Can't interrupt snipers? Tips for a Vanguard against them?

[Stenrik]

I've noticed that when PVPing on my Vanguard (level 23) that I can't "interrupt" snipers when they're charging/channeling an ability in cover. Is there some way to counter or break through this? My only solution is to cryo-grenade/harpoon to get the sniper out of cover, but if those are on cooldown I'm pretty much screwed.

 

Also, do you guys have any general tips for taking them down? I heard the best way was to get up close and use melee attacks. I thought it would be fairly easy to kill them if I did that, but I'm having a really hard time with it. I find I take a TON of damage from snipers, even if they only shoot me in melee range in self defense. I'm guessing it's their armor penetration? Also I try to circle them but they seem to always be able to hit me with auto-follow/turn.

 

I had been under the impression that in PVP, heavy armor tanks should attack dps, and dps should attacks healers. Yet I'm struggling with the (supposedly squishy) pure dps class! I know I gotta L2P but any tips to get in the right direction?

 

(Loving my vanguard overall though, definitely looking forward to the higher levels.)

Edited March 4, 2012 by Stenrik

[origional]

 

I had been under the impression that in PVP, heavy armor tanks should attack dps, and dps should attacks healers. Yet I'm struggling with the (supposedly squishy) pure dps class! I know I gotta L2P but any tips to get in the right direction?

 

 

Thankfully pvp in this game isnt rock paper scissorslike wow. My belief is that you shouldnt be attacking any type of player simply because hes 'that type' You need to focus on achieving objectives. Thats what we are good at. 'We stand on the bridge and none shall pass' (Well, unto someone force throws us over the edge)

 

You guard your squishies and use taunt as additional protection.

You assist dps with stuns and interupts.

You harass healers so they have to protect themselves rather than others.

You hold up two or three opponents at a time to give your team a numerical advantage over the rest.

You're the ball carrier in huttball.

You're the guy who stands in front of the door so they cant plant the bomb.

 

Also, thankfully, but soon to change when combat meters come out, there are few cookie cutter builds out there, so you have to learn about your opponents as individual players rather than going, oh hes a bounty hunter, he'll do this this tthis and this (actually, he'll probably just do tracer missile tracer missile tracer missile) but the point is there is a lot of variety in players at the moment.

 

Vanguards are a hugely versatile class. We can do so much more than just go after squishies.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Paralassa
content

[Carbonated]

Imperial sniper and smuggler gunslingers mechanic is cover, they cant be interrupted. They stand there. Its there job going close to them will get you punted, try stay at your 10 meter range.

 

Your stuns will knock them out of cover. Once you get some decent defence etc you will probably laugh at what they do to you. Just try to deal with it til then.

 

Stunning and harpoon is a good idea in a sense but if they get back into cover then will most likely cover pulse you. There stun is 4m range. The cover helps defend against range attacks, but your mortar volley will still hit them and most will leave cover to move out of it.

 

Use your non weapon stuff on them, sticky bomb etc.

[origional]

I've noticed that when PVPing on my Vanguard (level 23) that I can't "interrupt" snipers when they're charging/channeling an ability in cover. Is there some way to counter or break through this? My only solution is to cryo-grenade/harpoon to get the sniper out of cover, but if those are on cooldown I'm pretty much screwed.

 

 

These guys can be pretty tough and with their armour pen they can hurt you, especially as at your level you dont have great armour yet. If you have reactive shield, you could use that to try and get close but my advice would be to get out of shooting range, let them switch targets and then go at them, or find a nice place to drop mortar volley on them. They have two choices, move out of cover or get blasted.

 

Toss in a cryo grenade. sticky grenade and a hib and that should get you nice and close and you will have hit them with a couple of decent abilities straight away. If you are struggling to beat them once you get hold of them, make sure you have a warzone medpack to hand and use stims to increase damage etc.

[TCorvin]

The cover mechanic is the whole niche to that advanced class so I would say it's fine. I don't know if you tried but, have you tried going behind them and using your silence you're talking about? I ask because cover is actually just a frontal cone ability and only protects attacks from the front so the silence may work from behind.

