Rifleman Archive

First of all, since its been pretty evident that the devs are horrified with the amount of damage Riflemen were previously capable of doing, we really dont have a clearly defined role anymore except as another ranged fighter with a farther ideal range and more penalties than the others.

First of all, I'm assuming that the melee penalty was put in effect because riflemen were so powerful from a distance, that to balance it out, close ranged combat should be the death of a snipers. However, the devs have made it clear, that they don't want to maintain our damage output at that distance so our most significant advantage has been nullified --How come the penalty remains?

And in a cruel twist of irony, the class which has the MOST significant penalties at close range, is also the class which does not have a reliable means of keeping the enemy at bay in its specialist trees. Warning shot and Suppression are fine, but they're in ranged weapon support.

We have an ideal range of 50m to 60m on various weapons. A rushing enemy can run through that distance and into melee range in 5 to 10 seconds. That's typically 1 or 2 shots for a decent rifle, a couple of more for a spraystick. At that point, im forced to switch to a scout blaster to spam supression fire and to avoid the melee damage penalty (spraystick HAM cost is too high compared to pistols). So that's it --1 or 2 shots is the only advantage we'll ever get over another ranged fighter. Previously, that one shot was all we needed, now, its just 150 damage (in PVP and there arent t-21s in Valcyn as far as I know).

And now on stealth and concealment... What use is stealth when PCs can see me quite perfectly in radar, and mobs can rush and kill a prone rifleman in a few seconds because the mob will definately survive our first few concealed volleys with the slow and low damage weapons we get. Not to mention, his friends will immediately see the prone rifleman thats attacking their friend.

As for armor and armor piercing weapons... frankly, I don't see much difference in its current state. Please fix it, whatevers wrong with it. An E-11 with medium AP is doing the same damage on most of my targets as my dl20a which has none. So please, fix whatever bug's screwing it up.

Now, for some proposed changes:

- Increase our range beyond 64m to say 80m. And please, don't tell me that the engine wont support it. Ranged mobs hit me from beyond 64m and the mob AI definatley chases me even from 90m and above.

- Remove the damage penalty. Its an obsolete aspect of game design that is clearly not balanced with the current state of the game. Maintain our to-hit penalty at close ranges, hell, increase it if you want, but the damage penalty has to go.

-Make all our weapons at least AP1. That'll give us a distinctive role. Wear all the armor you want, its useless when against a rifleman! (Assuming of course, AP and AR are fixed)

-Nerf the 360 degree radar when against PCs. Make it so that all mobs, neutrals and faction allies show up 360, but make it so that enemy PCs and pets will only appear when you're facing them. That'll make flanking maneuvers an actual viable strategy! Instead of the head to head gunfight showdowns we get.

-Give us some form of stealth. Not actual invisibility, but make a prone rifleman firing conceal shots, under concealment fully invisible only in radar, and only targetable through a manual mouse click. Hell, make the hundreds of pistoleers, carbineers and bounty hunters out there actually make an effort to flush us out. hell, that'll give the counter-sniping line a lil justice to its name eh? With the pvp reduction damage, the partial stealth won't be that overpowering as most probably the target will be able to trace the rifle fire before the target dies. In that case, we'll have to stand up and run, losing our cover and stealth, try to lose the guy, and find a new place to hide --Isn't that how snipers are suppose to fight? stealthy and smart?