I have never posted in the dreaded pvp forum for fear of being ridiculed. But i felt the need to share the fact that I am having such a awesome time being a Sniper in pvp. Now granted my Sniper is not 50 yet but every match I have been in so far as me almost topping the chart for the most damage.

 

I do not claim to be an expert but considering the fact that all my toons have experienced pvp in some regard I can honestly say that the Sniper is the best. I have chosen to go marksmanship and I have to say I am quite liking it the abiity to use entrench as well as dampeners is great.

 

One particular match I would like to share happened to me last night when I qued and got into a huttball. See I chose one of the higher bridges near mid to overlook the battle and pick off targets. The match went quite smoothly but at the 2 min mark we were 2 down. Then I notice the opposing team had 49 shadow and he was roflstomping most of my team mates. So I go behind him and give him debilitate to stun him and to get his attention which it does.

 

I then used the time to find a decent cover stop and he starts to charge me. So I gave him a leg shot and continued to work on him using the only rotation i have of: free snipe, snipe, ambush, then if possible take down. He tried to get close to me and use interrupts but I knocked him back and continued to work on him until i had him at about 5k health he attempted to get behind me to force me to break cover but my stun was off cool down and I stunned him and finished him off with a snipe and 3k crit on a ambush and my health was till over 70%.

 

Now if I sound noobish i'm sorry I just wanted to share my enjoyment of being a Sniper in pvp. Any thoughts are welcomed.

I am surprised you can beat a shadow.

Glad you are having fun!

 

3 fun equations I would like to add:

 

(1) Putting orbital strike on yourself before engaging.

That way you force them to use their resilience early.

 

(2) Be wary of your position.

If you put yourself against a wall, a good Shadow will attack you from wall side then will not fear your knockback.

 

(3) Choosing between stun or knockback.

If the Shadow ran up towards you cloaked or uncloaked but did not use sprint, use stun first.

I am surprised you can beat a shadow.

Glad you are having fun!

 

3 fun equations I would like to add:

 

(1) Putting orbital strike on yourself before engaging.

That way you force them to use their resilience early.

 

(2) Be wary of your position.

If you put yourself against a wall, a good Shadow will attack you from wall side then will not fear your knockback.

 

(3) Choosing between stun or knockback.

If the Shadow ran up towards you cloaked or uncloaked but did not use sprint, use stun first.

 

Thank you very much for your advice. The interesting thing is and I forgot to mention this, but he did drop what looked like a ability that does damage over time but he did this uncloaked. I will remember to use stun first but it only just came off cooldown as he was attacking me.

 

Tel me something, if he did use sprint what could i have done to counter it? Also I realize about the wall but you see where i was a kind of corner on the far right of the map I positioned myself in such a way that he simply could not get behind me and I know if he tried to knock me out of cover I use entrench

 

But still great advice and thank you.

My favorite AC atm is operative. Can't believe that I didnt discover it earlier because I've always been accused of being somewhat of a lone wolf by my team mates in other games and operative allows me to play that exact role. For some reason I didnt appreciate assassin as much, could be a combination of having leveled a few sorcs and not wanting to suffer through the story again or simply that the both AC'es shared too much and I wanted something new. Not too keen on sniper either, I felt really useful as a single-target specialist in warzones but found it to be somewhat static and in all honesty, boring to play. Good on you though for having found your AC.

The class is great, but you are far from facing the real resistance in lwbie pvp. Nobody has their full set of cooldowns available to counter you. Also you are not facing valor 100 enemies that have mastered their class. Get ready for some rude awakening at lvl 50.

The class is great, but you are far from facing the real resistance in lwbie pvp. Nobody has their full set of cooldowns available to counter you. Also you are not facing valor 100 enemies that have mastered their class. Get ready for some rude awakening at lvl 50.

 

I know that I am going to have my butt handed to me at level 50 but even still I look forward to the challenge. I know I will be against groups of full EWH players and all that. But it does not worry me because even if I get smashed a few times I still will enjoy myself because as I have said being a Sniper is great fun.

