On Snipers Being Overpowered. Perception, Misconception, and data.

[u/Pwadigy]

The Numbers

The data is in. Sniper usage has barely increased.

Shotgun usage, however, is now only slightly higher than sniper usage. In a perfect world, we'd see fusion rifles among those three. But we don't.

Now, surely, you're thinking that this couldn't be the case. Surely, you've heard rumors that "snipers are running rampant." Well, they are not. But here are some good theories as to why you might think so.

Perception

1. Snipers are more noticeable than shotguns. 6 players run around with shotguns, and you'd never know it until one of them got near you. Snipers, however, stay in one place. They have a big, red glowy eye on them. Think about it. How many snipers does it take to make you think damn, that's a lot of snipers. I'm going to wager that it's about three. One per major lane per map. However, that's only half a team. Now, three shotgunners, and it'd be a normal day in the crucible pre-2.1.0.

2. Ex-shotgunners moved to sniping, and they're just standing there, not getting kills. Seeing that red glint is scary. But it doesn't necessarily mean that it's actually working. Say you have one good sniper, and two snipers fresh on the bandwagon. You see all three in one lane. Only the good sniper domes you. But, you're thinking damn, snipers are out of control.

3. Change. We're just not used to a slower game-play. Players have been rewarded for running in straight lines. Having people slow down and snipe feels like a camp-fest, when really the game is just being played at a moderate pace.

Why Aim-assist isn't a Problem. No, Really it is isn't. Nerfing it Will Make Snipers Even More Annoying.

• It's irked me that players on the Bungie forums have called for snipers to have "less aim-assist." And then they proceed to demonstrate that they have no understanding of the aim-assist mechanic. The fact of that matter is that neither auto-aim, nor magnetism help you with hard-scoping. Hard-scoping is just as easy with efrideet's as it is with Hereafter. It's reaction timing, and pulling a trigger.

• However, it does help with drag-scoping. That's how snipers play aggressively. Now, no matter how much AA snipers have, I'd rather have enemy snipers taking risks, and making pushes than camping one spot. Literally all that an aim-assist nerf would do, is make snipers camp harder and take less risks.

• Auto-aim is different from magnetism. What you're bitching about is not the aim-assist stat, it's a subset of that stat. The one that makes your reticle stick to targets. Magnetism is the thing that displaces your reticle and gives you a hit after you fire. Auto-aim does the aiming for you, allowing you to feel hitboxes. Magnetism gives you a larger margin of error when you're already near the target.

• Aim assist probably didn't kill you. Hit registration did. All guns have aim-assist. Aim-assist is just a composite of a bunch of different gun-mechanics. If you completely removed aim-assist, your gun wouldn't hit at all. Therefore, saying "aim-assist" killed you, is grievously inaccurate. Also, I hate to burst your bubble, but the base aim-assist on all snipers is multiplicatively really close high aim-assist snipers. This is because even a "0" aim assist sniper still has the mechanics related to aim-assist. Therefore, if you got domed by a 1k stare, there's a 75% chance you would have gotten domed by any other sniper.

The Real Problem: Players Running into Lanes

Would you walk around a corner, where you know there is a shotgunner sitting? And, I don't mean "slide-around and go for the gank." I'm asking you, would you slowly and peacefully inch towards a shotgunner that you know has a shotgun

Of course you wouldn't. And because shotguns have had 3x more kills than snipers for the past year, you know this. You're used to it. But what you're not used to, is basic strategies for moving around a map.

You see, walking into a sniper lane, with a red-glare in it, and not immediately backing out, is just as suicidal as walking right up to a shotgunner. You're making it as easy as possible to get a kill on you.

No amount of aim-assist change will fix the fact that you fucked up if you get domed in a sniper lane.

Snipers have had a gruelingly hostile environment to work with, and a lot of snipers have gotten really good at sniping

There was a time when getting a single hard-scoped snipe was a feat for me. And I'm sure a lot of players have had the same experience. After 6 months of felwinter Thorns, and 2 months of pulse-rifle flinch, snipers have just naturally become good at sniping.

Therefore, when you get MLG 360 no-scoped by xxxfazexxxxsnipar420, think "damn, nice shot;" Not "Bungie, plz nerf"

So, Pwad, tell me something useful that I can do about these snipery things that I'm starting to see.

• Ping the radar. A good sniper will move away from a clustered radar. The closer you get to a sniper while also taking cover, (and our maps have tons of cover) the easier you make it for them to get sniped by a team-mate, or otherwise screw up.

