Hi. This thread is here to analyze and discuss the effects that the 6/24 patch will have on the lethality of sniper rifles. Lets start with some numbers, to establish a factual basis for this discussion. Below are headers for the various damage models currently used by sniper rifles. I have excluded the TR/NC semi rifles, as they're still 2HKO at all ranges, as well as the TRAP. Below each header are four entries. In each entry, the first number is the total health (health+shields) of the target. The second is the OHKO distance in meters (with one exception, noted below). To add a bit of explanation regarding these health figures, there are two possibilities for total health currently on live. Infiltrators have 900 (500 health + 400 shields) and everyone else has 1000 (500 health + 500 shields). However, in the 6/24 test patch, the Auxiliary Shield option was added to the Utility Slot, passively increasing shield capacity by 50. Note that this option is now default gear for all classes. In addition, the Nano-armor Cloak ability option now passively increases shields by 100 in all states, giving infiltrators shield capacity equivalent to other classes. 650@10 - 400@350 (Tier 1 and Tier 2 Long-range BASR) 900 - 311 950 - 279 1000 - 246 1050 - 214 700@10 - 400@400 (Tier 3 Long-range BASR) 900 - 363 950 - 332 1000 - 301 1050 - 270 700@10 - 400@265 (CQB BASR) 900 - 241 950 - 220 1000 - 200 1050 - 180 750@10 - 400@325 (Directive BASR) 900 - 299 950 - 278 1000 - 256 1050 - 235 750@10 - 450@400 (Railjack) 900 - OHKO at any range 950 - 397 1000 - 366 1050 - 335 800@8 - 520@200 (Spectre/Phantom, 2x Headshots) 900 - 2HKO at any range 950 - 2HKO at any range 1000 - 2HKO at any range 1050 - 197 550@8 - 400@395 (Phaseshift Charge 2, Unsuppressed) 900 - 321 950 - 260 1000 - 198 1050 - 137 550@0 - 400@375 (Phaseshift Charge 2, Suppressed) 900 - 304 950 - 244 1000 - 185 1050 - 125 To boil down the results of this patch, most BASR's will have a OHKO distance that's 20-30m shorter when firing at targets with an Auxiliary Shield Generator equipped. This will particularly be beneficial to new characters, who will find themselves slightly more resistant to long-range sniping with their default loadout. Among existing players, it's hard to say who might switch. Those who currently prefer to carry explosives, especially engineers, will very likely keep them. Among those currently using medkits, I think some will switch and some won't. Top-tier players, those with reaction times quick enough to allow them to disengage and heal after a disadvantageous 1v1 encounter, will likely choose to stick with their medkits. I believe many lower-tier or middle-tier players will switch to the Auxiliary Shield Generator, to slightly increase TTK against them. Speaking briefly about the broader implications of the Auxiliary Shield Generator, I'm not quite sure what the results will be. I don't think we'll really know until the changes have been live for at least a few weeks. It will be a much larger disruption to functional TTK's and engagement strategies than people think, but I believe people will adapt quickly. My only (slight) worry is that the ASG has a marginally larger TTK increase when fighting slower-firing, heavier-hitting weapons, so the negative impact will be slightly worse for the NC. The biggest functional change will actually be among infiltrators firing at each other. Countersniping will likely become much more difficult between experienced snipers. An infiltrator who chooses to use both Nano-Armor Cloaking and Auxiliary Shield Generator will find their OHKO distance has been reduced by 60-100 meters. This strategy will be most beneficial to TR snipers, who will find that both the Bolt Driver and the Spectre, the VS and NC default rifles, are far less effective against them at range. Faction-specific issues aside, increased infiltrator-infiltrator OHKO distance seems like an intentional design decision. Currently, infiltrators project a much larger sphere of threat against enemy infiltrators than they do against normal infantry. As a result, some snipers stay at range and focus on enemy snipers, rather than actually moving close enough to engage the enemy's main infantry line. Such play, in turn, creates a sphere of exclusion for those enemy snipers who might actually want to stray closer to the enemy's lines. In short, it encourages what some might consider unproductive, frustrating play. I do have some weapon-specific concerns, though, that I think should be addressed with tweaks rolled out alongside this patch. The first is the performance of the Spectre and Phantom. The trade-off of the Spectre and Phantom has always been reduced body shot damage and lower velocity, in exchange for the lack of bullet drop. This makes the Phantom exceptionally usable at short and medium range, as even with a suppressor, it has no scope sway, no bullet drop, and can 2HKO targets at any range. However, once the Auxiliary Shield Generator comes into play, both rifles will be the only semi snipers that don't 2HKO at all ranges. I don't mind this for the Phantom, but the Spectre is supposed to be a long-range rifle, so this seems inappropriate to me. One could fix this easily by adjusting the minimum damage of the Spectre and Phantom upward, from 260 to 263. This slight tweak would allow them to 2HKO a target with 1050 total health at any range. On the flip side, though, the Spectre would have an extremely low skill floor and ceiling if one implemented such a change. You could have a suppressed 2HKO sniper rifle with a 12x scope, a 110 shot ammo pool, with no bullet drop and no scope sway. The projectile velocity would be very low, so I wouldn't call it OP, but it would still be an incredibly, perhaps frustratingly, easy-to-use suppression weapon. Frankly, even if it retains its current damage model, that would be true. The Phantom, at least, is currently limited by its 4x scope, putting a soft cap on its effective range. The Spectre would become problematic if its scope sway was removed, even if it couldn't 2HKO all targets at all ranges. 200 meters is long enough to cause problems. Honestly, only two changes really makes sense, to me. If the Ballistics Computer is going to retain its current form, then the Spectre needs to change. I think it should be brought into line with the other long-range semi-automatic sniper rifles. Either that, or the Ballistics Computer should be changed. Perhaps, instead of removing Scope Sway entirely, it merely tightens the radius of the sway by 75%, making the weapon usable at medium range without holding one's breath. The bigger problem is actually the Phaseshift. Its current damage model makes it very susceptible to changes like this. As you can see, it loses a huge chunk of its effective OHKO range, much more than any other sniper rifle. To remedy this issue, I think the Phaseshift's charge2 damage model should be brought into line with CQB BASR's. That's a simple but effective change that doesn't increase its OHKO range against normal 1000 total health targets, but makes it much more viable at range against 1050 total health targets.