Now if I sound noobish i'm sorry I just wanted to share my enjoyment of being a Sniper in pvp. Any thoughts are welcomed.

 

No, that is one of the correct ways to shut down a guy like that. Leg Shot in particular can be devastating to classes that need mobility.

 

The problem you'll run into is that , sub-50, at least half the people are going to be geared in absolute garbage. Post 50 , most people with a functional brain cell (let's not debate how few that is) will be in at least recruit.

 

Still, properly built snipers are very effective post-50 if you build correctly and work with your teammates

As sniper you are either:

1. Not being noticed, freecasting and facerolling stuff

2. Being noticed and getting facerolled

As sniper you are either:

1. Not being noticed, freecasting and facerolling stuff

2. Being noticed and getting facerolled

 

... and same can be said for any class. If several good players turn on you and nobody is there to assist ... you die not matter what class you are unless you get a lucky vanish off if a stealther.

 

The only reason this opinion persists is because sniper/slingers typically locate themselves away from the main battle and when turned on have little backup. The funny thing is if a healer actually starts healing you a sniper/slinger can tank pretty well while cycling through defenses. You hardly ever get healed though despite the massive impact they have on the battle field. I've seen so many battles where tanks shield the healer yet hardly anyone attacks them because they think they can't be killed. Yet if your best dps'r with ability to actually finish fights is guarded and healed it is amazing what can be done. It doesn't have to be all the time but some attention paid to those backing you up behind the line can often win the battle for you.

 

Basically ... it is pointless whining about getting killed fast if 3-4 players focus on you if you have nobody backing you up. Anyone will die fast. The game offering more mobility to melee classes than ranged classes have range and maps not supporting sniping also doesn't help much. Does it even make any sense at all having a class leap as far as most ranged classes can fire? Imagine a sniper rifle in real life only have a 30-35m range and humans can leap 30m? That is a w.t.f. situation if I ever heard of one.

Edited February 1, 2013 by Tamanous

I was having the time of my life as a marksman sniper in 1-49 but when I got up to 50 I got my *** handed to me more times than I'd like to admit even with full WH gear, I was close to putting my sniper on the shelf when I desided to try engineering and wow what a difference.

 

All of the sudden I could tank shadows and vanguards, play a major roll in my team by puting down AOE so they can't take the node (one time in voidstar me and a sorc healer kept them from crossing the bridge for over 2½ min because they could not click that terminal or kill me or the healer) and destroy ppl before they get to me.

sniper is one of the most well rounded classes in the game. got tools to deal with everything

As sniper you are either:

1. Not being noticed, freecasting and facerolling stuff

2. Being noticed and getting facerolled

 

In a warzone with good teams the only one who is not noticed is the stealthed player.

 

Talking about unnoticed snipers facerolling everybody is like talking about sentinels with pocket scoundrels. Neither require skill to perform well.

In a warzone with good teams the only one who is not noticed is the stealthed player.

 

Talking about unnoticed snipers facerolling everybody is like talking about sentinels with pocket scoundrels. Neither require skill to perform well.

 

So, if a sentinel and a scoundrel do a 6v2 it's not skill?

You'd be surprised how many sentinels can't even kill one target despite being healed

As sniper you are either:

1. Not being noticed, freecasting and facerolling stuff

2. Being noticed and getting facerolled

 

The same could be said for every class. If you're getting focused on a Sin, Mara, Sorc, whatever you are going to get facerolled. Unless you're part of a good Premade.

 

Regardless, I will admit that one of the reasons we Snipers are so good is because most of the enemies are too busy attacking the Healers and such to notice us. And even when they do I find it quite easy to kill them, either by myself or with Teammates. This is ofcourse based on what the class I'm vsing is and wether they're smart.

Edited February 1, 2013 by Chlomamf

I know that I am going to have my butt handed to me at level 50 but even still I look forward to the challenge. I know I will be against groups of full EWH players and all that. But it does not worry me because even if I get smashed a few times I still will enjoy myself because as I have said being a Sniper is great fun.

