A Means To Fix Snipers While Making Each One Unique.

[DLVargas]

There have been many proposed changes to the performance of sniper rifles in Warframe, and many of them (sensibly) involve beefing up their damage, critical rate, weakpoint multiplier, punch-through, etc. They are supposed to be high-damage, slow ROF rifles designed to take out "that one big guy." However, as much as even I like sniper rifles -- nothing beats that perfect headshot from all the way over there -- none of the proposed changes have, as far as I'm aware, addressed the reason most people feel they fall short in Warframe: their inability to deal with crowds.

It's a good point. Yes, snipers are niche...but so are bows, and they deal with crowds much better despite their projectile speed, helped further by Thunderbolt to an extent. What I will attempt here is to give snipers what I think is a unique touch, similar in feel to each other but with an execution exclusive to each individual rifle.

First, the Vulkar, a Grineer-manufactured high-impact weapon. Recently it received a buff to damage, reload speed and magazine size and now it feels much better than it used to. So how can we increase its ability to deal with groups and give it a brutal Grineer feel? Fragmentation rounds. After impact, a round from the Vulkar will shatter into ragged shards, passing through the initial target and spreading out in a shotgun-like cone of death, hitting enemies behind with a fraction of the original damage but with a high chance to cause bleeding.

Next, the Vectis, a mastercraft of Tenno workmanship. Tenno weapons, I’ve noticed, take after some of the more “primitive” designs in firearms: crossbows, lever-action rifles, double-barrel shotguns, and the Vectis feels more in line with these due to its bolt-action feel. I entertained the idea of just letting it use Thunderbolt, but that's kinda lazy. So, what about concussion rounds? Hit a target in a large group, suddenly a shockwave knocks them all over, possibly even similar to the effects of an Anti MOA's cannon. Whether or not this knockdown blast does damage would be up to the devs, but I envision it as more of a hard crowd control.

Now the Lanka. A gun that seems to lack an identity, even as a sniper rifle among sniper rifles. It used to have punch-through as its defining characteristic, but now the Snipetrons have it as well, and with threads popping up that call for a true railgun weapon, how can we fix this poor guy? I say given its charge mechanic and inherent electricity damage, let's make the weapon totally unique: an electrolaser. Imagine a high-powered laser of an invisible spectrum strong enough to ionize the atmosphere when fired, leaving a channel that directs a powerful arc of electricity toward a target. In short, a lightning cannon! What could this do for crowds? After hitting a first target, the electrical energy then jumps to a second target. Then a third, and a fourth. Give it a decent status chance and you're cooking with gas!

I'm not so sure I have any good ideas to do anything with the Snipetrons, but given that they're currently both unobtainable, I'd say that's okay. Sometimes simple is good.

Now, with all the above, I know what you're thinking. How does gearing these weapons to work in this manner not make them completely overpowered? Won't this just turn the Vulkar into a long-range shotgun with no falloff? Won't the Vectis just be a hit-scan bow? With all the damage mods available to primary weapons, wouldn't the Lanka completely overshadow Volt's Shock? Stay thy fears, friend. These special properties would only activate at short to medium range, long range kills will function exactly as they do now, where one shot affects only one target just as a sniper should.

TL;DR: I hate adding these, but I propose to give snipers some effective means of close combat without sacrificing long-range damage via unique mechanics that function similarly, but differ in execution based on the individual rifle.

So there you have it. What do you guys think? Any constructive feedback is more than welcomed.

[Semshol]

-OP-

 

Well my thread relates to statistical buffs but this would be good as well :).

 

Vulkar - Fragmentation Rounds (absolutely okay! Love this one)

 

Vulkar Alternative - Krag Rounds (Fired into target, target is stunned for one second and then explodes violently dealing blast damage in a small AoE around it. Has a 100% chance to proc knockdown effect?)

 

Vectis - Vortex Rounds (Pulls enemies up to 6m away in to a single point, deals 30% of the original hit damage as magnetic with 50% chance to proc magnetic only?)

 

Vectis Alternative - Molecular Rounds (releases a mini m-prime effect 5m around the affected target. They will take 125% damage from hits and explode dealing 300 to nearby enemies?)

 

Lanka - Positron Cannon (Fire normally, it shoots a single railgun round with minimal travel. Charged it will fire an actual laser blast that will strike multiple targets in a line and with some width. 50% chance to proc electric for 50% of the damage?)

 

Lanka Alternative - Flux Cannon (Charged will be a very quick and powerful arcing round that deals chain lightning damage to enemies [similar to volt's shock and similar to amprex] Remove innate punch-through, instead the longer the charge the more arcs. Each target hit in the chain receives 10% less damage than the previous target? 100% electricity proc)

Edited September 5, 2014 by Semshol

[taiiat]

First, the Vulkar - Fragmentation rounds.

Next, the Vectis - So, what about concussion rounds?

Now the Lanka. Imagine a high-powered laser of an invisible spectrum strong enough to ionize the atmosphere when fired, leaving a channel that directs a powerful arc of electricity toward a target. In short, a lightning cannon!

