Sparks becoming better sniper than the snipererest sniper?

(Drac0rion) #1

Once instagib on bolt action sniper headshots is removed, doesn’t Sparks offer everything and more than Vassili?
The revive gun battery doesn’t seem to get much of a punish for anything really for the amount of everything it provides.

Thoughts?

(Yes) #2

Am I the only one that thinks the heartbeat sensor is bloody strong?

(Matuno) #3

Although I do believe Sparks’ damage needs a nerf, you can’t really compare her to Vassili. Even if Vassili no longer instagibs, he still downs every class.

Sparks doesn’t do as much damage as you think she does, she needs a bit of charge to down a Vassili in one shot (and needs more precision as she doesn’t have a meaningful scope), and she isn’t able to take down a Fragger or the likes in one shot unless she gets a high/full charge, during which she moves slowly.

I play Sparks most of the time now, and again, though I do think she needs a nerf, people that haven’t played her perceive her as much more of a threat than she really is.

(Amerika) #4

It’s a Fragger’s best friend. In 5v5 you can see where people are at and where they are headed and can likely guess where they will be making grenades rather powerful in combination since you can throw them and either kill or damage before anybody can even fire at each other.

Also, people keep forgetting that downed bodies will take one shot from a bolt action to gib. In many cases you either didn’t get a headshot or you hit a body shot and finished with a secondary. A single gib shot from a bolt action rifles (not the PDP or GR mind you) is a buff in all of those situations.

(Lumi) #5

It’s as @Matuno said. Sparks seems so threatening right now because the rare people that play her and stick with her are actually bloody good with her. Give them a Vassili and they’ll kick your ass as well.

As you see more idiots playing Vassili than playing Sparks, you easily get the impression that Sparks is better than Vassili, yet she’s only better if the player is really good.

The only advantage Sparks has as opposed to Vassili is to be able to shoot with pinpoint accuracy without aiming down sights. If you could do the same with the Felix or any other sniper rifle you’d see the same happening with Vassili’s. Luckily we’re safe from that. Nevertheless, although you have that ability to snipe without ADS you still need the eyes to see something tiny in the distance.

I remember the beginnings of Sparks, I would kill so many Vassili’s because they didn’t perceive me as a threat, usually only worrying about other Vassili’s. Now some still ignore me but other’s know I am a sniper in disguise.

So in the end I think that Sparks seems more like a better Sniper than Vassili, just because good snipers tend to gravitate to her instead of sticking with Vassili.

(gg2ez) #6

I can’t wait until Jaeger and Faraleth show up and do their thing again.

(VincentRJaeger) #7

@gg2ez Someone called?

(gg2ez) #8

[quote=“Jaeger;98136”]@gg2ez Someone called?


[/quote]

Now we wait for Fara.

(Grave_Knight) #9

Hey, remember when Nader and Fletcher replaced Fragger cause they can throw out more explosives than him? No? Oh, right cause that didn’t happen. So what makes you think Sparks is going to replace Vassi just because they’re changing the instagib mechanic?

(VincentRJaeger) #10

Sparks seems like a better choice over Vassili for the ability to hipfire with pinpoint accuracy, plus the fact that she has the long-range revive. Of course this makes her seem more viable than Vassili because of the support she can dish out, especially when put in comparison to the average Vassili that camps in one area. Her REVIVR has the ability to headshot Mercs with 120 HP which will make it seem powerful, but longrange hipfiring isn’t an easy thing to master, aswell as the need to charge her gun up to reach those numbers.
A good Sparks can indeed counter a Vassili, but only if the Vassili has tunnel vision. A good Vassili is superior to a good Sparks just because of his killing power. In fact he will most likely prioritize medics - like Sparks - because his role involves taking out key mercs.

Vassili’s ability, the heartbeat sensor, it’s more powerful than you think. In a team with good communication, knowing the location of the enemy team is golden intel for coordinated counterattacks. Fraggers that can cook nades or Phantoms that can flank, the HBS is a powerful tool. Hell, even in a pub putting out the HBS helps because what random players can do with it is to atleast fortify defenses or - as an enemy - instinctively leave take a detour to avoid the HBS, buying time for the other team.

