I love younger Guardians, they remind me of when I had to stumble around in the dark and learn it myself. Come, (Drapes number 6 wing of third pair over your shoulders) walk with me, yes? The first thing you are going to learn once you get up there, is "widely accepted" is a broad spectrum for "I do not know, or best educated guess." I am assuming your stance comes from what you learned in forums and Youtube, listening to these half-baked streamers.... Your logic is completely backward with regards to what is good in P.V.E. versus Crucible. This game is very complex when it comes to destruction, even so it has very basic rules called "Logic". "Logic" dictates, the more damage you do, in any shape for or fashion, the better the weapon is for ANY setting. This means, unless the weapon can attack multiple targets at once, it is not the best for P.V.E. It is rare a single target attacks you in a Nightfall or Raid setting. The Fourth Time perk on his IKILOS would be decent if that particular type of Sniper did not have to ability to boast Maximum Reload speed statistics. You need weapons that can drop multiple targets and can do so repeatedly in an emergency situation. (Picks up by neck) SERAPH ROUNDS ALSO OVER PENETRATE TARGETS YOU--Ah.... Lovely..... (Drops and pats head) Person you.... A built-in Armor Piercing Double Perk. This increases the weapons damage potential 100% per target in the way of a single round, there by reducing the field damage faster. Even so AGAIN, that class of fast firing Sniper has a much better counterpart when it comes to damage because even with Armor Piercing, you have to line your targets up, force them to, or pray they hoard. There are 3 perks a valid Sniper rifles should always have one of. Only 1 of the 3 perks allow you to damage multiple targets without a major circumstance taking place, and the other 2 can be paired to make a knockoff slightly more powerful version (albeit harder to use) of the first. The fact that you called his a God roll is Blasphemy, it is not even in the realm of Heaven Blessed. It is average. In Crucible Armor Piercing is a must (if it is all that is offered), due to the fact that some people actively hide behind others in order to survive so they can land the final blow, once their ally dies. The old version ends this tactic swiftly, often netting a double kill. The IKILOS is mainly for Crucible due to the open sight it sports, but it has veeeeery strong stage attributes if you are willing to put in the work to use it to its full potential. So when I say far and away, I MEAN FAR... And away. The Night Watch Class offers 2 of the strongest paired perks for enemy clearance in and out of the Crucible, even so it is still second to me as far as its class type goes. Patron has my preferences. This being said, I will be direct with this one. Night Watch offers Explosive rounds and Sustenance. Either of these make the rifle good, but the fact that it offers both, and they can be used in tandem truly makes this one shine. Or it would.... Rapid reload is a Trumped up perk that is over estimated and circumstantial. It is not going to save you in Crucible, and lets face it, if you are in a Raid or Nightfall and you are using it to damage a Boss, you are in dire straits considering you have a Loaded Question, (If you do not want to use up an exotic slot, Maul Grenade launcher, Jotunn, the list goes on, that can be paired with it. As far as the Hammer, If it is also sporting Armor Piercing, that is prized weapon, (Armor Piercing is not showing up when I check but I we will just say it does), however a better choice would be the Seraph if you understand the importance of Elements, allowing this would allow you to make a Legendary Thunderlord with proper modding, and give you an option to carry an exotic VOID Grenade launcher in your secondary slot which is already 5 times better in a stage than 90% of sniper rifles. (I own the 10 percent that is not) As for your theory on whether or not those are the best he has and he is waiting for better. Of coarse they are and of coarse he is. My point was you cannot judge a book by its cover... Unless it is a 'Satanic Bible' or 'Trump's Personal 90 Step Plan To World Damnation'. (BURN THE FIRST, expose the other) Most people with high light level stats pour all their time into Raiding. 90% of them have stats and weapons that are pathetic. Their goal was to raid, not to make their character function like clockwork. When you have a team, you can be half clothed. They have your slack. You do not have the time to do both realistically in this game. I have done one, now I am in the process of doing the other. Their setback now gives me some time to do all of the Raids, and Rest on my laurels a while FOR ONCE IN A LOOOOONG while. This leads me back to my main complaint. It is far too much work for those of us who took advantage of the depth they bothered to map out just to have it all taken away or nullified, because people are complaining, or they think our weapons will make short work of their new-old stages. That is the point of progression. Revisiting Stage one with all of your hard fought items was the entire point of playing a game at one point. FINALLY, I almost forgot. Elements are ALWAYS important, just as you do not waste food, you do not wast damage. In fact there are a number of activities where shield destruction is about the only way to swiftly clear the room just to breath. If you ever want to Masterwork your Outbreak Prime, you may want to consider always running a non overlapping elemental set. In the long run, having to swap to unfamiliar weapons just to make elements work not only strips the game of fun, but puts you at a disadvantage when it comes to your efficiency as an individual. Whether in an event or in a Raid, a matched shield explosion can easily take out another shield, or minion on detonation, often both, either of which save you ammo, as well as reduce damage taken by means of this and possibly stunning the target, and those around it.