Rifle Shot, Headshot and Eviscerate. I rarely ever go below 60 energy, and when I do Adrenaline Probe is ready. I'm rarely close enough to use Eviscerate, and if I am I'd just knockback/stun/Shiv/etc. I kill standards too quickly to bother with Headshot anyway.

They cant attack you if you aren't flagged. You auto-flag by damaging them. Turn off your AoEs. Problem solved.

Flag for PvP?

Because PvP gear is completely and totally random, and you can very easily open 20 bags with no token inside or with a copy of a token you've already gotten. At least Hardmodes/Operations will always drop *something* in addition to tokens, and the tokens are easier to mass.

Snipers cannot be interrupted while in Cover, unless they are CCed outside of Entrench (or if Entrench bugs and doesnt work)

The problems with Bioware's statement: 1 ) Not one Armoring mod, Barrel or Hilt has dropped, to my knowledge, from any Operation on any server to date. 2 ) There are no Armoring mods or Hilts/Barrels with Expertise available anywhere in game, period. Set bonuses are only a minor issue compared to the above.

The problem is, we don't know how much mroe damage we deal compared to other DPS specced classes. There's no combat parser/log. What we do know is that Bioware intended full DPS classes to deal 5-15% more DPS than hybrid specs, which does not seem to make up for all of the inherent defensive weaknesses of Snipers compared to other DPS-specced classes. Once the combat log is in, we'll see the truth of the matter.

Bump for great justice, thanks for the support!

No, that would make sense. Less sense than being able to remove the armor mod, but still some sense.

I'd imagine it's only slightly less probable statistically than the universe existing.

He's easy. He deals no damage whatsoever. Just DPS him down and use your interrupts wisely. He can't kill you.

Sniper is extremely squishy but does not appear to deal any more damage than any other class, in addition to having massive issues with ability activation and cover. Roll Operative. Save yourself a lot of trouble.

Just got Ensign Temple to 10,000 Affection, and I'm extremely disappointed in her storyline. While learning about her past is nice, none of the things she implies will happen actually happen. Spoilers follow. Every conversation after this one lasted under a minute and was little more than a "Hey, how're you?". There was almost nothing to her story, which is extremely disappointing as she seemed like an interesting character. In all the time from 0 to 10,000, I never once had a mission with her take place outside of my ship or a cantina. Not even a short one, and no combat at all. Seriously disappointed in whoever wrote her story. Massive failure on all counts. I only hope the other 3 Companions I have left to level will be better.

