The Railjack: The Real Issue

I have heard a lot of complaints about the Railjack already. Everyone who uses it complains that the delay is too long compared to the mag size and neither are compensated for by the velocity. Well, as a primary sniper, I can tell you that the only thing evidently wrong with this gun is the user. You get incredible range and guaranteed 1HK's with headshots! So if you are getting said headshots, what's the problem? If you're not getting them because you can't, practice. If you're not getting them because you aren't going for them, then you shouldn't be sniping at all.

-Find a spot in the shadows
-Hold out for the easy target (Medics, Engies, RL-weilding Heavies, and anyone else who isn't moving much)
-Find the range
-Go for the head
-Relocate
-Repeat

It's not rocket science! The Railjack is a great weapon as is. Why do you need to get off more than one shot? That should be all you need

Cheers!

Whilst I agree a goos sniper will be able to overcome the shortfalls it must still be noted that the delay in firing is completely contradictory to the velocity the gun has.

The result we have now is because SOE clearly couldn't find a better alternative so this is what the NC are stuck with. The only great thing about this rifle is the aesthetic which is very nice and very NC.... need more guns like this for NC plz

I had fun with it. Feels like crap, but gets the job done.

I think the gun was delicately balanced in its pre-hotfix state. I don't mind the delay that much, because the 10 bullet magazine makes a real difference. The high mag capacity is highly synergetic with the Railjack's strong damage per bullet. Think about how much damage you're able to deal before you have to reload. This is an advantage that outweighs the delay in my mind.

Now let's look at the post-hotfix size 4 magazine. If you're like me and you prefer using the short reload, the Railjack's gone from being able to fire 9 shots before reloading to being able to fire 3 shots before reloading. 3. Nerfing it down to a standard 5 bullet mag would have been fine, but cutting down the magazine efficacy to a THIRD of its original version?

Dude, today patch we will only get 4/40, 10/50 is no longer exist

I know lol. That's what I was complaining about in my second paragraph.

Name one situation where this weapon would do better than a longshot. Here are some disadvantages compared to a longshot to keep in mind.

• A longshot takes a shorter amount of time to hit a target up to render range.
• A longshot rechambers quicker and has more ammunition.
• A long shot has the straight pull bolt.
• The drop rates despite the velocity are identical. The railjack has the exact same drop as the longshot.

Just name one situation where a weapon like this would be better.
I cant think of one. Its not a sidegrade if its just worse. Its not even situational.

"Primary sniper", huh... and yet, no one has bothered asking the OP for his own stats to back that statement up.

How exactly does this make that gun different from other BASRs? NC got something we already have. Nothing special or unique about this gun. (except for its looks which are fantastic)
I'd rather have the TR ESSR.

Because it's worse in every way than the Longshot, which is identical to the RAMS and Parallax, and the delay means that it wont even catch up to Longshot rounds until 417 meters.

Because everything on your list can already be done by any NC for free with the Bolt Driver

Because the NC got a gun that is outclassed in its own oversatured niche by common pool tier 3 BASRs, while the VS got a no-drop, silenceable-with-zero-downsides rifle with unlimited ammo and a quick bolt if reloaded, and the TR got a ridiculously OP burst scout rifle that will be underutilized because they're the TR.

Wouldn't matter. I just did a restart a few weeks ago. My new toon is focusing on CQC Infiltrator loadouts. If I say I'm a sniper, then I'm a sniper.

Well, um, how about, uh, NO?

All other BASR's have a max 1hk-headshot range. The Raildriver does not share this trait.

Maybe SOE need to require a monthly sub to filter out those who don't take initiative and simply complain about everything?

Actually it does, at 300m (same as the Longshot) there's this thing called the "Maximum Infantry Render Distance" where all damage to infantry stops because you can't damage what isn't rendered for you.

The maximum range at which you can damage infantry with any weapon is 300m. This is because outside that range the infantry will not render for your client, and because of the clientside hit detection relying on that bullet hitting for you it will not register the hit even if you manage to be spot on.

Therefore, Railjack and Longshot both have 300m max OHK range. No matter what the stats say.

It's probably pretty easy to focus on CQC loadouts when you got the souped up hybrid of a SABR and a SAW in the faction specific lottery. Can't say I'm likely to put my SAS-R down anytime soon despite the Railjack's introduction.


If infantry rendered at 700 meters I guess you'd have a point, but fact is I'd prefer my computer not burst into flames just to justify the existence of a stylish and cool but otherwise useless-to-the-core weapon.

