I'd just like to point out that the VS suffer greatly for having semi-auto snipers with no bullet drop. The minimum damage on the Spectre is the lowest in the game among all other sniper rifles, and it's low enough that a two-headshot kill on targets with sufficient levels of Nanoweave is impossible. It's not even worth the advantage of reliability at long ranges, because there's absolutely no way you're going to land three consecutive hits on a target before they move, and with the bullet velocity being what it is, your chances of getting any of those hits after you lose the element of surprise are terrible.
"Tier 4" Bolt-Actions. 650 damage minimum, stupidly high refire time. Like, it takes a full second to slide the bolt and eject the shell, because the shell is huge. As for ES flavor: VS: VS-7 'Nova' Light Rail Beam "A modification on the popular Saron HRB vehicle weapon, the Nova contains a scaled-down version of the Rail Beam Generator found inside the Saron. This results in extremely powerful discharges, but greatly increases charge time between shots as compared to other Vanu rifles." Unique traits: No bullet drop. Leaves a bright trail revealing the sniper's location. Side note: No actual "bolt", just a charge-up sound covering the refire time. NC: GD-88 'Arbalest' Man-Portable Gauss Accelerator "The need for an even larger-caliber rifle to penetrate the toughest of armor prompted Genudine Dynamics to produce the GD-88. The firing mechanism is prohibitively heavy, making quick changes in equipment difficult. However, new stabilizers incorporated into the barrel and stock remove the effect of the soldier's breaths on the rifle's trajectory, making this rifle noticeably more accurate at extreme range." Unique traits: No scope sway. Double the weapon swap time of a rocket launcher. Side note: Basically, you're not going to be putting this gun away and getting out your pistol in a fight. If someone catches you at close range with this thing out, you die. TR: SR-32 'Commandant' Heavy Rifle "The United Terran Armies requested the Commandant specifically for the most celebrated of Republic snipers. The Terran Republic's snipers, like all soldiers, pride themselves on speed and efficiency, and the Commandant, with its modified bolt mechanism, makes it possible to chamber a shot without moving one's eye from the sight. Which gives the enemy even less time to run." Unique traits: User does not need to unscope to recock the rifle. However, when cocking while scoped, the aim pulls noticeably to the right as a result of the pressure on the bolt.
These are the kind of weapons and ideas I like to see. Had SOE taken this creative direction with our other weapons I would've been much happier. Asymmetric balance is the best kind.
This was the direction they already took with the rams .50, the long shot and the vs high caliber basrs. Hell it is in their description that they can 1shs a heavy with his shield up. They aren't doing the job they are delegated to outside of 50 meters. This is why half the responses in this thread say there are already enough sniper rifles in the game. If SOE releases another 'slightly more powerful' rifle then many of us will be outraged because we bought the sr 7 for ohk then bought the rams for slightly better sniping them we would need the new one again for the best.
I suppose I should have clarified. What I like is the Empire Specific flavor to the weapons, not that they will be the new 'must have' to combat Nanoweave.
BARs seems to be balanced around rate of fire, bullet speed, damage and range. We have one rifle that is best at one of them (Bolt Driver or tier 1 with faster ROF) and then you have another that is best at the other three (Longshot or tier3, higher damage, higher bullet speed and less damage drop) then you have the LA80 (tier2) whose speciality is being best at nothing. Picking your rifle of choice would be more interesting if each rifle outperformed the rest in a single trait, like Bolt Driver faster ROF, LA80 faster bullet speed and Longshot higher damage and range. And then there's the close range variant that really is crap, it should have more perks like no sway or something more than just sligthtly more ROF given that you're using it at almost CQC. and wth, you play NC now?
ESBASR, our weapon abbreviations aren't long enough. So empire-specific, how would we make that work for BASRs? That's difficult considering it can't be too much of an advantage. Or if it's an obvious advantage it has to have extreme enough draw backs. Vanu: Thermal Optics that let you see through / shoot through walls. 30 Second cooldown between shots. Thermal Optics has a 10 second duration / 10 second cooldown. 50% of T3 Damage. NC: Requires line of sight targeting laser designation (pre requisite of a "Spotted" target.) on reaching 10m before the spotted target was at when spotted, the shell will explode causing a shotgun / shrapnel WIDE cone explosion. Halved fire rate of existing T3 weapons, 50% of damage. Damage reduced further by Flak. TR: Hollow point shells / flat shells that cause the target to be knocked back 5m, and if hit in the head move at 50% speed for 5 seconds. Double fire rate of existing T3, 40% of damage.
Okay, now you made me want to throw my 2 certs into this thread. I would love if the new rifles would give the Infiltrator an additional buff in its "offensive support" role, and giving us what people are asking for with the whole AV role. All the weapons are going to be standard BASR, with their own uniqe stats and a certable alternate firing mode, like the UBGL which would come at the expense of the Straight Pull Bolt. NC: GD-73E "Show Stopper" Primary mode: long equip time, long scope-in time, slow re-chamber and reload speed. Hardest hitting rifle in the game, NW5 headshot kill, avarage drop and muzzle speed. Aleternate mode: EMP Round- same speed and drop as a regular sniper round, direct impact on a vehicle would disable movement and weapons for five seconds. VS: VX95M "Spectre Modified" Primary mode: No bullet drop, avarage speed, visible tracer line, fastest reload speed, avarage re-chamber speed. Alternate mode: Phase Disruptor- Vehicles hit by the shot will take 25% more damage from all AV weapons for the close 10 seconds. TR: SR-18 Primary mode: fastest re-chamber speed, avarage muzzle speed and drop (SR-7), extra round or two in the magazine, slowest reload speed, avarage damage Alternate mode: Laser Designator- heat based ability, produces a visible red beam from the Infiltrator's location to the target vehicle. Designated vehicles will be locked on 50% faster by all lock on weapons as long as the beam is trained on them.
If we get yet another Sniper rifle, it better be faction flavored atop of an alteration to increase the headshot multiplier for all bolt-action rifles so that they all kill in one hit to the head regardless of nanoweave. This new rifle should be a side grade, not an upgrade...give them a faction flavored quirk coupled with an increased reload time.
