I. Love. Hand Cannons. Revolvers are just better, Hawkmoon is my Pride & Joy, and someday I'll take my TLW into the Crucible. I have no hard feelings against The Last Word and I consider it fairly difficult to get used to. However, I don't think I'm alone in considering a 2-3 shot kill from a full auto weapon in Destiny a little insane. I'm going to propose a new perk and slight modifications to existing perks instead of a vague nerf cry. The goal is to make The Last Word retain it's crown as CQC Primary Exotic of choice, but altering it's mid-range game to mesh better with it's Old West theme. Without further ado:
[spoiler]- Single Action Perk (When aiming, this weapon fires slower, but gains bonus Accuracy and Stability). The Last Word is fired with the Fanning technique, which can only be achieved with a single action revolver. However, it makes no sense to use that technique while ads. Single Action would reduce TLW's effective rate of fire to 120 rpm (equal to Timur's Lash) and would make the weapon incapable of automatic fire while ads. Additionally, Guardians will prime TLW's hammer with their thumbs while ads. Single Action and Fan Fire are active at the same time and neither require unlocking.
- Replace Aggressive Ballistics with either Linear Compensator or Accurized Ballistics. Aggressive Ballistics grants alot of impact for a very small sacrifice in Range and Stability. Nine times out of Ten, Aggressive Ballistics is the better choice, meaning there's little to be had in customization. Linear Compensator and Accurized Ballistics aren't as objectively superior to TLW's other ballistics perks, if at all, but still have their own qualities to offer.
- The Last Word Exotic perk applies bonus damage to -all- precision shots. This would make the weapon's damage more consistent and compensates for the slow rate of fire while ads. This would still make TLW a potential 2HKO under any scenario, but bodyshots are [i]punishing[/i] while ads as its base Impact would apply.[/spoiler]
TL;DR: If you hip fire TLW, you wouldn't notice much difference in how it handles or how fast it kills. However, TLW becomes a very different beast while aiming. While you would no longer receive a damage penalty, the slow rate of fire means that you'd need to make good use of cover and that every shot counts; missing a single round will cause your TTK to skyrocket. Even so, TLW would become more viable in mid-range engagements as now it could be customized for improved Range at the cost of Stability.
All feedback is appreciated.
EDIT: It seems there's a little confusion as to how Single Action would effect TLW. While it would fire more slowly while ads, the TTK would remain roughly the same at 0.50 seconds, assuming perfect head shot accuracy (the TTK is currently 0.56 seconds while ads, if you don't proc the bugged damage boost). However, every shot you miss with Single Action will increase the TTK by 0.50 seconds, whereas today the TTK penalty per missed shot is only 0.27 seconds.
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The Last Word is my favorite gun. I don't really want to see it nerfed into uselessness like almost every other gun Bungie decided to tune. EG:Suros... I do think your idea has merit though and is well thought out. In effect, what you are asking for is an effect similar to focus fire on the auto rifles. If bungie absolutely had to change the gun, your idea has potential as long as they tune it to keep the same TTK as Thorn and Hawkmoon or Red Death. Part of the fun of TLW though is the fast bang bang... I use it a lot, and I honestly don't think I've ever held it in full auto. I tap it as fast as I can while keeping it under control.