Especially Hunters. Namely, Gunslingers.
Thorn is the first Xbounty I completed. Yes, it sat in the vault for a little while but when I started using my Hunter and reading through all the GunSlinger skills, I realized how much of a perfect fit it is.
Since I'm not a [i]total[/i] douche, I will share my findings. Tell me what you think.
If you want to take a look of my Hunter (She's my 3rd character), you'll see that the skills I use are meant for accurate, efficient Handcannon users.
[b]Chain of Woe[/b]
If you are good with HandCannons, that means you know that accuracy is key. Chain of Woe rewards your accuracy with a reload speed boost. It stacks up to three times, but continues to reset the 3rd stack every time you get a precision kill. That's every time, right? Right, because you're already awesome at Handcannoneiring. This boost makes a huge difference, especially if you get the chain up to 3x. You're looking at the Thorn reloading in about a second, a HUGE change from that 3 or so second reload time without it.
[b]Gunslinger's Trance[/b]
I have only, [i]just[/i] started using this little perk, but it makes a hell of a difference as well. Trance and Woe are not mutually exclusive (meaning you can have both), so your accuracy can be further rewarded with stability boosts, Now you may be thinking "I'm already the best HC shot in the Tri-Planet Area. I don't really need the added stability." To that I say, you're absolutely right. It's not a necessity, you might find better use with the Keyhole perk and I don't fault you for that, but I enjoy the perk, I now won't have to use as much time with target acquisition and can speed up the genocide process.
[b]Gear[/b]
If you're going to be an exclusive Handannonier, you might as well go all the way, get gear that compliments your weapon choice. Dead Orbit has a set of Hunter boots that give more weapon ammo, the Hunter Vanguard has Greaves that speed up HC reloads, and there are chest and helmet armors that have HC boosts as well. I can't tell you where because RNGsus blessed me with my chest-piece and I got my helmet from Noodleface last week.
[i][b]Thorn[/b][/i]
[b]Send It[/b]
This perk provides a significant boost to your range, very useful if you are you and can shoot both eardomes off a Dreg from 343m. If you're using Gunslinger's Trance, you wouldn't really need the Perfect Balance perk that comes after it,
[b]Mark of the Devourer[/b]
"[u][b]Rounds pierce targets[/b][/u] and cause lingering damage over time."
This is more useful than just the poisony-green glow it gifts your enemies. If you are patient good at lining up your targets (and you are, because you're you), you can land multiple critical kills at once. That right, your awesomeness sharpens the thorns on the bullets (side note, Thorn actually does fire thorn balls) and keeps the rounds moving until they connect with something they can no longer feed on...like the planet/moon itself. And all those skulls/bellybuttons, you line up count as separate kills. Meaning you can easily get a x2 or x3 bonus for Chain of Woe or Gunslinger's Trance with one kill.
"Rounds pierce targets and cause [u][b]lingering damage over time.[/b][/u]"
As underwhelming as this may sound to most, you are a master of strategy, you know the true meaning of war. You know that every bit of damage counts. Did you not get that OHKO? Maybe someone bumped you while you were playing? Maybe your cat bumped the remote and pushed the trigger button before you were ready? Maybe ISIS was making a statement and hacked your console and glitched the Critical Hit box? It definitely had nothing to do with you as a marksman. Doesn't matter, move on to the next guy, the thorn has already claimed its victim. [b] If[/b] that poor thing somehow manages to survive all that and doesn't run away with what's left of his luck, there are no rules against Overkill. That'll learn 'em.
[u][i][b]It sounds awesome![/b][/i][/u]
I mean, seriously, have you HEARD it? Cuz I have and that's one of the first things I fell in love with. Other than the [i]pew pew[/i] or [b]pow pow[/b] or bang bang you get from the other mediocre handbeasts, you get the sexiest of all, the [i][b]BA-KLING[/b][/i] and the sound of everything it touches hissing and evaporating.
Did I mention that Jaren Ward was a Hunter? Because he was. Rumor has it, that he had The Last Word and it was corrupted and became Thorn. (This rumor has been debunked, Thorn and the Last Word shouldn't exist in the same time or place if it were tru.) If that's not enough for you, I don't know what is.
So, why do you hate Thorn again?
[b]TL;DR[/b] Read it.
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Excellent post. I'll have to dust off my Thorn and give it a try.