Carbineer Archive
Thread: Marksman Issues
Pistol/Carbine/Rifle Accuracy Debate
One of the biggest gripes on the boards is that pistols are the most accurate (and powerful) weapons in the game from just about any range. Several correspondent logs have been shown to the public that support this statement.
Currently, whenever a person uses a special attack they get a 50% boost to accuracy. I propose that this boost be taken away from all professions to put accuracy back in its place. For instance, if you have a -100 accuracy modifier at 60 meters (lets say you’re holding a pistol) and use a Body Shot, you’re accuracy is at -50. However, if you’re holding a carbine (for example’s sake) and have a -50 modifier from 60 meters your accuracy drops to -25 after using Leg Shot. This is a -25 accuracy difference, the carbine being more accurate. Compare this to using auto-attack, where the accuracy difference is -50 with the carbine still being more accurate. This, essentially, makes the pistol-user gain twice as much accuracy just by using a special (-25 vs -50).
Currently, pistols and carbines are able to get insane accuracy boosts from ‘dabbling’ in the Bounty Hunter tree. I propose that Bounty Hunter weapon modifiers should only work with Bounty Hunter weapons and that they be given a special certification at novice status for a Bounty Hunter-only carbine (much like the Scatter Pistol).
Pistol/Carbine/Rifle Speed Debate
Another big problem is the speed of ranged weapons. Early in the game (when you’re still a novice Marksman swinging around a CDEF) speed is a pretty simple thing, look at how fast the gun says it’ll fire and chances are pretty good that it’ll fire at that speed. As you progress into your elite profession and master it, every marksman profession fires pretty much at the exact same speed (1 second per shot) due to huge increases in attack speed through skill modifiers. Since rifles were designed with naturally higher damage but slower speed, they gain a huge advantage over the other professions with virtually no speed penalty and large damage. Currently the devs are seeking to fix this problem by lowering the speed cap of pistols to a shot every half a second (0.5) and capping rifles at a shot every 3 seconds. Personally, I think this is a terrible idea.
The source of the problem is not in capping our speed, but instead is in the speed modifiers themselves. I propose that all speed modifiers for every profession be reduced by at least 50%, preferably more (in the 75% range). This would allow weapons such as the Rifleman’s Spraystick to still be effective while also preventing them from firing off T21’s every second. This would also benefit Pistoleers because they would still retain their speed advantage over all of the other professions, due to naturally faster weapons.
I also propose that, like my accuracy proposal, Bounty Hunter dabbling be negated by holding Bounty Hunter weapon speed modifiers to be specific to Bounty Hunter weapons and that they receive a special certification for a Bounty Hunter-only carbine (much like the Scatter Pistol). Phew, I bet you’re tired of hearing the words “Bounty Hunter” huh? I’ll address compensation for them later.
Broken/Useless/Unbalanced Skills
Simply put, there are broken skills in just about all of our trees. I propose that the devs take a look at all these skills and fix/replace/get rid of/make useful/make less useful certain skills. Examples of these would be:
Cover
Headshot III
Bodyshot III
Legshot III
Tumble to Prone
Tumble to Kneeling
Tumble to Standing
Flushing and/or Startling Shot
And many, many more …
Please note that these ideas will not completely solve all of the balance problems between our professions, but it certainly should be a step in the right direction. Please keep in mind that this post is simply about the elite marksmen professions, which is why I’m leaving out Commando and Bounty Hunter complaints. I am posting this in hopes that maybe our professions can come together and agree upon some common issues that need to be resolved, and after we’ve come to some sensible agreements (and the issues at hand are at least somewhat solved) we can discuss further additions to our professions that will help define ourselves more.
Bounty Hunters, you might think that I’m some kind of anti-dabbling agent. Please understand that dabblers, despite how many skill points they use, are killing the “pure” elite professions. Compensations could be made for those of you that would like to retain combat superiority, but as far as weapons go the current system is ridiculous. I have no problems with Bounty Hunters holding the upper hand on me in most, if not all, encounters. They are Bounty Hunters, after all. But pistols and carbines were not designed to fire with near 100% accuracy from all ranges, regardless of skill points used. Saying that they were is absurd. Again, I don’t want to bash Bounty Hunters, but the way things are right now is killing the battle between Riflemen, Pistoleers, and Carbineers.
So, whatcha’ think?
Pistol/Carbine/Rifle Accuracy Debate
One of the biggest gripes on the boards is that pistols are the most accurate (and powerful) weapons in the game from just about any range. Several correspondent logs have been shown to the public that support this statement.
