I can´t get my sniper to work.

[Don Cool]

The only time she has been good is in the two boss fights I have done so far, good damage and hit rate.

In normal missions her accuracy is far too often very low, repositioning and using abilities somewhat compensates at times but she is extremely situational and other Gears just do it better for me in most occasions.

Most mobs seek cover making her obsolete in many cases where I really needed her to hit, if the mobs are out in the open I have other and better choices, two shotgun wielding runners if the mission allows do the job far better. They can bypass cover, stealth themselves and two explosive abilities on top.

I like the support and Gabe is probably my favourite Gear, he provides so much utility, healing is just lacking though so didn´t go up that tree.

The heavy has some really nice perks and can hold his own while being versatile when it comes to range.

Scouts are just awesome.

My vanguard tanks with his epic/legendary gear like a champ and often gets more kills than I would anticipate.

The sniper ... meh .... can´t seem to play to her strengths so I only have the hero one. It´s mostly her accuracy at long range that seems lacking, when effective she seems more like a mid range shotgun wielder. What am I doing wrong?

[snuggleform]

In normal missions her accuracy is far too often very low, repositioning and using abilities somewhat compensates at times but she is extremely situational and other Gears just do it better for me in most occasions.

I think we need to examine why this is the case for you. Why is the accuracy too low? Is it because you're fighting enemies that are too close where the sniper rifle has a penalty? If so then switch to the pistol for close range fights. The sniper rifle's accuracy is really, really good as long as you're not within min range. It's much better than any other gun out there. Other guns accuracy drop off super fast as the range increases.

Scouts are good no doubt but you can risk overpulling attention (assuming you don't have permacloak through items) due to their need for range.

The heavy is all right but its accuracy is much worse at high ranges and it's blocked by cover just like the sniper is.

The sniper with crit build has a lot of action efficiency (refills ammo, refills APs, etc) compared to the heavy.

The sniper is safe damage, it can take cover without wading deep into battle. Don't forget the sniper rifle has natural high crit damage so you should notice it pops things pretty hard pretty often.

[_filosofem_]

What build do you use?

I didn't like Mikayla much in the beginning, but as time went by I really learned how to use her and now I think she's probably the dealiest asset in my team (regarding heroes at least).

https://d2skuhm0vrry40.cloudfront.net/2020/articles/2020-04-27-15-15/gears_tactics_skills_builds_0.jpg

I chose to build her as Assassin (contrary to what's done on this screenshot) and she really is both Accurate and versatile while dealing a tremendous amount of damage.

With Bullseye you can guarantee critical damage on one mob, which virtually is insta-kill on most enemies, and with Precision Shot you can add up to +50% Accuracy and +50% Damage, which also is almost guaranteed kill in any situation.

I also use gear that will add Damage, Critical chance bonus upon first shot and stuff like "gets a chance to atuo reload 1 ammo at beginning of turn".

Provided you do know what distance is best to use a sniper, it's one of the deadliest class by far IMO.

Hunter branch is also very good, I'm using it with a random soldier and it does wonder at spamming shots thanks to great AP regen.

Here's a deadly combo with Hunter:
3AP / 3 Ammo -> spend 1 AP/Ammo for Chain Shot gives you +2 AP
4AP / 2 Ammo -> take regular shot with 1 AP/Ammo
3AP / 1 Ammo -> use 1 AP/Ammo for Fast Fingers to kill mob, gain +1AP and quick reload
3AP / 3 Ammo -> take regular shot with 1 AP/Ammo
2AP / 2 Ammo -> take regular shot with 1 AP/Ammo
1AP/ 1 Ammo -> use 1 AP/Ammo for Ultimate Shot to kill mob will resplenish all APs!
3AP / 0 Ammo

There you are with 3 AP and no Ammo, took 6 shots already and you're ready to go on. So you can either reload and have another 2 shots to end your combo OR what's best is if you have a Support that has Surge skill (reset all cooldowns!!!) and/or Empower + Teamwork which could allow you to have even more shots. That's insane...

[Беззлобие]

you will never go over cover mechanic, that the core, of gameplay that make shooting with accuracy chance obsolete to guaranteed damage even if its lower, so only highground\flanking and abilities that push enemy out of covers (including nades) are to help

[Aduen]

Your Sniper has a base Accuracy of 100%, low cover is a 20% reduction. Later in the game you will also meet enemies with a 30% Evasion. Combined brings it to a 50% hit chance which is pretty crap. To counteract this you need to get all the Accuracy buffs you can find (gear, weapon mods). One Overpowered mod for example is the Legendary Torso with Diagnose. It gives you +100% Accuracy when you used a healing skill. Any generative healing skill triggers this. On Gabe I have a constant 200% Accuracy because he heals on every hit and kill...

