They did do less damage. But a new coming guardian should be able to pick a weapon up and be able to have a bit of success. I started out with autos, they WERE op before the first nerf. A while later I graduated to hand cannons, as most required much more skill to use, but killed much quicker if one was able to be accurate with it. Hand cannons shouldn't kill faster than auto rifles if the hand cannon user misses a shot or two, and the auto rifle user is accurate. But a skilled Cannon user should be able to defeat a skilled auto rifle user every time.