Just to inform you, I tried out the LA80 with a Silencer and these are the results: Damage: Damage is the same, a Headshot still is a oneshot. That's the most important fact. Bullet drop: The bullet drop on short range isn't that much compared to non-silenced. The huge difference is on long-range shots (I mean real long range - with 12x Scope). The drop is massively increased and have to be calculated new. Sound: The sound is compared to the non-silenced much decreased, it's more bass then a real explosion. Like a silenced sniper can be. Audience of enemies: I stood right behind many enemies, they couldn't find me on the radar or find out from where the shots are. Recommendation: Silencer is really great for attacks from the back, if you are able to handle the bullet drop. The disadvantage is not high compared to more safety. Regards, Schalla
So... overall you'd recommend it? I know you say the drop is massive... would you say double? Thanks for the post... I've been wondering.
It's hard to say so. On the real long range hits 12x scope and the enemy was really bad to see and tiny, I had to shoot over the milldots. So it needs much to get used to it. If I would snipe a base, so the distance isn't that much or sneak behind an enemy front, I would use it, yes. For pure scouting I would not maybe. Ultra-Longshot's are just incredible hard, maybe with some practice. You guys want a video?
A video is always awesome. I won't ask it of you, but if you were to add it witht he posting of the "facts" then I would love you forever. Though I'm not a fan of the sniping in this game, I still like to do so every so often, and I usually come to these forums for tips and other general info to use so I don't waste my certs on stuff I'll never use. You've already helped me personally out a ton. Thanks for the info.
Silencer to me was a waste of 100 points. People seem to always know what direction the shot is coming from, even if I don't appear on radar. BR20+s have their buddy headshotted only to just instantly start returning fire to my direction. There were multiple possible sniping spots, but they would always know which direction it came from. Even if there are areas above me and below me, they would always shoot at the right level of elevation and exactly where I was previously. The bullet drop is something painful. With the LA80 and a 12x scope its around 2 1/2~3 mils out at 250~300m. Without the silencer you only need to go about one mil down. The furthest headshot so far with the silencer i've landed was at 450m~. That shot took what felt an entire 1.5 seconds of travel time and was something close to 5 mils with a 12x scope (target was stationary, crouching and firing at another enemy). I have to say though, that shot was quite satisfying. I tried to get used to it, I tried to like it, but it just seems like changing your position every now and then achieved the same goal without doubling or nearly tripling your travel time and bullet drop. I've only attempted it for 6 hours or so, but I am not happy at all with it. Something I used was a personal waypoint on certain landmarks around your sniping spot such as a building or whatnot. It will tell you the range, which you can use to estimate how much you need to compensate. Its quite helpful since we lack a range finder! I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who thinks it will help improve the ability to stay hidden, but if you're looking for a fun challenge with bullet drop and travel time it sure is satisfying to land some of those shots. Decision making and 1hit kills are still your best friend when it comes to not being caught.
Its never a good idea to equip a bolt action with a silencer. Having a bolt action means that you excell at longer ranges, a silencer will take that away, having to compensate allot more for bullet drop simply means that your accuracy will go down (i dont know if the bullet speed is actually reduced, but if it does.... its a no brainer) Beeing far away, it doesnt matter if you show up on rardar, noone is gonna be there, and if they are... you should as any good recon, move to a new position every other shot (works best if your new position overlooks your last). Even when going in aggressively, the trade off of not beeing able to take down longer range targets is simply not worth it, yes you dont show up on radar, but you can still cloak to a new position every time (confusing the hell out of the enemy). In every FPS game I have played where this was an option, it was a bad one and was never recommended... Planetside 2 is not exception. If you are going close range ALWAYS, and never fire long range shots, then equip a semi auto with a silencer. But remember, beeing able to lay down heavy fire on a max from a distance, taking out engineers on turrets or other snipers can be make or break for your teams advancements, and THIS is where the true strenght of the bolt action lies. Yes its fun to go in aggressively, but the trade off is just not worth it.
