Came back after about 2 years...Wondering about "Sniper"

[Paradox]

Started playing this game again after stopping for about 2 years (hackers were too rampant and everything good was locked in the DZ back when i quit a month or two after the game released). I generally prefer playing sniper classes, but I have noticed that seems fairly difficult in this game or I am missing something.

Sure, I can 1 or 2 shot most mobs with a m700 carbon, 9-10k firearms stat, and hunter's faith bonus stacked (not classified, cuz i haven't gotten that far yet, so takes twice as long to stack), but I find that enemies just like to rush me and at close ranges I seem to be very squishy. To make matters worse it seems that most of the missions put you into maps where it is nothing but close-quarters combat or put so many obstacles in your way that if you are in a party, by the time you line up the shot your team has already killed the target.

So, I am just wondering if snipers just aren't that great in this game or if I am not understanding something, which wouldn't surprise me given my lack of experience.

[buhbelguhm_dhawg]

Having 9-10k in firearms means you have little to no health, and with the change to the armor roles on gear, meaning there is little in terms of actual damage mitigation. And as for sniper, why would it make any sense to use one on targets hardly 25m out? your best bet is to get good at landing headshots if you're so set on using a sniper.

[Serangel]

Snipers arnt that great, the sets designed for them lack in comparison to other sets. Now, marksmen are decent clases, grab a dmr and put something on like sentry or predator and your good to go.

[The Briarfox]

Solo snipers aren't that great. They really need a tank to draw aggro. Even then, unless you're super slick hitting those headshots, there are more reliable, less reliant on long range clear shot builds that melt elites and nameds faster. There are whole areas of missions and incursions where sniping just isn't even plausable.

[Paradox]

The Briarfox původně napsal:

Solo snipers aren't that great. They really need a tank to draw aggro. Even then, unless you're super slick hitting those headshots, there are more reliable, less reliant on long range clear shot builds that melt elites and nameds faster. There are whole areas of missions and incursions where sniping just isn't even plausable.

Well that's what I was wondering about, why would they make an entire "class" that doesn't really work all that well for a good portion of the game. I thought I was just missing something, but it seems that's just how it's designed. It would make more sense if you could swap loadouts on the fly, but that's not possible either - I guess you could in between fights, if you know the missions well enough.

[Serangel]

Paradox původně napsal:

The Briarfox původně napsal:

Solo snipers aren't that great. They really need a tank to draw aggro. Even then, unless you're super slick hitting those headshots, there are more reliable, less reliant on long range clear shot builds that melt elites and nameds faster. There are whole areas of missions and incursions where sniping just isn't even plausable.

Well that's what I was wondering about, why would they make an entire "class" that doesn't really work all that well for a good portion of the game. I thought I was just missing something, but it seems that's just how it's designed. It would make more sense if you could swap loadouts on the fly, but that's not possible either - I guess you could in between fights, if you know the missions well enough.

You can swap loadouts on the fly now. There is an option in gear called loadouts where you can save several loadouts, even goes as far as swapping mods on gear.

The reason they arnt viable is the amount of damage they would have to do to keep up with say a strikers set in terms of dps, would be so large it would be severly unbalance. One or two shotting bosses with headshot crits. It would just be the new explosive bullet damage glitch snipers had back in 1.1.

[BlueLightning]

well, got hunter faith classified here 6/6, 10k firearm and a diciplined sniper, well i can solo most challenging missions with sniper due one headshot kill then next headshot is auto kill too

engage from distance and you are good to go, make sure to prepare a rifle in case someone rush

[Paradox]

Serangel původně napsal:

Paradox původně napsal:

Well that's what I was wondering about, why would they make an entire "class" that doesn't really work all that well for a good portion of the game. I thought I was just missing something, but it seems that's just how it's designed. It would make more sense if you could swap loadouts on the fly, but that's not possible either - I guess you could in between fights, if you know the missions well enough.

You can swap loadouts on the fly now. There is an option in gear called loadouts where you can save several loadouts, even goes as far as swapping mods on gear.

