I must suck worse than i think. I tried the Railjack, I hate it and it hates me....... It looks BEAST though so i still run it......... \o/
In my opinion the Railjack is an okay weapon. I often get killed with it in big battles, it is actually more commonly used than you would think. Contrary to the "OMG its a piece of crap weapon that nobody should use" In fact, the delay has helped people like Wrel, actually be able to use a sniper rifle, I mean honestly why do people put down a gun that actually has a lot of potential, but most people who have tried it are ok if not great with it, I mean why not use another sniper rifle once you get used to the amount of lead you need to use, If you are trying to get the Araxium Medal with it, why not just continue using it afterwards. you would never have to bother using the EM4 or the NC14, but if you want to use those two I recommend getting the araxium medal for them and then just using the Railjack, On the contrary since it was added after the game had been released to the public many people who were already used to the EM4 or NC14 it can be detrimental to your already obtained sniping skills. New players may not have any problems with it because they have never messed with the EM4 yet, I mean you unlock the NC14 by default, so they may mess around with that. but either way SOE won't change the Railjack because it needs a downside to it, if they remove the trigger delay, they would have to bring down the projectile speed, that is why the trigger delay is there. You are very lucky that they didn't just put the trigger delay there and not increase the projectile speed, then everyone would and should be complaining. To sum things up the Railjack is used at least somewhat, but is not what people seem to expect out of a shiny new sniper rifle. but if you get used to it, there is not a problem with it. But seriously don't get me started on the Trap-M1 its damage model is horrible.
Epicnes, you have inspired me to put the Railjack back in my sniper loadout and persist until i can actually hit the back of a bus with it!
Except it's not really just another Longshot, the delay in firing after pulling the trigger makes the feel of the rifle different and takes a little getting used to.
Hello again my fellow combatants, Jesus well, that escalated quickly. I think some of you are missing the point, I was never suggesting that this rifle is "better" than the Longshot. I was just trying to explain how, if learned correctly, the Railjack has its uses, in truth, all of the rifles have a trade off, they are all balanced respectively. You can number crunch all you like, and this kind of analysis may allow you to judge on paper the minute differences. However these differences don't really translate very well into actual play. How many of you can honestly say that you as a human being, flawed and generally slow, notice a 0.08 second difference. If any of you said yes, go find a cliff and utilise the force of gravity. My analysis of this weapon is actually more useful than data mined information, and I would like you all to bear with me while I explain why, of course this is just my opinion, and you may disagree. First of all, we all have different computers, for example, mine is heavy on RAM, but lacks a decent GPU. I load everything very quickly, and the GPU is sufficient for max distance rendering, however in very intense fighting where a lot of units are at play, it can slow down a bit. So this in itself is a factor that is -Individual- to each of us, and cannot be expressed in the information of the rifle. Secondly, we all have different capacities, experiences and skills, for example, someone who play Unreal Tournament all the time before Planetside, will struggle more with lead times and bullet drop than someone who played Tribes for example, where this kind of forward planning is inherent in every weapon used and the dynamic of your movement is quite different with skates and jet packs vs low gravity. Thirdly we have preferences, some people (though I have no idea why) actually like having an additional 200ms lag on their shots. This is a prime example, some people believe this is beneficial, where as I personally believe its an intended drawback of the weapon to compensate for its benefits. So yes whilst my analysis is not based on -Quantifiable- facts, and is instead based on -Qualified- impressions, I think its more relevant to the individual than would otherwise be. An interesting point I would like to make to you, is that through most normally engaged ranges, with a 6-10x scope, the bullet velocity is so extreme on the Railjack, that -You do not have to adjust- for bullet drop. I find that 90% of the time, aiming at the head, will hit the head, irrespective of distance. When your using a rifle on a stationary target you are accounting for (excluding wind and Coriolis as this does not present in Planetside) gravity, with means you are accounting for Y, at any given distance you are accounting for the drop of Y. If this target is moving, you have to account for X + Y. You also have to pre-empt likely movements X + Y + (X + Y). This is not a precise science, some people are just better at remembering the layout of the land underneath the target, and some people are better at remembering the kinds of movement that infantry are likely to take when moving over that ground. With the Railjack however, you no longer have to account for Y. You only ever have to account for the lateral movement of the target excluding the possibility that they may