Yes and no. It can deal some good damage but then you’re forced to use a slow firing hand cannon and a sidearm. I feel like that can be a disadvantage for most highend pve activities. And if you don’t use Drang then Sturm is essentially useless. I’m not even sure if Drang is sunset or not, I haven’t used it in so long.
Absolutely, being locked into mid to close range only in hard PvE content is horrible. If you want to get more range you are forced to change. Now "caveat emptor" I am NOT saying that every single weapon should be in absolutely equal footing. I mean, if you have a boss thats a football field away from you, you shouldnt be using a handcannon ha. Nor would i be using my sweet business. However in all other content, you SHOULD have an incentive to use what you want and be able to reasonably do it!