The reason they arnt viable is the amount of damage they would have to do to keep up with say a strikers set in terms of dps, would be so large it would be severly unbalance. One or two shotting bosses with headshot crits. It would just be the new explosive bullet damage glitch snipers had back in 1.1.

You can't swap loadouts on the fly, you can only swap them out of combat.

Their damage isn't why they aren't useful, again, I kill most everything in just a couple of shots (and my gear isn't all that great, i've only been playing a few days since two years ago). It's that for that damage the tradeoff is super squish and requires good aim (headshots), which means you do not want to be close at all, which means you need range and no obstacles in your path - the latter two being less common.

Anyway, thanks to those that replied. I guess I was just hoping that I was missing something.

BlueLightning původně napsal:

well, got hunter faith classified here, 10k firearm and a diciplined sniper, well i can solo most things with sniper due one headshot kill then next headshot is auto kill too

engage from distance and you are good to go, make sure to prepare a rifle in case someone rush

Using that setup, how well can you solo 93 to farm for the gear you are wearing? How do you heal, I assume you must take some damage. If you don't take damage, how are you not taking damage?

[BlueLightning]

Paradox původně napsal:

Serangel původně napsal:

You can swap loadouts on the fly now. There is an option in gear called loadouts where you can save several loadouts, even goes as far as swapping mods on gear.

The reason they arnt viable is the amount of damage they would have to do to keep up with say a strikers set in terms of dps, would be so large it would be severly unbalance. One or two shotting bosses with headshot crits. It would just be the new explosive bullet damage glitch snipers had back in 1.1.

You can't swap loadouts on the fly, you can only swap them out of combat.

Their damage isn't why they aren't useful, again, I kill most everything in just a couple of shots (and my gear isn't all that great, i've only been playing a few days since two years ago). It's that for that damage the tradeoff is super squish and requires good aim (headshots), which means you do not want to be close at all, which means you need range and no obstacles in your path - the latter two being less common.

Anyway, thanks to those that replied. I guess I was just hoping that I was missing something.

BlueLightning původně napsal:

well, got hunter faith classified here, 10k firearm and a diciplined sniper, well i can solo most things with sniper due one headshot kill then next headshot is auto kill too

engage from distance and you are good to go, make sure to prepare a rifle in case someone rush

Using that setup, how well can you solo 93 to farm for the gear you are wearing? How do you heal, I assume you must take some damage. If you don't take damage, how are you not taking damage?

Paradox původně napsal:

Serangel původně napsal:

You can swap loadouts on the fly now. There is an option in gear called loadouts where you can save several loadouts, even goes as far as swapping mods on gear.

The reason they arnt viable is the amount of damage they would have to do to keep up with say a strikers set in terms of dps, would be so large it would be severly unbalance. One or two shotting bosses with headshot crits. It would just be the new explosive bullet damage glitch snipers had back in 1.1.

You can't swap loadouts on the fly, you can only swap them out of combat.

Their damage isn't why they aren't useful, again, I kill most everything in just a couple of shots (and my gear isn't all that great, i've only been playing a few days since two years ago). It's that for that damage the tradeoff is super squish and requires good aim (headshots), which means you do not want to be close at all, which means you need range and no obstacles in your path - the latter two being less common.

Anyway, thanks to those that replied. I guess I was just hoping that I was missing something.

hmm, tbh you are missing diciplined and hunter classified, 1st headshot is 500k, with diciplined, next headshot will be auto crit, making it 1m damage, and with the hunter faith, it goes even more deadly, i got like 1.5m at the 5th headshot, bullet king 1 shot dead to the head

pier 93: a mobile cover, a support station, and peek shot technique, i usually didnt take enemy shot due long range advantage, even they are kill me long range, support station always get me back up

i finished like 5 times pier 93 with this, happy with 6/6 hunter faith and now i farming dtech and good talented m700 carbon instead of classified

[Paradox]

BlueLightning původně napsal:

Paradox původně napsal:

You can't swap loadouts on the fly, you can only swap them out of combat.

