Rifleman Archive

I love this idea and agree totally. However, there are 2 things standing in our way:

1. The engine, networking system, and mob AI would probably have to be all have to be adjusted if our max range was extended. At least, it has been indicated before that it wouldn't be a simple fix. However, if they are redoing the whole combat system, maybe there is still hope for something like this.

2. Melee fighters have trouble now with being "kited"... If a pistoleer sees a TKA closing on him at 45 m and just starts running away while shooting, it is nearly impossible for the melee user to close the distance to melee range since everybody runs at the same speed. If ranged weapons had different ranges, this problem would extend to riflemen being able to kite pistoleers.

I saw someone post a solution to this that suggested that weapons have a speed encumberance if you have them equipped and are actively in combat. Ie., a rifleman could only run at 75% normal speed if they have a rifle equipped and are using it (shooting at somebody/thing).

I don't know that we will ever see anything like this, but I think it would add a lot of depth to combat, and give riflemen a real niche to fill in the scheme of things.

You forgot the fact that the Dev's hate us too

From the reaction on the boards it looks like I am not the only one that thinks that the rifleman profession is in trouble. Anyone that has ever grouped with others knows that Pistol and Carbine consistantly outdamage us. To add insult to injury they are speeding up pistol and slowing rifle down, without increasing our damage to compensate.

It seems that the problems with the profession are deeper than just speed and damage over time, we are inflexible and only distinguished from the other classes by how slowly we fire.

I think the following items could give us more flexibility and to become more viable in both solo and group play:

Range

Range is what should set us apart. Our base maximum range should be 64m and extend to 128 meters or so for a master rifleman. A good model for this would be the Combat Medic Profession. Combat medics get increased range on one line of their skill tree.

More weapon variety:

Standard Rifle - med damage, med speed, med accuracy, 98m Max Effective Range, low HAM cost
(Max effective range is the distance where an average shooter will hit the target 50% of the time)

Sniper Rifle - High damage, low speed, High accuracy, 128m max effective range, med HAM cost

Automatic Rifle - med damage, high speed, low accuracy, 64m max effective range low range, med HAM cost

Fire Support Rifle - med Damage, High speed, 128 max effective range, high HAM cost

For each of these weapon types there should be several varieties of for different damage types and performance scaling based on skill. For example, both a noob and master version of a standard rifle should be available.