This checks out. I was unaware that the MDD for infantry was 300M. However, in that case the issue is not the rifle, but the game mechanics. The Devs may be resolving this as we speak. It still doesn't condone the ungrateful attitude. The NC certainly have toys that the other factions are jealous of. Don't forget that the Vanguard Shield is the "most complained about" game feature of the forum If it were up to you, what would you have the Railjack's perk be?

What are you on about?

That the TRAP is an incredibly powerful combination of my favorite gun in the game (SAW) and one of my top 10 favorites (SABR) and given to a class that can turn invisible, thus making it a mid-range force of terror in the right hands? It's a really good gun. The Railjack is, at best, a gun I already own.

I think some people are being ungrateful, sure, but I don't think it's out of line here to be disappointed in the extreme considering what we were given.

I was really, really looking forward to something like a SAS-R with a flechette alt fire. That would be a "stay home from work to buy right as the servers come up" purchase for me because that would perfectly complement my playstyle.

The Railjack is it is is a gun that was given a palpable advantage over other BASRs. It sacrificed versatility, overall damage output, and magazine size for this. Then, the two advantages that high velocity gives a weapon were taken away quote thoroughly in the form of a fire delay (ask any old Saron users how great this made a weapon at hitting things at range despite having best-in-class velocity otherwise) and magical bullets that drop just like a Longshot while traveling 200m/s faster.

For me, no BASR in the game performs fundamentally differently than the free Bolt Driver, because I'm always within 200m. Even if you never engaged at ranges below 275 meters the Railjack is STILL a tough sell over the Longshot, AND THAT IS WHERE IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE EXCELLING

Yeah, why WOULD we be unhappy with it?

And for the record I'll admit fully that the NC have the best and best variety of weapons in the game, but this isn't about overall variety. It's about the Railjack.

Good response. Much more mature than what has been offered so far. Now what would the flechette alternative do/be useful for? And yes, I know what a flechette is

Mostly, to create a niche for the weapon to excel in. For me, as a 0-75m low zoom, no sway BASR style of sniper I will often go for the body shot if the headshot isn't an immediate, sure thing. The quick bolt and no sway allow me to very easily follow up with another body shot for a sure kill, and often times the target is damaged enough so that the second shot isn't even necessary.

What a flechette alt fire would do would be to further enable this by allowing for a fire mode that is both worse at headshots (that you aren't going for in this scenario) and better at body shots because the margin of error is much larger. It would also work in a pinch up close in ways that a BASR never could, because using shotgun spread means it isn't going to be crap at hipfire.

There have to be downsides of course! I don't think it'd be unfair to move the OHK range of the BASR part of the gun into 150m to emphasize the whole "hey dummie, this ain't a 12x get closer" aspect of the weapon. The velocity on the low zooms is already pretty bad so a reduction isn't the way to go I think. The flechette mode would be like traditional flechettes - definitely not like any shotguns currently implemented, except for the C85. Think like, 0.5 or 1.0 spread of 6 projectiles and maybe some splash damage to represent the raw surface area flechette rounds are meant to cover without having to burn the server down with a ******** of low damage projectiles. Aside from the spread and potentially the splash, I think the Jackhammer's damage profile would be well suited for it: 112 max, 70 minimum. 6 pellet kill up close if every pellet hits the head, otherwise a 15 pellet maximum kill (min damage, body shots).

With 6 low damage pellets and pretty much zero spread and a low ROF, this wouldn't be the "invisible dude with autoshottie" that you got in beta. A spread this tight would make this effectively a Commissioner with a worse headshot multiplier, which is already available to infils and hasn't torn the game apart with OPness like ZOE did.

It's useful, fun, and fills a niche the NC needs filled in bringing all the horribly useless long distance career snipers who roll NC for the free OHK BASR in to useful distances

Well I think SOE at this point is getting very imaginative on weapons which is great but conventional weapons are running dry but every weapon still has a use but do we really need that much weapons? The answer is...I don't know the weapons we have now are enough but the Railjack by no means a pickup and play weapon it just came out you should feel happy it's not another oh I can pick this up and shoot it. I imagine it will take time to understand it. I hated the TRAP at first but after about 4 hours of using it I only need about 720 or so before auraxium.

the down side to the phaseshift is that it is very very hard to get good with, and quite hard to hit targets reliably