So, I've been working the KSR-35 up to Auraxium recently (Working on the Aurax sniper rifle) and I've been having a little trouble with it. I just can't seem to figure out what SOE wanted it to be, and am having just as much trouble figuring out what to do with it. It's got perfect stationary ADS accuracy, a slow fire rate, and high damage, suggesting a longer range bias, but has an insanely slow muzzle velocity, at only 500 m/s, making accurately landing the necessary three bodyshots from a distance incredibly difficult. When you get in close to make up for the poor velocity, however, the terrible hipfire accuracy (6 while still and 6.5 while moving, a tier held exclusively by sniper rifles), aforementioned slow fire rate/damage per second, and terrible moving ADS accuracy (.55, another tier held exclusively by sniper rifles, and beat only by pistols and shotguns) turn you into cannon fodder for close range ARs and LMGs. The weapon seems, to me, to be a bit of a statistical self-contradiction. The danage and inaccuracy tend towards a mid-long-range marksman's rifle, but doesn't work reasonably within the confines of the rest of the weapon. Anyone have any advice on how I can make it work? As an aside, SOE, this gun needs a bit of a tweak. This weapon carries two "fatal flaws" of performance that keep it from any sort of defined role on the battlefield, and penalize the player no matter what enviornment they're working in. Firstly, the velocity, at 500 m/s, is an absolute joke. Let me give you some perspective: That's the slowest of all sniper rifles, as slow as the full-auto scouts, and 87-100th of all weapons, leaving it beneath all ARs, all LMGs, all BASRs (except the low-optic ones, which also sit at 500m/s), and on par with the highest carbines. Secondly, the accuracy profile just doesn't make sense for a low-optic weapon. Slow center speed, high recoil, .55 ADS movement accuracy, and .8 ADS accuracy lost per shot works great on a long-range BASR, when you have the benefit of cover, a high powreed scope, and a one-shot headshot kill, but for a low-optic weapon it hurts the user more than it helps. The highest level optic you can put on the KSR is a 4x, and you'd only really want to use that up to 60-70 meters or so, with a preferred distance of around 15-40 meters. For a weapon menat to be used within that type of a distance range, the current accuracy profile just doesn't work. Within those ranges, you don't have the luxury of standing still and plinking away at your target, as you'll be decimated by the much higher damage per second profiles of mid-range ARs and LMGs. As such I'd like to request that you increase the muzzle velocity, decrease the ADS moving COF, and slightly increase the center speed. For the velocity, I'd personally like to see it at around 630m/s, just beneath the highest LMGs and ARs, but I'm inclined to believe that you'd consider this to be a bit too high, and so expect to see it around 575-620m/s, on par with, or just beneath, the higher ARs and LMGs. For the ADS moving COF, putting it on-par with the Vandal, battle rifles, and semi-auto faction-specific scout rifles, which, although they all have slightly lower DPS, all have lower recoil as well, seems to be appropriate, placing my suggested new accuracy at .25. (Although, battle rifle users complain frequently about the ADS accuracy of their weapons, suggesting that all of them may need to be increased further.) Finally a slightly improved center speed, because we're using low optics.
I love this KSR-35 and I have messed around the Impetus to use here and there. These guns are meant to be used in short-mid range. It is very important to pick good spots with these weapons somewhere that you can pop in and out of and pick your targets. Elevated positions with this rifle do wonders. 1 headshot and 1 bodyshot will knock your target down. These weapons are direct mirrors of Semi Auto Sniper Rifles each faction has, except you cannot put a high powered scope on them. It's never a good idea to find yourself with this weapon without cover. I run battle hardened implants on my KSR so that I may keep my aim more steady if getting shot at. Try leaving your crosshair at headshot level and be precise with your trigger. IF you fire too fas tthis gun becomes unaccurate quick, but if you find your rhythm this gun will stop enemy pushes down a single lane. Personally started on this weapon about 2 months ago and I have been hot with it ever since. One thing i do is put the same 4x on my tsar-42, Soas-20, and ksr-35 And try to go for headshots as much as possible. I find that by doing this i can probably train myself quicker with headshots on the other weapons that can use this scope that i mentioned. That's all for now happy hunting ! -Kiwi 56RD
Of all the sniper rifles across factions, this is one I cannot speak on behalf of. I did Auraxium the Phantom, however, the way I used it would not synergize very well at all the TR version. I took much, much advantage of the lack of bullet drop (pretty much the only weapon where I find it a note-able feature xD). I found it more versatile and controllable than the Spectre. Although the velocity is awful, the lack of bullet drop definitely compensated for it. I did take it into mid-range confrontations, but found that it fell short of the Ghost in that area of combat (it also seemed to fall short at long range combat, but let's push that under the table for now). I can say that, at longer ranges, it isn't very punishing at all to miss a shot or two, so it alleviates the pressure that BASRs can exude, and feels a bit more 'easygoing'. In short, I lack experience with the NC/TR variants, but found the lack of bullet drop on the VS variant to be its saving grace. Without that feature, I likely would have forced it to work with a more aggressive, Ghost-style of play. Best of luck with your endeavor, and I hope, for the both of us, that you stay out of my crosshairs xD. -Stay Fr0sty!
If you insist on using semi auto rifles you need to do some things: 1. Trigger discipline. This is, hands down, the most important part of using a semi-automatic weapon. If you fire too fast, your accuracy will go to s**t, too slow and you will die. The point is to fire at the pace of recovery, ensuring accurate shots. This a tough habit to get into given many situations tend to become frantic. 2. Fire lanes. Much like the TSAR and CQC MLG bolt action, you need to be in places where you can either work fairly unseen or hide in plain sight. 3. "I hear you like flanking so I put a flank on your flank so you can flank while you flank." Be one step ahead of the enemy. Always. If they ain't looking, that buys you those crucial tenths of a seconds to win the engagement. Though this is pretty much true for every infiltrator, regardless of role. 4. KEEP MOVING! The most annoying infiltrators are those who make you chase 'em down. Why not reward their efforts with an anti-personell mine or two? No? A few bullets between the eyes then, perhaps. This stuff works just as well with an of the close/mind range weapons we get. I prefer the SOAS-20, TSAR, or even the TRAP(when suppressed it makes almost no sound at all) though.
Alright, I took all of your advice to heart, did some fiddling with my playstyle, and came up with a much better result. (Super humble statplug here: https://recursiontracker.com/?p=c&c=saved&id=41172 ) I've tried to get into the habit of standing still when I shoot, and have been able to greatly improve my accuracy at mid-range targets. I tried to engage enemies right around the 35-45 meter mark; up to 10 meters was doable, but risked getting shredded by automatics, and up to 60 was also doable, but the low velocity made it difficult. Above all else, though, I started (ab)using cover as much as possible, which was what gave me all of my longer streaks. Thanks for all of the thoughts, and I'll return with any other strategies I find. I'm still not sure that I really like this weapon, but it's become far easier than it had been up until now.
Could always pm me in game buddy, I'd be willing to help out if need be. I am a member of 56 Recon Division on TR connery. Shoot me a PM on PS forums.
Those weapons are amazing if you can just use them right, I´ve been using Phantom since the launch and its still my weapon of choice whenever I play. - Flank a lot and be clever with it, use the element of surprise to kill your targets. - Always have something around you that you can use as a cover. - Avoid doing 1v1 unless you´re very good with your aim or you have a good distance with between you and your target. - Use the motion sensors, always try to keep good distance on your targets, dont let them get too close to you.
