>>44035696Okay, let's compare them. Here are statblocks, and 8 damage rolls for each weapon.
Pulse Rifle - Range 150m; S/2/4; 2d10+3 E; Pen 4; Clip 36; Reload Half; Two handed; Gyro-Stabilised
29 (8, 10, fury!8)+3; 8 (4, 1)+3; 17 (5, 9)+3; 19 (8, 8)+3; 13 (8, 2)+3; 15 (3, 9)+3; 27 (10, 9, fury!5)+3; 13 (1, 9)+3
Max possible per hit w/o Fury or talents: 23pen4; Min w/o DoS replacement or talents: 5pen4.
Boltgun - Range 90m; S/2/-; 1d10+5 X; Pen 4; Clip 24; Reload 1 Full; Two handed; Tearing
15 (10; 2)+5; 8 (3; 1)+5; 11 (6; 4)+5; 11 (6; 3)+5; 22 (10; 9, fury!7)+5; 14 (9; 1)+5; 14 (9; 2)+5; 14 (9; 8)+5
Max possible per hit w/o Fury, talents, or specialist ammo: 15pen4; Min w/o DoS replacement or talents: 6pen4
Hellgun (Lucius pattern, since patterns actually matter for this one and it's the best one) - Range 110m; S/3/-; 1d10+4 E; Pen 7; Clip 30; Reload 2 Full; Two handed
10 (6)+4; 13 (9)+4; ; 11 (7)+4; 10 (6)+4; 8 (4)+4; 8 (4)+4; 12 (8)+4; 13 (9)+4
Max possible per hit w/o Fury or talents: 14pen7; Min w/o DoS replacement or talents: 5pen7
In conclusion, a Hellgun is slightly better at punching through armour if the dice fuck you, but the other two have double the chance for Furies and higher potential overall. Pulse rifles' superior rate of fire earns them the top spot as generalist weaponry.
Also, the only Hellguns available in DH without using Ascension are the Dlaku and Voss patterns, which have only 4 and 3 pen, respectively, and as such have only cheaper ammunition and, in the Dlaku's case, full auto capability as advantages over Bolt weaponry.
Shoggy mentioned they were using Acension, though, and the Cadian-pattern Hellguns in it are identical to the Voss except in that they have less than half the range. (50m vs 110)