That is because the default gauss has significantly less recoil across the board after the first shot while having the exact same horizontal tolerance. It's it wasn't for the lack of attachments and that fsr there would be almost no need to "sidegrade" towards a reaper for long range options. Despite the slightly higher tolerance, the lower overall recoil along with the larger mag size of the a-tross just felt better to me when i was trying it out in the VR, not counting the fact the bullet velocity is almost a solid 50m/s faster stock. Though if your playing medic to any long-range infantry grouping then your going to either be packing an eidolon to help out directly or a gauss to watch their backs while trying to stay out of LoS of whatever your compadres are raining hell on. It all just depends on what you end up doing more of when your playing your medic. Personally, i typically only pull mine out if i'm not trying to remove armor for fast squad response tactics to help the pushes go along more smoothly so it will probably be a while before I get around to that.
Despite the name, the Reaper is not a DMR. It's actually a more close-range weapon than the Gauss and (especially) the Gauss S, in my experience. I mean yeah SOE thinks it's a DMR and it has an Advanced Grip and the Super-Compensator it shares with the SABR-13 but I don't use it with greater magnification than ironsights if I can help it. The higher minimum damage does help it when you occasionally need to fight at longer ranges, but I find the Gauss weapons can just more or less long burst long-range targets and drop them. Perfect first shot accuracy really isn't a big deal in the Warden comparison though because you're not supposed to stand still and use Battle Rifles. They have the best mobility COFs and recovery and lowest bloom of any high-damage semi-autos and competitive COFs with the best automatic guns as well, you want to stay ADADing with them at all times and all ranges. Except spitting distance, then you put a Laser on them and pretend it's a super-Rebel.
Baby steps Nakar, attempting to convince the forums at large that the 200/500 tier of weapons excel up close has been a nigh impossible task thus far. The first step is to get people to accept that the Reaper is more of a close-mid range Warden and then inch them toward the truth a bit at a time. Anyway it's full auto so I'm pretty sure it cannot be a DMR. The NC AR selection was a bit confused to start out with, what with the Carnage BR not being a battle rifle, and the DMR not being a (proper) marksman rifle, and this obviously intended hole in the lineup being filled by nothing because at the time the Warden was HA/Engie only.
Reaper or Warden? Reaper. DMR is a mini Gauss SAW that handles general purpose combat a little bit better. Its good and punchy in close, its punchy at range. It's accuracy is pretty good and can strafe fairly well. It has 500RpM like the NC6 but its more accurate and hipfires a bit better should you need to. Warden, while it's improved from what it used to be, its still lacking in the field of battle which you would likely use it. Its a minisniper, yet it lacks something...maybe if it had 750m/s velocity with HVA it would be worth something, but it just lacks something that would make it good. Everytime I grab my warden I always get my EM4 for sniping range and I get my LMGs for short-mid range work. BRs have some kind of an identity crisis.
It's my personal opinion that Battle Rifles should be: 334 @ 10m 250 @ 85m 333 RPM 675 m/s (750 W/ HVA) (Current compensator-level hipfire, but no change to hipfire accuracy with or without a comp equipped. It's a range-only weapon, it should have bad hipfire on it, just like the bolt action rifles.) As well, I am dissapointed that they removed the Reaper and Tross' unique trait of 15m max damage range when the Tross went live. It used to be amazing both up close and at range (provided you were a good shot of course).
I got both. I got one killl with the warden and about 35 with the Reaper DMR. The warden is good for some rare situations, maybe i use it later again but for the moment - nope. The reaper is a high damage AR, but it`s pretty hard to control. It has similar stats to the Gauss SAW just the muzzle velocity is slower, SLOWER.. for an AR thats weak. So i still prefer the default Gauss Rifle by far for my medic. Also good to use: SMG or shotguns for cqc (especially the PIston). The NS-11P (which is for free) is also still a better option than the Reaper imo.
