The white nail perk made it more useful than Ice Breaker. Black Hammer felt more like an exotic than an exotic sniper and I don't think that was intended.
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Could have just made it an exotic as to have you choose between it and gjally. And ice breaker is a more useful we pap. Seeing as it always has infinite ammo.
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Black Hammer's ammo may not regenerate over time, but it is the sniper equivalent to Bad Juju without actually needing a kill to get the perk to work. I suppose it could have been made an exotic weapon, but that may have it's own issues. I dunno. I'm not in anyone's heads at Bungie, but I'm trying my best to rationalize it and see it from their point of view.