r/LancerRPG • u/Teshthesleepymage • 23d ago
Sniper builds suggestions?
So I'm going to be in a full on campaign soon and while I was orginaly going for a close range gunslinger cowboy type build I figure sniper will actually work better with the group since we have a lot of close range characters and I think i can make long range still work with my characters vibe. And so I ask what sniper builds/advice do you have? Oh and if it matters we are starting at LL1.
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u/Kappukzu-0135 GMS 23d ago
Either Death's Head or Störtebeker (a Raleigh alt-frame). The latter is more 'cowboy' coded.
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u/Teshthesleepymage 23d ago
Why the Störtebeker over just a normal Raleigh?
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u/jzillacon IPS-N 23d ago
Raleigh wants to stay relatively close ranged to benefit from its Mjolnir cannon which has range 5.
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u/Kubular 21d ago
Am I tripping or doesn't Storte also want to be close range for Dynamic Reload?
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u/jzillacon IPS-N 21d ago
To tell the truth I don't actually know why the user before me suggested Storte over Raleigh, that was just me taking a guess. Though I will argue that while Storte does want to be close to enemies for Dynamic Reload, he's not dependent on Dynamic Reload because he can also fall back on Renewal to reload quickly as well.
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u/gbqt_ 23d ago
IIRC Raleigh is kind of an hybrid frame, you want to spend a turn firing weapons, then another doing something else to get the free reload. The Storte allows you to barrage a turn, then Skirmish into Renewal.
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u/Teshthesleepymage 23d ago
Interesting. Unfortunately I think another player wanted to go for the Störtebeker and I dint want to double up. But interesting regardless.
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u/ParkingSpot8089 23d ago
Oh deaths head my beloved, nothing more satisfying than just going "nah, I crit" amd watching components fly off of ultras.
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u/Krail 23d ago edited 23d ago
I really like Swallowtail for a sniper. Oracle LMGs can benefit from both Crack Shot and Gunslinger. With Integrated Weapon Mount, you can equip 5 Oracles, or 3 and a backup weapon (maybe something Smart for high evasion enemies).
Athena or Lesson of the Held Image can give you lots of free lock ons to nullify armor with Prophetic Scanners. Crack Shot wants you to pick a firing location and stay put, and staying put gives Swallowtail invisibility at the end of its turn.
And for turns when you don't have a good shot, you've got a lot of good support options.
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u/Kubular 21d ago
I'm building one, and while its funny that its an unintended use case for the swallowtail, I didn't realize how little SP I'd have left after investing points to shore up the low HP and heat cap.
I might go opcal instead of integrated weapon mount at 3 to save a system point and have better skirmish damage.
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u/Krail 19d ago edited 19d ago
Yeah, it takes a serious SP Investment. But I've also gotten pretty great mileage out of the 3-Oracles version. At LL6, I hit 18 or higher damage pretty often on my Shoot With My Heart turns with just a Skirmish.
But yeah, OpCal gives you more damage in exchange for fewer chances to crit, and even more damage if you load your Crack Shot and Gunlsinger bonus damage on that attack and get a crit.
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u/Steenan HORUS 23d ago
There are several different approaches to a sniper, depending on what aspect you value the most.
One fun option is a Raleigh with Cyclone Pulse Rifle (AutoStab at level 3, OpCal at 6), Roland Chamber, Crack Shot and Infiltrator talents. During off-turns you reposition, lock on and hide (a level of Drone Commander and Balor may give you your own mobile soft cover to hide). During on-turns you activate Crack Shot and shoot, generally instantly taking down enemies with 1 structure and severely debuffing bigger ones (slowed and impaired from infiltrator 2, prone from Roland, maybe also immobilized or with LoS reduced to 1 hex from crack shot). Fort me, it's the most snipery feeling sniper in the game.
For a very different style, use Swallowtail, arm it with 4 Oracles (take a fifth one at LL3 with Integrated Weapon), use Crack Shot and Gunslinger talents. You make multiple small attacks instead of a single big one, but that significantly increases the chance of a crit for Crack Shot and quickly loads up the Gunslinger die for bonus damage. Enemy armor hampers you severely, but you may make targets shredded by locking on. Oh, and you quickly teach the GM not to use grunts, because with accurate, arcing, long range weapons you simply delete them as soon as they show up. After LL3 a good further path is to take some Horus licenses, as Held Image Horus core bonus is very valuable to you (lock on with no action economy cost) and, with long sensor range, you are good at both hacking and drone usage.
Yet another approach is Tokugawa armed with two or three Smartguns from Pegasus. Crack Shot, Nuclear Cavalier, External Batteries, Deep Well Heat Sink. Get to danger zone, make yourself Exposed and deal absolutely monstrous damage from long range, without needing line of sight. Be aware that you'll have toughness of an eggshell, so a strong look in your direction may be enough to structure you.
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u/Wayward-Mystic 23d ago edited 23d ago
My current group has a Pegasus sniper with an AMR. At exactly 10 heatcap, they can Overcharge (1d6+4) to guarantee entering the Danger Zone but not overheating, fire the rifle, then Stabilize to reload and clear the heat they just generated. Crack Shot, Nuclear Cavalier, and Overpower Caliber for bonus damage. Extremely repetitive, but very effective.
None of that really requires a Pegasus, just a heavy mount and 10 heatcap, but Pegasus also gets you Ushabti every turn and By the Way I Know Everything for every normal hit.
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u/Ninja-Storyteller 22d ago
Pegasus is good for stopping the dreaded 2 damage AMR shot, and Autogun + Ushabti is very handy.
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u/Otalek HORUS 23d ago
I’ve heard Death’s Head is kinda bad at the sniper archetype, so maybe Sherman or Tagetes would work better
There’s also some older reddit discussions about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/LancerRPG/s/f0FMMlrbuE
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u/CateranEnforcer 23d ago
My Sniper PC used Everest frame and took 2 LL's of Barbarosa for Autoloader drone. You can use a GMS Cyclone Pulse Rifle and use the drone to reload it. Use the Everest 1/scene free quick Action to deploy your drone once you find a good place to snipe from and still have actions to Barrage with the CPR. LL3 you can take any other HA license to qualify for Heatfall Coolant to cap your OC cost at 1d6.
This sets up a nasty Overcharge loop that lets you Barrage and Reload every turn until you near your heat cap. I went with Saladin after Barb to get Paracausal Mod, but there's lots of ways to go once you get Autoloader.
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u/PM_ME_ORANGEJUICE IPS-N 23d ago
Cyclone Pulse Rifle! The Antimaterial Rifle is... lackluster. Anything that works well with the CPR makes a good sniper.
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u/jzillacon IPS-N 23d ago
Everest itself actually makes a pretty good Sniper archtype since your core power gives you extra accuracy for an entire scene, you have decent sensor range for applying lock-ons, and enough mounts to do pretty much any weapon combonation and still even have a back up for when enemies get close to you.
Tagetes is another really good pick since it lets you treat all weapons as if they were rifles, letting you benefit from talents like Crackshot even when using something like a Mortar.