I'm struggling to figure out the use case for the default SASR's. The Spectre at least has no drop, so it's probably the best non-Bolt weapon for taking down Engi turrets at long range (assuming we're counting the Phase Shift as a BASR here). What else do they do? Bolt Actions get both much faster rounds, and OHK. The short range versions (both scout and sniper) get the ability to use scopes which both a) don't have sway, and b) are effective at the same range the weapon is effective. Other primaries have this same sort of tradeoff. Carbines, LMGs and ARs will have variants which are better at range or better in CQC (AMC <> Trac <> Lynx, for example). The long range SASRs though just don't seem to be good at anything. The optics make them horrible at short range, and the "low" damage and travel time make them bad at long range. Am I missing something? Have I just not seen the Mustarde/Elusive video showing why these weapons are great?
basicly as said somewehre else in the forum, you will trade an ohk Headshot for a 3hk bodyshot, before the inrodution of the straight pull atatchment, there was a point in using the semi auto rifles, but poast taht patch, i can't see why you would trade bullet speed and the ohk abbility for a gun, that is more forgiving when you miss some shots. But where it's also more likely to miss shots in the first place. (anyway, my vs twink will get the nyx, couse it's super silent and the phaseshift couse i like the heat mechinc/ wonna try it))
Unfortunately they don't have much of a role right now. They aren't great at what they seem like they were supposedly designed to do. Between the poor projectile velocity, high recoil and crazy ridiculous CoF bloom. It's always been easier to land two bodyshots with a bolt-action than 3 with a semi-auto sniper and since the introduction of straight-pull the minor benefit of being able to stay scoped in is gone as well. Theoretically they still provide better panic shooting in close quarters, but so do the ES semi-auto scouts and they're more controllable as well as having a better velocity to make hitting people easier.
Avoid the Phaseshift if you want a SASR. The reason for it being the worst SASR is because it fires on release, not when you click. This means it feels very sluggish, since there is a slight delay. The grip seem to do absolutely nothing to mitigate horizontal recoil, so you are bouncing all over the place. Spectre, Phantom, or the Nyx are all superior to the Phaseshift in this regard. I personally prefer the Phantom or Nyx due to having no scope sway with 4x scopes. Helps a great deal when lining up 1hs + body shot, and makes close ranged engagements more managable. For the same reason, I use the short range BASR versions. PS2 does not have a lot of room for extreme range fights, and the quick target acquisition the low magnification BASR affords(no sway) and a fast re-chamber time, makes it more ideal. This comes down to personal preference, of course, but I'd avoid the Phaseshift untill SOE applies the fix to it, which is supposed to solve the semi auto fire aspect of it.
I think I may have found something the default SASRs are just as good at - Pumpkin hunting. It's a small niche. And worthless. And over in a couple of weeks. But dammit, don't take this away from them... they have nothing else left.
I know I'm probably a rare basket case, but I actually really like the 6x-scoped SASRs. I use a 7x or 8x scope, and the forward grip. With the 99SV/Artemis (haven't played NC infil in a while), I can run with the squad and do a more DMR style, staying a little bit back and covering the sides and back. And with SHTF moments you can spam shoot and hopefully walk away alive. I treat it like a long range scout rifle, and I love it. It requires knowing the rhythm of when to pull the trigger, being comfortable shooting moving enemies, and being ok with shooting without holding your breath. There are DEFINITELY situations where the BASR is hands-down better, but if you know the rhythm of when to pull the trigger, getting 2-shot headshots can work as well.
They are weaker at long range cause BARS will crush you but better at closer range cause you can miss and still have a chance. The have a very define range that they are good at and you HAVE to stay in the sweet spot. Too close and you will get wrecked by normal guns too far and you will get wrecked by bars. But in the middle you can do alot of damage I think they should have the fast Velocity as you have to land 2 head shots to get a kill
I'm going to assume you mean Spectre there (Artemis is the auto-scout). I've been pushing to try and do this, just to see if maybe I can find a use for them. But T-SAR/Ghost/SAS-R with a 4x scope just start racking up kills while 99SV/Spectre/SPR get me countersniped. I haven't put a lot of time into the short range semi-autos, but even if they're good is just proves my point that the default snipers are a bad fit. And perhaps access to an Adv. Compensator? But yes, they really need to either be more capable of landing shots on long range moving targets, or more quickly able to land followups.
