Rifleman Archive
Thread: The best rifleman is a bounty hunter
Let me say this first: I am not a Rifleman. I plan to be one, butI am not currently one(just at Rifle 2 right now).
Now, my topic: Nerfs are bad. Instead of nerfs, there need to be additions and fixes to the Rifleman profession. As such...
1) Cover/Sneak: This should be changed so that only Rifleman get it, not people going up the rifle tree in Marksman. As well, when a Rifleman is under cover, he should not show up on the radar, nor the damage message to the target with Sneak Shot say who dealt it.
2) HAM costs vs damage: Leave the HAM costs high, and leave them in mind. But, increase signifigantly the amount of damage that a Rifleman's special shots can do. One shot should have a very good chance of ending the fight. Remember, Riflemen are not technically riflemen... they are snipers. Riflemen are the grunts that know what end of the rifle the bullet(or energy bolt) comes out of. Snipers motto? One shot, one kill. The HAM costs vs damage should reflect this.
3) Weapon delay/Weapon Accuracy: Yes, it takes a while to fire a rifle. At least, correctly. Carbines and pistols do shoot quicker; they were designed to. And, they were also designed to be rather inaccurate as the trade off. Faster firing rate = less accuracy. Also, the range issues need to be seriously addressed. A pistol is useless beyond 20 meters because, a. they simply lack the propulsion to make aiming feasible and, b. they are inherently a less stable platform than a rifle. As for the matter of rifle's accuracy, a sniper rifle should have horrible accuracy on the move at any range. Run and gun is a carbine's(and honestly... carbine should be renamed to machine gun... carbine is a type of rifle)specialty. Rifles also should be less accurate in a standing position vs a kneeling position, but most accurate in a prone position. This is not the fault of the rifle(although rifles are darn heavy) but the fault of the sniper not being strong enough to hold the weapon's weightstill for more than a few seconds in standing, or having a knee to rest their support arm on while kneeling. Laying prone is the best, since sniper rifles generally come equipped with a bipod to support the weapon on the ground.
4) Bounty Hunter skills: BH skills should reflect something... BH are the most feared because they have the most tricks. Put a BH on the shooting range with any of the specialized gunnery professions, and he will find his skills in any one thing to be below that of the masters. A BH's strength should be able to come in the form of exploiting target weaknesses instead of having a massive general attack capability. Against a rifleman? Honestly, nobody should be able to beat a rifleman at his own game, which is long range combat. You need to sneak up on a rifleman and eliminate his range advantage(I will mention that the SWG range system is incredibly short... a rifle should be able to shoot out to a 1000 meters with almost pinpoint accuracy in the hands of a master... we have rifles now that can shoot at 3km and still kill with accuracy... the advanced technology of the SW should actually increase this, but I don't there is a computer system in the world that could handle seeing SWG in 3km chunks at a time, or probably even the 1km range I mentioned). Against a pistoleer or carbineer? Out range them with a rifle. Against a melee? Out range him period. Against a CH? Put his pets to sleep(although, going against a CH should be difficult... you are outnumbered, after all,if he has all his pets out). Etc.
Notice, I tried not to offer many real game mechanics... I tried to present ideas. If you like the ideas, then say so. If not, say so, but offer alternatives, not pointless 'you're wrong' posts. This is a /discussion/ board. So, discuss it.
Oeveir Ockarabe, Novice Architect, Novice Marksman, and hopefully Novice Sniper
Chilastra
max pistol range 32m
max carbine range 48m
rifle at 64m..
Would this not solve alot of issues? would it be incredibly unbalancing considering melee penelties and the number of KD's available to users of each wep type? why would it not work?
Granted im biased as a rifleman.. but.. i think its not amazingly unbalancing.. not when i weigh up the pros and cons of the diff classes:
Pistols - use action points for specials (healable), hits health, has several KD moves across BH,Pistoleer and Smuggler profs.. they can run and shoot - no stop/starting.. minimal melee penelty.. they fire fast but dont hit as hard.
Carbines - use health points for specials (healable), hits action, has several KD moves across Carbineer and BH profs, fire slower than pistols but get a higher average damage... average melee penelty..
Rifle - use mind points for specials (not healable), no dedicated one shot KD's.. doesnt stack with any other complimentary prof for rifle bonus'.. fires slowest (untill master).. hits mind (unhealable).. nasty melee penelty..
No doubt many of you will dispute my 'simplified' view of the classes, but in essence i think this is a fair comparison. The range change would even it out I feel.. and give the melee classes more of a chance.
Flame away.