His Sniper rifles are also more powerful in terms of damage with around 10 points on the Moa compared to the REVIVR. Vassili is able to take down anyone save for Rhino with just one shot. That’s quite a lot. Now I’m going out and saying I am for the removal of instagib on Vassili because, really, instagib a fragger and less on just one shot; It’s almost ridiculous. Fear the almighty sniper who can pop them heads as easy as teabagging a player. But even without the Instagib he will be powerful with his ability to down a fragger and gib him in just two shots. Definetly a bonus.

That’s a summary of my thoughts atleast.

(Ralloff) #11

Sparks may or may not be OP; But Quick Charge very likely is.

Something a great many people are overlooking is the recent bug fix for the quick charge loadout perk. This is the perk that lets you charge the revivr gun faster. Previously it was a decent perk, but was balanced by a bug that made is consume battery much faster after being charged. This created a different sparks playstyle that let her spam better and heal teamates faster, but didn’t allow you to hold angles as long with a full charge. Less focused on insta kill head shots and more on harassment/healing.

Currently with both this bug fix and reduction to overheating time, its very VERY forgiving to go for full charge headshots. If I get the headshot great, but if I miss I still have an opportunity to deal serious harassment damage in very small window. I get high burst with a full charge and then high damage spam.

Sparks was pretty good being able to instadown squishies with accurate fire, but now she doesn’t have many tradeoffs when using her revivr gun.

TL;DR Sparks wasn’t really overpowered before the bugfix/buff, but with the new Quick Charge she almost certainly is unfair due to high damage spammable lasers. I would love to see a performance comparison between Sparks played with and without quick charge and I think Splash Damage should look into that.

(Grave_Knight) #12

I heard about that, I wasn’t even aware there was a bug till someone mentioned it after it was patched out (I was also wondering why Sparks seemed more efficient than usual). Personally I would love to see the bug put back in.

(ProfPlump) #13

[quote=“Matuno;97747”]Although I do believe Sparks’ damage needs a nerf, you can’t really compare her to Vassili. Even if Vassili no longer instagibs, he still downs every class.

Sparks doesn’t do as much damage as you think she does, she needs a bit of charge to down a Vassili in one shot (and needs more precision as she doesn’t have a meaningful scope), and she isn’t able to take down a Fragger or the likes in one shot unless she gets a high/full charge, during which she moves slowly.

I play Sparks most of the time now, and again, though I do think she needs a nerf, people that haven’t played her perceive her as much more of a threat than she really is.[/quote]

Sparks has no scope sway while moving (she just hipfires - and as a result also has very little flinch), she strafes incredibly fast AND can quickly heal to prevent being killed by bodyshots from Vassili. She is absolutely capable of taking out Vassili.

Meanwhile, Vassili DOES have scope sway, much more flinch, and can be picked away at by multiple shots from the REVIVR. If a Vassili is in a fight with a Sparks at long range and the Vassili gets put down to about 20 health by the Sparks, he has to run away and hide for about 15 seconds or so before it’s safe to re-enter combat. But if the SPARKS gets down to that same 20 health, she can self heal instantly and continue shooting back at the sniper.

(Haki) #14

I wouldn’t say she has “very little flinch”,
when strafing sideways and charging up your shot (without ADS!) the moment before I release the shot i absolutely must not get hit by anything otherwise my shot will go over their heads.
I noticed this more often against aware players that prioritize me whenever I peek as Sparks.
As long as one or two players keep spamming their bullets somewhere around me, I do have some trouble hitting my targets.

(Faraleth) #15

http://i.imgur.com/6JbpUPw.gif

In all seriousness though, Sparks was more balanced when Quick Charge meant the battery would deplete faster. Right now there is literally NO reason not to go with Quick Charge, while before it felt at least somewhat viable to pick something else… but as ever, 383 is the sole choice for loadout.

(Vaasref) #16

After charging the shot the battery should not be consumed faster with Quick Charge.

Maybe charging should cost more per charge, “wasting” energy, but holding should not.

(Sir_Slam) #17

http://i.imgur.com/6JbpUPw.gif

In all seriousness though, Sparks was more balanced when Quick Charge meant the battery would deplete faster. Right now there is literally NO reason not to go with Quick Charge, while before it felt at least somewhat viable to pick something else… but as ever, 383 is the sole choice for loadout.[/quote]

You’ve clearly never played any Sparx, so I have a question Fara.

How often do you actually put away the Rivir?

