My concern with this is that tower snipers will be just as hard to counter as they presently are but will radically increase in power. Since they are high up, they get headshots almost by default. So risk/reward might be even more unbalanced by the suggested change.

I like what I'm seeing in this thread a lot. Feel the game is going in a good direction under Rattati - am actually buying boosters again, which I thought I'd never do. Amazing what a balance tweak here or there can do. Still I have two main concerns:

1. ADS. Really they are so overwhelming powerful at present. I doubt the mooted swarm changes will make much difference. ADS can hover 200m away and use small rails to pick off infantry with total impunity. How will making swarms faster make any difference whatsoever if the ADS never even enters swarm range? I realize you mention a light rail RoF reduction, but it will still allow risk free dominance over AV simply by outranging it. Swarm range needs to at least match small rail range. That can be achieved either by buffing swarm range, nerfing small rail range, or both. I don't have any SP into swarms and never use them, but the present range differential is a pretty glaring imbalance.

2. Snipers. I have to say, as run and gun infantry, there is nothing more infuriating than getting a 500HP scout suit one-shotted from 400m+ while I'm still in the deployment zone and running to home point, as happened at the start of a game the other day. This must be exactly the sort of thing that makes veterans AFK and new players drop the game in a flash (and it will happen to them much more). However, it seems that snipers are not too happy about the suggestion of reducing range in exchange for increased damage, and would this really be better for the typical FPS player? At least at present most sniper shots are not OHKs on anything except the flimsiest scout, so you usually have the chance to move and find cover. If snipers have shorter range but do more damage, the proportion of hits that are OHKs will increase dramatically, so maybe the 'why do I even bother?' factor would increase for run-and-gunners (especially new players). Meanwhile, snipers themselves may feel aggrieved because they've been forced into a closer range, less snipery role. Thus, while I agree that the current low risk sniper mechanics are far from ideal, maybe we should just accept that at this point any changes are likely to turn either snipers or non-snipers (or both) away from the game.

Dear Rattati,

If you make projectile damage -15% to shields, I'm actually going to be very upset.

Caldari Sentinels will become OP as HELL especially if you give projectiles +15 to armor. Caldari are not supposed to be the best at resisting HMGs, that's what everyone chose the Amarr for.

If you take our role away, we will demand a respec or quit the game. Please do not give projectiles -15 to shields. Thanks.

they didnt have 4 low slots moron. caldari perform better than amarr right now when they are fitted correctly with shield regen. they operate completely independent of a logi and technically they resist HMGs more as it is because of proficiency.

the only thing amarr's armor resists is projectiles. the other resistance is -10 hybrid rail against their shields. which is next to useless because we can't even run a shield extender anymore.

this will be so horribly unfair that it would be like taking speed away from min scouts. i will seriously stop using CCP's products and never look back at this BS.

snipers I really feel your pain right now.

The other issue with snipers is hit boxes (not hit detection). You can see them poking their heads of the hills in the back of the map, but if you're not of an equal or higher height, then you can do absolutely no damage to them as a counter sniper. This is especially apparent when discovering someone sitting atop the MCC, and killing them can be nearly impossible depending on their exact location on it, as the MCC's hit box extends beyond the actual MCC model.

Caldari commando has best of bost worlds, it has the rail rifle, and it has the swarm launcher. That is the unique 2 light arm weapons CCP has bestowed on it. You can kill a vehicle one moment while mowing down infranty, if that is your choice to solely play as an Caldari only commando. for Amarr it's Lasers and Scramblers, for Gallente its Assault Rifles, Shotguns, and Plasma cannons, Minmitar, Combat Rifles, and Mass Drivers. I mean seriously, what more can you ask for other then perhaps the introduction of new light weapons, but giving a sniper rifle to any type of Heavy suit or medium suit breaks the game function. This is simple logic in my eyes to grasp, Something well armored should not be able to shoot across the field given how many factors stack within it's favor.

Fallacy.
1.mcc snipers are highly exposed.
the reason that you see them before you can hit them is because they are standing on an invisible shield. so all you need to do is widen your angle, keep a close eye on your target stats.. don't shoot until you see the name of a dropsuit and 175%.

the mcc is one of the few places that a player can't headglitch because you get a reading if your pointing at the mcc instead of the sniper, you don't get that luxary with mountains.

2.snipers are supposed to be stealthy and hard to find, they are not invisible they are just good at hiding or you are poor at sniping.. finding a counter sniper is normally harder than finding a sniper. aggressive snipers only use a handful of places, counters can come from anywhere.

3, you say that a proto calmando, with an officer variant in a pub match is high reward for low risk...
your having a laugh pal,
what would you say that the reward should be then for taking the highest cost suit for sniping with the only irreplaceable sniper rifle to a pub match should be?
also don't forget that player can't use their thales in a pc match because nobody wwants a sniper on their team in pc- we almost all lose that option when we decide to play a sniper, and skill doesn't matter btw.

and another point... don't blame snipers for using the calmando suit, it's not our fault that ccp decided it would be a good idea to force snipers into the calmando suit to give us a higher profile and bigger hit box... now we get called scrubs because we use the fit that we were shoved into using.. the calmando suit even with level 5 was a nerf compared to when we could choose our fits.

and to ccp, if you folk dare to give a light frame a bonus to sniping or change the calmando bonuses to make it less effective now because of these people you can expect a constant stream of support tickets until i get a respec.
not a threat but a promise.

I strongly believe a -5/+5 is a better choice here. Projectile weapon users seek adaptability. This brings down the damage a bit without taking away it's 'jack of all trades' nature. It also makes the weapon proficiencies more desirable.

can someone explain to me why the CR profile should be 15/15 or 20/20?

I dont mind it if it changes but I dont understand the logic. (or consistency)

I thought Minmitar did shield and tank? If I look at their assault layouts for example its 4/4 - balanced.

So why wouldnt it be 5/5 - closer to parity?



Yes to the breach buff but it also needs a slight buff to its Rof as well



for echo you need to review EWAR. scouts are still better than assaults because of this. EHP is meaningless when you can be invisible to and see 90% of the field (Plus that second equipment slot)