Use for Thorn's "Lingering Damage"

I've noticed the Exotic Hand Cannon Thorn does different "Lingering" damage from enemy to enemy (19 on normal level 5 vandals, 14 on level 8 armored knights), but the damage it does it still negligible.

I was wondering if there's currently any use for that lingering damage. Maybe there are specific enemies that take considerably more damage from it.

Also, I am aware of upcoming buff for the weapon, however, I'm wondering about the way things are at the moment.

3 Answers

In PvE, Thorn benefits against shielded enemies, as the "DoT" effect prevents their shields from recharging while you are reloading. It also provides additional damage (never a bad thing). That and being a handcannon makes Thorn very powerful in a PvE setting.

In PvP, again being a handcannon makes it extremely powerful. The additional damage over time means that even if you lose the initial fire fight, there is still a pretty good chance you will be able to kill them from the grave.

Overall, Thorn is a very good handcannon, but only in the right hands.

2

With this weapon upgrade (unique to the Thorn hand cannon), you will do damage over time to the enemy you shoot. This damage follows the basic damage calculation as with all other kinds of damage, but this damage is not affected by type of enemy or type of shield. This damage is a constant depending on the level defferences between you and the enemy.

This weapon is considered a very effective weapon in PvP, and are therefore mostly used there.

1

Thorn has very high damage because of the dot even with low impact. My lord high fixxer is maxed out at 300 and thorn with only one damage upgrade is actualy stronger. However it's low clip size really hurts it, for PVE I'd skip it. For PVP it's a beast though. Shoots fast, high stability if you take the perk and 3 bodyshots are death. I'm guessing it'll go to an 8 shot clip and faster reload when they buff it, possibly reset the dot after each shot, who knows, but I'm pretty sure on the first 2 things.. If they do that for PVP it'll be top tier along with the last word for PVP and viable for PVE as well. (although I'll probably still take my fixxer for PVE)