Currently, whenever a person uses a special attack they get a 50% boost to accuracy. I propose that this boost be taken away from all professions to put accuracy back in its place. For instance, if you have a -100 accuracy modifier at 60 meters (lets say you’re holding a pistol) and use a Body Shot, you’re accuracy is at -50. However, if you’re holding a carbine (for example’s sake) and have a -50 modifier from 60 meters your accuracy drops to -25 after using Leg Shot. This is a -25 accuracy difference, the carbine being more accurate. Compare this to using auto-attack, where the accuracy difference is -50 with the carbine still being more accurate. This, essentially, makes the pistol-user gain twice as much accuracy just by using a special (-25 vs -50).
Currently, pistols and carbines are able to get insane accuracy boosts from ‘dabbling’ in the Bounty Hunter tree. I propose that Bounty Hunter weapon modifiers should only work with Bounty Hunter weapons and that they be given a special certification at novice status for a Bounty Hunter-only carbine (much like the Scatter Pistol).
Pistol/Carbine/Rifle Speed Debate
Another big problem is the speed of ranged weapons. Early in the game (when you’re still a novice Marksman swinging around a CDEF) speed is a pretty simple thing, look at how fast the gun says it’ll fire and chances are pretty good that it’ll fire at that speed. As you progress into your elite profession and master it, every marksman profession fires pretty much at the exact same speed (1 second per shot) due to huge increases in attack speed through skill modifiers. Since rifles were designed with naturally higher damage but slower speed, they gain a huge advantage over the other professions with virtually no speed penalty and large damage. Currently the devs are seeking to fix this problem by lowering the speed cap of pistols to a shot every half a second (0.5) and capping rifles at a shot every 3 seconds. Personally, I think this is a terrible idea.
The source of the problem is not in capping our speed, but instead is in the speed modifiers themselves. I propose that all speed modifiers for every profession be reduced by at least 50%, preferably more (in the 75% range). This would allow weapons such as the Rifleman’s Spraystick to still be effective while also preventing them from firing off T21’s every second. This would also benefit Pistoleers because they would still retain their speed advantage over all of the other professions, due to naturally faster weapons.
I also propose that, like my accuracy proposal, Bounty Hunter dabbling be negated by holding Bounty Hunter weapon speed modifiers to be specific to Bounty Hunter weapons and that they receive a special certification for a Bounty Hunter-only carbine (much like the Scatter Pistol). Phew, I bet you’re tired of hearing the words “Bounty Hunter” huh? I’ll address compensation for them later.
Broken/Useless/Unbalanced Skills
Simply put, there are broken skills in just about all of our trees. I propose that the devs take a look at all these skills and fix/replace/get rid of/make useful/make less useful certain skills. Examples of these would be:
Cover
Headshot III
Bodyshot III
Legshot III
Tumble to Prone
Tumble to Kneeling
Tumble to Standing
Flushing and/or Startling Shot
And many, many more …
Please note that these ideas will not completely solve all of the balance problems between our professions, but it certainly should be a step in the right direction. Please keep in mind that this post is simply about the elite marksmen professions, which is why I’m leaving out Commando and Bounty Hunter complaints. I am posting this in hopes that maybe our professions can come together and agree upon some common issues that need to be resolved, and after we’ve come to some sensible agreements (and the issues at hand are at least somewhat solved) we can discuss further additions to our professions that will help define ourselves more.
Bounty Hunters, you might think that I’m some kind of anti-dabbling agent. Please understand that dabblers, despite how many skill points they use, are killing the “pure” elite professions. Compensations could be made for those of you that would like to retain combat superiority, but as far as weapons go the current system is ridiculous. I have no problems with Bounty Hunters holding the upper hand on me in most, if not all, encounters. They are Bounty Hunters, after all. But pistols and carbines were not designed to fire with near 100% accuracy from all ranges, regardless of skill points used. Saying that they were is absurd. Again, I don’t want to bash Bounty Hunters, but the way things are right now is killing the battle between Riflemen, Pistoleers, and Carbineers.
So, whatcha’ think?
This is a very well-written and thoughtful post. Thank you for taking the time to post it. I think it is well thought out, fair, and balanced.
Here are my reactions:
ACCURACY: I think that we should not reduce accuracy this drastically. I'm concerned about it for two reasons. First, if I am extremely inaccurate at long ranges I will be kited, as a Pistoleer. Second, Pistoleers have enough trouble killing mobs since all their specials are crappy random HAM attacks with no state effects. If they have to get close to a mob to be able to hit it, the rest of the profession will need a complete overhaul.