What is strange about Gears Tactics is that the Sniper class does not come with a higher base Accuracy, which is probably what confused you. Another extremely confusing part is that an Accuracy of +40% on a character actually means +0%. Anything -above- 40 is extra, so +43% means 103% Accuracy. Yes, I know, makes no **** sense...

[Aduen]

Originally posted by Maximus Keksikus:

you will never go over cover mechanic, that the core, of gameplay that make shooting with accuracy chance obsolete to guaranteed damage even if its lower, so only highground\flanking and abilities that push enemy out of covers (including nades) are to help

I gave Gabe a mod that gives him +100% Accuracy, he crits enemies behind full cover from a distance. It is all simple math in the end, full cover just gives you a 40% Accuracy reduction + Obstruction which can vary. You -can- overcome this.

[Ouch My Brainz]

File for EDD that way your sniper can make some money working

[Беззлобие]

Originally posted by Aduen:

low cover is a 20% reduction.

why the hell troops have 10% hit chance at someone in half cover at perfect range even with more than 40% bonus accurace when its supost to be 80%?
Something fishy there.

[Cpt. Kid]

I forgot what I gave Mikayla but does everyone like that for early game (before you beat the game)?

Im not sure if you will find the same gear every play through and I didnt really go into any certain skill I stayed center which is why Im hurting playing against final boss.

Epic Power Stock (-40 damage +15% accuracy), Epic Precision Scope (+10% accuracy) , Epic Wrapped Barrel (+40 damage), and Epic Power Bolt (+60 damage -2 ammo). The weapon bonuses helped out but the skills are worth using if you focus on certain areas.

Epic Onyx Helmet: +7% evasion - passive skill OPTICS 7% Critical Hit Chance
Epic Ranger Kit: +10 evasion - passive skill BLITZ dont take a shot for a turn +50% chance to get 1 action point next turn
Epic Delta Straps: +30 health - passive skill MAGAZINE EXTENSION +2 magazine size

Match this gear with the right skills before you fight the final boss and you should be okay. I want to use long shot in veteran mode.

[Androgos]

i do feel the sniper class is a bit wonky for example ive had missions where they necer make a shot even at 80-90% hit chances they miss every shot a mission idk if its a bug. it could just be bad luck but when you miss all your 80%+ shots it makes me suspicious

[Don Cool]

Originally posted by Androgos:

i do feel the sniper class is a bit wonky for example ive had missions where they necer make a shot even at 80-90% hit chances they miss every shot a mission idk if its a bug. it could just be bad luck but when you miss all your 80%+ shots it makes me suspicious

Yeah, and future snipers don´t know how to shoot through cover, I don´t know why I keep comparing the sniper to a real life sniper, I don´t do it with the other classes. Range is very limited compared to Xcom, I would have made it a class with a 1 bullet chamber and far more deadly vs a single entity ignoring most cover.

[GeneralXTL]

I used to hate the sniper class along with the scout (before I knew about the UIR Set) But once I figured out how to use them I try to bring them all the time now.

Mikayla I made a head hunter. She gets +3% damage per kill stacking and with some items she has %100 crit rate with %300 crit damage. I use her to one shot Kantas and Boomers.

Another sniper I made a chain shooter. She gets all the skills that add more turns. She hits a target, +2 turns. She kills a target +1 turn and free reload. Kills another, gets all her turns back. Great for mopping up low to med level groups.

[Androgos]

has anyone else experienced recruiting new shippers and even with the same gear and skills they perform worse than mikayla?

[Boca F]

Guys, honestly you must be doing something wrong regarding the snipers placement.
Cover is a hindrance sure, but thats the game main mechanic. There's also some other characters on act3, like Disciples which have natural 10-20 evasion.

Snipers to me are usually paired well with scouts, as the scouts try to flank units and get locked in position by overwatch or pin down, you can cloak and get a free pass, or shoot with the sniper. It's all about position, really. Snipers are the deadliest unit in the game, at least for me.

Try the combos above and make them perform a specific role even being a sniper. Are they going to shoot priority targets or take care of the weaker ones?
Make sure you use Critical chance, critical damage and damage gear on them, and that's it.