Proposed Snipe Changes - Please no "Magic Number" for useful snipes

I get what they're trying to do with making snipes useful again, something similar to the way they made over Assasin's Strike. But I really, *really* don't like making it hinge on a specific value of a specific statistic (22% +hit) that can be fairly readily perma'd, because it gives a noticeable, binary advantage to min-maxers, and it encourages weird build choices that otherwise make no sense.

It would hardly be the first thing in the game that people warp their builds to achieve, but it's the only one I'm aware of with an all-or-nothing benefit. Perma-dom is awesome, but 95% dom is still pretty good. 45% defense is great, but 44% is not bad. Here, +22.03% hit is a game changer, +21.87% hit is build fail. And people are talking about stacking four +hit enhancements in a power so they can gain the necessary last tenth of a percent to get access to fast, massive DPA snipes.

If the devs want Build-Up and Aim to temporarily turn snipes into a useful, high DPA attack (the way unstealthed Assasin's Strike now works), tie a buff of some sort to those abilities. The current proposed solution puts everyone who doesn't take a microscope to their build at a significant disadvantage.

Am I the only one with this specific dislike for magic numbers and all-or-nothing benefits?

I'm fine with letting /devices keep their new advantage. God knows they needed something.

Hmmm. I do see your points..

One one, though, I don't agree with the 'build fail' conclusion, as a +21% to hit means that you'll be over the magic number a LOT whenever ANY other tohit buff comes your way.

But, I also see that shooting for an arbitrary magic number seems kludgey.

I'll have to think on it some more, I think, but right now, I don't see it being such a binary advantage...

I mean, +20% to hit still means you'll hit a lot more often. And can opt not to slot as much Acc in all your powers, therefore meaning more chances to slot for +Dam and +Recharge (or even +End Red or Range, or to enhance secondary effects).

It will create builds built around it, as you predict.... But does any other mechanic in the game not also do that?

I see your point, and I'm not saying that I can't be convinced to share your point of totally, but at present, I don't see the huge problem. On the other hand, I don't see why they just couldn't make the snipe always fast, and non-interruptable, either.

Thinking about it...they should have made it rely on a certain number of defiance stacks...for Blasters.

Makes sense conceptually...if you assume that "charging up" is the cast time on snipes and the defiance stacks...

...before a fight...if you want to use a snipe...you have to "charge up" to use it...but in the middle of a fight...you're already constantly "charged" by your constant attacking...allowing you to use this attack much more efficiently.

I don't believe it's even possible to get +ToHit from set bonuses (just +Accuracy, which is not the same thing despite the game itself often getting confused about that), the single exception being the Kismet +6% "Accuracy" (actually ToHit) unique. So you don't really need to take a magnifying glass to your build, since you're only going to be able to get the extra ToHit from a) Powers you already have, b) External buffs or c) the aforementioned Kismet IO. You can also use yellow inspirations to get there, by the way.

I prefer the "You don't have to 'aim' because you already have sufficient tohit" explanation. It may or may not be the devs reasoning behind the mechanic, but it makes sense.

A stacking bonus like AS not only doesnt help you start off the fight faster, but it also makes no sense.

Don't forget one Precise will boost your ToHit way above the 22% mark plus boost damage, last for 5 minutes and only cost 10 points each (15 cents or less). All you really 'have' to change in your build is pick up the snipe. There are plenty of ways to get the magic number without building for it. Teaming alone can put you there. I have seen a higher ToHit than that while on a reg team, all you need is two PPL running Tactics or even just one NW can put you there. On an ITrial it's almost a guarantee you will be above that mark.

True. I find running Tactics to be a popular thing on teams. So on teams, I'd likely expect to see lots of Blasters able to use Snipe often at it's non interruptable phase.

My dom will like these changes. Higher damage snipe than a blaster and all i need is one yellow inspiration and I have another extremely high DPA attack.

Hmmm...looking it over. If Scrappers do lose the interrupt time, which I'm guessing is 6 seconds, only a KM/INV Scrapper would beable to perma it, and would still have Moonbeams 24 second recharge to deal with.

Devices getting a boost is good.

Time Manipulation getting a boost is not a good thing, and probably an unintended side effect of this change.

I'm surprised that it's been leveraged off an existing variable and not had a new one added. Gravity Control got its own variable for Impact effects for a minor damage boost to two powers - surely all blast sets are worthy of a variable that gets triggered by Build Up and Aim and Targetting Drone.