Sniper in 1v1 pvp, how well does it do?

[MastaGigs]

With Ranked Warzones coming up id doubt we will see many teams looking to take a sniper, are shield is the biggest thing we offer. No clue how im going to convince my team and myself to take me when another class can fill the same role and do alot more.

 

Really wish i had known how bad it plays out at 50 before i got there with maxed biochem an all the toys, not that sniper is totaly bad, just not good vs a real geared team (Little hint, Good marauder/sent will eat you alive).

 

One a side note, PvE in group settings it is freaking a awesome. Have never had more fun in pve then i do on snipe. Had to kite a boss on HM False Emp after the tank and other dps took a dive, pretty fun.

Edited January 7, 2012 by MastaGigs

[Masses]

I dont see the problem here. it seems that ppl just think they can faceroll and win. God forbid that you actually need to use more then 2 buttons to kill somone. Im getting jumped all the time, and even with the first blood disadvantage, i have never had any problems killing ppl. Start using the tools at your disposal, read the tooltips. And stop qqing because you suck!

[Ebiso]

When you beat a ******* who jumps you it doesn't make you good. So I can win 99% of the 1v1 fights I have? when I fight someone who actually knows what the **** is going on, and my weaknesses, I feel like such a gimped class. Edited January 7, 2012 by Ebiso

[Masses]

When you beat a ******* who jumps you it doesn't make you good. So I can win 99% of the 1v1 fights I have? when I fight someone who actually knows what the **** is going on, and my weaknesses, I feel like such a gimped class.

 

QQing! Stop sitting here an post, go play your class!

[Ebiso]

QQing! Stop sitting here an post, go play your class!

 

I would if I was at home?

[Azesino]

Wingfoot, whats your spec? and how do you kill a shield spec vanguard or a madness sorc?

Also vs a scoundrel who opens on u?

 

Thxx

[ContrailNZ]

Wingfoot, whats your spec? and how do you kill a shield spec vanguard or a madness sorc?

Also vs a scoundrel who opens on u?

 

Thxx

 

I dont think shield spec vangaurds are really that big a problem as they do no damage. Just wear them down and keep them CC with legshot to take them out of the game.

 

Against scoundrel you are dead and will do basically no damage if they take you on 1v1 from stealth. If you hit them out of stealth you can burn them super fast. Fun to target.

 

It's important to focus on targets that are squishy to you and CC the rest / take them out when nothing better around.

 

http://db.darthhater.com/skill_calc/imperial_agent/sniper/#::f2ef17e2fe6fe6fe2f3ef9ef4ef:

 

This is my spec. Main thing is to spam legshot during PvP, can make a big difference. V high burst damage also due to insta snipe etc and decent survivability. Also v good for PvE.

[Gaidax]

48 Valor Marksmanship Sniper, 390ish Expertise.

 

I feel that the biggest issue is a buggy and unresponsive cover. I have no idea what Bio fixed this patch, but I still get cancelled stuff for no reason and there seems to be a new bug with instant casts sometimes not usable in cover until you use some cast time ability.

 

Anyway, I hear lots of 1v1 talk and I want to say, we are quite a middle of a pack 1v1-wise. We can dispatch nubcakes, but people who are smart, LoS us and have healing are a huge problem as are the tanks who are almost unkillabl solo. Melee DPS and squishier fighter types are easier (Orbital Strike on yourself is awesome in this situation).

 

At any rate 1v1 is just stupid, I try to avoid it as much as I can and prefer to cc the targed and run away like an ahole, while they get blasted by teammates. Our job is to kill stuff that is being tanked by other people and we are good at it. Just stand back and nuke or go forward and CC spam people to mess up with them and help carrier. Leg Shot is excellent in that regard, oftenly it is an effective 2s stun as enemy just sits there and wonders *** has happened.

 

We are also surprisingly sturdy, with entrench and 20% bubble in addition to all our CC, we can get really hard to deal with, I had as much as 4 people delayed for like 15 seconds trying to down me, while my teammates fixed the bridge and rushed second door in Voidstar.

[Noctournys]

1v1 you should be able to faceroll anyone who isn't an Op/Smuggler opening on you from stealth.

 

You get shield probe (absorbs damage), Ballistic dampers (absorbs damage), good CC, good interrupt, and high damage.

 

If a melee gets up in your grill, you Entrench, Shield Probe, Diversion, and then fire away.

 

If you cant kill or severly maim the guy in the 20 seconds entrench is active, the problem is you, not the class. There is literally NOTHING a melee class can do about it but run the hell away. They cant CC you, cant knock you out of cover, cant interrupt you, nothing. Add on top of that you're taking less damage (Shield Probe ^ Ballistic Dampers), making them hit less (Diversion), and can pop Evasion if needed...

