Blaster Issues - Sniping

Buff the range x 2 or 3. make it change do a different attack if the target is with in x range or it's not totally useless up close.

Sniping down a group as they try to get to you would be awesome.

I have always liked the Idea of the Sniper attack. That attack that takes all you focus to built up and direct into a single focused blast to waste that enemy. However, game play in CoX, the sniper blast in its current form is just about useless.

Cox has is such a fast paced game the long animation time cripples it.

This is compound by the interupt.

I played with sniper attack and found it useful only when there is a long pull on a AV, like seige or NS.

You simple cant invest is a power that useless, no matter how much you like the concept. I do really like the concept.

I think there is a place in the Blaster concept for a a Extreme power blast with a long range and long recharge time. The activation time needs to be cut, the interupt you could take or leave.

Worst option: Increase the damage to be the same as Dominators: 3.56 DS.

Best option: Implement something similar to the Assassin Strike change, where Snipes operate differently if you're in the middle of combat.

I'm not sure if the game mechanics would support this one but I'll throw it out there:

Leave the animation time of each snipe the same or re-balance to not have horrible DPA, but use the interrupt period as a time where a pulsed +to hit and +damage "Sniper's Focus" stacking buff is applied to the Blaster. Getting hit terminates the buff pulse timer and the rest of the attack executes as normal. Slotting interrupt time decrease enhancements causes the the buff timer to tick faster, which means the Blaster caps the damage buff faster.

There, it still a viable opener and something you might actually want to use in combat assuming you weren't under heavy fire, and alleviates the wasted time double whammy that snipes get.

Hell, you could allow the buff duration be long enough to encourage mid combat use to buff follow up attacks that way too, and this could be ported across all snipe using archetypes.

Blaster Snipes:

Increase the damage to make the DPA worth it. Leave the interrupt time alone. Don't weight the recharge and endurance cost on this damage change.

Once a Blaster has 3 stacks of Defiance built up, remove the interrupt time and shortern the animation time, just like Assassin strike attacks.

Now it can be used both as a long distance attack, and in combat.

Defender Snipes:

See first point in Blasters.

Once a certain % of Vigilance is built up, the attack can't be interrupted and has a shorterned animation time.

Corruptors:

See first point in Blasters.

The second part is tricky. Make it so as the Corruptor scourges a target, a buff icon appears, three successful scourges allows snipes to have shortened animation time, uninterruptable attack.

Dominators:

Once Domination is up, snipes are uninterruptable and have a shortened animation time.

Here's my take on fixing snipe, not just for blasters, but for any AT that has a snipe power.

I think what's required here is some truly out of the box fix.

Snipe being interuptable is a staple of the power and makes it unique, however, it's that very same quality that makes it kind of undesirable along with the fact that in most cases you can fire off several other attacks in the same time you can fire off just one snipe and do more overall damage than your single snipe.

My suggestion would likely require a programming fix since I don't think the mechanics for it exist in the game currently.

Simply put: Select your target, click ONCE to begin snipe, now you begin to track the target and build up damage. Clicking Snipe a SECOND time will actually fire the snipe. The snipe is considered interuptable the entire time you are tracking the target. The Snipe Icon will work like a clock, starting at 12, and slowly increase until it comes full circle indicating the snipe is fully charged and waiting to be fired.

This means that Snipe now does variable damage depending on how long you want to let snipe track the target essentially the longer you wait, the more damage the snipe will do.

I would suggest the scaling not be linear but rather scale on a curve, so that if you fire the snipe quickly it will do decent damage, not great, but just decent, then the longer you wait the slower the increase gets up to some Dev set maximum.

I would not have a problem with this attack being unique in that you can let it scale upwards given enough time tracking a target to reach your Archetype's damage cap.

In game this would mean that snipe would now likely take MUCH LONGER to fire than it does now, but the payoff would be having an opening attack that can do capped damage to a single target. The tradeoff would be that you would likely not be able to use this attack effectively once in combat because the amount of time needed to fire off a damage capped shot would be too long and likely interrupted.

I would even go so far as to give the snipe a special self debuff, the longer you track a target while getting closer to your damage cap, the lower your defense is debuffed to ensure that if you are attacked you will most likely be interrupted.

This fix leaves me wondering what to do about snipe enhancement sets and IOs, since interrupt reduction will not work in this new version of snipe. I'm sort of out of ideas for that, perhaps folks can think of something good for them.

Thanks for reading.

Haven't really read through - title just caught my eye.

I'm a fan of snipes. I think I take them on every... well, non-Dominator that has one. (OK, non dominator, non-Stalker-patron-power.) Always have, since my first Elec/Elec.