[Stenrik]

Thatnks for the tips guys. I guess it was a fallacy in my part in assuming that getting within melee range would give me the upper hand in the fight.

 

 

 

Thankfully pvp in this game isnt rock paper scissorslike wow. My belief is that you shouldnt be attacking any type of player simply because hes 'that type' You need to focus on achieving objectives. Thats what we are good at. 'We stand on the bridge and none shall pass' (Well, unto someone force throws us over the edge)

 

You guard your squishies and use taunt as additional protection.

You assist dps with stuns and interupts.

You harass healers so they have to protect themselves rather than others.

You hold up two or three opponents at a time to give your team a numerical advantage over the rest.

You're the ball carrier in huttball.

You're the guy who stands in front of the door so they cant plant the bomb.

 

Also, thankfully, but soon to change when combat meters come out, there are few cookie cutter builds out there, so you have to learn about your opponents as individual players rather than going, oh hes a bounty hunter, he'll do this this tthis and this (actually, he'll probably just do tracer missile tracer missile tracer missile) but the point is there is a lot of variety in players at the moment.

 

Vanguards are a hugely versatile class. We can do so much more than just go after squishies.

Yeah I really love how being a tank actually has meaning in this game's PVP. I do try to taunt and guard when possible, and I love my harpoon utility in Huttball and my ability to charge in and distract. I know our role is more about protection than killing, but isn't killing part of protection?

 

I do like that we don't have cookie-cutter rolls in PVP. (I have pretty limited pvp experience in WoW though, so I can't comment on the comparison.)

 

I'm also very objective minded in warzones - I don't farm kills to boost my epeen or anything, and will gladly guard the empty door or turret if need be. But often there will be snipers hunkered down in corners defending a door and just decimating us, so it's good for our objective to try to shut them down as soon as possible.

 

I also just want to know that I can take on classes 1 on 1 if need be. And there's something about snipers that makes me see a giant "KILL ME" sign every time I see them. Maybe it's because my main is a healer and I have a vendetta against them or something.

 

 

Imperial sniper and smuggler gunslingers mechanic is cover, they cant be interrupted. They stand there. Its there job going close to them will get you punted, try stay at your 10 meter range.

 

Your stuns will knock them out of cover. Once you get some decent defence etc you will probably laugh at what they do to you. Just try to deal with it til then.

 

Stunning and harpoon is a good idea in a sense but if they get back into cover then will most likely cover pulse you. There stun is 4m range. The cover helps defend against range attacks, but your mortar volley will still hit them and most will leave cover to move out of it.

 

Use your non weapon stuff on them, sticky bomb etc.

My armor is pretty good for my level right now. Almost the full level 20 PVP set.

In saying that I will start to get good against them at a higher level, do you have a level range in mind? Mid 30's maybe, or 40+?

 

Also great tactic with mortal volley - good to know.

 

So because of the cover pulse stun, you're saying that it's not a good idea to harpoon them to me since it closes the distance and makes me prone to CC? Just seems like a lose-lose situation because I can't be too far from them or I'll get shot down. Is there some middle-ground "sweet spot" then?

Edited March 4, 2012 by Paralassa
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[Stenrik]

The cover mechanic is the whole niche to that advanced class so I would say it's fine. I don't know if you tried but, have you tried going behind them and using your silence you're talking about? I ask because cover is actually just a frontal cone ability and only protects attacks from the front so the silence may work from behind.

 

Yeah that's what confused me. I'd always try to use my interrupt ability from directly behind them, and it never worked. Always gave me a message like "target is immune to that effect" or something.

[Bigchristophe]

A sniper cannot be interrupted while in cover, it is a mechanic tied to cover only for sniper/gunslinger. As a 50 sniper I can try and give you a couple of tips. If you are fighting a decent sniper they will usually drop an orbital strike (pulsing aoe) right on top of themselves. Never continue attacking in melee if they do this as you will get burned down very fast. Just use line of sight to avoid them until it is over.

