Good shooter: Automatic or sniper?

[Insertclevername]

Should I give my best shooter an automatic weapon or would he be more efficient with my sniper rifle? This is a question that has plagued me since I bought the game and I've never answered it, lol.

[Sir Crashalot]

I would say sniper.
Longer range means that there is less chance he will be targeted and it hits hard.

[The Grass]

depends on if the shooter takes their time or is trigger happy. i'd say the shooter that takes their time may be better off with a sniper. and the trigger happy would be better with an automatic.

[Filthy Goon]

I would also take into account positioning and other colonists, snipers wont be much help if your backed up against a wall and raiders 3 tiles away likewise wouldnt want to watch a sniper take off a colonists head

[Insertclevername]

Originally posted by Formless Fury:

depends on if the shooter takes their time or is trigger happy. i'd say the shooter that takes their time may be better off with a sniper. and the trigger happy would be better with an automatic.

Neither.

[IxianMace]

I always give my best shooters high-damage, long-reload weapons, like survival rifles and sniper rifles. My philosophy is that good shooters, who are more likely to hit their targets, can probably afford to be given weapons with a long reload time because they aren't as likely to miss, and when they do hit, they'll do massive damage. Giving them more accurate weapons further increases their combat effectiveness, allowing me to emphasise their high shooting ability.

Bad shooters, on the other hand, should 'spray and pray'. Even if you're a bad shooter, if you spray enough bullets in the general direction of the enemy, you'll eventually hit something, and it won't matter so much if you miss, since you'll be able to take another shot in short order.

Additionally, as has been previously touched upon, I'll want my better shooters to stay back out of harm's way so they can pick off their targets in relative safety, though who I consider 'higher' on the survival priority list takes more into consideration than just shooting ability.

In general, I tend to approach these kinds of decisions considering what would be the worse alternative.

[Ranger.Danger]

Snipers usually shouldnt be used in normal attacks, instead use them to counter mechanoids, take down crashed ship parts, agro siegers or attack bugs. For an average raid id say give him an assault rifle or something

[Shameness]

3 guy with assult rifle is enough for suppressive fire. Every bullet hit stops the enemy for a second. For kill and survive, rifle or sniper rifle is the best. Prefer getting sniper rifle first if you don't have one.

[ministrog]

Originally posted by Ranger.Danger:

Snipers usually shouldnt be used in normal attacks, instead use them to counter mechanoids, take down crashed ship parts, agro siegers or attack bugs. For an average raid id say give him an assault rifle or something

Pretty much this. You want them the most versitile of all your shooters. Get the best sniper rifle you can afford or make, but always default to a similar ranged weapon to your other pawns. Especially when you got large groups rushing in.

Of course, you're welcome to play as you like or even keep pure sniper colony for RP purpose.

[Neo Blitz]

Assault rifle, but keep the sniper around for when it is needed. I say assault rifle because if said pawn is ever in close range situation a sniper won't save his life. Say for instance you see the message "pawn is being hunted by a cougar." this dosent pause the game it self but you manage too in time and switch to the targeted pawn, he has a quick to fire assault rifle where 1 burst saves his life in this situation where a sniper rifle wouldn't have time to even get a shot off. But always always always have the sniper rifle where he can sometimes use it.

[Mytheos]

@OP

Just depends on the raid and your defense setup.

If you have a poison ship, full sniper stand at max range.

If you have a standard raid and you use bunkers/doors, best with a faster weapon to ambush them, so assault rifles.

Mech raid? Might start with the snipers on the scythers then switch to assault/charged when they get close...then after they are dead, back to sniper for the centipedes.

There isnt a "best gun" for all situations, you just adapt what you use based on the raid.

[Team Triss]

Get QuantumX's excellent Imperial Guard mod. Equip your colonists with lasguns.

Hum the Imperial Guard theme from Dawn of War and watch the Emperor protect.

Also I think the answer to your question (aside from give everybody lasguns) depends on where/how you're trying to defend. Do you have large open spaces, or do you do like I do and try to channel raiders into a hallway of death?

[Giant Space Hamster]

For situations when I want to snipe, I give the sniper rifles to my best shooters that have neither Trigger Happy or Careful Shooter. I dislike both the reduced aim and increased aiming time respectively so I avoid both those traits for snipers.

If I have a Trigger Happy pawn I like to give them a mini-gun. It's a spray-and-pray weapon so the reduced aim isn't as big a deal since you use it in situations when you are facing a lot of enemies and "miss hits" on unintended targets are a big part of the appeal.

My Careful Shooters usually get charge rifles or assault rifles. Their aim is middle-ground enough that the extra accuracy seems to help hit with more than 1 bullet from a volley much more often. They also have relatively low cooldowns between shots so the extra aim time doesn't hurt as much.

[robz]

does not matter which gun to be honest as you are always going to defend with more than 1 person.