 

you should eat them alive. Even if they live and run the hell away, you won. They had to flee.

 

If you're facing another ranged who loves to pillarhump like a stripper...

 

let em.

 

get up and walk away.

 

Get out of cover, and move on. The moment he LoSes you, just leave. Make him come to you.

 

If you cant straight up burn a sorc/merc/etc during your defensive cooldowns 1v1 (in a faceoff/nukedown situation), the problem is you.

 

We're the kings of 1v1, probably one of the best dueling classes in the entire game. No one can 1v1 you and take the punishment you put out - while you're immune to CC, pushback, and interrupts, doing damage the whole time. Unfortunately, warzones aren't duels, and it seems like a lot of you aren't using your tools (you have an entire bar's worth of 1min cooldowns for a reason - pocking USE THEM) and are playing our weaknesses against everyone elses strengths.

 

I sit back, assist my team, burn out healers and their support, assist the melee with Shattering Shot, and move around a lot to make a less tempting target (any sniper knows he needs to move his hide after every few shots). In Huttball, i dedicate myself to staying on the upper railings and keeping it clear of enemies trying to get in place for a pass. We're singularly suited to this, because our range allows us to shoot from one side to the other, so they cant get away except by jumping off the walkways - which is just as much a win as a kill.

 

in Alderaan, *stay out of cover until you need to shoot* so you aren't a glowing beacon of "HERE I AM!". Dont use the "provided" sniper spots as your hide - because everyone will look for you there. If you're in mid, set up shop in the field outside, off to one side near a wall. dont go to the second level unless you want to get run over by ops. Fire half a dozen shots, and displace. Move to the other side.

 

On the outside nodes, dont set up shop on top of your platform. Move off to the hillside - you can still easily range the node. Dont take cover until you need to to avoid drawing attention to yourself. Stick and move.

 

On voidstar, run out to the sides, as far away as you can, and still be in range. Ive even found it useful to get BEHIND their advance a little, off to one side, so they dont see you and you can fire freely into the melee.

 

So, basically:

 

1v1, you should be able to solo anyone who isnt an Op/Smuggler opening on you from stealth with ease. Shield Probe. Shield Probe. Shield Probe. Entrench. Diversion. 20+ seconds of totally uninterruptable dps time, no matter what they are doing (and if they are a poor assassin - autofacing the entire time, denying them their backstabs... poor guys). Massive short term damage reduction.

 

In groups.. quit trying to be rambo, play your strengths against their weaknesses. Play like a real sniper. Move your hide. FOcus on squishies, murder their healers. Move on, instead of trying to mow down heavy armor targets for no reason. You've got guys for that. Do your job, and youll do fine.

[Noctournys]

48 Valor Marksmanship Sniper, 390ish Expertise.

 

We are also surprisingly sturdy, with entrench and 20% bubble in addition to all our CC, we can get really hard to deal with, I had as much as 4 people delayed for like 15 seconds trying to down me, while my teammates fixed the bridge and rushed second door in Voidstar.

 

I just had a very similar encounter today in Voidstar, as well.

 

Popped shield and entrench and then OB'ed myself... and let them all hack away at me while my teammates ran away from them and got another door.

 

Play to your strengths, not your weaknesses. It took those 4 people quite a while to finally chop me down.

[oceansofmars]

Some of you must be so bad at pvp. I do nasty things to pretty much every class I fight. The problem is not the class its that snipers require more skill than most of you can muster.

 

Short answer: roll a bh and spam one button because you are bads.

[Colster]

Some of you must be so bad at pvp. I do nasty things to pretty much every class I fight. The problem is not the class its that snipers require more skill than most of you can muster.

 

Short answer: roll a bh and spam one button because you are bads.

 

This, except I don't agree with the dismissive nature of it.

 

Don't use cast time in a 1v1, you got better stuff to do, both vs. melee and ranged.

 

Your main dmg output should be Snap shot snipe into followthru, against melee's it allows you to keep moving, which is essential and against casters it allows to LoS to hell out of them and beat them with burst.

 

and remember Leg shot for the love of god. I cannot stress how good it is, simply because it does not fill the resovle bar and getting a Marauder's resolve bar filled will mean your losss.

 

Save Stun and flashbang for "do or die"- situations , you really never want your knockbacks to get ignored by resolve.

 

In my opinion, the sniper is the strongest 1v1 and skirmisher, able to strike fast and hard at lightly defended spots. We do less than average in objective based fights, you need to be able to run around freely, having to defend something puts a severe restriction on this, also we don't have jump meaning we fall behind in huttball

[Caramel_Ham]

Some of you must be so bad at pvp. I do nasty things to pretty much every class I fight. The problem is not the class its that snipers require more skill than most of you can muster.

