Space Cowboy I’m in love with the Wild West nods in Destiny. This lore of a wasteland of the past re-explored by Space Cowboys of future is reminiscent of Firefly/Cowboy Bebop fused with Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns. This theme is further embellished by the Grimoire cards associated to the feud between The Last Word and the Thorn. For Xbox Hand cannon users like myself, there was only two choices while PS players mostly flocked to Hawkmoon. For me it was simple. I always choose stability over damage every time. And seeing that TLW had the highest stability with the max perks (pre 2.0), there was no other choice. Plus the fanfire animation made me giggle every time I saw it. Sure, to max out the stability to 86 you had to drop the range to 5, but as long as I landed most of the shots I had no problems fight close and dirty. I was a Bladedancer after all and hell, that’s what Bungie expected it to be. Death of TLW and Hand Cannons Across the board, we all know that the 1.1 update to Thorn was the point where we all hated handguns. Hawkmoon was already accepted as the king of HC. But because it was used by half of the community, the anger of dying by the high impact gun was never echoed as loudly as Thorn’s new stats and improved poison. Thorn went from being the slowest in reload, stability and fire rate to being on par(ish) with TLW. And like the fabled feud they dominated the PvP field over who was better. Thorn clearly won, but in doing so destroyed the future of hand cannons and the balanced stats that was The Last Word. Let me explain. The Last Word in stats offers the Guardian the option to a) have crap stability so they can hit at the edge of mid-range or b) loss range altogether so that the stability is almost perfect. So when 2.0 nerfed TLW’s stability to vanilla Thorn’s state, I was pissed. AND BEFORE YOU COMMENT, yes I know about the 111 bug and the sniping. But what should have been fixed was the DROPOFF/range not the weapon stability. Every perk, from Hip Fire to Last Word to Perfect Balance was designed (remember that word Bungie “design”) to give you the most stable recoil of all HC class. That is its Exotic. Now with a base stability of 22 (previously 31) and no extra help from Smart Drift Control, TLW’s max stability is 50. Guns that used to be its equal (The Revelator, The Devil You Don’t, Appellant 3) out shine TLW once Perfect Balance is applied. Tex Mechanica Brand What about the Chaperone you ask? This beautiful shotgun and sister to the Word further emphases what the Tex Mechanica brand is all about, low impact/high stability. Just like pre 2.0 TLW, the Chaperone has the highest stability of its class and the fancy animation to boot. All perks strip the stability down to boost its range. Even though there’s an animation followed by every shot, I quickly see everyone complaining about it being OP since it already has the highest range. I can’t wait for the TexM Gatling gun. Bungie, you need to trust you initial designs more and be consistent with the in-game Weapon Manufacturers in the future. Just like SUROS, Omolon and Hatte alike, Tex Machanica’s has a theme of low impact and the highest stability even at the cost of range. Hell, the company slogan should be “Never corner something meaner than you.”-Old Farmer Advice. So when you nerf The Chaperone (and I know you will) just remember to reduce the range not break the TexM brand. While you’re at it can you restore TLW’s max stability to 86. I’m sick of missing the broadside of the barn. And that’s the Last Word. Add your own slogan for Tex Machanica below. For reference see http://planetdestiny.com/last-word/ http://planetdestiny.com/thorn-exotic-patch-review/ P.S. If you read your own forums Bungie, you'll see everyone realized they don't have to use The Last Word to complete its quest. That's called a fail.