The main reason for redline snipping falls into 2 categories.

2. Map design. Maps either have the best vantage from the redline or force you to learn to fly. The problem of flying to these spots is after 1 kill, the enemy knows exactly where you are at. If the enemy knows you are fixated to one spot, you failed to be a productive sniper

3. The reticle sucks. they need big crosshairs when ADS. DEV, try aiming at some red equipment with a tiny dot and try to figure out if your on target or not. When the screen is busy, using that micro dot sucks at times even when trying to shoot players that are standing still..

good points

I feel what you're saying.

Using the Charge Sniper Rifle, would be the only time your position is given away. The other sniper rifles won't leave the energy/vapor trail, that I'm proposing for that one gun.

I think the nerfs and buffs I propose for it are reasonable, precisely because it would be a 1-shot kill, on absolutely everyone except the toughest heavies (unless you shoot them in the head).
Hitscan mechanics make delivering this deathblow that much easier.

I mean what do you think the price should be for a 1-shot kill that can nail someone almost anywhere on the map?
I am a sniper, but for gameplay's sake; a sniper's role be damned if I can insta-kill everyone and can't be found.

I significantly hurt the reload time, so that if you miss you are penalized, and if you kill, other players still have a chance to react.
I added a trail so that you just can't kill people and they have no means of fighting back.
I reduced the amount of ammo, so that even when you're doing well, you can't maintain it indefinitely.
Lastly, it doesn't get any sway and recoil reductions/eliminations like the other sniper rifles. It'll feel just as heavy as it does now. This is to seriously discourage close-range use, as sniper rifles do now.

The price for an instant kill weapon MUST, for balance's sake, be HIGH. High enough to discourage widespread use, but not so high as to stop the weapon from doing it's job, which is landing a guaranteed kill. That's all that matters. You need a weapon that can dislodge a heavy that has placed himself in a most inconvenient position, and the Charge SR, on headshot, will be able to banish him, even with logi support.

I'm sorry, I respect that being hidden is the sniper's role. But with the proposal for the Charge SR, and despite my bias in favor of snipers, I just CANNOT abide giving them a 100% 1-shot kill without serious penalty.

And if someone wants to use the Charge to pad K/D, they are going to do it very very slowly. It'll equal out to about 12 kills per 60 seconds without the rapid reload buff, assuming a kill every shot.

Remove Sway on snipers in DUST 514.

It a great concept mechanic and i see it being very useful and relevant in Legion beign a PC based game.

But in DUST the sniper gameplay has been backed into this tiny corner of options and ability to affect a match.

With Sway gone, snipers could be more effective in quick reaction situations, like on the actual battlefield.

Have the ability to move more into forward positions in covering team mates and be more mobile as you don;t have to focus on being stationary for long periods while having a vantage.

Possibly might even see the evolution of a Force Recon Sniper who can advance on enemy positions and objectives and cause pressure directly.

You mean the ability for quick scoping like in CoD. Yeah that is the game I want to play where the best pistol is a sniper rifle

Quick scoping requires the ability to one shot when even hitting 1ft away from your opponents finger tips(CoD).

Quick scoping in DUST when you have to lay down multiple shots to get a kill in most cases will be challenging and largely player skill dictating outcomes. And if they are running around close range with a Thales... Then more thales for everyone in salvage.

There also is little to no aim assist on sniper scopes that produce what you are thinking. It will be a true challenging and rewarding form of gameplay.

If you know where the center of your screen is then you already have a none sway guick way to shoot your sniper rifle. run up to point blank and fire without aiming.
im for buffing sniper to kill from a distance but at the same time nerfing the distance to pull them out of redline. 300m
You want a CqC sniper than use the bolt pistol.

I didn't see anything concrete here, increase headshot multiplier, range, make other snipers than Thale's powerful, increase scope zoom....

Anecdotally I haven't been killed by a sniper in ages, get picked off once in a blue moon if I am careless and in open under half hp. I need to look at the numbers, but sniper use is very stable, none of the rifles or new weapons have had a meaningful impact on the use of sniper rifles, so it's a steady group of people who like to snipe apparantly, I am not even sure they venture into Tac AR or SCR at all.

Feel free to share, we have no specific hate/love with snipers, they should have a viable place on the battlefield like all of our weapons.

'Fix the redline' is the entirety of the conversation about snipers. How can you possibly 'balance' a role without addressing the fact that the role is immune to receiving damage from players in any other role?