Their damage isn't why they aren't useful, again, I kill most everything in just a couple of shots (and my gear isn't all that great, i've only been playing a few days since two years ago). It's that for that damage the tradeoff is super squish and requires good aim (headshots), which means you do not want to be close at all, which means you need range and no obstacles in your path - the latter two being less common.

Anyway, thanks to those that replied. I guess I was just hoping that I was missing something.


Using that setup, how well can you solo 93 to farm for the gear you are wearing? How do you heal, I assume you must take some damage. If you don't take damage, how are you not taking damage?

Paradox původně napsal:

You can't swap loadouts on the fly, you can only swap them out of combat.

Their damage isn't why they aren't useful, again, I kill most everything in just a couple of shots (and my gear isn't all that great, i've only been playing a few days since two years ago). It's that for that damage the tradeoff is super squish and requires good aim (headshots), which means you do not want to be close at all, which means you need range and no obstacles in your path - the latter two being less common.

Anyway, thanks to those that replied. I guess I was just hoping that I was missing something.

hmm, tbh you are missing diciplined and hunter classified, 1st headshot is 500k, with diciplined, next headshot will be auto crit, making it 1m damage, and with the hunter faith, it goes even more deadly, i got like 1.5m at the 5th headshot, bullet king 1 shot dead to the head

pier 93: a mobile cover, a support station, and peek shot technique, i usually didnt take enemy shot due long range advantage, even they are kill me long range, support station always get me back up

i finished like 5 times pier 93 with this, happy with 6/6 hunter faith and now i farming dtech and good talented m700 carbon instead of classified

No, i run brutal, prepared, and disciplined. My numbers are around 500-600k on the first shot and maxes out (with hunter bonus 100%) around 1.3-1.5m. Damage isn't my issue. Again, it's most maps being close quarters, me being squishy, or maps that aren't small just having a lot of things in the way of shots.

Generally I will take a few shots just popping out to pop a headshot, but usually the issue is they zerg me or flank me. I really haven't given mobile cover any thought, as I figured it would be destroyed in a matter of seconds, if it isn't that could work to create better spots, might give that a try. Thanks.

[Brandon_Lee]

Well, been using HF classified 6pc, and I tell you this. HF is a good set, really, but I don't understand why people try to solo with it. Really, guys, just why? It's not solo set, not at all! How I see it:

CONS
- No PVP, most of time hostile players will close in well before you'll be able to get enough bonus.
- You can also forget about soloing anything on legendary or heroic, challenging is your cap now, even with healing station.
- You can also forget about soloing underground or resistance, confined space results in you not having range advantage. Healing station will only give you false confidence.

PROS
- With full bonus you can oneshot basically anything from regular baseball bat guys to some named elites, and even if you can't oneshot them in the head you still can most of time oneshot their weak spots.
- You can stay out of enemy weapons range while still packing a punch against them. This combined with good teammates and supressor and as a result you do not need health stat at all.
- Long engagement range means that you can simply run away if things get nasty.

However you're gonna need a friend who can act as bulletsponge while you snipe bad guys from afar (D3, nomad etc, basically anything that increases survivability).

I'd also advise this setup:

1. 9k firearms is enough, then around 3k health and rest into electronics
2. M44 allows you more freedom with weapon tallents at expence of mag capacity but extended mag will do the trick
3. Supressor is a must have
4. Regarding weapon mods, invest as much as possible into headshot damage
5. Don't forget to reroll gloves to sniper rifle damage
6. Get yourself a solid backup gun with a very high RoF (LVOA or Bullfrog if you're lucky, basically anything that has ROF >800). Just do it, you'll thank me later
7. Take turret as your first skill, you're gonna need it. Also, if you have mods that increase its performance - do not hesitate to use them. Flamethrower turret is a solid choice, always.
8. You'll want seeker mine as your second skill (I prefer cluster mine but any of them will do).
9. Take Tactical link as your signature skill, it boosts damage AND reload time, and it also boosts RoF which is good as it will significantly boost your backup gun damage in case of emergency, thus (assuming you have ~9k firearms and extended mag and proper talents on secondary) turning you into unstoppable killing machine for the next ~17 seconds.