 

Short answer: roll a bh and spam one button because you are bads.

 

Lol , this made me laugh so hard. Because its so true that BH are so easy to play its laughable. I have a lvl 17 alt and have taken a look at all their abilities so i at least know what hes talking about.

 

I have not experienced level 50 pvp yet so i cannot comment on that.

 

But when i was playing PvP at level 17...which im still missing a lot of my skills. Not to mention the skill buffs in the marksman tree. I was doing quite well. I usually ranked top 3 dmg with 5-7 medals depending on how good my team was.

 

Dunno if everything changes at lvl 50 though.

 

The BIGGEST problem for the sniper is the glitches and response time.

 

Sniper takes too long to transition from "hiding behind the portable shield" to shooting. BW just needs to get rid of that animation. It looks nice, but its ultimately useless. The sniper should just be standing the whole time behind the shield to avoid that. Or at least keep it standing for x seconds after using a skill.

 

Also theres a certain lag between pressing the cover skill and instantly pressing an instant skill....both of which are instant. Both skills should, in paper, go off almost at the same time because "cover" is off the GCD.

[SandTrout]

With a clean slate and all cooldowns ready to go, the 1v1 Sniper is absolutely brutal.

 

Entrench+Shield Probe+the AoE defensive bubble thing (I forget its name right now) will allow me to functionally tank just about anything other than another sniper/gunslinger with Diversion.

 

Speaking of diversion, use it. It is a 45% decrease in the target's accuracy, which really translates to a 45% in their average damage, with the possibility of their CC or other key abilities failing.

 

Note that those 3 defensive abilities COST NO ENDURANCE AND DO NOT TRIGGER A GLOBAL COOL-DOWN. This means that you can immediately start laying out your Shattershot/snapshot/followthrough. If they get close, Cover burst and Legshot. If they manage to stay close, you may as well stab them with Debilitate and get off your free Ambush (good players typically wont give you time to).

 

SoS is good here because it begins laying out damage immediately, So even if they break LoS, it's not a wasted cast time. Some alacrity equipment and the 20 buff we get drops my cast time on SoS to about 2.2. Note that SoS has a set amount of TOTAL damage that it will do over its durration, which means that Alacrity boosts your DPS, and if you've got a Knight beating on you trying to break through entrench, that is a lot of damage done with Rapid fire (functionally 3 subsequent SoS) If you don't think the enemy will break LoS, go for the ambush.

[Ebiso]

Once again you all post crap about how awesome snipers are when things go right, the problem is not the skill set of the sniper, or even the player most of the time; It's that I cannot reliably do what I want because It will bug out.

 

 

I press crouch > snipe > O wait nothing happened - nothing to do with skill, everything to do with the bugged out cover system. Snipers will be completely ignored once these rated warzones come into play unless they fix this system.

 

The amount of times I go cover > entrench > ballistic shields only for BS to do nothing is about 60/70%. I can spam BS as many times as I like and nothing will happen, I am forced to use another ability then it will suddenly work again...

Edited January 8, 2012 by Ebiso

[neirocity]

You act like Sniper is the only class with bugs and kinks to work out.

 

The OP was merely asking how it does, and it does great. I smash players in PvP and I love my sniper, regardless of it's flaws.

 

As I've said a few posts back, if you aren't happy with Sniper don't play it. Just don't be sad when you reroll to another class and get completely annihilated by one. Believe someone said before, if you play something because it's the flavor of the month, then you will be in for a rough ride when balancing comes into play.

 

Play Sniper because you like to play long range and snipe. Stop complaining about the bugs and the drawbacks and overcome them. I don't have nearly the issues that you do because I've figured out how to deal with them.

 

By the way, a majority of people mistake not being able to go into cover with being rooted. As I understand, you can't use cover while in a root. Then again, I could be wrong but I don't think I am.

Edited January 8, 2012 by neirocity

[Ebiso]

I have played a 50 sorc and merc, the bugs and nowhere near as prevalent as they are in a Sniper. Sniper is a fun class, which is why I play, but it is not competitive atm.

[StrykerLenz]

I've posted this before but you can use Ambush + Explosive Probe. Basically just hit Explosive Probe right when you fire your Ambush and you just did 4-5k Damage if it crits.

[vimm]

Once again you all post crap about how awesome snipers are when things go right, the problem is not the skill set of the sniper, or even the player most of the time; It's that I cannot reliably do what I want because It will bug out.

 

 

I press crouch > snipe > O wait nothing happened - nothing to do with skill, everything to do with the bugged out cover system. Snipers will be completely ignored once these rated warzones come into play unless they fix this system.

 

The amount of times I go cover > entrench > ballistic shields only for BS to do nothing is about 60/70%. I can spam BS as many times as I like and nothing will happen, I am forced to use another ability then it will suddenly work again...

