As the title suggests, ill try to clearly display the pro’s and cons and things that in my opinion need changing in order to make the recon class a more viable/balanced role.
17963 specific feedback
This latest patch has been fantastic, especially for Recon;
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[li]Reduced/ Eliminated sway - Great change. Sway has its place in handicapping snipers on games with very slow moving targets and 1 shot kills for hitting basically anywhere on the body, but has no place in a fast paced game where the sniper only 1 shot kills with headshots, it was an unnecessary handicap to an already challenging area of the game. Ideally its removal should continue on to when moving also. [/li][li]Removal of hold breath - Comes with the above, but its removal has the benefit of simplifying the sniper a little, and making it more accessible as a weapon and more viable in general. It allows a more mobile sniper. [/li][li]Reduced view kick on getting hit - This is always a massive issue with snipers, they get nerfed in game by being seen first. In a game like dirty bomb where camping and hiding isnt very prevalent, and nor should it, and for that reason view kick isnt needed. The big issue with it is that its fine and feels like it should be in the game for most classes, who just feel a slight kick when hipfiring which just makes the fight feel more realistic and give feedback. But the sniper becomes un-usable if the view kick is too much, having a magnified scope, magnifies the kick and pretty much means regardless of how good you aim, if your getting shot, you cant hit your target. This is worsened by the fact that its not predictable like weapon recoil, since it is based off how often the enemy hits you, which you cannot predict. This ties in with a point for later that is making the class feel slightly underpowered. [/li][li]Increase in sniper damage - in my opinion this is always a good thing as long as it doesnt mean getting a 1 shot kill for chestshots, anything under that is fine in my opinion, a single shot bolt action rifle should be powerful. Especially with the speed that other weapons can kill with, having anything less would be unreasonable. [/li][li]Reduced “raise” and “lower” times for weapons - again great for all classes, but was really needed for the sniper. The slow swapping/raising of the sniper weapons was nerfing the class to a large degree. It mean that you essentially had one shot, or you died, now at least you have an opportunity to switch weapons after your first shot, which by no means gives you an advantage over the opponent, who will probably already have killed you due to killing speed, but does at least give you a chance if you havent already got a headshot, which is important otherwise the class can feel bad and not fun to play if you only get one shot before you die, whereas the enemy can run round shooting you in the feet and kill you before you can get a second shot off or swap weapons. [/li][/ul]
Things in the game that are nerfing recon inadvertently
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[li]Lack of falloff/Tightness of spread for all other weapons - This is a big problem, currently in game you can be killed from the other end of the map by an smg quicker than you can fire a second sniper bullet. The range and lack of falloff for all other weapons means really diminishes the snipers use, since its meant to be the class that excels over range, yet most of the current weapons (especially the Field ops AR, but all weapons to a lesser extent) can kill in similar time frames yet do not carry the penalty of being weaker close up. Essentially it becomes a choice of “do i pick Fops/Medic/Soldier which are very strong over range and up close, or do i pick the recon which is only very slightly better over range and much worse up close?” - easy decision for most. While sniping recently i have found that other players can effectively have a sniper battle with me and effectively counter snipe me from range with the Fops AR, this is because when both players are moving awkwardly/using cover well (as is natural in sniper wars), the field ops can just pre-fire on the snipers location, which means when the sniper chooses his moment their aim is already hit by the view kick making it very difficult to aim, and they lose a huge amount of health before they can even fire one shot. The field ops benefits from no loss of accuracy/damage over range and infinite ammo and can usually win before a second shot is fired due to the crazy damage even at range. [/li][li]Soldier backpack - Im pretty sure this is an issue for every class…even soldiers when fighting other soldiers…The huge backpack that hides the head and confuses where the body ends, on a class already with a weapon and health advantage. Essentially that one shot the sniper gets before he dies (if he misses) is made even more difficult with soldier fights by having no idea where the head is. I wont labour this point as i think its universally recognised as broken. [/li][li]Grenade strength - This recent increase combined with the recons quite low health has meant that grenades have become my number one source of deaths. They seem to fully kill you even if they are only “near” you, as opposed to just wounding you to a similar degree a sniper shot would, as i would expect. Grenades shouldnt just be a case of throwing into a room and it kills any recon in it, even if they threw it off target and poorly timed. [/li][/ul]
Areas where sniper has a chance of being slightly OP if changes are not made.
As it is, snipers need alot of work before they could be considered “balanced” with the other classes, however here are some issues that if the sniper was made more viable, may cause it to become OP;
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[li]Lack of obstacles/too much line of sight - Many maps have large open parts all the way through and basically mean that there are very few places on the map you cant get shot from. This is currently being exploited by every class, since people can crossfire from the other side of the map, and no one is safe at any point really. If snipers were made a bit more powerful, this may also make them op, since the maps currently allow you to shoot anyone from the other side of the map. As it is, this is balanced out by the fact that all the classes have super powerful weapons with no damage falloff over range, meaning they are just as good at picking people off miles away. Essentially maps need a more cover available. [/li][li]Sensor grenade - Legal wall hack is op, end of. It doesnt really help the sniper who has inferior weapons to everyone else, but for your team it makes pre-firing on enemies super easy, which nearly always means a won fight. Should really just show enemies up on the minimap. or have enemies locations pulse rather than permanently stay there. [/li][/ul]
And thats all i have for now, all opinions welcome.
:stroggtapir::armadillochase:
. I think nades are good as is and sniper body damage is much too high.