What i would like is sll variants to have same range, and an even higher hs multiplier to kill that tanked sentinel in the redline with a thales.
No sway when ads.
Slightly bigger reticule and magnifixation, along with projectile size.

Sniping is in a pretty awful state in PC, to say the least. The range nerf killed a lot of half-decent sniper spots and left a gap in how high-ground superiority is established. Snipers have to be so close to the frontlines to be able to snipe targets on higher locations within outposts that it puts far too much risk association due to objective proximity.

Point in case: Caldari Biomass Outpost. If you get this map what will likely happen is Commandos and Sentinels on the rooftops of the towers, mushroom building, and the semi-flat structure next to Alpha. It is nigh impossible to get them off once they're there because there are no areas to sniper from outside the objective more times than not, so the counter falls to a Dropship or Orbital Strike - both of which are unreliable because of Commando/Sentinel AV and Orbital strike frequency.

The only role Snipers play in PC, at this point, is running a Thale's from the redline and semi-adequately guarding homebase.

Yeah. It hasn't been viable for a while. If heavy FG's cover high ground, the splash damage is enough to cover an objective. Strafing combined with camping on hives make them tough to take out without an OB or DS drop to counter i.e. no need for sniper. Also, on home objectives, someone with a RR or a scout or two with RE's or any other weapon can easily hold home point.

On a side note, as an update, the "beer cans" or batteries on the crate map work pretty well as snipe spots - at least, in acquisition.

Sniping is the least rewarding in terms of WP.

itd be cool if targets shot by a sniper rifle show up as "scanned" on the tacnet for a few seconds. then at least youd be contributing to the team somewhat

I'm pretty much against range buffs, just let's snipers hide in the red line even more than they constantly do.

As much as decent snipers comment how how they use the weapon, the majority of players that do are trying to just farm kills from the red line.

variable scope might make sniper in work at different ranges rather than extremely far.

I'm cool with removing most sway. would help with using the tactical sniper at various ranges. snipes at medium range are too immobilised to be effective.

I do pose the million isk question, why not run a caldari commando with a sniper and a rail rifle? find a good sniping spot, shoot, move on when it gets hot.

IMO sniper rifles are very badly implemented right now.

Headshot multipliers are a bit silly, considering that the main input method for this game is an analog stick with a rather large deadzone. There is no fun or satisfaction in that, especially as you also have sway to consider and can't move at all while attacking a target. So you work both against a game mechanic, as well as the physical properties of your input device.

Just buffing the damage doesn't work, because it would be the whole Rail Rifle situation from a few patches back, just even worse. Death from nowhere, with no way to retaliate.

Personally, I'd say that there are two options - Either you add more skill to sniping (Really, hitting with hitscan weapons has nothing to do with proper sniping) or you make it more of a support option.

For the former, I would suggest a ballistic trajectory. Make it like a PLC, but focused on infantry at long ranges. Hard to hit, but damn satisfying. You wouldn't even need sway in that case, instead using a charge-up or maybe strong recoil. Make the projectile flashy, so that a sniper can be located properly and needs to keep moving.
Much more fun than waiting for the sway to end and then hoping that no one runs up to you with a gun while you are waiting for enemies to render. Suddenly, EWAR would be much more involved for a sniper. You would constantly be scanning ahead to avoid enemy encounters and make sure that no one is on your tail.

For the latter, snipers should gain support WP (e.g. more WP for kill assists), as well as beneficial effects like the aforementioned "spotting". A sniper rifle could be focused on inhibiting enemies instead of killing them outright, which would give the weapon an actual role and make encounters between snipers and ordinary players much less frustrating for both sides.
Maybe even allow snipers to destroy equipment with an AoE.

Basically, make it anything but "sit like a duck and hope people run into your crosshair, occasionally change positions and hope the level design doesn't punish you" and "meh, someone is killing me from nowhere, what a *****" for snipers and non-snipers respectively.

No bullet drop ever. It wouldn't make it take more skill. It would be an annoying luck game.

