I've struggled with the extra nerfing to ARs, too (Destiny)

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, March 17, 2015, 17:50 (3776 days ago) @ BeardFade

A few things I want to add. 1) I don't think Bungie interpreted their data correctly. While there were probably lots of people using ARs in the Crucible, I think they should curved the data to look at what weapons the better players use and adjust accordingly. For the most part, the best players in the game don't run with ARs that often anymore and haven't for a while.

This is true. In my experience, auto rifles are great at no range. Hand cannons beat them at mid range. Get a little closer, and you die to a fusion rifle. Get even closer, you die to shotguns. Go farther, and you lose to snipers and scout rifles.

I really think other posters have hit the nail on the head: auto rifles were used a lot because they were easy guns to handle, and most people are not amazing at this game.

Auto Rifles used to be great for 20-30m encounters and now they aren't, and I've yet to find something to fit that range.

I checked DestinyTracker, and most of my kills are in the 18-30m range. I use hand cannons primarily.