move up or down respectively. The downside of course is that you have to lead X by an additional .2 seconds. Now, a humans ability to account for .2 seconds in their muscle memory, is fantastic. After practice, one can make this difference negligible. What I'm trying to say is, that once you learn to negate that difference, the weapon has very little drawbacks other than reload. With the Longshot, you would be wise to choose forward grip for accuracy benefits, but with the Railjack you don't have this option so you tend to use pull back bolt, whilst you cant loose rounds as quickly as the Longshot, not having to remove your sight from the scope has its benefits as well. You can follow a target easier, keep an eye out for counter snipers having followed your tracer etc. The Longshot, without a doubt, has its benefits, and for the majority of people it may very well be an easier to use weapon. All I'm saying is, is that the Railjack is not a pile of crap that shouldn't be used ever. You might just have to accept that its not for you. Ironically I find it fantastically easy to hit people in the head despite their speed or distance with either the Railjack or the Longshot as I have copious experience with both. I like the Railjack, because if someone suddenly appears next to me, I know that the quick body hit I can get on anyone before they even open fire, and instantly switching to my pistol, means that I only need one single pistol hit, anywhere to kill that target, at point blanc range this means that aside from a brutal shotgun barrage, I can still come out on top. Maybe the people trying to kill me are just awful, or maybe I have ridiculous reaction times, I don't know. I just know that the results I experience speak for themselves. I apologise for the long *** comment, but I would be remiss to start this thread without replying. Please brothers, just remember that we are trying to help each other, not slate each other. If you disagree, that's fine, but be prepared to accept that its just not the right weapon for you, not that the weapon itself is inherently flawed beyond its intended drawbacks. -Shad
Anyone else has problems with railjack hits not registering? I clearly hit people and they seem to take the hit ( leaning the head back for example when they take a headshot or "breaking" the shield for body shots) but I dont get a damage indication and people dont die with 2 bodyshots or a headshot. It happens very often to me sometimes its 1/3 shots. Has anyone else noticed this?
While this weapon certainly packs a punch, I fail to see how its more efficient than those bolt-actions that can also insta-gib with headshot, but have much more fire rate? Pretty much if you don't get that headshot with Railjack, your target is gone, but for example with Bolt Driver, you can have your second chance much more faster. Also, I feel like Railjacks bullet drop makes zero sense, when does it actually drop and when it doesn't? Or am I just too accustomed to using Bolt Driver that I keep screwing that up.
Nehemia, The general rule with the Railjack is that at most ranges it doesn't drop, you aim at the head, you hit the head you kill the target. You are correct, if somehow you manage to miss the headshot with a weapon with pretty much no bullet drop, you should try using a weapon like the Longshot that allows you to more easily acquire 2 body shots. Most of us snipers however always go for a headshot, and the Railjack makes it easy, you suffer a few drawbacks as previously mention, but id be very suprised if you missed a headshot with the Railjack, its incredibly accurate, fast and straight. To begin with, i was always trying to change my aim for the bullet drop that never came, causing alot of shots to go over peoples heads... but once you realise that only at extreme render range distances do you need to account for a tiny drop. Your shots should land everytime. My logic is this, at medium-long range, i aim at the head, i hit the head, thats 4 kills guaranteed with the Railjack, with the Longshot, adjusting for the bullet drop and travel time means i have a great chance to miss, granted i would still like get 5 kills the Longshot, but somehow it feels more secure with the Railjack, this is just personal preference though, as i have noticed most people prefer the opportunity to correct a ****** up shot with the Longshot or Boltdriver than rely on the one shot you will get off with the Railjack. Hope this helps -Shad
Its an odd thing i know its downsides pretty well by now, and i really should be shunning this weapon but ive fallen in love with it and found decent success with it, hitting targets feels easier at the more extreme ranges, but closer than about 40-50m its unchanging 0.2 sec delay makes it more of a liability.
I don't think you get the general idea here. When mastered, the best weapon is the longshot. The "skill" ceiling although it is the same, is way more effective on the Longshot. For instance, if me as a personl I always got my first shot in the head, but every other shot was pretty much random, it is obvious a CQC BASR would be the best option for me (saying as a hypothetical 100%). It varies and perfection is not there, I just wanted to give the the concept. The number crunching that people did simply tells you that, say you are against a clone of yourself, and you both mastered the railjack, or the Longshot at a similar skill level, you would loose to yourself with the longshot. Kind of hard to explain though, I don't know if I did it well enough for you to understand.
