I have no experience playing infiltrator for TR other than I'm not too thrilled with the default rifle. Flush with SC I want to buy a good sniper rifle. What're the strengths and weaknesses of the various options? What is generally considered the best?
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...rue&sortcolid=31&sortasc=true&rowsperpage=250 For the bolt-action rifles: TSAR-42: - Highest rate of fire and fastest reload speed; excels at close-quarter combat. M77-B: - Higher bullet velocity than the TSAR, but slower reload/rate of fire. SAR-7: - Higher bullet velocity than the M77-B, but slower reload/rate of fire. RAMS: - Highest damage and bullet velocity; excels at long-range sniping. Btw, certain attachments may not be available for every rifle (ie. the M77 can only use high magnification scopes, while the TSAR can only use low magnification scopes).
Looks like the .50 is a winner to me, the downsides (1s longer reload, like .1 seconds more between shots) aren't as good as having it hit harder/faster. Is that generally how people feel?
If you're into semi-auto (which it seems you're not) then the 99SV is your only choice when it comes to long range sniping (the only semi-auto that can use a x6 scope and upwards) Long range bolt-action (x6 - x12 scopes) you've got 3 choices. - M77-B - the cheapest bolt-action sniper with the fastest reload speed, slowest bullet speed - SR-7 - high bullet speed, slightly slower reload - RAMS .50M - highest bullet speed, highest damage, slowest reload Close-medium range (up to x4 scope) you've got: - TSAR-42 - a gimmicky close range bolt-action sniper, some people like it but I've got no idea why. - KSR-35 - the semi-auto equivalent of the TSAR-42. For long ranges nothing beats the RAMS, the bullet speed does wonders, and it does a bit more damage which helps against certed nanoweave armor. For medium-close range I'd rather pick up a scout rifle tbh, with a Laser Dot it can do decent hip-firing in CQC and a x6 scope still lets you do some mid-range sniping.
I have the SR-7, because I wasn't about to buy the RAMS for another 700SC. It works very well, I am used to it and get lots of head shots at mid/long range with a 10x scope. If I had the choice, I'd probably have gotten the RAMS up front. The only other weapon I use for the infiltrator is the SOAS-20 when I am trying to be a ninja. I dont think many people appreciate a huge difference between the SR-7 and RAMS. The only time it might come into play is if you are trying to shoot moving targets from a distance - unless you are a god sniper you will probably get a body shot and scramble to chamber the next round and get another shot off to finish the kill. In that situation (which comes up often for me when picking off idiots at the crown), it might be an advantage to have a faster reload. But overall, very slight differences. I dont find a lot of use in anything that can't OHK with a headshot. If you dont finish them off with the first shot, you won't likely get a second chance.
I use the TSAR-42 exclusively, and I don't see that changing until infantry drawing distance is fixed. You could say I'm stuck in the competitive TF2 Sniper mentality of not hesitating to get nice and close to snatch an important kill, but there's really no 'important' kills in PlanetSide, and I'm left with the 'getting nice and close' part. The bullet drop is quite severe, especially with a Silencer, which I actually use quite often, and the only scope I've bothered with is the TMS 4x. I love that thing, although I wish the silly 'why can't I keep this rifle pointed straight' bobbing and weaving didn't affect it. I mostly play Infiltrator inside or around large bases and towers, and that's where the TSAR-42 really pulls ahead of other rifles. The magnification on my TMS is just perfect, and the damage of the RAMS.50 doesn't make a difference when you're putting shots in the back of people's heads from <20m. You can't treat it like a short-range primary (there isn't a single Infiltrator primary you can treat that way, not even the automatic Scout Rifles), you need to treat it like an assassination tool, and take people by surprise with unorthodox tactics. I haven't really brought up it's higher rate of fire and reload speed because, truth be told, it doesn't come up often. The reload speed is always nice, of course, but in close quarters, taking the time to cycle the round instead of immediately switching to the TX1 (TX2 not recommended) will get you killed and, at long range, taking accurate shots at it's maximum rate of fire takes god-tier skill, which I don't have. At medium range, it can send quick shots downrange with a vengeance but, again, if you haven't mastered the slower travel time, you'll just be wasting ammo, and that's not a good thing to go around doing with only 30 precious rounds in reserve. It may be considered niche compared to other rifles, and it does present more of a challenge in open field combat but, as things are right now with infantry drawing distance and the Infiltrator class in general, I don't find that to be much of a drawback. I just wish I could put a laser sight on it for more reliable hipfire.