 

 

These special properties would only activate at short to medium range, long range kills will function exactly as they do now, where one shot affects only one target just as a sniper should.

Frag rounds for Vulkar sounds great.

i'm not as sure about Concussion Rounds, but sure, let's go with it.

 

bonus points if the trail from Lanka's shots Damage Enemies for a few seconds after the projectile has hit it's target. it's scientifically dumb but, 'warping' the atmosphere like that, and leaving it dangerous to living things for a short time would be a really nice side feature.

 

 

 

i don't think we need to Range limit them, just balance the Damage, if any, that these extra Effects have, so that they don't become too effective.

let's not forget that Sniper Ammo is rarer than the other types anyways, having more power per Ammunition makes sense.

 

 

 

but making Sniper Rifles have unique purpose is the only way to truly make them equal to other Weapons, yes.

it's funny, the only way to make things equal is with incomparables. 

 

 

Edit:

i'm sure i've seen it brought up before, but these kinds of great incomparables can be like Melee Stances, having many choices for each Weapon, so you can have a Weapon work just how you'd like.

Edited September 5, 2014 by taiiat

[Faulcun]

 the reason most people feel they fall short in Warframe: their inability to deal with crowds.

 

 

This has nothing to do with the weapons, and everything to do with the person using them.

 

I read your whole post anyways, but I feel it doesnt matter because of the above statement. Dont pander to the lazy because nobody feels like putting in work to get better.

Edited September 5, 2014 by Faulcun

[dzxbeast]

what? no love for my snipertrons? :(

 

your ideas are actualy fun, id like to see weapons like that. not just snipers, most weapons should have some extra effects

[NotBot]

your ideas are actualy fun, id like to see weapons like that. not just snipers, most weapons should have some extra effects

Entirely in agreement here.

 

Just some extra little effect in every weapon would go a long way.

 

@OP:

 

Really liking the ideas here, especially the Lanka proposal.

[painterman]

Nice changes but they should be optional. I have a 5 forma lanka and dont watn another amprex. The vulkar cone of death should be an optional mod, as a team well organiced one can go for priority targets and the rest for the lesser ones . As playing solo is optional cc for snipers should also be optional.

Bad english :D

[Nighttide77]

I tried to ask this on another thread, and I'll ask it here, too...

 

Why do y'all who are in favor of sniper buffs still feel the snipers need a buff?

 

The suggestions from OP on this thread seem to veer towards 100% status proc on possibilities already in-game, such as a lightning proc or blast proc.  Instead of buffing snipers, why not just mod your snipers to have a high status chance for the crowd control you desire?  Metal Auger or Shred are great at taking down whole lines of enemies, and with 25-30% base status chance, you could use Split Chamber and a couple event mods (such as Thermite Rounds and Rime Rounds for the blast proc) to get up to 86% status chance (used the Warframe Builder on this one).  You can mod for crowd control, or mod for taking down individual targets, and equip a sidearm for defeating groups.

[Azawarau]

All snipers should have punch through

 

And the snipetron wont compare to the Lanka in terms of funtion because of the charge time,AoE potential,status abuse potential, and higher punch through

[yles9056]

I tried to ask this on another thread, and I'll ask it here, too...

 

Why do y'all who are in favor of sniper buffs still feel the snipers need a buff?

 

The suggestions from OP on this thread seem to veer towards 100% status proc on possibilities already in-game, such as a lightning proc or blast proc.  Instead of buffing snipers, why not just mod your snipers to have a high status chance for the crowd control you desire?  Metal Auger or Shred are great at taking down whole lines of enemies, and with 25-30% base status chance, you could use Split Chamber and a couple event mods (such as Thermite Rounds and Rime Rounds for the blast proc) to get up to 86% status chance (used the Warframe Builder on this one).  You can mod for crowd control, or mod for taking down individual targets, and equip a sidearm for defeating groups.

 

If snipers have "passive ability" like OP proposed, then we can spare some mod slots and use it for other mods.

 

For example, you don't need to use Metal Auger or Shred if snipers have initial punch through, so you can replace punch through mods with element damage mods or something else.

 

The same goes to status chance. Also, status chance is not very reliable especially on slow fire rate weapons like snipers.

Sometimes RNG just hates you and won't give you the proc you want.

[Guest Tehnoobshow]

Far too gimmicky. This isn't TF2, and I don't think the devs like balancing around gimmicks either. Sniper rifles need mechanics that encourage a NEW PLAY STYLE not currently found in the game, because everyone just rushes towards the enemy. Things like +100% crit chance on head shots and negative damage fall-off are way better.

[Mesyra]

I dont see how a sniper can be overpowered in this game tbh.

 

you could make it do 1,000,000, but you still only have a single shot to fire. 

 

they need to make marksmanship with a sniper more rewarding.

 

shoot a knee and the targets leg falls off.

 

shoot a shoulder and the target cant shoot anymore, they are restricted to melee. 

 

headshots get 2x damage, 100% crit chance, 2x of the weapons crit multiplier. 

 

make the guns viable for killing the big guy, cause as long as my dread is doing 10-20k crits I'll use it over anything. they need to make accuracy more rewarding with snipers.