It's a curious one. I can't see how you could possibly justify making their damage low, given the nature of the class. It's got to be a one-shot kill, it's just about making sure that one shot takes skill to achieve. The idea of a setup time seems logical. They also need to be total sitting ducks immediately after shooting, so a breakdown time before being able to move again might also be required. Also stripped of all stealth for that duration.
Well it doesn't HAVE to be a one shot kill. It could be a two shot and still get the job done. And I'm sure this would be extra annoying, but it could deal plasma levels of stagger on a headshot. I'm generally against stunlock and one shot kills, but assuming that it's RoF is something like a bolt action rifle, it could make sense to make it a two shot kill and teams would be especially deadly even without headshots.
Are we talking purely from a balance perspective here? I was under the impression that Sniper weapons in 40k had the Rending USR to represent a Sniper hitting a critical spot (read: headshot). Hence the need to roll extremely well on your Ballistic Skill test. Actually given the nature of the Rending rule it seems like it should just go straight through whatever armour the target has and do some significant amount of damage. I'm not sure about stagger on a headshot, it would increase TTK since you have to make another shot, but functionally that's all it does? I'm not even sure the Devs know how they want to approach this.. At any rate I agree with setup and deconstruct time, but I don't know about making them particularly vulnerable during that time, especially if they're an elite class. The point of having limited spawning capability is to somewhat curb the power inherent in the class, which you don't want to do too much for obvious reasons.
Yes, this is from a purely balance perspective. No matter how compelling the story is, I believe that it is never worth fitting to fluff if it ruins the experience. Snipers, as they are traditionally portrayed, wouldn't be any fun to play against in a game that is supposed to have a long ttk with short engagement ranges. The only thing that prevents characters like the widowmaker or the sniper from TF2 being obnoxious is the immense amount of cover in both overwatch and TF2. Yes the rangers can be good, but they may not be able to act how they are portrayed in the TT or fluff without breaking the paradigm of Eternal Crusade.
I mean, Infiltraters in Planetside 2 are Snipers and can stealth. So, I guess it can work. They onehitkill on headshots 2 bodyshots with Boltaction. Balancing factors are mainly the Bulletdrop and traveltime.
Reload speed needs to play a big factor too. I do remember them saying that bulletdrop won't be a thing at launch but might come in later. So that won't be a good avenue.
Eldar longrifles don't have recoil or bullet drop. They don't have recoil due to the gyrostatic arm that perfectly compensates - and they don't have bullet drop because they don't fire projectiles - they are energy weapons. I think they should be Headshot One Shot Kills, and the rest Two Shot Kills - on your standard SM. I think you can still balance all that given the following: - stealth breaks on firing - rangers fire from prone or cover (positioning time) - rangers have ADS (Aim Down Sights, the time it takes to raise their scope and prepare their minds) - the weapon has a charging time similar to a bolt action rifle - the long rifle has a reverse positioning time (to unscope / stand up from prone) - the long rifle is really shitty when not scoped (dangerous to get caught on the move, can't really help with objectives or building clearance So if a Ranger gets on a good vantage point, overlooking a broad area or a nice sniper alley - and if they can aim well - super dangerous. If anyone manages to flank them, or an Assault manages to get above them - pretty much wrecked. That said - this assumes we're using a full long rifle configuration (as an Outcast might). A Ranger who chooses to fight on a battlefield, with a Craftworld - would be almost guarenteed to get a Bonesinger to re-sing their wraithbone rifle into a DMR (Designated Marksmen Rifle) configuration. In which case it would be something like the SM Stalker Pattern Bolter. One interesting alteration I'd actually be interested in seeing - is making the Ranger knife quite dangerous - but with the combination of "dangerous in melee" and "stealth" - that may tread too close to Striking Scorpion gameplay wise. Still, I like the idea of a Sniper class being dangerous when perched at a vantage, but getting there first by lurking through the dark corners - knife in hand.
Yea this is pretty much spot on, With the talk of Banshee/Hawk it makes me wonder why Banshee is coming out before the Ranger. Considering (I feel) there's a severe lack of long range for the Eldar atm AND we already have a "Dedicated" melee class in the form of Scorpions (who a are more of an assassin anyway intended or not). Dont get me wrong Im enjoying the Reaper who is my go to class and is pretty good asides from the lack of brace for the Shuriken Cannon. I was thinking about the Rangers stealth- maybe they should only get it when setup is complete. This would force the player to find the best route to the desired position. The stealth should maintain through the set up period even when firing. Maybe however there should be a scope glint or something similar that'd promote moving to a different position after a few shots..
A small point to add: I hope we get a distance score like that of BF4 - the kind that basically adds xp points to kills on how far away the target was. I've never been much of a sniper in games (aim can be really bad), but this has always been an incentive to try for me... And I'm not talking about the +50 points.