The purpose of this thread is to highlight and detail the numerous issues with the Sniper and Gunslinger classes, with the conclusion that these classes are badly designed and need to be reworked in order to be up-to-par with other classes in terms of playability, team utility, solo friendliness and PvP viability (both solo and in premade teams). This thread will not offer direct solutions; this is not a buff/nerf X thread, only an issues list with reasoned explanations. As such, the list will begin with bugs and mechanics issues pertaining to the Sniper Advanced Class and the Agent class in general, continue on to specific PvE/PvP/Endgame PvE issues, and it will end with Quality of Life issues. I recognize that a thread of this kind will be biased toward my experience as a Sniper. I will try to keep that bias in check, but I will not deny that it exists. That said, I do want this to be as objective as possible and as such I will not be directly comparing class abilities or playstyles save for the few areas where it is necessary to do so. Bugs and Issues Ability Delay While this issue currently affects all classes, Snipers and Gunslingers are more devastatingly affected by this bug than others, due to their reliance on precise timing of instant-casts and long activation time abilities as well as the clunky Cover mechanic. The Sniper/Gunslinger is extremely dependent on their core abilities landing consistently, to the point that Accuracy is arguably the most important Sniper/Gunslinger stat, and the delay issue severely hampers the classes' damage and survivability. Update: It appears the bug with Channeled Abiltiies and Natural Cover has been fixed, but several problems still remain, including the ability delay and "Cannot See Target" issue. Entrench (and Gunsligner equivalent) Not Consistent The Entrench ability, and its Gunsligner equivalent, is not consistent in stopping crowd control effects. Certain abilities like Electrocute and Force Pull ignore the skill completely, while others are only blocked sometimes. NPC knockbacks are the worst offenders, with a seemingly random chance to be stopped. Boss level NPC abilities' are never stopped, making the ability worthless in Flashpoint and Operation encounters (more on that later). This issue needs to be looked at immediately, as the Sniper/Gunslinger has little enough survivability when not CCed. "Cannot See Target" This is both a bug and a general issue. The bug seems to shwo itself in certain PvE maps, where even the slightest terrain difference can cause the sniper's skills not to fire, with the "Cannot See Target" error message. This is most devastating in certain Class Quest encounters, such as the battle with The Eagle. Aside from this issue, though, it is extremely easy for an NPC or Player to break Line of Sight against a Sniper, especially in the PvP maps. While not a make-or-break issue for the class, losing a target at the last millisecond of a would-be Ambush/Aimed Shot killshot is extremely frustrating, especially as the player needs to move and set up in Cover again to re-take the shot. More on Cover later. Solo PvE Issues Class/Planet Story Quests (30+); Post-Cutscene Battles Snipers have an extremely difficult time with the many post-cutscene battles prominent in the Class and Planet storylines. Sniper and Gunslinger survivability and damage output relies heavily on positioning and getting the first shot, but after a cutscene the player is not given time to set up, get into proper range, set the right Companion, etc. For the Sniper specifically, the later Class/Planet storylines are nearly impossible to complete without at least one death. Kaliyo is extremely gear dependent after level 30, and Vector is hardly better. Doctor Lokin is far and away the best choice against Elite enemies, but against swarms he does not last long. Scorpio is extremely difficult to gear up, requiring Droid parts and the rarest of all weapon types, the Techstaff. The lack of strong Companions to supplement the Sniper/Gunslinger's very limited survivability makes doing these post-cutscene battles an exercise in frustration at best. Ground-Targeted AoEs, and the Elites that Love them At later levels especially (45+), Elite enemies with the ground-targeted Fire Probe AoE are barely possible to solo as a Sniper/Gunslinger. The AoE is placed immediately upon the player entering Cover, forcing the player to either move or take half of his health in damage in the time it takes to fire off one Ambush/Aimed Shot or Snipe and Followthrough. This forces the Sniper/Gunslinger to move around, in which case he cannot put out enough damage to kill the Elite before he or his companion dies (and he dies shortly afterward). More on this issue later. Base Defenses/Armor Level/Fragile CCs Snipers/Gunslingers wear Medium armor, making them quite squishy. Most Elite or 2xStrong encounters end with the Sniper at dangerously low health levels, making the Sniper class inherently difficult to solo with by design. No other DPS class is as squishy without the means to heal or escape combat quickly. Moreover, Snipers/Gunsligners have only one Hard CC. All other CCs break on damage, making them extremely situational and difficult to use in solo and group settings. Most importantly, though, the only 60-second CC Snipers get is Slice Droid, which must be compared to the other 60-second CCs. Unlike Whirlwind and its Jedi equivalent, Slice Droid is unusable in PvP, has a very subtle and easy-to-miss animation and, of course, can only be used on Droids. While it has no cooldown, it is so rarely useful that it seems to be more novelty than actual CC skill. Slice Droid is a small problem, though. In the scheme of things, Sniper/Gunsligner jsut does not have enough survivability to justify its marginal damage advantage over other classes, if that advantage even exists (impossible to say right now). Group PvE: Flashpoints and Operations Cover This deserves a section of its own, really. Cover is an