 

Press the buttons HARDER!

[RoeKG]

1v1 you should be able to faceroll anyone who isn't an Op/Smuggler opening on you from stealth.

 

You get shield probe (absorbs damage), Ballistic dampers (absorbs damage), good CC, good interrupt, and high damage.

 

If a melee gets up in your grill, you Entrench, Shield Probe, Diversion, and then fire away.

 

If you cant kill or severly maim the guy in the 20 seconds entrench is active, the problem is you, not the class. There is literally NOTHING a melee class can do about it but run the hell away. They cant CC you, cant knock you out of cover, cant interrupt you, nothing. Add on top of that you're taking less damage (Shield Probe ^ Ballistic Dampers), making them hit less (Diversion), and can pop Evasion if needed...

 

you should eat them alive. Even if they live and run the hell away, you won. They had to flee.

 

If you're facing another ranged who loves to pillarhump like a stripper...

 

let em.

 

get up and walk away.

 

Get out of cover, and move on. The moment he LoSes you, just leave. Make him come to you.

 

If you cant straight up burn a sorc/merc/etc during your defensive cooldowns 1v1 (in a faceoff/nukedown situation), the problem is you.

 

We're the kings of 1v1, probably one of the best dueling classes in the entire game. No one can 1v1 you and take the punishment you put out - while you're immune to CC, pushback, and interrupts, doing damage the whole time. Unfortunately, warzones aren't duels, and it seems like a lot of you aren't using your tools (you have an entire bar's worth of 1min cooldowns for a reason - pocking USE THEM) and are playing our weaknesses against everyone elses strengths.

 

I sit back, assist my team, burn out healers and their support, assist the melee with Shattering Shot, and move around a lot to make a less tempting target (any sniper knows he needs to move his hide after every few shots). In Huttball, i dedicate myself to staying on the upper railings and keeping it clear of enemies trying to get in place for a pass. We're singularly suited to this, because our range allows us to shoot from one side to the other, so they cant get away except by jumping off the walkways - which is just as much a win as a kill.

 

in Alderaan, *stay out of cover until you need to shoot* so you aren't a glowing beacon of "HERE I AM!". Dont use the "provided" sniper spots as your hide - because everyone will look for you there. If you're in mid, set up shop in the field outside, off to one side near a wall. dont go to the second level unless you want to get run over by ops. Fire half a dozen shots, and displace. Move to the other side.

 

On the outside nodes, dont set up shop on top of your platform. Move off to the hillside - you can still easily range the node. Dont take cover until you need to to avoid drawing attention to yourself. Stick and move.

 

On voidstar, run out to the sides, as far away as you can, and still be in range. Ive even found it useful to get BEHIND their advance a little, off to one side, so they dont see you and you can fire freely into the melee.

 

So, basically:

 

1v1, you should be able to solo anyone who isnt an Op/Smuggler opening on you from stealth with ease. Shield Probe. Shield Probe. Shield Probe. Entrench. Diversion. 20+ seconds of totally uninterruptable dps time, no matter what they are doing (and if they are a poor assassin - autofacing the entire time, denying them their backstabs... poor guys). Massive short term damage reduction.

 

In groups.. quit trying to be rambo, play your strengths against their weaknesses. Play like a real sniper. Move your hide. FOcus on squishies, murder their healers. Move on, instead of trying to mow down heavy armor targets for no reason. You've got guys for that. Do your job, and youll do fine.

 

This, with emphasis on using your Entrench and Shield Probe, and don't forget Ballistic Shield.

 

Also with emphasis on leaving if someone is LOSing you. Just because you're MM doesn't mean you have to sit in cover. Sometimes getting up and instant Snipe > followthrough is a great thing to abuse.

 

I'm not sure if this QQ is because people are bad or if they just expect too much from the class. You have a specific role of killing healers and bursting down targets and generally being a pain in the rear with your CC. Use your abilities, people.

[Ebiso]

You know what, you guys were right lol. I had crouch bound to my scroll wheel and it was causing the game to think I was spamming crouch multiple times, making everything seem a lot worse than usual. Edited January 9, 2012 by Ebiso

[Tortall]

whats your talent spec Noctournys?

[iMakesh]

I think Snipers are great in 1v1, thanks to one ability; Entrench. 20sec cc immunity is pretty damn insane tbh, I'm expecting a nerf.

[Kevoisier]

I find as a sniper my easiest target 1v1 is another sniper or gunslinger. I would definitely say middle of the pack 1v1 with a rather steep learning curve.

[Noctournys]

whats your talent spec Noctournys?

 

30/4/7

 

i dont know a good talent calc to look to, so if you can recommend one, ill post it.