Not only have there been dozens of videos and posts on the subject but Bungie themselves have acknowledged that some Exotic weapons are under performing and others are VASTLY over performing. While watching Datto's video (linked) I had a sudden flash of insight as to what was really wrong with these weapons (insight being I had an idea, that's all). [b][u]TLDR: SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM. I've bolded and underlined it for those to lazy to read.[/u][/b] I'll start with the under performers: Thorn and Bad Juju. [b][u]Thorn:[/u][/b] Thorn is (arguably) the most difficult of the exotic bounties to obtain and when you actually finish it, it's a huge let down. The benefit from the weapon is *supposed* to come from its DoT mechanic which certainly helps in PvP but is woefully lacking in PvE content and even held back in PvP because of the ridiculously small magazine and ludicrous reload times. So, how to fix... Well, the draw of Thorn (and what sets it apart) IS the DoT. Why not make that the perk that makes it viable? Currently, Mark of the Devourer causes bullets to over-penetrate and place a DoT on the target. I propose to REMOVE the over-penetration part (let's be honest did you even notice it?) and instead add a perk that increases reload speed by 3x WHILE your DoT is active on a target. This will reward skillful use and timing in PvP because you'll need to reload BEFORE your target dies in order to receive the buff. PvE will benefit because bosses typically live through a full magazine (lol) and so you can essentially keep the buff going throughout the fight. Couple this new change with a magazine increase to 8 (from 6) and (like Datto mentions) the ability to stack the DoT (PvE ONLY!!!!!) up to three times and this will become a very useful weapon overnight without (further) breaking Crucible. Thorn would become a viable option for sustained Boss damage, but not be broken for all forms of combat (ie. add clear). [b][u]Bad Juju:[/u][/b] Ah, Bad Juju.... what can we say about you? Such a cool weapon utterly forgotten by the Guardians of today. The problem with Bad Juju is very simple. It's String of Curses perk only activates on kills that YOU make. Thus, in PvE group settings, where you will most likely never get a killing blow due to the nature of pulse rifles currently. The perk never activates and your weapon is useless. In PvP, it's only useful if you CAN get a killing blow, and the only way to do that with this weapon it seems is to have your team mates blasting your opponent with you and hope they don't get the killing blow first. So the problem is that Bad Juju is just not a killing weapon. However, I don't think Bad Juju SHOULD be a killing blow weapon, I think it's an amazing support gun in both PvE and PvP with one problem. How to fix? Simple. Activate String of Curses on assists as well as kills. PvP already counts assists towards Grimoire cards and bounties and such so it's perfectly reasonable. Having this perk activate on assists will make this a very viable support weapon in Crucible (for those who actually play with the team instead of lone wolfing it). PvE would have this weapon become especially suited for add clear (think Thrall rushes...). It's true that this change alone won't make this a god mode weapon in all aspects. But exotics don't need to be good in EVERY aspect of the game, they should excel in one, and be average in others. Couple this with some possible slight tweaking of coefficients and I think this would be a desirable weapon for the team oriented player. Now for the over performing.... [b][u]SUROS:[/u][/b] We all remember the day it happened. Xur offered up SUROS in his wares and overnight, Crucible became unbearable. My argument here will be two fold. First, SUROS deserves a nerf. Second, Hard Light NEEDS a buff. I'll elaborate... The problem with SUROS is that the weapon can be made to fire SO stable and SO accurate and hit SO hard, that it becomes essentially an auto scout rifle, only better. The root of this problem is the "Focused Fire" perk. Seemingly innocuous by itself, the coupling of this perk with the ALREADY good damage, stability, range, and accuracy of this weapon makes for a disgustingly imbalanced weapon in PvP. Conversely, the exotic auto rifle Hard Light has pitiful accuracy, range, damage, and stability. It is essentially a sub-machine gun. It does not do enough damage to warrant its crazy instability. Getting critical hits (even with CQB Ballistics) is rare and holds the weapons potential back. This can be argued, but I personally think Hard Light is the coolest sounding weapon in the entire game. I WANT TO LOVE THIS WEAPON! However, Bungie has made this exceedingly difficult with it's current stats. There is ZERO choice between SUROS Regime and Hard Light and anyone who would choose the latter over the former is just plain crazy and should probably go back to Call of Duty. So... how to fix? Simple. We need a solution that will bring SUROS' stats back in line and bring Hard Lights up to that line. Ironically, both can be solved with one perk swap. The Focused Fire perk is too good on SUROS and Hard Light is no good without it. So swap it. Bring the Focused Fire perk to Hard Light in place of Volatile Light and put the over penetration onto SUROS. Over penetration rounds are meh at best and highly situational. By swapping these two perks they will tone down the craziness of SUROS while making Hard Light a legitimate choice at the same time. The accuracy and stability gain on Hard Light will be offest by it's relatively low damage per shot, even with the damage boost from the perk. We can all agree that something must be done. Maybe these aren't the best solutions, but they're not the worst I've heard. Ideally, this will get Bungie guys thinking in the right direction. [b][u]TLDR:[/u] Make the Thorn DoT increase reload speed by 3x while its on a target, couple with increased magazine from 6 to 8, and PvE ONLY DoT stacking to 3x. Make Sting of Curses on Bad Juju activate on assists as well as kills. Couple with a slight stability boost possibly. Swap the Focused Fire perk from SUROS with the Volatile light perk on Hard Light.[/b]