My thoughts on the current state is that it doesn't make much sense for how they progress and it needs to be changed, badly.

Tactical has low damage, low range
Charge has high damage, moderate range
Vanilla has moderate damage, high range

Then you have the progression from STD > ADV > PRO, which sees 10HP worth of damage difference per tier... and then the Thale's which comes in with a whopping 123 damage over the Proto. That doesn't make any sense and completely bewilders any sense of progression while throwing a pipe wrench in the whole spectrum because the Thales becomes the only one worth a damn.

I understand that officer weapons are supposed to be powerful but when you have that much gain over Prototype weaponry it becomes no contest - you either use the Thale's or your simply not a sniper, it feels like.

So, what I would do is this:
a) Kill the scope sway when standing and give the Operation skill a different bonus. Using a sniper rifle is punishing enough without having to be completely immobile.
b) Re-evaluate sniper rifle ranges to correlate with the design principle of damage < --- > range, with low damage having high range and low range having high damage (this will impact redline camping naturally for obvious reasons)
c) Close the gap a bit between the power levels to make using them a viable option without having to resort to the Thales.

Just my thoughts, so take it as a grain of salt.

I personally feel that the failures of the sniper rifle are too intrinsically tied to core issues like movement not having inertia, low framerate and poor hit detection to be reasonably hotfixed.

Oh. Right. Am i supposed to rise to that bait or something?

*slow clap*

The ability to tank up to resist OHK kills is something I feel should not be removed.

Having sniper rifles simply able to instantly eliminate any suit on the field no matter what you fit it for is the kind of thing that will fly like a lead baloon with the vast majority of players.

Just curious as prior to hotfix foxfour, many of the SR shortcomings were brought to current CPMs attention.

Some of these issues were even brought up in Rat's stickied locked thread about what we wanted to see in the next hotfix.

Now we se alot of great balancing points that may be included in foxfour hotfix, but the sniper rifle was not mentioned.

Up to this point the only thing ever improved with the SR since I started playing was the headshot multiplier. That was a bandaid fix and did not enough to fix the many ailments that a sniper has to deal with.

I want to know is the SR and sniping even a possibility to be apart of the next hotfix? What is CCP/CPMs concerns about its currents state, and what steps are being taken to correct them?

Just curious as prior to hotfix foxfour, many of the SR shortcomings were brought to current CPMs attention.

Some of these issues were even brought up in Rat's stickied locked thread about what we wanted to see in the next hotfix.

Now we se alot of great balancing points that may be included in foxfour hotfix, but the sniper rifle was not mentioned.

Up to this point the only thing ever improved with the SR since I started playing was the headshot multiplier. That was a bandaid fix and did not enough to fix the many ailments that a sniper has to deal with.

I want to know is the SR and sniping even a possibility to be apart of the next hotfix? What is CCP/CPMs concerns about its currents state, and what steps are being taken to correct them?

Try re-reading the posts immediately preceding where someone mentioned that they felt the sniper should eliminate any suit on a headshot.

I posted why I don't use the sniper at all, which is tied to crappy core game mechanics that make it hard to get a good sampling of how well he sniper rifle is, versus what it can do, and why it is failing. I feel no need to rehash statements others have made tht I don't agree, nor disagree with until I get more information.

And finally in regards to you berating me for not providing the answer you want or responding the way you feel I am obligated to, kiss my butt. I'm a volunteer, not your employee.

Quit trying to dictate my role in the conversation. I'm not horribly known for cooperative spirit when people attempt to "put me in my place."

D-does anyone else feel defeated by what breakin stuff just jot down?...

Way to stay close minded. If hit detection is that poor than adding aim assist, reducing range, and buffing damage or rate of fire seems like a way it can be hotfixed.

p.s. are you an IWS alt?

Considering how much hell I just had with one particularly dedicated shield-tanking sniper, I'm interested to see what becomes of shield tanking sniper fits with Hotfix FoxFour.

The ability to take damage, dive into cover for five seconds, and have HP restored to full, is an amazing benefit for long-range capabilities. While I'm still looking over this thread (which I've subscribed to) for nuanced sniper changes, I'm interested to see how snipers benefit from shield tanking instead of just stacking a bunch of plates.

join in my corp? Teach me sniping?

Bullshit on that.
Battlefield snipers have bullet physics, this means you can throw off their aim by being completely unpredictable. Dodge, duck and weave make them work for the kill.
If they are close enough to land a shot despite this, then they are close enough to be shot by your rifle.

There's also Machine Gun suppression that messes with their aim, dramatically increasing scope sway.


A Battlefield sniper has to work for the kill, it isn't point and shoot.

Okay, yeah, I will admit that shield tanking on the receiving end of the sniping was something I had not previously considered and I'm not sure that any of the other CPM did either. For that, my sincerest apologies are in order and we're looking at that right now.

Stay tuned.

Just so we're clear, you want to nerf the heavy suit sniping? If so, no prob, I always use Assault CK.0 (that reload bonus so good) to snipe in, rather be able to hide with damps than maximize damage. And now that I got a reliable sidearm, I may just run into you on the frontline's and maybe even counter snipe more often than not.

One of the considerations we've got on the table atm (can't promise anything) is making a variant of the Laser Rifle with higher optimal range and higher zoom fidelity. This is to knock out a few birds with one stone:

- More diversity/variety in Amarr weaponry
- An anti-shield 'sniper rifle'
- Closing the range gap between traditional weapons and sniper rifles

Feel free to post suggestions on range and what not.

I don't even know the state of thing these days. However, the last time I was around these parts. CCP went over the top with headshot damage multiplier which only needed a small buff, and almost completely ignored increasing base damage. They also reduced the charge sniper rifle clip size from 5 to 3. Which made the Rifle obsolete when you could spam fire 5 bullets from a standard sniper rifle praying for headshots and do just as well if not better. Reducing the magazine size from 5 to 3 on the charge made the weapon incapable of killing some heavies without reloading if you hit the body on all 3 shots. Those extra bullets were needed, especially considering the lag / framerate issues of the game.

Anyway, if CCP had listened to me, and accepted my proposed damage scaling I feel this would be a lot less of an issue. Also the unrequested (unchangeable) Sniper Rifle Cross Hair change, was super annoying as well.

A brief collection of thoughts on Range Reduction and Red Line Snipers.

-snipe-

I honestly think that rhe sniper rifle is in a good spot. Im able to two shot just about anything and im using a Thale. Every headshot works and bodyshots almost kill heavies on one shot. So to me its good. Only complaint is kick and sway after shot cuz then you have to realign the next shot and it takes skill to get the second shot on the target cuz they would move after the first if standing still.

What is CCP/CPMs concerns about its currents state, and what steps are being taken to correct them?