What I'd like to see is a way of balancing accuracy that gives rifles an advantage at long range and pistols an advantage at short range but that doesn't give EITHER side a HUGE advantage. This probably means a large accuracy boost for rifles and I think that is fine. I don't think that Pistoleers should be kited and I don't think that Riflemen should be "reverse kited," as one rifleman put it. We have enough problems with kiting melee anyway.
SPEED: I think you're on the right track but I think the best solution is to change the equation so it's linear, not logarithmic. Your solution will achieve a similar result as mine but will result in a significant nerf of all professions versus PvE which would make pets even more powerful. I think the best solution is to come up with a good equation (Noules, a rifleman, had a good one) that is linear. I think they should also redistribute the +speed points throughout the trees a bit better.
BROKEN SPECIALS: In my mind this is the #1 issue facing all classes. I know as Pistoleers this is our top priority, and I think it is the Carbineer top priority as well. Right now every Pistoleer special is a crappy random HAM attack that is worse than the stuff you get at marksman unless you have +70 speed. BodyShot3, our only targeted attack, is worse than BodyShot2. And we have no state effects and our signature special moves (like DisarmingShot) are broken.
So I think that specials should be a top priority. I also think, as you said, that there are skills that don't do much either. Like Cover for the Riflemen. There are some larger problems that classes face as well. The poor Carbineers have tons of knockdown moves that were nerfed recently. The Devs have to come up with some answer for them.
Anyway I think this is a good post. Hopefully we can work together to get things fixed.
You bring up an interesting issue with the kiting thing. How about this:
When holding a rifle and carbine your speed decreases a slight degree. Nothing huge or major, but something along the lines of a 10% speed decrease when holding a rifle and a 5% speed decrease when holding a carbine? Although kiting would still occur, obviously, this could help the Pistoleers to get within a more suitable firing range.
Either that, or give a special attack somewhere in the 2nd or 3rd tier of Pistoleer that has a small negative damage multiplier (something like 10-20%decreased damage, so it wouldn't be logical to really spam it) andgives a brief (3-4 seconds)25% movement speed boost. To further prevent spammingor melees from using this skill as a way to get within kung-fu range, we could have a large time modifier on it as well (3-4x to ensure that they can only use it every 3-4 seconds).
Being a Rifleman myself, I wouldn't mind giving the Pistoleers some way to catch up to me. Personally though, I view the Pistoleer as more of an urban warfare unit then a field unit. With the current hells of street fighting though (lag comes to mind) I can understand where alot of pistol users are coming from.
Sound fair?
Currently defense is pretty useless in the game. We have a few modifiers against knockdown, dizzy, stun, etc. but these skills don’t do much at the moment. Maybe they’re broken or just not effective enough to be useful? I propose that the devs fix these modifiers or make them more desirable to have. This is the smallest proposal out of the three, enjoy it while you can!
***
I’ve brought this idea up a few times on the Rifleman boards, but I didn’t get much input on the idea. A lot of the following text was copied and pasted from my old thread. I’d like to see how all of the other professions feel about Ranged Toughness. Melee characters have a toughness skill modifier that decreases the overall amount of melee damage they take per shot, so wouldn’t it make sense that an elite marksman profession should gain some modifier against ranged attacks? This would also help define the roles of certain marksman professions a bit more, with some of the close ranged gunners (Pistoleers and Carbineers) receiving more defense then, say, a Rifleman or Bounty Hunter.
The main reason I would like to see something like this implemented is to give Carbineers and Pistoleers a distinct use in large-scale battles. Decreasing the amount of damage you take in a 1 on 1 encounter would probably have minimal effect on the outcome, but when under heavy fire and with a well-organized group (Doctor buffs, Squad Leader bonuses, spices, damage being done to all pools, etc.) it would help enormously. Bounty Hunters, in their current state, receive few (if any) defensive modifiers. The modifiers that Pistoleers and Carbineers receive do very little to turn the tide in any battle situation. By giving the game’s front-line fighters some advantage in large-scale battle situations (being able to last longer under heavy fire then Bounty Hunters or Medics) we would actually have a reason to trek up the pistol and carbine path instead of being forced to become a Bounty Hunter to have a use in PvP.
