In the MMO shooter Destiny the hand cannon Thorn has risen to the new dominant weapon in the Crucible.
It used to be said: “Either you take an auto rifle or you’re doing it wrong.” For a long time, the SUROS Regime, an exotic auto rifle, was considered the uncrowned queen in the Crucible of Destiny. However, that has changed in recent months with some buffs and nerfs. Now it seems that there is a new best weapon in the Crucible of Destiny.
At first, people thought that shotguns would become the new dominant weapons. Then a particularly strong one, “Felwinter’s Lie,” from the Iron Banner caused a furore thanks to an incredibly strong combination of perks.
The Thorn kills slowly…
But after a nerf to special ammo it seems now that one of the “old” loot exotic weapons is rising to unprecedented popularity and hated: The Thorn. The tricky thing about the hand cannon is the “damage over time” effect.
While in normal firefights one player bites the dust and the other retreats to regenerate, the Thorn also forces a victorious player into defense, the damage “ticks” over time, applying pressure and extending the regeneration pause. Oftentimes, it’s already too late by then. And not only in duels is the Thorn nasty; even a grazing shot can take the hit player out of the game for valuable seconds, giving opponents an advantage. Especially when they play tactically and as a team, like in the new PvP mode Trials of Osiris.
Moreover, the ticking damage reveals to the opponents where the player is currently trying to heal up. And the other attributes of the Thorn are by no means bad, making it an easy-to-use, nasty little killing machine.
Unlike other items, you don’t even need much luck for it, just diligence. It is a “loot” exotic that frequent players have worked for over the months and are now pulling out of the vault again.
How to get the hand cannon Thorn:
Trials of Thornsiris in Destiny
In a scorching report on Kotaku, the Thorn is dissected: In the Trials of Osiris it is seen constantly, it is said. The author himself refers to the new PvP event as Trials of “Thornsiris.” When facing 3 players, at least two have the Thorn. And when a weapon is that present, it is a sure sign that it should be nerfed. Numerous threads on reddit and other social networks where people talk and complain about the Thorn seem to support this argumentation.
What do you think? Is the Thorn too strong, should it be nerfed? Or is it just a matter of time until a new exotic weapon causes a stir? Do you play with the Thorn yourself? What are your experiences?