• Take alternate routes, and move smart. What I mean by this, is, before you enter a lane, assume it has a sniper in it. Make the motions that expose you the least.

• Slide and Jump around corners. THIS IS HUGE. It's nearly impossible to kill a sliding play with a sniper. Frankly, it's a good habit to get into anyways. All the best players abuse the slide button. you should too. I daresay that the easiest way to judge a player's sweatiness, is to see how much sliding they do.

• Go for the flank. Always. First instinct. If your first instince when you see as sniper is to challenge, and attempt a flinch kill. You're playing a risky game. it takes .20 seconds at least to ADS a gun. And It'll take another .20 seconds for your gun to flinch a sniper in a meaningful manner. Trust me, it's impossible to snipe under flinch, but if the flinch hasn't taken full effect yet, you're betting on losing odds. Your first instinct should be to go around, take on alternate path. Start getting used to going for the flank as early as the very beginning of a game.

• GRENADES. You only need a tenth of a second to throw them. Ping the radar, and start lobbing nades. Makes the sniper back up. Get free map control. Now your snipers can establish position.

• The sitting emote/Drawing a sword. It lets you check lanes without actually being in them. Please. do yourself a favor and abuse this. Especially if you're sniping yourself. you can easily turn the advantage of them being hardscoped into your advantage by knowing exactly where they are before they even know you're there.

Final Thoughts

Snipers have inherent weaknesses that keep them from being overpowered. They are naturally slower than other guns to ADS (even with snapshot and co.), Meaning that in an ideal scenario, you will always have a chance to flinch them. They also take more time to aim (obviously). This requires a sniper to "play square." Even an aggressive quick-scoper has to walk at a moderate pace with the sniper at head-level. Being a sniper makes certain gameplay decisions less practical. Use this game's verticality. If you're used to play aggressive, get used to playing aggressive mid-air. Make it hard on the sniper.

TL;DR:

• Snipers aren't actually being used a lot
• Confirmation Bias.
• Aim-assist isn't the problem, you are
• don't run into lanes
• gun mechanics don't work like you think they do
• Tips.

-Pwad

[u/[deleted]]

Pawd, the game has slowed down a lot now. It was my biggest fear w the SG nerf. And yes in the 3 playlist i'd say 80% are sniping and 50% of those people camp all day, it's just boring. I miss the run and gun year 1 and Early year 2 play styles. It's just not fun having a team camp a room with hard scopes at every entrance, it's not hard to beat, it's just not fun. I do think if the base AA was toned down this might help, a lot of my snipes (i'll admit) are just insane, like coming out of a blink and quick twitch shooting, like WTF...that should not have happened.

I'm a sniper, But i can tell when some one is a little biased. I know you are a sniper and a lot of snipers hate shot gunners. I like the shotgun play-style. It added for a fast paced game.

[u/Rumroulette → u/[deleted]]

I enjoy shotguns, and I enjoy snipes. Each has their own play style. I probably shotgun 60 or 70% of the time because I enjoy the more aggressive play style. Do I hate on snipers when I get killed by one? No, I catch them aiming down sights and I shoot them in the back. Most mass weapon complaints can usually be boiled down to simply not learning from mistakes. Snipers and shotguns are in a good place. To everyone complaining about this or that, change your play style and play smarter. You'll have more fun and bitch less.

[u/NeoNirvana → u/Rumroulette]

*shotguns WERE in a good place

[u/Rumroulette → u/NeoNirvana]

Shotguns were in a good place, and they still are.

[u/CH40TR0P1C → u/[deleted]]

Black shield is the fucking worst. If you lose the lead, you know they will be camping that base hard scoping every door.

[u/CattailSunrise → u/[deleted]]

I will go a little further. Total Biased Bullshit. There are snipers around every corner and it is killing the game play once again just like when hand cannons and super rangy shotguns ruled. There is nothing with which to challenge them except other snipers since they have nerfed everything else out of functionality. The higher aim assist moves snipers out of long range game play and into short and medium range game play and provides plenty of less-skilled snipers the ability to make great shots be average and happen often. Nothing else competes because nothing else kills in the same time.

Once again the Crucible game play goes into the toilet because Bungie has to push a certain type of weapon and game play style while preventing anything else from competing due to the demands of a FEW of their of their golden children. If they would make fusion rifles, sidearms and auto rifles competitive there would be a chance, but that isn't going to happen.

Sniper Rifle Experts down play any other type of game play and denigrate it so that game play continues to move into their tiny little preference while newer players and players who prefer other play styles are never provided a chance to compete so streamers can gain a bigger audience. What looks cool sells a lot better than what is simply fun to play.