Suppressor on paper seem good but in use I just don't find them worth while for the trade off all due to the fact that the game will naturally tell you in the HuD itself which direction you are being damaged from; red indicator flashes direction. Also the drop off is quite noticable at med range plus. The no show on map perk is handy, for sure but most time people use visual sight/Q spam rather than follow the map since the HuD version is zoomed out very far which makes it hard to pinpoint enemies. Also note that playin as TR that terminals of my faction are RED thus any red dots around it get lost. Then the sound...the sound is just as loud as a non-silencer just different which in some cases might telegraph your position more due to the distinct sound. Basically with a suppressor you get no show map on map while firing and no muzzle flash vs less dmg/accuracy and more bullet drop. Not good trade off imo. As it stands, I won't use silencer on any class. To many downsides.
We do have an bullet drop, although its minor. And for Bolt action snipers, don't go silenced snipers. Go for flash suppressors, the bullet velocity is much much higher (silencer kills bullet velocity), bullet drop is less severe, but you aren't completely invisible on the map. The thing is, you remain invisible as long as there isn't an enemy beyond 25 square meters of your position. And I see no point being that close to the vanguard.
Now we just need to be able to unequip a silencer in the field, you know, like would be logical. I seem to remember a 10 year old game called counterstrike that allowed that impossible feat.
Then there would have to be another downside to using it. Maybe something like longer time to switch between weapons?
Why it's an downside? As generell modification. ------------------------------------------------------------------- I agree on man things said here, that the bulletdrop needs MUCH practice. I never said it's easy or useful when you get started, but for 200m Shots I would always prefer an silenced bolt sniper then a semi-automatic (at least on NC). The dmg and bullet velo doesnt seem to be less, btw. Dmg I did not tried, since I focus on headshots and not body shots. Also, if you shoot and quick hide yourself, they can't see you at all.
Each person has their own methods and style when it comes to long range shooting, some people the silencer might kill their ability to shoot, so if you are really good nailing shots with huge drop, for the silencer, if your not you might wanna use something else.
I do my sniping almost entirely from behind enemy lines, or the usual hill-clearing duty after a base is captured to get rid of the hiding snipers. So with that playstyle in mind, here is what I found. The bullet drop is severe enough that when I do my shooting, I am usually far enough out so I am out of the minimap range anyway, I have seriously compensate for the bullet drop for almost no gain. So I leave Suppressor home and simply do not take bad shots, or change location after every shot. The biggest issue for people who are looking for you (me as an example, if you're sniping a base I am defending, I will likely be behind your lines, trying to find you) is not the minimap dot which comes up when you shoot. It's the very visible grey line which shows your bullet's trajectory. In this game it seems all sniper rifles shoot a form of tracer rounds. So anyone actively looking will usually notice where the shot came from. If you haven't paid attention to the whole tracer thing yet, next time you're in a fight with infiltrators involved, just watch for a bit and you see what I mean. So overall... the suppressor was really good for the Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle with a low power zoom (4x) and working as support for your infantry pushes, as in staying at the backlines and popping shots at anyone poking their heads out and spotting targets for your frontline. For the bolt-action when doing proper long range shooting, you're outside of the minimap range usually and your position will be given away by the "tracer effect" of the shots you make anyway, making the suppressor rather lackluster. I do not say useless, you will always find a situation where it might have saved you, but those will be few and far in between.
Well... when you are fireing at peps from 250+ you kinda do not need a silencer anyway. They probably wont see you on the map and you can't do anything about the tracer round so yah... I was more interested if it lowered damage, for the situations where I am in base and i want to quickscope-headshot somebody or pistol-pound him. Now that i found that it does not, I'm thinking about making a close combat build with a bolt action. If it can give me just a little more time to hide after a shot while i am inside base, that's enough for me.
Long range sniping with the suppressor is almost useless not because the bullet drop but because the bullet speed is reduced, the target has to stay still for a good while if you want to hit it. I use the suppressor always when I fight at close range, I have lost count of the enemy infiltrators that I could pinpoint due to the minimap ping.
I think we need an option to try out attachments like with weapons. I'm thinking about getting a silencer for the 99SV (TR starter), or a silenced RAMS 50. But with all the fuss here and what I've heard elsewhere, I just don't know if it's worth it for me, I love silenced snipers, but if I can't kill anyone, then what's the point? But I just don't want to waste all that time getting 100 certs if it doesn't work for me, so yeah. HEAR ME SOE!!
