Old Gangplank vs. New Gangplank

Hi, I use to main old critplank a lot until his rework happened. His rework is awesome, but I suck at barrel placement in combat.

Whenever I use Q on new GP it feels like it does less damage than using it on old GP. But can I still get away with only using my Q in combat without having to use any barrels? Just until I can master the technique (or even not). I just like to shoot at people than at barrels.