[b][ Warning: Long Read. There is a short summary towards the end. ][/b]
For those of you who use the No Land Beyond a lot, and think of yourselves as regular NLB users, then you know the whole story of the No Land Beyond. But let's focus on the recent things.
I think everyone can agree that the NLB had a sudden spike in popularity not too long after Sniper Rifles got their flinch nerf. The NLB wasn't included in this, and therefore everyone was using it to get around this nerf.
Personally, I believe that it was right to not include the NLB. When you compare its iron sights to every sniper scope imaginable, then you can see that more flinch would affect the NLB more negatively than the others (I do realize there's ONE sniper scope that has very low zoom, and practically acts as a reflex sight, but that's optional for most snipers).
However, everyone felt as though the NLB was too powerful compared to other snipers, and was well-deserving of being a part of the nerf. And so, Bungie listened to the community and gave it the same flinch that other snipers share. I was accepting of this. I didn't like it, but it was bound to happen.
Not too long after, I became a little inactive from the forums, and only returned to see the update notes from last Tuesday. To my surprise, they worsened the flinch of the No Land Beyond further.
For those that don't know, in the Age of Triumph update, the NLB's flinch was made to be more 'directional.' To put it simply, this means that the flinch will go in more directions other than upwards. Most will say that this is very fair, however, I would disagree. And the main reason I have for this is the [u]iron sights[/u].
You all know (hopefully) that the NLB has an iron sight, unlike all other sniper rifles. And respectively, it doesn't provide as much view of the target area as other sights. This means that when the flinch is going off in more directions than upwards, than you will most likely either be forced to retreat, or just die. In fact, while using the NLB, if you get into a gunfight with a pulse rifle or auto rifle, you are VERY likely to lose the gunfight.
Now, for those that would argue that the No Land Beyond is a sniper, and shouldn't be used for trivial gunfights like that, I would like to point out that it very much IS used to be used for those kinds of gunfights. After all, the NLB is a [u]primary[/u] weapon.
And I know what you may be thinking: just pull out your nifty Wormwood and blast away the enemy. Easy! Well, I'm trying to focus on the NLB itself, and not anything that players can use to back it up. Because I feel like we shouldn't have to consider a weapon 'balanced' by having to back it up with other weapons or equipment.
Of course, I'm not implying that you can't win a gunfight anymore. However, it does take incredible skill to adapt to the flinching that you receive, and that's on top of the skill that you need to use the gun in general!
What I'm suggesting is that the No Land Beyond should be changed back to it's formal glory. At least, change it to how it was before the Age of Triumph update.
[b][u]As a summary[/u][/b], I feel as though the No Land Beyond does not need excessive nerfing on it's flinch, and should maybe be brought back to one of it's original states. The iron sights were not really designed for the way normal snipers flinch, since those snipers have more visual sight on the enemy with the zoom.
Make the No Land Beyond great again!
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No land beyond is my most used gun in crucible and I have got to say though it is still a viable choice the OP is right 9/10 times you will lose a gun fight against an auto/pulse rifle because of there being so much flinch