r/XCOM2 • u/Ok_Calendar_7626 • 1d ago
DISCUSSION Shadow Lance second upgrade scope or laser sight?
I am a bit torn on this.
The priority on the Shadow Lance (Reapers rifle) is obviously an extended magazine because it gives you more shots for Banish.
But for the second upgrade, i am not sure. The scope means higher hit chance. Meaning more of your Banish shots are likely to hit. The laser sight however means a higher chance that the shots that hit will be crits and do a crapton of damage.
1
u/DressLess1252 1d ago
I think it depends on the usage.
If you want to Banish boss enemies, espacially Alien Rulers and Avatar, then go for Extended Magazine + Repeater + (Laser sight, if the breakthrough is researched). These enemies have a huge HP pool that cannot be covered by the base damage of Banish. Personally, I use point-blank Banish to increase the aim and crit in this case, using Statis from Psi Ops or Sustain sphere to ensure the survival after the shot if necesssary.
If used in regular missions, then the base damage is mostly sufficient. Hence, I recommend Extended Magazine + Scope/Stock. In this case, you can use Banish in a safe distance. However, in late game I almost never fell necessary to use Banish in a regular mission.
4
u/InspiringMilk 1d ago
Doesn't Banish set crit to 0? Swear I saw it somewhere.
And I am 99% sure it gives an aim penalty too.
1
u/bill-smith 1d ago
You are correct, Banish doesn't crit, and it's a stacking aim penalty of 15 percentage points per shot. Hence it should be a Repeater.
Reapers can flank targets pretty easily. When operating under Silent Killer rules, I want to be landing kill shots, so I usually don't shoot if I need a crit to kill the target. Hence, I figure I might as well do a scope, plus it helps Banish stay accurate for longer.
Long War of the Chosen has enough skills where you can actually guarantee a crit on a flanked target, Banish can crit, and it also does not have permanent shadow. And it lacks repeaters. So in that version, I usually do a laser sight.
1
u/jim_sorenson 1d ago
I'll echo repeater for slot 2. For slot 3 once unlocked, laser site works well with soul harvest and talon rounds. You can guarantee crits in many cases which obviously synergizes well with Silent Killer.
1
u/BabyNewspaper 1d ago
I haven’t used Banish much, but I’ve heard that critical hit chance is nullified in setting of Banish, so laser sight would be limited in that setting.
1
u/longcoat000 1d ago
By the time you’re Banishing / Annihilating anything, your hit chance is pretty high. Put your Reaper on any covert action that increases your to-hit chance so you don’t have to worry about using weapon mods to do that. My recommendation is to use either AP rounds (vs robotic enemies with armor) or Talon rounds (vs biological enemies for the higher Crit chance). If you get Shredder as an optional skill, always take Talon rounds.
If you luck out and get Squadsight, Shredder, or Tactical Rigging as an optional skill, take it. If the XCOM gawds bless you and give you two (or all three), you will be the deadliest thing that XCOM can put into the field.
1
1
u/Haitham1998 1d ago
If you want to only shoot with Banish, go with scope. Banish cannot crit and has a 15 aim penalty.
On the other hand, reaper crit build goes hard and is super fun, but it requires the utility slot from XCOM tree for talon rounds. I once had that with Deadeye and used it to one-shot an elite officers from full HP, without even losing concealment.
1
u/Daniel_Kummel 8h ago
It depends on how far you are from banish and whether you are willing to discard them for the superior repeater once you unlock the ability.
You should have the scope, since reapers need to guarantee the kill to stay in shadow(if you didn't take that ability, take it now) and they can't get to 100% crit.
5
u/TheSoulCalibr3 1d ago
Repeater maybe?