Thorn – The Poison Needle
The Thorn was the weapon that dominated in PvP towards the end of Year 1. After the auto rifles were nerfed and Bungie deployed numerous other balance patches, the reign of the Thorn began – the new, poisonous queen in PvP.
Hardly any other weapon caused so much hate among Guardians as the Thorn, because this hand cannon killed slowly.
While during normal firefights one guardian would bite the dust and the other would retreat to regenerate, the Thorn could still take down the victorious Guardian. It dealt damage over time with its poison, which delayed regeneration and, more importantly, could finish off the enemy. Thus, the Thorn drove many Guardians to the brink of frustration who thought they were safe.
In addition, the ticking damage revealed to opponents where the player was trying to heal. And the other values of the Thorn were by no means bad, but made it a nasty little killing machine that was easy to use. Especially in the Trials of Osiris, it was certain that at least two of the three opponents had the Thorn.