***
Most current combat is extremely mobile, with marksman professions running n’ gunning in every direction. Only a fool stays immobile in current SWG PvP. This makes for an interesting problem in the combat system: lack of purpose in fighting for a crude stronghold. For instance, lets say you enter a hostile city and slaughter a few bad guys, and get a /tell from a friend saying that a large rebel force is on the way to combat you. The natural reaction from everybody is to either flee immediately (assuming you know you’re outgunned terribly) or wait for the enemy to get within combat range before everybody takes off sprinting and firing their guns. I’d like to propose that either the prone and kneeling stances receive more defense (to make them viable alternatives to constant running) or give an ability in the Marksman tree that provides an immobilized, but extremely defensive state from which to fire from. This state could decrease all ranged damage done to the person by 50% or more, provide additional to-hit and chance-to-be-hit modifiers, or a combination of both. With more viable options in combat, we will see a ton of new tactics come forth. Melee could possibly have a purpose in PvP. Buildings could be defended easier. City invasions could be won not by one’s pure numbers, but by preparation and holding key locations with a few dug-in Carbineers. Obviously a skill like this would be given modifiers from certain elite marksman professions. Personally I’d like this to be biased towards the Carbineer to help them become more of a mainstay trooper (like they were envisioned to be).
***
Cover is a pretty useless skill at the moment, and I don’t think that the devs’ plan to increase its defense penalties is going to help much. Since the Rifleman tree has two branches that refer to sniping (Sniping Accuracy and Concealment) I propose that the Cover state gives radar stealth. It should not completely make the character invisible, disable auto (tab) targeting, or prevent counter-attacking, but it should at least help them get the drop on their targets better. My suggestion is that when Cover is first acquired, it only provides a 55m+ radar stealth so that he is only off of radar from distances of 55 meters or more. Every +20 points to Cover should grant a small (about 5 meters, less if needed) increase in the distance that a Covered person is radar stealthed. 20 points is the equivalent of 1 box of Concealment, for those that aren’t aware. Also, this would give the Rifleman’s skill Surprise Shot (which is currently broken) a purpose.
For balancing, we could make all attack styles unusable while Covered, so that only auto-attacking or Surprise Shot are options. Also, after a single Surprise Shot the Cover state could be removed (this was how the skill initially worked before they ‘fixed’ it). To further hinder the complete dominance of radar stealth, the skill should fail frequently (as it currently does, it usually takes 300 Health and Action and three tries to finally achieve Cover status) and have a timer on it.
And just a FYI to all the other Riflemen, I’m not trying to transform this profession into *just* a sniper. A lot of people feel that the Rifleman’s role is to provide support fire, which is actually pretty true to SoE’s vision of the profession. However, it is also indisputable that they wanted rifles to have a partially sniper element behind him. Currently Rifleman have absolutely no elements of a sniper, and are solely support gunners. I’m just trying to bring out a couple of unused skills (Surprise Shot and Cover) and mold them to fit the one niche that we assumed we’d have at least a small home at, sniping. I’m all for being support gunners, but as long as we have branches like Sniping Accuracy, Concealment, and Counter-Sniping then we ought to have at least a small job as the SWG sniper.
Ok, that’s it! No bashing please, just support or suggestions to help make this small project of mine better. Please try to keep things on topic, which is currently on how to make defense an option in PvP and/or PvE for the elite marksman professions.
Currently defense is pretty useless in the game. We have a few modifiers against knockdown, dizzy, stun, etc. but these skills don’t do much at the moment. Maybe they’re broken or just not effective enough to be useful? I propose that the devs fix these modifiers or make them more desirable to have. This is the smallest proposal out of the three, enjoy it while you can!
****
I’ve brought this idea up a few times on the Rifleman boards, but I didn’t get much input on the idea. A lot of the following text was copied and pasted from my old thread. I’d like to see how all of the other professions feel about Ranged Toughness. Melee characters have a toughness skill modifier that decreases the overall amount of melee damage they take per shot, so wouldn’t it make sense that an elite marksman profession should gain some modifier against ranged attacks? This would also help define the roles of certain marksman professions a bit more, with some of the close ranged gunners (Pistoleers and Carbineers) receiving more defense then, say, a Rifleman or Bounty Hunter.