I'd almost forgotten about this thread. EHF, you got me sold on the Reaper and I'd buy it if I played my NC more. I'd planned on replying to you earlier. So here goes: Now that the new scopes are out, I played around w/ the Reaper a couple more times in VR, focusing more on tap-firing. Its semi-auto action isn't quite as fluid as a Battle Rifle, but it's damn close, and it adds significant range ability to the weapon. Probably the closest to a BR I've felt with any automatic except the Corvus (which is butter smooth and literally laser precise). I'd be quite happy using it as just a semi-auto rifle. The fact that it can also fire full-auto makes it that much more deadly all around. I can see why you love it so much. And yeah, the 3-headshot kill didn't escape my attention. Tapping out 3 headshots would be a breeze with the Reaper. That said, they're still faster and easier on the Warden anywhere beyond medium range due to the Reaper's higher FSRM. Actually, the Warden kills infils specifically in only two headshots at any range, which is a huge bonus at 100m+ since infils are your primary threat at that distance. And countersniping is one of your primary duties as a marksman. Plus, the Reaper's 0 standing COF is a mainly paper advantage since the Warden's .1 COF is still tight enough for guaranteed headshots through almost the entire range of a 4x scope (~200m). The Warden also has +45 m/s muzzle velocity and one of the tightest moving ADS COFs in the game (.25, tighter than the Reaper's .32), which more than makes up for any range disadvantage it might have due to its standing COF. As Nakar mentioned, w/ the Warden you want to keep moving whenever you can in order to take advantage of the moving ADS COF. At long range the enemy won't able to match your movements and maintain accuracy, so they'll have to choose one or the other, giving you the advantage. I would say it starts playing 2nd fiddle to the Warden at closer to 100m, but the Reaper is still effective in its own right out to 150m. But your stated preference reveals the key issue, doesn't it? Do you want close/medium range firepower that keeps you competitive up close, even at point blank against CQC weapons? Or do you want long range potential unrivaled by any other infantry weapon outside of sniper/semi-auto Scout rifles? For me, it's every day, multiple times and at every major battle I fight at. With good situational awareness and tactical maneuvering you can largely dictate the engagement range of most of your firefights. And unless your spawn is camped, it's easy enough to position yourself away from the thickest part of the battle where rendering stops being an issue. But then, when carrying a Battle Rifle I'm usually HA or Engie. If you're playing a Medic, is getting out of the thick of things really something you want to do? For most people, if you're playing a Medic I'd say the answer is probably "no" if you plan on healing/rezzing a lot. Obviously I'd have to try it on the Live servers first, but my time in VR and Live experience w/ the AC-X11 tells me the Reaper is plenty accurate to serve the long range needs of most Medics while still remaining competitive up close, something the Warden can't lay claim to. For most Medics, I'd recommend the Reaper. tl;dr - If you plan on healing/rezzing a lot, you're naturally going to be closer to the action, and thus closer to the enemy, so the Warden's long range advantage probably won't be as useful to a Medic as the Reaper's close range deadliness. For HA/Engie it's a different story, and a toss-up depending in the situation.
Excellent response! Glad I could convince you to give the Reaper a shot You make a lot of good points about the Battle Rifle, and for someone who tends to stay at 100-150m+ from a fight and tackle targets of opportunity, it's the natural choice. Me? I'm a self-avowed versatility ***** and am known for my tenancy to blockade break by running in screaming YOLO over prox chat hoping pubbies will follow. I don't have the patience to constantly switch loadouts, so a gun like the Reaper that can be stupid lethal at all ranges (if, sometimes, with slightly less efficiency than more specialized options) is the no-brainer choice. Mileage may vary player to player obviously, but I think for most people a battle rifle isn't a very good choice. It rewards intimate knowledge of the map, patience, and accuracy, which are all things that come with time, and with time a player can be lethal with any gun. Also, it's dirt cheap so it's not hard to convince people by saying, "you can be like an infil without having to be an infil - 250 certs please!" Since the sight update I've actually been using the Tross exclusively, as it's utterly insane how accurate it is now combined with the DPM and reload. The kick on the Tross (0.414 x FSRM of 1.33) is actually considerably less than the kick on the Warden (0.6 x FSRM of 1.00), and it has 1x/2x/auto modes in addition to the same velocity as the Warden! If you do ever get around to buying one of them, it sounds like the Tross would be a better gun for you. MUCH more specialized to long distance wrecking while still being quite lethal up close. Use the 3.4x crosshair (NC LYFE) and headshots are effortless, and coming from a VS main the 30x200 damage round magazines are probably going to feel downright pornographic Oh and the X11 is my favorite carbine in the game, with the only real competition being the Lynx. Make sure to use HVA - it gets a reduced penalty and enhanced boost to damage curve on carbines. It's the gun I hate going up against the most when I'm VS/TR Medic really is "Medium Assault" in PS2 and can be played well at all ranges, though it lends itself much more naturally to close-middle distances, especially in big fights where being there is pretty much an effortless waterfall of certs