 

Snipers also have a couple decent defensive cooldowns which adding to their natural defenses in cover can make us tough to take down. Again, use line of sight to pop in and out of vision and throw some sticky grenades or any other ranged attacks you have. If our cds are down we can crumble fairly easily. People usually have a preconceived notion that snipers/gunslingers suck so I find I dont get focused all that much which means my cds are almost always up.

 

A good sniper can be damn lethal, just dont underestimate them and use LoS, it is our biggest weakness as not only do we have to move but we have to get in cover again as well. Also all of our dmg is physical for the most part, so later on as vanguard you will be able to shrug off our dmg a lot easier. I find a vanguard or any tank really a tough kill, it just takes too much time when I can cc and go find a healer to blast on.

 

Hope it helps.

[Stenrik]

A sniper cannot be interrupted while in cover, it is a mechanic tied to cover only for sniper/gunslinger. As a 50 sniper I can try and give you a couple of tips. If you are fighting a decent sniper they will usually drop an orbital strike (pulsing aoe) right on top of themselves. Never continue attacking in melee if they do this as you will get burned down very fast. Just use line of sight to avoid them until it is over.

 

Snipers also have a couple decent defensive cooldowns which adding to their natural defenses in cover can make us tough to take down. Again, use line of sight to pop in and out of vision and throw some sticky grenades or any other ranged attacks you have. If our cds are down we can crumble fairly easily. People usually have a preconceived notion that snipers/gunslingers suck so I find I dont get focused all that much which means my cds are almost always up.

 

A good sniper can be damn lethal, just dont underestimate them and use LoS, it is our biggest weakness as not only do we have to move but we have to get in cover again as well. Also all of our dmg is physical for the most part, so later on as vanguard you will be able to shrug off our dmg a lot easier. I find a vanguard or any tank really a tough kill, it just takes too much time when I can cc and go find a healer to blast on.

 

Hope it helps.

 

Thanks for taking the time to help the enemy.

I definitely don't underestimate snipers - I actually go after them partly because I know they can quickly take down my team's healers. Just underestimated their defensive abilities I guess.

 

I'll remember to try to stick to non-weapon damage. Does that mean elemental damage and my blunt melee attack isn't included? (Not sure if my electrical attacks are considered "weapon damage" or not...)

Edited March 4, 2012 by Stenrik

[orajthebig]

A sniper cannot be interrupted while in cover, it is a mechanic tied to cover only for sniper/gunslinger. As a 50 sniper I can try and give you a couple of tips. If you are fighting a decent sniper they will usually drop an orbital strike (pulsing aoe) right on top of themselves. Never continue attacking in melee if they do this as you will get burned down very fast. Just use line of sight to avoid them until it is over.

 

Snipers also have a couple decent defensive cooldowns which adding to their natural defenses in cover can make us tough to take down. Again, use line of sight to pop in and out of vision and throw some sticky grenades or any other ranged attacks you have. If our cds are down we can crumble fairly easily. People usually have a preconceived notion that snipers/gunslingers suck so I find I dont get focused all that much which means my cds are almost always up.

 

A good sniper can be damn lethal, just dont underestimate them and use LoS, it is our biggest weakness as not only do we have to move but we have to get in cover again as well. Also all of our dmg is physical for the most part, so later on as vanguard you will be able to shrug off our dmg a lot easier. I find a vanguard or any tank really a tough kill, it just takes too much time when I can cc and go find a healer to blast on.

 

Hope it helps.

 

Yep, as a new 50 vanguard I find line of sight to be the best weapon against gunslingers/snipers in a 1v1 situation. Get out of cover, throw sticky, get back to cover. If you're lucky he'll run out of patience and start to move, then you can kick ***. Also, as a tank, another good move against them on a team fight is to just guard the target of snipers, if it's not you (Hit alt-t to target "target's target").

 

I also appreciate a sniper taking his time to putting his side of the story here. Thanks.

