I love pulse rifles in pvp but for gambit I've cleared teams with the polaris lance when invading multiple times. Otherwise yeah scouts for the most part are meh. P.L. though falls into my top 3 exotics...I am still too low level for the forges. I stopped leveling at 580 because I got bored. Then they raise the cap to 650 and make the entry level 610+ (which they've never done).
The other problem is so many weapon types are garbage in PVE. I realize balancing PVP is tough, but PVE? Scout rifles still are horrible. I get scouts with god rolls on them and they still don't outdamage pulse and auto rifles.
I'm 609 now so hopefully can find some fun in the forges.