This is the ADS hand cannon yin to The Last Word's hip-fire yang. The gun increases in range and stability (and you move faster) when ADSing. It has triple-tap, and precision kills when ADS further increase range and stability until the next reload. It has a TRUCKLOAD of impact. Highest in the game for a hand cannon? I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised.

I have not used it in PvP yet, but for PvE this is a beastly weapon. Each round is basically a battleship falling out of the sky onto your target. Did I mention the insanely high impact? It's insanely high! Definitely worth it for PvE, I'm not sold for PvP (still a 3-shot kill like most other hand cannons, but the bonus range + stability + move speed may make it worthwhile).

Anyway, I like it. Not as much as Hawkmoon (yet), and probably not as much as Ace of Spades, but when you absolutely must kill everything in as few shots as possible, it's the gun you want.

First of all, thanks for the review!

I just got my First Curse, and took it for a brief spin. I've only used it in a single strike, so it's too early for me to be sure one way or the other... But my first impression is that I don't like it at all.

My problem with it boils down to this: its archetype and exotic perks run completely counter to each other.

In order to trigger the First Curse's exotic perk, you need to score a precision kill. But the gun itself has such poor range, accuracy, and aim-assist that scoring precision hits is a lot tougher than it is with many other hand cannons. I should mention that I've only used this gun against Vex so far, and they're not the easiest enemies to score precision kills, but I used to 1-shot vex goblins all day long with Fatebringer, even after the 2.0 update.

As you said, the gun's real stand-out feature is the impact. This makes it a great choice for tackling tougher foes like Minotars, Captains, etc. but again, these targets are not good fodder for the gun's exotic perk. As powerful as it is, you'll still need most of your clip to bring down high-level foes. Even if you do manage to score a precision kill, it only lasts until your next reload, which is never far off with a gun like this.

All of this makes me feel like the Forst Curse is better suited to tackling low level mobs, where you can score precision kills more consistently. The thing is, the high impact is wasted against such targets (you can 1-shot kill enemies with weapons that have far lower impact). Again, the slow rate of fire and poor range/accuracy come into play. I'd much rather use my Dead Orbit scout rifle; far easier to hit headshots, even while hip firing. Enough impact to 1-shot level 40 tier 1 enemies, fires so quickly that I can still trigger Tripple Tap even if I miss a few shots between precision hits, and it has Firefly so everything is exploding all the time :D

Again, I want to spend more time with First Curse, but my early impression is that I can't think of a situation where it would be a weapon I'd want to use... especially at the cost of an Exotic.

At least it has the spinning animation. The impact is nice, I was one shotting some guys in the crucible with body shots without shields but close to full health (take that hunters). Aesthetically its great. I wish the sights were raise a little , you don't have much view below the dot. This isn't a problem with the last word because you're closer. When you are a little further away it helps to have that extra field of view.