So what's the deal with squadsight?

[Firestorm🗿]

I put it on my first sniper but I have failed to see any benefit from it. All subsquent snipers have gotten snapshot. Have I just failed to understand how to use it?

[aidanfilson25]

squad sight gives snipers global vision range on any enemies an ally can see as long as their is't something in the way, on a lot of maps it lets you put a sniper somewhere open and high to abuse the height bonus you get for accuracy and in some cases flanking. It's also insane for overwatch, enemies only avoid leaving cover if they can see that someone is on overwatch so a lot of the time even if you can't shoot anyone you can just overwatch and someone will die trying to change positions.

personally it's the opposite for me, snapshot goes in the trash and all snipers take squad sight, it makes them virtually untouchable and gives them a really good accuracy bonus too often. There's a reason they gutted it in XCOM 2.

[Firestorm🗿]

Originally posted by aidanfilson25:

squad sight gives snipers global vision range on any enemies an ally can see as long as their is't something in the way, on a lot of maps it lets you put a sniper somewhere open and high to abuse the height bonus you get for accuracy and in some cases flanking. It's also insane for overwatch, enemies only avoid leaving cover if they can see that someone is on overwatch so a lot of the time even if you can't shoot anyone you can just overwatch and someone will die trying to change positions.

personally it's the opposite for me, snapshot goes in the trash and all snipers take squad sight, it makes them virtually untouchable and gives them a really good accuracy bonus too often. There's a reason they gutted it in XCOM 2.

Oof. I guess I need to try to find high ground harder.

[Androgynous]

with squadsight you want to position your snipers ahead of time, but the difference is there isn't a strict range where you're either useful or useless. without squadsight if you're one square out of range, you can't attack - but you also don't want to get too close to the enemy, or they'll be in range to hit you too.

with snap shot, you end up with a soldier that can move + shoot and has a bit more accuracy than your average soldier but it doesn't really change the way your team functions - early on a soldier with a scope and light plasma rifle kind of has the same result.

squadsight can enable things you can't do before though, you can set up long range overwatch traps. since enemies react as soon as you see them, you can't do it without squadsight - they'll run away as soon as your snipers spot them.

whereas if you pre-emptively overwatch from far away, then trigger the pods with another soldier, the enemies will trigger your overwatch as soon as they run away. that way you're shooting them in the open instead of when they're in cover (get opportunist btw), and the soldier that spotted the aliens then use his 2nd action to run back to cover, or clean up any low HP stragglers - preferably use an assault with lightning reflexes for enemies that go on overwatch when they're seen.

you can also combine it with soldiers that have mimetic skin, using them as scouts to provide vision so that your squadsight snipers can attack from across the map. it's great for taking things slow and safe.

if you enjoy using snap shot, don't let us stop you though. later on I'll sometimes have a soldier on each class with an alternate skill build just for fun.

[Firestorm🗿]

Originally posted by Androgynous:

with squadsight you want to position your snipers ahead of time, but the difference is there isn't a strict range where you're either useful or useless. without squadsight if you're one square out of range, you can't attack - but you also don't want to get too close to the enemy, or they'll be in range to hit you too.

with snap shot, you end up with a soldier that can move + shoot and has a bit more accuracy than your average soldier but it doesn't really change the way your team functions - early on a soldier with a scope and light plasma rifle kind of has the same result.

squadsight can enable things you can't do before though, you can set up long range overwatch traps. since enemies react as soon as you see them, you can't do it without squadsight - they'll run away as soon as your snipers spot them.

whereas if you pre-emptively overwatch from far away, then trigger the pods with another soldier, the enemies will trigger your overwatch as soon as they run away. that way you're shooting them in the open instead of when they're in cover (get opportunist btw), and the soldier that spotted the aliens then use his 2nd action to run back to cover, or clean up any low HP stragglers - preferably use an assault with lightning reflexes for enemies that go on overwatch when they're seen.

you can also combine it with soldiers that have mimetic skin, using them as scouts to provide vision so that your squadsight snipers can attack from across the map. it's great for taking things slow and safe.

if you enjoy using snap shot, don't let us stop you though. later on I'll sometimes have a soldier on each class with an alternate skill build just for fun.

Is there any benefit bringing more than one squadsight sniper? I might finally get a genelab soon and I am currently brainstorming ways of creating the most scuffed scout/assault build I can.

[Ozzey_Lee]

Originally posted by Firestorm🗿:

Is there any benefit bringing more than one squadsight sniper? I might finally get a genelab soon and I am currently brainstorming ways of creating the most scuffed scout/assault build I can.

Yes, at least in my case, one of my snipers could take two shots and the other could use disabling shot.

One disables there gun and the other can take two shots. Works very well against sectopods. I could also disable shot 1 enemy and kill two others.

I would always take two snipers late.

[Androgynous]

Originally posted by Firestorm🗿:

Is there any benefit bringing more than one squadsight sniper? I might finally get a genelab soon and I am currently brainstorming ways of creating the most scuffed scout/assault build I can.

definitely. on a surface level, twice the snipers just means twice the damage, though having 2 shots per round means better odds of the enemy getting 0 actions vs 1, and that's a big difference, especially on the higher difficulties where mistakes are more punishing - a thin man that gets the opportunity to shoot a soldier that isn't hunkered down *and* in full cover often means a dead soldier.

two snipers covers more area. using snipers well requires good positioning since you need to setup ahead of time. having two snipers covering different sightlines means you almost always have at least one that can shoot, and also the first one can trigger enemy movement and walk into the second sniper's field of view.

squad set up depends on where you're at in the game. early on snipers are probably the worst class, I think I'd rather have a rookie than a squaddie sniper, since their aim isn't good enough to be worth the hassle of positioning them and they don't have squadsight yet. it's like having a rookie that only has a pistol + grenade.

later on, snipers are one of the best damage dealers in the game. maybe not as much as a rapid fire assault at point blank, but they're reliable at all distances, and rarely take damage.

most of the time I like to run 2 snipers, with 1 support and 1-2 heavy/assaults. if your assaults have mimetic skin + close combat specialist, hunker down stops them automatically shooting close enemies and revealing themselves, but hunker down after your snipers have shot, since hunker down lowers vision range, and you can't shoot what you can't see.

typical ability choice is squad sight, damn good ground, disabling shot and opportunist. colonel rank is up to you. I like to run both when I have 2 snipers, though I'd give double tap a slight edge on my first sniper, since in the zone is useless vs one target, while double tap is always useful.

[Crypto Gamer]

On some open maps like highway one your late squad sight sniper can fly up with archangel suit.Gets higher ground can see 90% of the map.....

Aim is 105+10 from scope+5 aim/crit from gene mode+20aim from higher ground+10 aim from damm good ground that is 150 aim can get more from medals and adrenal rush.........

Can 100% hit almost everything across the map......


Snap shot is poors man assault and sometimes you go for the flank you get the usuall-10 aim and the sniper close range penalty basically gets you a worse assault aim......

That said with ultimate skill you can sometimes flank around and get AP refunds.
Or just kill low hp units which can not be in cover like drones.

Xcom EW nerfed squadsight Xcom 2 nerfed it even more for obvious reasons.