 

Glad to hear you enjoy it, i too am a mm sniper and i hit 50 when most had their full bm sets and some wh and trust me you will die alot but dont give up. once you get ya gear to a good point you will find all those deaths were well worth it

 

little tip im sure u are aware off, once you hit 40 and valor rank 40 get any warzone commondations turned into ranked ones b4 you hit 50 so u can get a few good bits of your war hero set soon as you hit 50

The same could be said for every class. If you're getting focused on a Sin, Mara, Sorc, whatever you are going to get facerolled. Unless you're part of a good Premade.

 

Regardless, I will admit that one of the reasons we Snipers are so good is because most of the enemies are too busy attacking the Healers and such to notice us. And even when they do I find it quite easy to kill them, either by myself or with Teammates. This is ofcourse based on what the class I'm vsing is and wether they're smart.

 

I never believed in this theory of enemy noticing or not noticing me. They always notice me, marauders, sorcs and PT, I bet my X-52 Wraith Infiltrator Sniper rifle that they are noticing me. A Sniper becomes exponentially more powerful the better team mates he has. When there is a marauder in your face or an assassin in your back, you will not care about that sniper over there. You will have more pressing matters. And why not kill the sniper's minions first when you can ignore the sniper DPS by just getting out of his line of sight, thus focusing on the mDPS that can follow you behind the corner? For this very reason i am often the last one to die.

 

As a sniper you are only as good as:

1. Your team mates are capable to "aggro" the enemy

2. Enemy healers allow you to burst

3. Enemy shadows allow you to live.

 

This is why Deception/Infiltration is such a powerful spec, it doesn't need to deal with somebody sitting in their face and occupying their attention, they are truely free to pick their targets. As long as Deception exists in current form, Sniper as a class will always be balanced simply because they have such a powerful hard counter. Heh, it reminds me of Spy vs Sniper relationship in team fortress 2.

Edited February 1, 2013 by NoTomorrow

The class is great, but you are far from facing the real resistance in lwbie pvp. Nobody has their full set of cooldowns available to counter you. Also you are not facing valor 100 enemies that have mastered their class. Get ready for some rude awakening at lvl 50.

 

Actually, maybe I'm just weird, but I did BETTER at 50 PvP then 10-49 PvP. Of course, I started my first WZ with about 1250 or so expertise.I think it was mostly the learning curve on positioning yourself correctly. Positioning is huge, huge for a class that's largely immobile and it seemed to take me most of the first 50 valor ranks to get that experience.

Edited February 1, 2013 by islander

As sniper you are either:

1. Not being noticed, freecasting and facerolling stuff

2. Being noticed and getting facerolled

 

not entirely true, yes, against a GOOD rated heavy...but for the vast majority of folks reading this and queueing warzones (normal) not entirely so. I've solo'd more then my fair share of Vanguards, Shadows, and Sentinels in normals as marksman, much less engineering which I'm simply not good at yet. If I'm attacked in a place where the opponent can't 'block' my ambush knockback, he's going to lose more times then not.

 

Sometimes folks gotta remember, I'd say only about 6-8% of all people who queue for warzones do so for rated. Just Wednesday night my guilds team sat in queue for 45 minutes before something came up. That sucks.

Edited February 1, 2013 by islander

You just got better at playing sniper. One small bonus is Target Acquired at lvl 50 which was the final nail in the coffin to the Warriors relying on saber ward against us. Edited February 1, 2013 by NoTomorrow

You just got better at playing sniper. One small bonus is Target Acquired at lvl 50 which was the final nail in the coffin to the Warriors relying on saber ward against us.

 

Yeah, at first when I hit 50, I was like "seriously, 2 min CD?" then I remembered saber ward's CD was 3 minutes

Edited February 1, 2013 by islander

I'm really happy that this has generated some discussion. I would just like to add that I know some classes perform better than others or certain specs for that matter. I also know that there is balancing issues as well. I just feel like another poster stated that the Sniper seems to have a good mixture of surviveability and offense and hopefully as I learn the class more I can become a good asset in the 50 bracket

 

I was having the time of my life as a marksman sniper in 1-49 but when I got up to 50 I got my *** handed to me more times than I'd like to admit even with full WH gear, I was close to putting my sniper on the shelf when I desided to try engineering and wow what a difference.

