When running Skolas, if you have full gear for all the buffs the LOW buff will hide your immue/poison timer, which forced me to switch out after nearly dying.

Also LoW is great during "specialist" modifiers.

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Once I got it upgraded / got used to it, I was able to very quickly take out enemies at a little beyond Fellwinter range. That plus never worrying about ammo makes it worth it to me. Plus it's range advantages will become more apparent once Shotguns get the nerf they've needed for months. I use Dreg's Promise on my Juggernaut Shielded Titan and compliment it with a longer ranged primary like Three Little Words or my lucky Badger CCL. In this role a Sidearm excels and helps keep me safe from even things like Fellwinter's Lie type shotguns. It's certainly a choice with drawbacks, but I've actually replaced my Invective (which has always been my go to short range special) with Dreg's Promise in the Crucible and am very satisfied with the results.

I only have LoW right now, so I have no basis for comparison, but I feel reasonably confident you won't regret going with that one.

Note: despite the way the range stat looks, it is lethal from much farther away than most shotguns. Something about the way the stat is presented is screwy.

Not to mention there is a scope that quadruples the range stat... which is just weird :-)

I really want to love sidearms. And when they first came out with HoW, I did. But you're right, they just aren't practical enough right now.

The issue stems from the hard range limit on sidearms that isn't much further then the range on the Fellwinter's lie for damage and TTK comparable to Dr. Nope.

Why would you ever use one over a shotgun?

Because you are using Universal Remote and it's in your primary slot :-)

It's a 3/10 for funness, but Vestian Dynasty is a 1/10 for me. I know a lot of people have those guns and like them, but I'm not a sidearm guy. Maybe if they can have surplus in the perk tree.

Still the best sidearm in the game.

Nah, any hand cannon is the best sidearm. They were originally in the special slot you know :-)

If only they had stayed that way...

Maybe "instant one hit kill" is the wrong definition of a special? If I can consistently kill a shotgun user with a sidearm because I have a range advantage then what does the lack of a one hit kill matter? And remember, shotgun ranges (via overpowered perks) are getting nerfed soon. Really, I like the role sidearms sit in. They aren't perfect in every situation but, for me at least, they beat the guns I'm asking them to beat. There are very few situations my Three Little Words + Dreg's Promise cannot effectively take on.

The thing is, there is no way to fix this.

I don't know if that's completely true. You could just change the fundamental way that sidearms work. But I have to admit, every idea that comes into my head for how to change them just ends up turning them into a shotgun.

Right. You've kind of already got all the specials covered:

1. Burst damage from close range (Shotgun)
2. Burst damage from mid range (Fusion rifles)
3. Burst damage from long Range (Snipers)

There's… nothing left.

It isn't so much the range, but the range of a one hit kill. Certain shotguns can OHK from a fair distance, almost to the range of basic fusion rifles.

It's ok to give them range, but the damage drop off should prevent one or even two shot kills at those distances. Hopefully when Bungie gets more range bands they can graduate the damage better.

This would work so perfectly. Alter the feel of the weapon without touching its stats.

Or just adding new effects without touching its base stats.
I agree that sidearms should at least have the gain accuracy when readying the weapon perk, built in.

Regen health on hit would be a bit op, as would a stagger effect.
But bonus accuracy for a weapon that is close range, quick firing? Yes.

People would be running TLW & sidearms all day though :/

Edit: I just thought of a way that you could buff sidearms without tweaking anything weird. Give them infinite clips / no reload. The lack of a one shot kill is then made up for by the long and continuous damage output without any downtime for reloads.

I want this so bad.

Ran out of ammo in your clip? Switch to Vestian to keep firing without missing a single beat. It's an emergency gun, not something you use all the time like shotguns/snipers.

Kind of like secondaries in modern shooters like CoD.

That's I use it.

I don't think I've ever actually equipped it in Crucible, but I use my sidearm often for PvE and find it very satisfying.

Ran out of ammo in your clip? Switch to Vestian to keep firing without missing a single beat. It's an emergency gun, not something you use all the time like shotguns/snipers.

Kind of like secondaries in modern shooters like CoD.

In that case just make them automatic with a large clip and they would be fine.

I see them best as a compliment to fusion rifles, where those are a one hit kill, a sidearm would take several hits but could converge on a very similar time to kill. Kind of like the HC vs. AR setup.

Ran out of ammo in your clip? Switch to Vestian to keep firing without missing a single beat. It's an emergency gun, not something you use all the time like shotguns/snipers.

Kind of like secondaries in modern shooters like CoD.

This. Also, I see it as an emergency short-range primary. Say you're using a scout rifle (or No Land Beyond), and an enemy pushes in at closer range, but still too far for Shotgun. Switching to the Dynasty gives you a better chance to fight than your primary or a shotgun would.

If I were to change anything about it, I'd decrease the damage drop-off by a pinch, and maybe give it a slightly larger mag, but other than that, I've had a lot of fun using it in PvE and PvP.

Maybe the PS4 crew can make a run for the Lighthouse using only Sidearms...