably land hits, so it'll be great to make them more forgiving. How do we accomplish that? Just buff their damage. Now, before you respond with your usual knee jerk reaction, I'm just suggesting a damage buff that'll make scouts more forgiving with bodyshots while maintaining their max ttk. A buff around 6% will be sufficient. Here are the old damage values, new damage values and minimum HS+BS to get max TtK after such a damage buff. 29/43 31/45 3 HS 2 BS 37/55 39/58 2 HS 2 BS 41/61 43/64 1 HS 3 BS* 49/73 52/77 2 HS 1 BS All archetypes have become more forgiving, requiring 1 less headshot(and 1 more bodyshot) to achieve optimum TtK. The 41/61 archetype also has the advantage of being especially forgiving and being a 3sk against very low armor opponents, which I feel is a good compromise given how terrible its normal TtK is. Another change I'd like to see is to have their base zoom reduced but the zoom bonus from scopes increased. That will give them low zoom with RDS and ironsights, allowing them to be handled better at close ranges. They should still be able to achieve their old magnification levels with the scopes that now have higher zoom to compensate.