Actually, for a month or so after launch, pistoleer was a very powerful profession. while the specials didnt all work, most of them did what they said. and if you took up the BH pistol line at that time, you were a very powerful PvP with eye shot.
now, this was before a lot of changes. so the profession itself didnt change, but the game around it did. heres some examples...
the 75% PvP reduction- this completely killed our DPS in PvP.
No mind attacks in pistoleer- without BH pistols, you couldnt shoot fast enough to do a lot of damage with the 75% reduction.
widespread composite- before everyone wore composite, a pistoleer could do a fair amount of damage. but once composite became widespread, our dps even took another hit. even with people wearing 30-40% comp.
Novice medic- Stim B's used to be at best 150 power. now, you see them easily over 400 power. novice medics shouldnt be able to use anything over a stim-a. we can wail on somebodies health pool for 10 seconds, and they can heal it within one.
Buffs- this is what finally did pistoleer in in PvP. this was the death blow. in the begining, buffs were weak and not well known. Buffs overpowered the average player. encumberances on armor was of no more concern, leading to 80% comp armor. Now, pistoleers were firing through 80% comp, with a 75% reduction in damage. We were also then firing at a pool that could easily get over 4k. many people could heal the damage from a pistoleer with just their regeneration.
We got a slight boost with the geo gun, a stun weapon. but again, its of little use because we are firing mostly at the health pool, which is healable, through comp, buffs etc. with eye shot, a geo gun is basically useless against a buffed armor opponent. unless you have an UBER gun. even then its not really worth it.
So pistoleer was fine. until everything else in the game changed. pistoleer itself didnt get nerfed. the game became overpowered around us. buffs, 80% comp, health pool attacks, stim-B's, and so on. it wasnt one thing. but all these changes laid on top of each other that makes pistoleer nearly useless in PvP.
riflemen didnt get hit as hard because they got a huge boost to speed at master, and can use an AP3 weapon at the speed cap.
carbineers who go up the BH carb line get +200 to accuracy, and fire at the speed cap now. I mean, jesus.
Pistoleer was once a very worthwhile profession. PvP and PvE. but the game changed. hopefully the combat balance will bring the game back to the pistoleer. armor reduction, penalties for holding a rifle or a carb, buff reduction. all of that could lead to pistoleer coming back to its old glory. at least I hope it does.