I’ve heard some talk and rumours about the devs thinking about removing the insta-gib from both the MOA and the FEL-IX (just to clarify - this means that a headshot will not only instantly kill an opponent, but will make them instantly UNREVIVEABLE). I can see the logic in this, as the best Vasilli players are simply able to dominate enemy teams with headshots, but I also think that completely removing his insta-gib abilities would make the merc completely pointless.
If the MOA and the FEL-IX had no insta-gib, their well-aimed headshots would put their opponents in a reviveable state and give the enemy team a total of about 1.5 or 2 seconds to revive that player before they can rechamber another bullet and then fire a second shot into the downed merc to finish them. This would effectively negate the reward for being accurate with Vassili’s shots, as any good medic on the enemy team would simply revive them before they could be gibbed.
Here are my solutions:
Take the insta-gib away ONLY FROM THE MOA while giving it back its 6 round magazine, and at the same time drop the FEL-IX’s magazine size to 4 and reduce the firerate.
That way the new players can be satisfied with the MOA which allows them to work up their sniping skills with a gun that won’t also allow the most efficient players to abuse it like they can at the moment. Meanwhile, the more advanced players, who recognise the amazing value of the insta-gib, would gravitate over to the FEL-IX despite its lower firerate and mag size because if you can be consistent with it you can be very effective (but not as effective as they would be with the MOA in its current insta-gibbing state). The FEL-IX would then become much less of a pot-shot sniper (and much less than the MOA can be) and would require the user to be more patient with their shots, meaning that it would become even more reliant on skill and placement.
OR
(and that’s an OR, not an AND, bear in mind)
Change the way that insta-gib works. The current system immediately and permanently renders headshotted opponents unreviveable. My suggestion would be to make those insta-gibbing weapons cause those players who are headshotted to become unreviveable for 3 whole seconds while they are on the ground and AFTER those 3 seconds they become reviveable again. Note that in this 3 second stage the player would still be able to be finished, just not reviveable.
This way, the Vassili has the opportunity to take a second shot to gib the downed player, but means that a) he has to peek again and b) he has to use a second bullet out of his magazine, which causes him to need to reload more often. This would mean that the teammates of the downed player would have a chance to stop the Vassili from taking that second shot (by suppressing him). Also, this would mean that Vassili would not be able to effectively kill AND gib 3 or more enemies with the same magazine, as he only has a maximum of 5 bullets (assuming you’re using the MOA), so you wouldn’t end up with Vassili completely halving the enemy team in several seconds.
It might also be necessary for there to be a special icon appearing above mercs who are in this 3 second stage, perhaps in the shape of a timer that shows how much time is left until they become reviveable. Otherwise the downed players medics would get confused and frustrated while trying to revive him in that 3 second period.