extremely user-unfriendly mechanic that currently makes the Sniper/Gunslinger the least valuable Flashpoint/Operation DPS character. As explained above, Entrench does not work against Flashpoint/Operation boss abilities. Most bosses have at least one control mechanic that takes the Sniper out of cover for at least a few seconds. If a Sniper cannot enter and stay in cover for long enough to use at least a few abilities (Ballistic Shield is rarely usable for its full duration, and it is even rarer to *want* to be in Cover for the full 15 seconds thanks to needing to use "entering cover" mechanics often for full effectiveness), he is at a distinct DPS disadvantage compared to every other class. Moreover, Sniper rotations are very tight and rely on precise timing, which these Boss control abilites screw up; Entrench is meant to alleviate this problem, but it currently does not. In addition, certain buffs (Sniper/Burst Volley, Reactive Shot) are almsot guaranteed to expire before the Sniper/Gunslinger returns to cover, especially consdiering the Ability delay, wasting these buffs entirely. See above section for CC issues and survivability vs damage "advantage" issues. PvP Huttball This map is a Sniper nightmare. Yes, one or two Snipers will help your team thanks to the relatively hard-to-get-to scaffolding areas and overall openness of the map, but any more and your team is severely hindered. Snipers make terrible ball carriers and rarely survive long enough to pass the ball, if they didnt throw it away the instant they received it. Their lack of utility otuside of Ballistic Shield (more on that soon) makes them awful escorts for the ball carrier, too. Their main duty on this map is to stay 35m away from the ball and unload everything onto enemy ball carriers, put pressure on those chasing allied ball carriers and *try* to Flash Bang a group ontop of a flame pit. Throwing in Leg Shot helps, as well. Every other class can do all of that and more, though. Voidstar This is easily the worst of all possible maps for the Sniper/Gunslinger. Close quarters all around, hardly any high ground/sniper's nests/ledges of any kind, extremely easy to lose line of sight. This map was not designed with Snipers in mind and it shows. I can't fathom how this map could possibly be rectified, or how Snipers could be rectified for this map, though more survivability would of course be helpful. Alderaan This map is a lot friendlier for Snipers, however most of the Sniper advantage exists in the middle portion of the map, with the twin balconies overlooking the center capture point. The same Line of Sight problems exist all around, with Snipers being forced to get up-close-and-personal in fights over the side capture points, or they will lose line of sight extremely easily. A Sniper/Gunslinger in the midst of battle is an extremely easy kill, even with healer/tank support. Some high ground on the sides of the map would be nice--or, of course, more survivability. General PvP Issues Cover Pulse is devastated by the ability delay, but it is almost impossible to use reliably in PvP anyway. As the Sniper needs to be in cover to use this skill, it cannot be used to knock players off of ledges: the enemy will see the sniper set up for a pulse and move away, causing the knockback to be wasted. Or, worse, the enemy will use his instant knockback first (see, Inquisitors/Troopers). Kiting as a Sniper/Gunslinger is very difficult if you are Marksman/Sharpshooter tree. The other trees have slows on their important skills, making their kiting much easier. The Marksman/Sharpshooter must rely on fragile CCs to kite, which rarely works in a group PvP setting. Add to that the Sniper's need to be in Cover to do any damage, and kiting effectively is even more difficult. As mentioned before, Electrocute and Force Pull ignore Entrench. This is not acceptable and should be a high priority fix. Ballistic Shield, the only team utiltiy skill Snipers have, is useless in pvP. Staying in cover for 15 seconds is not only difficult but unwise in PvP (or group PvE), making this skill not only extremely situational but not worth risking being stationary to use. Quality of Life Issues All Agent PvP and PvE armor looks the same, save for a swapped color palette. Most other classes have at least two different looks for their PvP and PvE endgame armor sets, but Agents have only one look for PvP and one look for PvE. Not only is this depressing from a customization standpoint, but it makes identifying an Agent's Advanced Class by look that much harder (wasn't it a goal to have classes identified by looks?) Shield Proble absorbs a "moderate" amount of damage. How much damage is this? Since Shield Probe is the Sniper's main survivability skill, it is extremely important that the Sniper is notified of exactly how much damage is absorbed. Scorpio is incredibly difficult to gear up, which makes the last few levels of the game VERY difficult. Scorpio should be able to use other weapons than just Techstaves, and there should be more and better Droid armor rewards at that stage of the game. The Techstaff issue is extremely important; it is nearly impossible to find a Techstaff outside of one or two quest rewards. Conclusion Snipers and Gunslingers have a myriad of issues that need to be resolved. Many of these are bugs, but several point to a major design flaw in the Cover mechanic and its use in PvP and group PvE, as well as late-game solo PvE. The key class issues can be summed up as follows. 1) Damage Advantage (if it exists) does not make up for the massive hit to survivability this class suffers compared to others. 2) Cover is unreliable in tough encounters, making the class extremely frustrating to solo and the least viable Flashpoint/Operation DPS. 3) Line of Sight and Ability Delay bugs make the class unplayable in certain instances and extremely frustrating in others. The Sniper/Gunslinger classes need to be looked at, as they are underperforming in all areas of the game.

