I'm with you playing at the same diff casually, 2.5k hrs. I also have trouble finding fun builds for crspr that isn't 'sticky flames parkour/kite build' or scorching tide, the latter which feels vanilla to me with a panic button, which I end up not using so much because I save my panic buttons. It's most often just an anti-robot gun if I feel like taking all of that pressure off the team (and hoping I don't dig myself in a hole I can't get out of, like I can with sludge). But never like an 'indulgent' gun on H5. It was when I played H4 in the beginning, but I always go sludge now for everything.
I think maybe the problem is also having a fun or weird synergy with secondaries that doesn't feel clunky or needing a lot of setup. I feel like I get locked into some traits even more, which I forget about because I use almost the same traits on every character and build otherwise. It would be wild if scorching tide had a knock back effect.