The main reason I would like to see something like this implemented is to give Carbineers and Pistoleers a distinct use in large-scale battles. Decreasing the amount of damage you take in a 1 on 1 encounter would probably have minimal effect on the outcome, but when under heavy fire and with a well-organized group (Doctor buffs, Squad Leader bonuses, spices, damage being done to all pools, etc.) it would help enormously. Bounty Hunters, in their current state, receive few (if any) defensive modifiers. The modifiers that Pistoleers and Carbineers receive do very little to turn the tide in any battle situation. By giving the game’s front-line fighters some advantage in large-scale battle situations (being able to last longer under heavy fire then Bounty Hunters or Medics) we would actually have a reason to trek up the pistol and carbine path instead of being forced to become a Bounty Hunter to have a use in PvP.
***
Most current combat is extremely mobile, with marksman professions running n’ gunning in every direction. Only a fool stays immobile in current SWG PvP. This makes for an interesting problem in the combat system: lack of purpose in fighting for a crude stronghold. For instance, lets say you enter a hostile city and slaughter a few bad guys, and get a /tell from a friend saying that a large rebel force is on the way to combat you. The natural reaction from everybody is to either flee immediately (assuming you know you’re outgunned terribly) or wait for the enemy to get within combat range before everybody takes off sprinting and firing their guns. I’d like to propose that either the prone and kneeling stances receive more defense (to make them viable alternatives to constant running) or give an ability in the Marksman tree that provides an immobilized, but extremely defensive state from which to fire from. This state could decrease all ranged damage done to the person by 50% or more, provide additional to-hit and chance-to-be-hit modifiers, or a combination of both. With more viable options in combat, we will see a ton of new tactics come forth. Melee could possibly have a purpose in PvP. Buildings could be defended easier. City invasions could be won not by one’s pure numbers, but by preparation and holding key locations with a few dug-in Carbineers. Obviously a skill like this would be given modifiers from certain elite marksman professions. Personally I’d like this to be biased towards the Carbineer to help them become more of a mainstay trooper (like they were envisioned to be).
***
Cover is a pretty useless skill at the moment, and I don’t think that the devs’ plan to increase its defense penalties is going to help much. Since the Rifleman tree has two branches that refer to sniping (Sniping Accuracy and Concealment) I propose that the Cover state gives radar stealth. It should not completely make the character invisible, disable auto (tab) targeting, or prevent counter-attacking, but it should at least help them get the drop on their targets better. My suggestion is that when Cover is first acquired, it only provides a 55m+ radar stealth so that he is only off of radar from distances of 55 meters or more. Every +20 points to Cover should grant a small (about 5 meters, less if needed) increase in the distance that a Covered person is radar stealthed. 20 points is the equivalent of 1 box of Concealment, for those that aren’t aware. Also, this would give the Rifleman’s skill Surprise Shot (which is currently broken) a purpose.
For balancing, we could make all attack styles unusable while Covered, so that only auto-attacking or Surprise Shot are options. Also, after a single Surprise Shot the Cover state could be removed (this was how the skill initially worked before they ‘fixed’ it). To further hinder the complete dominance of radar stealth, the skill should fail frequently (as it currently does, it usually takes 300 Health and Action and three tries to finally achieve Cover status) and have a timer on it.
And just a FYI to all the other Riflemen, I’m not trying to transform this profession into *just* a sniper. A lot of people feel that the Rifleman’s role is to provide support fire, which is actually pretty true to SoE’s vision of the profession. However, it is also indisputable that they wanted rifles to have a partially sniper element behind him. Currently Rifleman have absolutely no elements of a sniper, and are solely support gunners. I’m just trying to bring out a couple of unused skills (Surprise Shot and Cover) and mold them to fit the one niche that we assumed we’d have at least a small home at, sniping. I’m all for being support gunners, but as long as we have branches like Sniping Accuracy, Concealment, and Counter-Sniping then we ought to have at least a small job as the SWG sniper.
Ok, that’s it! No bashing please, just support or suggestions to help make this small project of mine better. Please try to keep things on topic, which is currently on how to make defense an option in PvP and/or PvE for the elite marksman professions.
The speed reduction is a great idea in theory, although unfortunately players will work around it in practice. All you do is use macros for your shots ... so you /equip laser rifle;/mindshot2;/unequip laser rifle etc.
Another rifleman had an interesting idea, which is to make it possible to fire a rifle on the move (you would get a "you cannot fire this weapon while moving" message) but then give riflemen some other advantages. Like maybe the ability to disappear from radar in a "sniper mode." That would be pretty cool, but it needs to be thought out more. If riflemen had to be still to fire then that would mean that they would merit a significant damage bonus while prone I would think.