Because…well…I kind of don’t. Seriously if you can bank headshots back to back, the damage potential is insane. I hardly ever use my primary weapon, and I seem no worse for the wear in terms of kills or survival. I’ve had Sparx on my rotation nearly 100% of the time after unlocking her, and I end up playing her at least one life in nearly every match. I exclusively play 5v5 (well usually 4v5 but thats neither her not there).

For me, her zap gun is outclassing the Empire-9’s killing potential at close range. All you have to do is abuse corners and not miss. Even if the first headshot doesn’t do it, its just another chest zap and they’re usually done. Only if a Fragger turns the corner do I ever bother pulling out my pistol.

Proxy and Aura just get insta-gibbed, which is hilarious when they’re trying to rush you.

Am I doing something wrong here by walking around with the science machine instead of the bullet box? Because honestly I have yet to have it really screw me over.

(Drac0rion) #18

[left]Lets compare the REVIVR to the other ability guns.

Minigun: Lots of bullets, fast. A gun to outgun the other guns. Let’s just call it Rhinos primary gun.

Nade launcher: Little eggs of death that has it’s uses, not a gun you would run around with 100% of the time, because… let’s just call it situational.

And now REVIVR: a gun that I assume intentionally was created to revive downed teammates at range, but it also deals damage since defibs deal damage to enemies as well.

Sparks is not a great medic because of her healing ability, but because she can revive downed teammates better than any other medic. I mean, for crying out loud, I had to down a Rhino 4 times in a 1vs1 before I was able to gib him as I simply couldn’t kill him fast enough with enemy Sparks hiding out of my sights and that was probably me being lucky that the Sparks lost focus for a second longer or something.
There’s nearly no punishment on the REVIVR battery for spamming it, there’s no risk reviving compared to other medics. If any of the other medic would try to revive, he/she would probably be in my line of sights at least.

All I would like, is for her to have to charge the REVIVR to a certain point for it to revive a downed ally and make the REVIVR unable to headshot. Or just drastically decrease the rate of fire or increase the battery usage. That’s just my opinion of bringing her down a little while still keeping her in her game.[/left]

(sentimentalDime) #19

[quote=“Dracorion;99846”][left]Lets compare the REVIVR to the other ability guns.

Minigun: Lots of bullets, fast. A gun to outgun the other guns. Let’s just call it Rhinos primary gun.

Nade launcher: Little eggs of death that has it’s uses, not a gun you would run around with 100% of the time, because… let’s just call it situational.

And now REVIVR: a gun that I assume intentionally was created to revive downed teammates at range, but it also deals damage since defibs deal damage to enemies as well.

Sparks is not a great medic because of her healing ability, but because she can revive downed teammates better than any other medic. I mean, for crying out loud, I had to down a Rhino 4 times in a 1vs1 before I was able to gib him as I simply couldn’t kill him fast enough with enemy Sparks hiding out of my sights and that was probably me being lucky that the Sparks lost focus for a second longer or something.
There’s nearly no punishment on the REVIVR battery for spamming it, there’s no risk reviving compared to other medics. If any of the other medic would try to revive, he/she would probably be in my line of sights at least.

All I would like, is for her to have to charge the REVIVR to a certain point for it to revive a downed ally and make the REVIVR unable to headshot. Or just drastically decrease the rate of fire or increase the battery usage. That’s just my opinion of bringing her down a little while still keeping her in her game.[/left][/quote]

This would not keep her in the game, decrease her reviving abilities? No one would use her.
Make her unable to kill with the REVIVR? She’d be a walking ‘‘SHOOT ME’’ sign anywhere outside of close range, which would lead to, you guessed it, no one using her.

(Lumi) #20

@sentimentalDime is right! She already has no primary gun, as her primary is the revir gun. Imo, her gun has been buffed too much. I thought she was alright in her initial release state. I was already good with her back then, but with each buff they implemented the better tools I received. I could definitely go for a minimum charge before firing, something like half the charge needed to revive. That would slow her fire rate down, which I currently believe is a bit on the too high side.

Also, I experience the need to wait for the gun to cool down, maybe once in every 20 matches. An experienced player will keep the gun going flawlessly in most situations, barely needing to switch for the bullet based weapons. I think that the energy pool of the gun could be reduced a bit.

As I said, I thought most of her revivr gun buffs were unnecessary, so I wouldn’t mind seeing it being nerfed. I’d rather have that with an added accuracy boost to the automatic pistols to force me to switch between gun and ability, instead of the current almost exclusive revir gun gameplay.