[GreenLantern]

Line of Sight. If you are out in the open, try to melt them with Cool downs or run.

[Kesrik]

Definitely stun them if they don't have Entrench up. If they do, just line of sight until it goes away, then stun them, or simply pop your CDs and out damage them.

[ALDrinkwater]

oh hes a bounty hunter, he'll do this this tthis and this (actually, he'll probably just do tracer missile tracer missile tracer missile)

 

On mercenaries who cant play their class spam tracer missile, Powertechs, like myself, know how to use other skills, but on the tracer missile spam issue, i know operatives are just as back, and the trooper equivilant of the mercenary is as bad.

[Hyrune]

Definitely stun them if they don't have Entrench up. If they do, just line of sight until it goes away, then stun them, or simply pop your CDs and out damage them.

 

This

 

As long as they do not have entrench you can cc them, so do this and burst as much as possible.

Grab/charge them just before the end of the cc can be a good move if you have the 3sec root talent: they cannot take cover while rooted.

 

If they use entrench / ballistic shield, use LOS and wait.

 

As often put to good use tech attacks and shock strike (they avoid the cover bonus against range attacks)

 

Also use wisely your cc breaker CD. They have 1 or 2 roots, 1 or 2 KBs (Hold the line help a lots here), a long AEO mez and a melee stun

Edited March 5, 2012 by Hyrune

[Bigchristophe]

Thanks for taking the time to help the enemy.

I definitely don't underestimate snipers - I actually go after them partly because I know they can quickly take down my team's healers. Just underestimated their defensive abilities I guess.

 

I'll remember to try to stick to non-weapon damage. Does that mean elemental damage and my blunt melee attack isn't included? (Not sure if my electrical attacks are considered "weapon damage" or not...)

 

I was just referring to snipers having all physical dmg, unless you mean to combat our CDs in which case, 1 of them is 100% against white dmg, the other is an absorb shield on all dmg. So just use what you normally would and if you see a green shield around them only use yellow damage attacks.

[Bbizzle]

I've noticed that when PVPing on my Vanguard (level 23) that I can't "interrupt" snipers when they're charging/channeling an ability in cover. Is there some way to counter or break through this? My only solution is to cryo-grenade/harpoon to get the sniper out of cover, but if those are on cooldown I'm pretty much screwed.

 

Also, do you guys have any general tips for taking them down? I heard the best way was to get up close and use melee attacks. I thought it would be fairly easy to kill them if I did that, but I'm having a really hard time with it. I find I take a TON of damage from snipers, even if they only shoot me in melee range in self defense. I'm guessing it's their armor penetration? Also I try to circle them but they seem to always be able to hit me with auto-follow/turn.

 

I had been under the impression that in PVP, heavy armor tanks should attack dps, and dps should attacks healers. Yet I'm struggling with the (supposedly squishy) pure dps class! I know I gotta L2P but any tips to get in the right direction?

 

(Loving my vanguard overall though, definitely looking forward to the higher levels.)

 

 

Throw mortar volley on them in cover, that plus a sticky nade of assualt plastique will usually send them out of cover looking for LOS which is when you pull them with harpoon and make it game over.

[dcgregorya]

There's a twinker level 49 on my server that I own repeatedly. My main is a gunslinger, alt is a vanguard - so I'm pretty aware of how to break sniper/gunslinger momentum. Basically DoT and LoS.

 

My vanguard is assault spec built, so I pop incendiary grenade, HIB, ion pulse, sticky grenade. Then LoS while the DoTs tick away. Then pop out, ion pulse, HIB hopefully if proc'd, otherwise some hammer shots while LoS'ing them. Pop adrenaline rush if necessary, hit them with mortar if it's up. Then pop out and if they don't have entrench up, cryo, ion pulse, HIB, incendiary grenade refresh - run in and spam stockstrike/HIB/pulse cannon.

 

Basically wear them out with DoTs while LoS'ing them and use your defensive CDs when you do finally run in to take them out.

Edited March 5, 2012 by dcgregorya