I do like the "speed special" idea quite a bit -- the Devs should implement that idea with melee! You trade HAM for speed, and it can't be spammed. Interesting. I think the biggest problem for Pistoleers is figuring out what role the class is supposed to have. Right now I think most of us think we're supposed to be the "accurate on the move" guys ... someone brought up a Rogue class from another online game that was similar. That makes sense since our specials are basically worthless aside from speed/accuracy at the moment ... if Dodge ever worked that would help us while we're on the run as well.
I understand your point about urban warfare versus field warfare, but I think a sniper is also an urban fighter. In real life snipers aren't employed out inan open field -- they're usually most effective in urban areas. In this game it works the same way ... last night I spent an hour or so mindshotting people in AH and then moving away so they couldn't see me or get a shot back at me. Fun.
The reality is that we want all classes to be valuable in all environments, but to play a different role. I think it's great that you're coming up with ideas along those lines.
I like your ideas about defenses, based upon a quick read.
First of all, I like the idea of changing the defenses to be "ranged toughness." That's really great. I think the idea behind Pistoleer is that we're supposed to be able to charge at melee and ranged and fire on the move, and right now because our defenses are zero it's harder to do that. I bet other Pistoleers would like your idea too.
Second, I also like the Cover idea. Here is my suggestion though. Not only should you appear on the radar after your first shot, but you should also be immobile for a few seconds. This forces you to choose a good sniping position instead of just running towards a guy, going into cover, and firing.
By the way is Cover really useless now? I use it a *ton* as a Rifleman with my other character, and I have soloed red mobs constantly as I've gone up the tree. I just wait for that stupid tumbling icon to go away before I start firing.
Essentially, yes, it is useless. The only time I've found it effective is against humonoid NPCs that are guarenteed to sit still when I fire at them, but even then it's easier to just go prone and bleed them twice before running away.
Philosopher1976 wrote:
Second, I also like the Cover idea. Here is my suggestion though. Not only should you appear on the radar after your first shot, but you should also be immobile for a few seconds. This forces you to choose a good sniping position instead of just running towards a guy, going into cover, and firing.
I'd be 100% in favor of giving us a short period of time that we're vulnerable after going cover, although in its current implementation it is impossible to spot a guy, run at him, and immediatly dive into cover and fire without that person spotting you before you get off a shot. When a person uses Cover they also go into the Tumbling state, which temporarily prevents them from firing (as you mentioned) which would prevent a quick kill for Riflemen. If needed this Tumbling state could be lengthened (if they made us unable to fire off specials when covered, this would essentially only allow us to auto-attack) or they could make Cover have an even lower success rate. Already it's pretty dang low, but if the skill were too powerful then minor tweaks could be made to prevent from quick-Covering.
Ok so currently, /takecover doesn't make the mob less likely to notice me? When I take cover I seem to be able to get 5-6 shots off before the mob notices, and by then he's dead. (Leaving aside warping mobs.)
I guess I didn't make my point regarding your proposed Cover command well enough. I don't want a delay _before_ firing, I want a delay _after_ firing. Let's say the new Cover command is implemented. Some guy strolling around is going to get whacked even though he can't see anything on radar. I want to give him 3-4 seconds to be able to get his wits together and see what's going on before the sniper can run away. Think of it as time to unassemble the tripod on the sniper rifle, etc. The idea is that the sniper gets stealth and can pick a spot, but should pick it carefully because if they don't get a quick kill the prey will come after them.
Ahh, I see what you're saying. Simple misunderstanding on my part.
Sure, having a delay to get out of the Covered (or an increase in the time it takes to get up from the Prone state) would probably be fine. It might rub a little bit badly with a few of the other Riflemen, but I personally wouldn't mind having to wait a few seconds before having to smack the Burst Run button away from my enemy.
Possible solutions would be:
1) Increase delay of standing from Cover (in and out of combat).
or
2) Increase delay in standing from Prone (in and out of combat).
or
3) Increase the time modifier on Surprise Shot drastically (assuming it's the only special attack usable from Cover) that also prevents a non-forced posture change from happening. I'd prefer this one myself, since if youscrewed up andused auto-attack instead of Surprise Shot on the bad guy you could just jump up fairly quickly and run off to reset yourself up, assuming you weren't knocked down or killed by some other method.
Sorry to double post, but I forgot to answer the Cover question.
No, going Cover doesn't make you invisible to mobs. It's the Prone state that's allowing you to get in your free shots. I believe the maximum amount of free shots you get on a baddie is 3, so if you are getting 5-6 without Conceal Shot then maybe it is useful against mobs. Nevertheless, it's useless in PvP.
Z