This is easily one of the most frustrating & game-breaking issues in the game for right now. Hand cannons are so much fun to use ; but they all boil down to 2 things... is it the right archetype ; & does it have Rifled Barrel...& if it doesn't, then it's virtually useless. Yeah, if you've got a rangefinder+rifled HC then your consistency is pretty nice... But even with just Rifled Barrel, it's tough to use... Uffern finally has a perfect roll this week. & it's easily my favorite HC that I personally have... Yet the range is still so much lower than the cap, & that REALLY puts a hurting on it... Idk how they should fix it, there are numerous ways to go about it...but something's gotta give. The gunplay is what drew me, & so many other players into this game. It feels so crispy, & nice...it's unlike any other shooter I've ever touched. ...ghost bullets literally ruin that gunplay. Losing an engagement because a shot misses, even though your reticle is directly on their face...that's got to be one of the most annoying features in the game. Makes me rage... Personally I think they should just give HCs a base range stat for each archetype. Every Palindrome, Luna, Lord High, Loop all have the same exact damage drop-off...& Bloom is removed. Perks like Rifled Barrel [b]only[/b] increase the damage-falloff ranges. So you can hit 86s from a bit further away. Consistency shouldn't fall under the perks. Weapons should be consistent on their own... & before anyone says I just wanna snipe people..no, I don't. Damage falloff would need to be reworked, I'm not interested in being able to 3-Tap somebody at scout rifle ranges. But my gun should still be able to hit at those ranges, just not do very much damage whatsoever... Don't know if anyone remembers ; back in Y1, you didn't even use the range perks on your weapons...there was no need for it. Used speed reload or perfect balance on Hawkmoon...perfect balance for Thorn. With aggressive ballistics because your shots would actually land. RNG bullets just ruin the game for me...I sincerely hope they make some changes in the next patch. I want consistency back. I was accuracy back. I want my thumbskill to be rewarded if I can keep steady hands...but it unfortunately doesn't work like that right now, & that's why it needs to change. [b][i]edit[/i][/b] - not interested in arguing with anyone. This is an issue I personally hold close, as someone who's been using HCs their entire time on destiny religiously. Trashcans running a high-cal, perfect balance, counterbalance clever dragons are the only ones saying it's fine & that HCs are balanced right now. Ghost bullets affects your shots on a regular basis. Every single game that someone's using a HC, they [b]will[/b] experience this & catch deaths because of it. There's a distinguishable difference between missing, & shots doing literally no damage... & then there's those people, "just get closer". When my first 2 shots land for perfect damage - meaning 86 to the head, that means I'm well within HCs intended range, & still experienced ghost shots. Competitive players use them because of their ability to do so much damage in a single shot. Team-shots & peak-shots are why competitive players use HCs - point blank period. & before you try speaking out for those players opinions, you should actually try listening to them first. Because I have yet to see competitive player say that Bloom balances hand cannons properly. RNG accuracy isn't balance. It's random bullshit that gets people killed every single game of crucible across all playlists. Accuracy should be rewarded ; & it's not. Whether it's "Bloom", Lag, "Damage Referee", "inaccuracy", "damage falloff" - doesn't matter. It could be, & probably is, a combination of all those things...but Bloom is very much in this game - & explained very well by sandbox-lead John Weisnewski himself in a Destiny PvP Podcast over a year ago when it was introduced. (Name could be spelled wrong) Whatever the issue is ; it needs to be fixed. If my reticle is there, the shot should go there ; the end. If Damage falloff needs to be increased so it takes 4, 5, 6 shots at further ranges than so be it...I think everybody would consider that a fair trade for consistency. [b][i]edit -[/i][/b]As far as misinformation goes ; Bloom absolutely affects hand cannons. I suggest you take a listen to Crucible Radio's podcast where John Weisnewski was their guest. He explains Bloom, Accuracy, Aim Assist & Range in great depth. Here's link : https://youtu.be/jwyGYiGwp2U Here's another link that shows a very simple example of what I'm talking about. Skip to 32 seconds to see. https://youtu.be/bZ24eDTg_s4 Edit - also changed Title because people don't read the whole post, therefore they don't see that I explain that bloom isn't the only issue, but it's tied into a web of issues that create ghost bullets.