Railjack is simply unusable for active sniping when I cloak on and step aside in a moment after pulling a trigger, so I bought it, made around 150-200 kills and stayed with Longshot. No delay is more important than any damage/speed benefit.
you are talking about a face off scenario, in that case you would lose, the railjack is a quirky weapon to be sure and not one i would recommend to try to countersnipe with that delay. Thinking more about why im lured to this weapon and what it offers that the others dont, well firstly its quieter than any other unsilenced rifle and the projectile is near invisible until it hits an object (at which point you see the spaghetti tracer). In short its a weapon that is less likely to give away your position and encourages you to use it from longer ranges.
Sorry buddy, but if I was sniping myself, and one had the Longshot and the other had the Railjack, it would not be that simple, assuming both had target acquisition, with the Railjack, you would be in cover, with knowledge of the enemy position, click and move into position for firing, with the Railjack, this would see the other sniper dead before they can even react. (Tried and tested on multiple occasions). Not to mention that with the Longshot there is a greater margin for error than the Railjack. Accounting for bullet drop will inherently give you more margin for error, that being said if both users had absolutely perfect bullet drop compensation skills, the Railjacks' round would still land quicker. Not by enough to make a huge difference, both would be dead in the exchange assuming both fired at the same time. I literally have spent 99.9% of my time as a sniper in Planetside 2, and even I, would gladly take the Railjack to a sniper fight. As I've tried to explain repeatedly, learning yourself around the limitations of the design flaws in the weapon will allow you to make it far more effective than everyone is experiencing, I'm not saying its better than the Longshot, this was never the intention, as I have made perfectly clear on multiple occasions. -Shad
That's the issue, it wouldn't even LEAVE your barrel and you would be dead. And you can't pre-shoot while cloaked, so it's simply a disadvantage. It is inferior. You can get kills with it sure, but it's simply inferior, just like the phaseshift is inferior to the parralax.
You would be behind cover Uncloaked, and begin firing before hand, besides, unlike other snipers, Railjack users have a tendency to sidestep whilst waiting for the shot, I have popped up unlcoaked from behind cover and insta headshotted many other snipers on multiple occasions, more often I have decloaked, clicked, sidestepped, laughed as the enemy sniper round whizzes past my face and my round gibs them. A more important factor is the number of times I've just gone for an easy body shot, and killed a target in one hit, in large scale combat, its unlikely that your target hasn't taken damage from another source at some point, and the weapon deals enough damage that even a light touch from another weapon at any range is enough to end someone. I run a 2 man team, me with a Railjack, and a buddy with any weapon, but usually a semi-auto or other mix of fast firing and hard hitting, we insta pop targets left right and center, your inability to think of the use of this weapon outside one single scenario is galling and really narrow minded. Clearly you haven't managed to learn through the designed drawbacks in this weapon to become proficient with it yet, and even VS snipers I've spoken to who are very very good have said that with practice there are things you can achieve with the Phaseshift that you simply cant with the Parralax. The difference is that these people have the skill and determination to learn through the disadvantages. Its quite simple, if the weapon was such a disadvantage, I would lose to snipers everywhere all the time, and I would stop using it immediately, but I don't and I haven't. Whilst I'm not saying its better than other options for everyone and everyone should be using the Railjack instead of the Longshot for example. I am however saying, that with practice and skill you can make it a very reasonable rifle. A very simple concept that people like yourself seem unable to comprehend. You are clearly so set in your sniper mindset, which is fair enough seeing as a sniper rifle is always a sniper rifle and tends to follow the same principles in every genre, every game and in every way, Except with these quirky rifles that require some alternate methods. Its difficult to learn yourself out of a technique that has been so similar and so honed throughout all games and all rifles everywhere. But It can be done. Your insistence to the contrary is just short sightedness. -Shad
Going up against another sniper, the Longshot or LA80 is better off than the Railjack, the delay can buy the other sniper time. The Railjack's delay advantage is shooting people that are moving.
To be honest, the best sniper rifles (In my opinion) presently available in the game are the new ESSR rifles. Each one ACTUALLY IS empire specific, as the RailJack deals massive damage, the Phaseshift has the Vanu feel of versatility and INFINITE AMMO (Honestly, I hated Planetside 1 because of the Vanu's lack of any GOOD traits. I never gave versatility a damn until I bought this beauty.) Just a slight buff to semi-auto recoil and especially velocity or damage would make it even better. As for the Trap... I never played TR. *Darth Maul kills Qui-Jonn music*