 

All of the sudden I could tank shadows and vanguards, play a major roll in my team by puting down AOE so they can't take the node (one time in voidstar me and a sorc healer kept them from crossing the bridge for over 2½ min because they could not click that terminal or kill me or the healer) and destroy ppl before they get to me.

 

Engineering you say? What makes that spec better if may ask? Because like you i'm also having a blast pre 50 in Marksmanship but I would be willing to change if I was given some examples but glad you enjoying as well,

Engineering you say? What makes that spec better if may ask? Because like you i'm also having a blast pre 50 in Marksmanship but I would be willing to change if I was given some examples but glad you enjoying as well,

 

Marksman is better for straight up single target damage but since it's mostly white damage that can be dodged, parried or shielded I felt that I lost alot of damage once I started fighting the well geared 50s.

 

Engineering on the other hand is more AOE and elemental damage which ignore armor, you get 6% more in damage reduction, alot of CC and with a good healer backing you up it's impossible for the opposit team to take a node when you're in range.

marksman can put up awesome numbers but i feel squishy and have energy problems at times

 

my engineer has much trouble hitting the damage numbers my mm sniper does (unless for some reason the enemy team decides to have a picnic in my orbital strike) but does much more to cement victories in pugged wz's

 

when i play my marksman i definitely lay down the pew pew but i am constantly hoping my teammates will be up to stopping the cappers as i usually am positioning away from the heat of battle

 

the engineer is a solid node defender, node denier, and can put out an awesome burst every 30 seconds if you pick the right target, and can even get you some healing medals

 

marksman is awesome for lowbies and will have many inexperienced level 40-summin's scratching their heads as to why they just had their hats handed to them by a level 20 scrub

Edited February 2, 2013 by Daxy

I don't have a level 50 sniper, but I run with one almost constantly. So far nobody has mentioned how incredible snipers are in huttball. Yes, of course, they are great at controlling mid. But they are also excellent leap beacons and pass targets. With a 20sec CC immunity, you're an incredible beacon for leaping the ball past both fires. People think snipers are "immobile" or "turrets", but nothing could be further from the truth.

 

Be aware that you can be knocked out of cover from a distance and become a leap beacon for the _other_ team, of course. Even a tank jugg can knock you out with a grenade.

Engineer's really nice because it takes 1 ability and makes it boss, sort of like pyrotech. Explosive probe gets:

 

15% dmg increase

Drops 4 cluster bombs, each one is additional damage,

each one is 5 energy when detonated, for a net gain / loss of 0 energy

Free on cooldown (So a net gain of 20 energy w/ cluster bombs)

 

What makes engineer outshine on sniper is it's survivability:

 

4% endurance

6% heal with adren probe

+30% to shield probe

This one move resets CD on shield probe AND adren probe cooldown 1 min

6% DMG reduction in cover (Bugged? Doesn't show on character sheet)

30 seconds of ballistic shield

I personally still grab ballistic dampeners, no other talents worth taking imo, so 30% DR for first 3 attacks 1.5sec internal CD.

 

It's insane AoE damage is the BEST. In. The. Game. Better than smash, though it's sustained, not burst:

All aoe moves get 15% dmg

All aoe moves get 30% Surge bonus

Frag grenade = 3 sec cd

Plasma probe = 18 seconds worth of 3-4k elemental damage to 5 people over 18 seconds, most of it is done in the first 3 seconds. The first three seconds has a 50% snare, and if it hits a target affected by your DoT, that target is stunned for 2 seconds. This stun is a 2 second stun every 18 seconds, and from 30m. It is the ONLY way in the game curently to STUN a target 30m away. The other way to disable a target is with ofc Flashbang, though that's not exclusive to Eng.

 

Explosive probe's 15% increase + cluster bombs is an extra 2k-3k worth of damage on that, it's burst of that + ambush + series of shots = dead anyone but tank. Once your probes are off cd, you're damage is worse than MM, so I prefer to go MM for dailies since I have no end to my damage.