Semi auto snipers are decent enough weapons, but I'd assert they still fall short overall. When you compare them to the bolt actions you get some apparently reasonable cost-benefit, but then once you compare it to the complete repitoire of the infil... well it comes out lacking. I think the best that they offer is a different playstyle and feel, and that's not to be passed off too lightly. Compared to bolts, at a low level of skill they're fairly comparable, getting a headshot on a stationary target vs getting 2 on a stationary target (you should almost always be able to get 2 shots off before they know what's happened - and you only need to aim for one) - is not that much different. The bolt action is a bit more reliable for putting people down, but the semi auto excels in more general situations, most notably in situations where the target reveals themselves briefly at midrange and you're not confident in getting a headshot, you can often lay several rounds into them, potentially resulting in a kill, with the SA but not the BA. Buuuut of course when you get to moderate or higher levels of skill it's a bit harder of a sell - if you can get headshots even 30% of the time on midrange targets the benefits of the semi auto as far as efficacy goes are basically nullified. At this point you can start to argue that the SA is still more versatile, and that's true... but in the areas it's versatile relative to the BA, there's many other weapon options available that excel tremendously more in that area. The auto scouts and long range smgs both easily outperform the semi auto snipers within ~40m, and the bolt actions in remotely competent hands tend to outperform past that. Anyhoo, on my list of things to do is to grab the battle rifle in the not too distant future, as I seem to get dropped by people spamming the fire button from 60+m a few times a day, which is certainly something you cannot do with the SASRs Either way, I do love my semi auto snipers and scout rifle, they're very fun to use and quite effective.... but obviously if you're just going for efficacy these are not the guns you want.
Ahhh yeah you're right. The Spectre, not the Artemis. Whenever I have success with them, I am using it like a scout rifle. It will generally lose to a BASR user in a sniper duel in my experience. I also find it's more forgiving than the short-range BASRs as well, but I don't have much experience with them. The SASRs seem underwhelming, but given some practice and time can be effective as well (like every other infil gun).
I think there's a mid-range where SASRs do well. The only problem is 6x optics. At any range that 6x provides valuable magnification, you're going to need to hold breath. And at that point you might as well bring a BASR. Shorter ranges work much better with the 3.4x / 4x, which provide No sway More peripheral vision Better indication of whether you're cloaked or not Let's be fair, I think the semi-autos are good ... if you have the right optics. Case in point, look at how Mustarde fell in love with the Vandal. Swap the 6x and irons around so that you start off with short range SASRs by default, and I think you're gold. (the long range versions will still suck, but at least at that point nobody has to deal with them)
After getting auraxium on the three long range BASRs, I recently started working on the spectre (vanu "long" range SASR). I'm 317 kills in, and not looking forward to the next 843. I've yet to find myself in a situation where I'd think "glad I brought my SASR" rather than "wish I had a BASR right now". Every enemy I've killed so far, I could have killed faster, more efficiently and with less danger for myself with a BASR. I stopped counting the players on whom I got the first headshot, but didn't manage to finish off before they ran to cover: once again, had I used a proper sniper rifle, they'd be dead. And to make things worse, I've probably already been countersniped more while getting these 317 SASR kills than I've been while getting the whole 6686 on the bolt action rifles. So, yeah. Spectre is not a "bad" weapon. It kills people all right. It's just not good enough to compete with any of the long range BASRs outside of extreme close quarter combat (spam time!). And in my case, the very moment I get my 1160th kill with it, it gets shelved.
I find SASRs useful as a very aggressive mid to mid-long range attack on a group of enemies. Either I'm assaulting an enemy position or I am firing on incoming enemies. Where volume of fire makes up for any lost of precision. In some ways I'm using them more like a stronger BR or Scout Rifle...
I use the 99SV for squad play where there's someone to eat the initial bullets coming at us. Most enemies tend to focus the one shooting the most bullets at them so I'm safe until my buddy dies. It works wonders in the more open bases, such as on Esamir. I'm not great at going for headshots so I don't use a BASR, but sometimes at mid-long range I can fire and hit 2 headshots on the same target (provided they're stationary) and kill em. I have the armistice, but the 99SV is just so much fun to use.
Used the right way, the Spectre and any of the Semi-Autos can mow through multiple enemies faster than a bolt-action. You just have to find good flank positions onto clusters of enemies at medium range
I'm wondering - have you tried out the short range version yet (i.e. the Phantom)? I know for both BASR and SASR I enjoy the low optics versions an order of magnitude better (even if the short range SASRs are still a bit underwhelming).
I considered it. But I'm still using the Ghost on my mediumish loadout, and didn't have anything left to auraxium on the long range side of things save for the Spectre and the Phaseshift (and I don't plan on touching that things until it's fire model gets fixed). So Spectre I went.