I get 593k for the first headsot and my damage cap as of now is around 1.6m

[M✈E✈C✈P]

Brandon_Lee původně napsal:

Well, been using HF classified 6pc, and I tell you this. HF is a good set, really, but I don't understand why people try to solo with it. Really, guys, just why? It's not solo set, not at all! How I see it:

CONS
- No PVP, most of time hostile players will close in well before you'll be able to get enough bonus.
- You can also forget about soloing anything on legendary or heroic, challenging is your cap now, even with healing station.
- You can also forget about soloing underground or resistance, confined space results in you not having range advantage. Healing station will only give you false confidence.

PROS
- With full bonus you can oneshot basically anything from regular baseball bat guys to some named elites, and even if you can't oneshot them in the head you still can most of time oneshot their weak spots.
- You can stay out of enemy weapons range while still packing a punch against them. This combined with good teammates and supressor and as a result you do not need health stat at all.
- Long engagement range means that you can simply run away if things get nasty.

However you're gonna need a friend who can act as bulletsponge while you snipe bad guys from afar (D3, nomad etc, basically anything that increases survivability).

I'd also advise this setup:

1. 9k firearms is enough, then around 3k health and rest into electronics
2. M44 allows you more freedom with weapon tallents at expence of mag capacity but extended mag will do the trick
3. Supressor is a must have
4. Regarding weapon mods, invest as much as possible into headshot damage
5. Don't forget to reroll gloves to sniper rifle damage
6. Get yourself a solid backup gun with a very high RoF (LVOA or Bullfrog if you're lucky, basically anything that has ROF >800). Just do it, you'll thank me later
7. Take turret as your first skill, you're gonna need it. Also, if you have mods that increase its performance - do not hesitate to use them. Flamethrower turret is a solid choice, always.
8. You'll want seeker mine as your second skill (I prefer cluster mine but any of them will do).
9. Take Tactical link as your signature skill, it boosts damage AND reload time, and it also boosts RoF which is good as it will significantly boost your backup gun damage in case of emergency, thus (assuming you have ~9k firearms and extended mag and proper talents on secondary) turning you into unstoppable killing machine for the next ~17 seconds.

I get 593k for the first headsot and my damage cap as of now is around 1.6m

9.5k Firearms. I can solo underground just fine, Very few people will be able to solo legendary on any build but yes def not hunters faith. For PVP ill agree maybe in DZ it probably wouldnt be great but you can play it just fine in last stand and in skirmish. I have been trying it out in last stand and usually will end up with 15+ kills and top 3 on my team. M700 is a must in order to take advantage of stacks.

[Shendun]

PhellAsleep původně napsal:

I feel like Sentry's Call would be better for a solo Sniper. It affords you the benefits a damage bonus from headshots, with the freedom of using a MDR, semi-auto sniper, or pistol as needed. Sentry is also the only marksman set to fully utilize all the benefits of the set bonus of Devil and Heel.

In my opinion, the main flaw with Hunter's Faith is losing the damage bonus on a reload. Due to that, I feel like the overall DPS potential is about the same as DeadEye, which is more useful in group PvP, given the chicken dance meta.

Sentry's call was great before it got nerfed, at that time you got 15% bonus head damage per mark, now its only 5%. this nerf make it useless, because with max 3 marks its only 15% bonus head damage.
if you really want to make a different with sentry's call, you have to collect the full classified gearset which is way better than the normal 4 piece sentry.

Hunters faith isn't bad, you just have to use it the right way and it can dish out loads of dammage.

Deadeye is great with mdr's, since mdr's is crit hit/damage, so with the weapons own
crit + deadeye + bonus crit from mods and gear. with this option you will get a crit beast.