Issues for me:
- Long wait/animation. Yes, it "feels" right to do that with a snipe. It should be a long animation. Just maybe not "that" long. Even a half second or so would be noticable, shaved off.

- The second tohit check. This is just annoying to me for the number of things that "block" it... an I-beam or tree thinner than the target? Really?

- Not *as* usable in combat. I can hover-snipe or, in some situations, pop lucks, sure. Giving this the AS treatment (I'll go for a little lower damage done that way, as long as it's still a reasonable attack) would specifically help with a complaint some have with one specific set - electric blast.

Don't mind:
- The interrupt time. Really, I don't.

Wouldn't mind:
- an on-impact AOE "stun" or something for a few seconds. Or fear. I'm good with fear. It's one of the psychological advantages of a "real" snipe, after all - some simulation of it in game wouldn't be amiss.



As far as damage... I'll let people who play with numbers more deal with that. A bit more, I think, wouldn't be amiss "when used as a snipe." (assuming the in-combat/out-of-combat dual mode is doable somehow.) Though I certainly won't turn more damage down, defender-side.

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Snipes are a stalker issue, too.


Now, my default solution to problems is to take the simple ways first, and then when those are exhausted try and go with the more complicated ways. As with such, there are two very "simple" ways to improve snipes:

#1: Increase their damage to have an appropriate DPA.
#2: Decrease their activation time to have an appropriate DPA, and make them interruptable for the entire firing of this shorter time initially.

And thus ends the very simple suggestion for the Snipe: If they aren't doing what they are intended to do, then just make them.


However... there are a couple of cool ideas out there. The stalker treatment is one of them, so I won't reiterate too much. But... Sniping in the real world isn't about running into the middle of the street in a combat zone and then shooting. What you do is pick a location with a good vantage point and plenty of cover, then hunker down there. From that point, you can fire off shots at an enemy from a long range while also being protected from by cover. Even enemy snipers in CoH do this to some degree. Try flying around Founder's Falls at a low level without stealth. Don't worry, I'll wait for... back already? Yeah, you got sniped by some guy hiding at the top of building.

My creative idea for snipers for blasters is as follows: Sniper Powers would come with two attacks.

• First is the "in position" power. It is a toggle power. What you'll do is crouch down similar to rest and/or brace yourself and prepare to fire off snipes. While in this position, you have a mild stealth bonus of 20 feet PVE and a mild defense bonus of 5%. Also while in position, all single-target ranged attacks will receive a range increase of 20% and an accuracy increase of 10%

• The power will have a long enhanceable recharge time of 1.5 minutes. You cannot move from this position until you de-toggle the sniping power. If you are hit by any attack you will immediately lose the stealth and defense bonuses. If you are mezzed or KBed you will move out of position and the power will detoggle. Currently the activation time for this crouching position is undecided, however I am leaning 2 seconds. You cannot use non-ranged attacks powers while crouched, but you may use affect-self powers. Accepted Enhancements are Recharge and Accuracy.

• The second attack is going to be the actual sniper attack. This attack will have an animation time of 2.8 seconds, a recharge rate of 10 seconds, and will have the current damage and range of sniper attacks for each of their perspective power sets. This attack cannot be used unless you are "in position". This attack is interruptable for 1.4 seconds. Accepted enhancements are the same as always.

I kinda like the idea of making snipes the ranged assassin strike.
It could be done a number of ways.

Easiest is to massively increase their damage and their animation time. Make them something you can open a fight with, but you simply cant use DURING a fight without some decent luck. If you could start a fight by one-shotting a support Lt. or MAYBE even just outright killing the boss, it would certainly be worth it. The cooldown would have to change, and whatnot, but it would make them a valuable tool.

A more thematic way would be to make them do 2x, or more, damage from cloaked...or maybe a large multiplier against idle targets, because once you fire, that aggro bloom is getting everyone's attention.

I have to aggree with some of the posters...

I too thinks the snipes should give no aggro to anything around the target it hits.

I also think it should do what its descriptions says....and actualy do extreme damage.

And weairdly i think on blasters these things should be longer ranged.

I realize this would alow a blaster to sit back and shoot things at super super long range....but good gravy...if thats what a player wants to do then fine.

They have a failry long recharge and are interuptable and they take time to shoot....so why not allow the blaster to actualy sniper things....

If it was possible i would say change the way they work so they work like sniper attacks in first person shooter games...where the blaster would get a scope and reticle and be able to make head shots....
But that would require a huge mechanic creation.
So i dont think that would ever happen.
But that kind of mechanic would definatley make them stand out as an archtype thats for sure.