According to the way weapons have been balanced in the past, Hand Cannons are likely due for a nerf based on the simple metric that they are overused by good players. While this method for balancing is debatable, I think everyone agrees that this is a problem. In my opinion, however, it is not the range stat that makes hand cannons overused, and nerfing this again even without any changes to damage will relegate Hand Cannons to a strange and useless role. Why is this? Very succinctly: field of view. Something few players consider, field of view or FOV is the cone of sight that is actually rendered on a player's screen. The fact that it is so rarely noticed allows console developers to tweak FOV to maximize framerate, and while the baseline FOV causes other significant balancing issues, it is also worth considering on a per-weapon basis. You see, every weapon type has its own base ADS zoom level independent of scope choice, and this alone determines how a weapon can be used effectively in a particular role. Autorifles have the lowest base zoom of all primaries, which means you can use them in close-up fights without losing track of targets or being flanked quite as easily. Hand Cannons and Pulse Rifles are the next step up, so you would expect them to be useful at medium ranges. Scout Rifles have the highest base zoom, which is their biggest fault in my opinion, since few maps accomodate them. Zoom can be increased by picking different sights, but it can only be lowered on one weapon, Patience and Time, by .5x, and only by using up a perk. Independent of Range, zoom decides whether a weapon can be used at certain distances at all. Considering the zoom level inherent to Hand Cannons, they need a range stat that coincides with the encounters in which they will be effective while aiming down sights. If Bungie were to nerf Hand Cannon range yet again, they would be in an awkward position in which they cannot be used close-up because of their FOV but will also not hit targets that Pulse Rifles will still hit. Similarly, the recoil animation of Hand Cannons is so extreme that supposing their zoom stat were lowered to accomodate a lower Range, it would need to change, too. Of course, hipfiring The Last Word is its own issue, but the problem is the same: nerfing TLW range again will leave it unusable while aiming and further open to shotguns while hipfiring. So what should be done? Buffing Autorifles is an often-stated and excellent idea, since their low zoom, high RoF, and unobtrusive recoil makes them already perfect in their role, supposing impact were buffed. Scout rifles could also be granted a zoom-reduction perk or a lower minimum zoom; their similar impact, reduced recoil animation, and larger magazines would make them great contenders against Hand Cannons at mid-range. Finally, I would argue that Pulse Rifles are already as good as - if not better than - even the exotic Hand Cannons. Hand Cannons need other changes as well to make their legendary versions useful. Changes to impact between archetypes are my suggestion, as currently, all legendary Hand Cannons take three head shots or four body shots to kill, making the high RoF archetype universally better...except it has awful base Range. Perhaps further reduce the low RoF archetype's RoF while allowing for two-HS kills while also increasing the low RoF archetype's range, increasing its RoF while reducing its impact to make it a 4/5 shot kill weapon in line with certain scout rifles. This would encroach on the Thorn and TLW, leaving each with a unique ability that would still garner extra kills, but only when used in a purposeful fashion. TL;DR: Range alone cannot be changed without considering how it is connected with zoom, recoil animation, and RoF when circumscribing a weapon's role. Edit: with the new patch details now available, notice that along with a decrease in range and what appears to be aim assist, hand cannons are also having their base zoom reduced. It's almost like I could see into the future... Edit 2: The biggest, baddest illiterate turds are dropping in on this thread at an incredible rate. I would change the title to reflect new information, but I'm enjoying seeing how many idiots are posting after only reading those seven words.