Weapons: Hawkmoon, The Last Word, First Curse Type: Primary / Hand Cannon Rank: All Exotic Acquired: Exotic Engrams, Quest line, Purchase from Xur With the changes to hand cannons I have to update the old posts I have down below this one. Looks like some HC's were nerfed, while some have been buffed. These buffs, from what I've seen, are the hidden buffs that are applied to the weapons rolls. Nerfs seem to be direct stats of the gun itself. Explained below. Hawkmoon: Still my favorite love. Hand Cannons are a different beast, and you either love'em or hate'em. Hawkmoon is one of three hand cannons I suggest starting with. Good rate of fire, high impact, range is good, reload isn't horrible, and stability is nice. Base stats are as follows: RoF → 22 Impact → 81 Range → 26 Stability → 51 Reload → 39 Mag→ starts @11 end with 13 Hawkmoon I believe has the highest mag out of all legendary and exotic HCs. This is nice, but realize it is for a reason. The first is Hawkmoons Exotic perk, Holding Aces. This gives two random bullets extra damage. Then add in Luck in the Chamber, which gives another bullet extra damage. So now you have in total three bullets that deal extra damage. In a lower number mag, this gives Hawkmoon that "OP" status. Increase the size of the mag and now the random bullet is spread out "randomly", reducing the chance of this weapon being "OP". How can you tell which bullet? Well there is no way to tell until you shoot. Hawkmoon has two distinctive noises it makes. First is the normal shot it gives off, second is the lucky chamber bullets, which gives off a ring when fired. PvE this weapon holds its own, in Crucible I have seen a 150+ head shot off of this weapon, that happened to be a lucky shot from the chamber. Hawkmoons reload isn't as terrible as other HCs, but add in an armor bonus of faster HC reload and now you can be competitive. Stability on this weapon jerks the gun up, but taking time with your shots and not pushing the gun to as fast as it shoots will allow consistent shooting. Pushing the gun as fast as you can shoot it will result in over shooting your target above their head. Though range was reduced, by a lot, it can still hit targets from a great distance. I use to note Hawkmoon as the sniper HC, well this is gone now, but can hold it's own against it's sister exotics from a great distance. Overall, still my favorite HC to reach for. The Last Word: TLW has been buffed and is now a PvP must have for those good with HC. Though at very long range, it doesn't hold up to Hawkmoon, in mid range to close range, it will tear targets up. If I'm correct, after the buffs were set in, TLW took the highest kill rating out of all HC. High impact and high rate of fire make this a deadly weapon. Reload is good, range isn't the best, but the hidden perks help, and the mag is average for HCs. Base stats are as follows: RoF→32 Impact→62 Range→8 Stability→22 Reload→56 Mag→8 TLW as I stated below in an old post was a good weapon to have in shotgun range, but at the time of that post, using a shotgun was better for your health, and the lack of range, made using Hawkmoon a better choice. Well now Bungie has found a sweet spot. The reload is killer, add in that armor bonus to reload speed and now you're cooking. The rate of fire reminds me of the old west. Think of high noon and the duel is set. Shooters the could control that hammer, typically won, and that is the feeling and satisfaction you get from TLW. The stability is like Hawkmoon and will pull upwards, but to your advantage as it will walk up the body to the head. Impact is nice and solid, though not as high as Hawkmoon, it still gets the point across. Now to the disappointing part, the range. During the opening to TTK, the range was less than impressive. Now with the hidden buffs balanced, finding your target is better. At first anything more than ten meters away, you would have been lucky to just hit a wall. Today at medium range this gun can holds it's own against auto rifles, pulse rifles, side arms, and yes even Hawkmoons. I personally go for all impact based stats like High Cal Rounds and aggressive ballistics. This reduces my range to next to nothing, but I still get kills with it from 40m+. Still more effective from close range to mid range, but impact stays true at either distance. The hip fire of this weapon is amazing now and doing so will increase precision damage. For those great and working on HC skills, this is a great advanced level weapon. I'm happy to say I'm glad Bungie fixed the hidden perks to help with the range and make this a competitive gun. Like HM, it has a unique sound, and if in PvP hearing it should warn you. I know I perk up when I hear it and keep my distance on those using it. Compare: I do not have First Curse yet, and once I do I will update. But my first look into FC is that is it slow, but has very impressive impact. Other than that I will not research FC until I have it in my hand. Lastly if it is like the Imprecation HC, then this will be a weapon to be mindful off. The comparison between HM and TLW. Personally HM is a better PvE weapon, while TLW is a better PvP. I say this for a few reasons, with Bungie restructuring their monsters and bringing out more difficult settings, HM helps keep the distance while giving you that stopping power. TLW is a HC masters dream now when laying out other guardians. HM has range and impact over TLW, you would think PvP is where it is at, while TLW has reload and RoF over HM. That brings up old school PvP and PvE strategies. Do I give myself more stamina or more strength? Well base it off your play style. I'm very good with HM, but I'm learning and getting just as good with TLW. I've had a little luck in PvP with HM, and TLW I've been trucking people. So for my play style I will rock HM in patrols and strikes, while TLW is my choice in PvP. I am a bullet shield that can close the gap. TLW helps me lay out foes, while letting me switch to the shotgun and finish off anyone still standing. The one issue I had with HM when I first starting playing was that it was the HC to get. Because the others did not have the range, the impact, the stability, the Hawkmoon was the choice weapon of HC users. You have Ace of Spades, The Last Word, First Curse, and more, yet they couldn't keep up at ALL!!!. That is an issue for me. I like my weapons, I like my HCs, and I like to switch it up. I like using multiple weapons. If I had three HCs that rocked, I would be in heaven, that wasn't the case in at the start. Now with the new and improved perks, hidden or not, I now have all these hand cannons to choice from which will keep my interest. And lets be honest, I love my HM, I swear by it, but nothing is cooler than twirling that Last Word around and slapping that hammer. Lastly, my last opinion is this, if you want to start using hand cannons and aren't good at them, then start with Hawkmoon (if unlocked), or with one like Down and Doubt (Vanguard Legendary). These are typically good starters. Once you have mastered these and are a surgeon with them, move to First Curse and Last Word, maybe Ace of Spades. These offer a different play style that are a little more difficult to master than Hawkmoon, which is a straight powerhouse that is easy to control. Love your Hand Cannons, and the Hand Cannon will love you back.