Bounty Hunters are far from squishy. They wear Heavy armor.

Elites with the Fire Probe ground targetted AoE are just impossible for a Sniper to beat solo, at level 45+. Can't stay in cover long enough to use Ambush without taking half my health in fire damage, and can't do enough on-the-move damage to bring down the elite before either myself, Kaliyo, Scorpio or Lokin end up dead. It's infinitely frustrating playing this class.

That my Sniper deals as much damage as a Mercenary, but with a fifth of the survivability, mobility, and utility.

I believe he means Advanced Classes. Right now, every Agent looks the same regardless of AC, as with every BH, etc. Marauders and Juggs (and their Jedi equivalents) are the only ones that look different, and only because they wear different armor types.

I'm not sure if it's the same ability for Snipers, but Headshot does not work in PvP...

Sniper, but just barely. The dedicated DPS classes are (supposed to be) 5% better than the hybrids. Of course, that doesn't make up for Snipers being 95% less survivable than every other class, but hopefully they'll be buffed soon.

Bump. C'mon, this way everybody wins.

So keep the RNG system, but let players that don't want to play the lottery use comms for their gear, at a higher rate. Like a 5:1 rate.

Consider this. It has been assumed that the probability of getting a usable Champion piece from a Champion bag is 25% (mostly taken from anecdotal evidence; it'd be nice if an actual percentage value was given!). This means that for every 800WZ/800Merc comms spent, the player *should* get one piece of armor, a relic or a weapon. Currently, it is possible to get duplicates of the same item, lowering the actual percentage chance to get something useful. For the sake of argument, let's assume the affected percentage is closer to 20%. In which case, it would take roughly 1000/1000 WZ/Merc comms to obtain one piece of useful gear. So, why not just make each piece cost 1000/1000? But here's the kicker: Leave in the RNG Champion Bag system. That way people can choose whether they want to play the lottery or work harder. Satisfy both crowds at once. Who agrees?

I think it'd be nice if subsequent Snipes refreshed the buff duration. Otherwise IMO it's fine. Like I said, it seems to exist to help you get into a rotation, and for that it works perfectly.

Sniper Volley is mainly useful to take .3seconds off of the channel time of Series of Shots. It may not sound like a lot, but having that DoT end .3seconds faster is a very big deal. It's mostly there, though, to help dictate a proper rotation. Ie, Ambush, Followthrough, Snipe, Followthrough, Snipe, Series of Shots, Followthrough. Sniper Volley helps you get into the right mindset. Following this rotation (roughly, with Shatter Shot->Snipe->Followthrough->Series->Rapid Fire as my opener and using utility skills/moving as needed) I almost never drop below 60 energy and I don't even have Rifle Shot on my bar. For those few times I do, Adrenaline Probe is up. Without Sniper Volley, it would have taken a lot more testing to settle into this rotation.