I have been playing a lot with Battle Rifles (Warden and the AMR-66) recently and comparing their cost with the flexibility they offer, those weapons look very interesting: - cost: 325 certs - comparable to Scout Rifles (less DMG, higher speed) but usable by Infiltrators, Engineers, Medics, Heavy Assault - 6x scope, no sway - 20 rounds magazine / 120 shots total - 3 shots/sec Of course a dedicated SABR is far better in the hands of an experienced sniper, but for not so experienced players playing support in the 2nd line in dynamic battles those weapons are ideal to get a few distance kills by firing a salvo, take cover and repeat, even tackling moving targets: one [lucky] headshot and three body shots at distance mean 1125 DMG and the huge reserve allows to engage multiple times. Most of all they cost a fraction of a top-tier sniper/scout rifle and half the cost an entry level scout rifle, with the added bonus of being reusable by 4 classes instead of one. Good for players who do not possess yet thousands of certs.
It is indeed a good all-rounder at low cost. The underbarrel attachments are also pretty fun. However: Maybe I'm just bad, but it doesn't seem to have enough velocity to pull off medium-long range kills much better than an assault rifle (if better at all). It's probably just my subpar framerate and connection, as performance issues hinder semi-auto weapons especially.
I like using weapons like this but the reason why they are not optimal is pretty obvious in that they are very hit and miss especially if the target is moving unpredictably. They are better used as close/medium range weapons with a laser sight than as sniper rifles with a high zoom scope. But you could just equip an automatic rifle as primary and use a revolver for semi auto.
After trying some smgs and carabines i really liked AMR-66 on my engi, its actually pretty decent in close range by TTK is slow but good if your target is wounded already, very good at medium range but you need to be focused and try not to miss much as 20 clip and reload will be a problem if you miss many shots. Also was effective on my HA as well XD.
I dusted off my Eidolon last night after reading this post - 4x sight, no drop - had great fun getting some long range kills in a tech plant fight. Had to run away a fair bit though when my target (and his mates) spotted me and started returning fire. Fortunately I was shooting at ranges where return auto fire is pretty inaccurate.