But let's be honest, that's what sniper-haters want.

I think the headshot multiplier is high enough. If someone is sniping in a sentinel suit, they are doing it wrong anyway. At SR proficiency 5, there still is an initial sway when crouched, however, it's reduced compared to if you didn't put any points in it. A bigger reticule I can understand, however, increased magnification would be beneficial if we had slightly more range (450m). As is, I personally can see targets just fine at 400m and beyond, but can't shoot at visible targets outside of the maximum.

BTW, did you know? If you simply equip an SR, you seem to actually lose ISK at the end of the game, getting over 1k and getting 200k+ with any CQC weapon, afterward's, with the CQC weapon, obtain 1k again ( or try to), then switch to an SR. You'll get 50% less. Just my personal experience.

.
.
.
A bigger reticule I can understand, however, increased magnification would be beneficial if we had slightly more range (450m). As is, I personally can see targets just fine at 400m and beyond, but can't shoot at visible targets outside of the maximum.
.
.

I guess you are a symb user?
Let's get first a medium detail straight: 450m is the max range for basic line of sniper rifles, into which the symb fork does not belong to.

Very true that sniping is very dull in Dust.

Two major factors, both fixable.

1) The "optimal" range is absolute range, there is no falloff and there is no real optimal range.
The fix would allow snipers shoot at far ranges, but at extreme ranges the damage isn't lethal anymore.


2) The sway, or the lack of it.
The sway mechanic is idiotic, lazily designed and I'm willing the guess it's the placeholder from beta times.
It's bad because the it is stupidly circular, and it doesn't interact with player controls. The worst thing is that when it settles, it is 100% stable. That is just plain stupid.
The fix:
- sway can be more predictable, meaning that if you just crouched, the gun makes a certain kind of nod (with small random element)
- the sight should never be 100% stable. Even 99% would be good!
- The sway should react to aim actions. If you jolt your aime quickly to the left, then aim should have 'mass' related move, and then countermove.
- Maybe a mechanic for holding breath, or just simply that 3 to 20 seconds after stabilising the aim you have the best stability, after which it starts to deteriorate



and a bonus for a perfect world

3) lack of ballistics.
Well, this one isn't necessary, and it would be a bastard to program, and maybe bad for PS3 computing taskload.

#1 is to just add realism where it is not needed.

#2 is just a bad idea. With no aim assist and only being able to use 50% of the thumb sticks to aim is challenging enough. Adding more natural sway would make the borderline obsolete SR to pure redline sniping only. Why would I risk a proto suit, mods, and SR on the field if the aiming mechanics were any worse than they already are?

#3 Not enough info.

The SR was had zero buffs since I started sniping and is suffering due to the HP and speed buffs this game has under went. Not to mention range and map nerfs. I could live with the range nerf, but CCP continues to block ok sniping spots by putting huge structures between them. Not to mention most newer maps are either huge walled complexes, or too small to be of much use.

If you guys could consolidate a list of suggestions and send them to me in -ONE- e-mail at [email protected] that would be greatly appreciated. As some of you may have noticed with some of the threads the CPM has been making we're making an effort to hit some balancing pain points on some of the weapons and the Sniper Rifle was one that came up.

I've said this before and I'll say it again... You do not eliminate redline sniping by nerfing the range.

You do it by giving the sniper rifle unlimited range so they are vulnerable even in the redline by another sniper.

The only way to get rid of a sniper is by countersniping... I know, I've sniped a lot...

That's not the point in having balance, at least in terms of how the class interacts with the other classes as a whole. True, a counter-sniper is best suited for this job, but if we're going to get any range back, everyone else has to be able to kill us as well - even if it means sneaking up to our spot, coming in with a LAV or DS/ADS, etc. That's why I suggested moving the redline behind where snipers are known to snipe, while separating where the actual spawn locations are from this. That way we have our range, but are still vulnerable to anyone and everyone since we'd be within the playing field.