XCOM EU Sniper re-balancing mod

[merkmerk73]

Squad sight is absurdly overpowered - it's basically a massive range upgrade.

 

I'd like to see a mod that addresses this, and this alone.

 

Some ideas:

 

-snapshot baseline, something else competes with squadsight

-squadsight baseline, something else competes with snapshot

-snapshot buffed. perhaps just grants a smaller range buff or extended sight radius.

-baseline sight range increase. squadsight still lets you play as precision artillery from across the map, but you're not completely gimped as a snapshotter.

 

 

The primary issue is that you have one ability that massively extends the range of a sniper, or another one which is nice but leaves your sniper reliant on his own short range for the rest of the game. As much as I love snapshot, there's just no comparison.

 

The real question is - is there anything elegant that can be done about this? Or are we limited to behind-the-scenes adjustments?

[iRhuel]

Many members of the Nexus share your sentiment, myself included. But from what (little) I understand of the modding developments people have made so far on this game, it is currently impossible to edit the function of the perks themselves in any way - so buffing or nerfing individual perks is out of the question. The only thing that can be done (so far) is change where the perks fall on the skill tree (this also means you can potentially swap perks between classes).

 

I have my snipers receive squadsight as their first squaddie perk, the reasoning being that snipers are supposed to be distance killers. I found that requiring snipers to engage enemies from the same range as other classes was rather ridiculous. Subsequently, I place snapshot on the next tier, in opposition to gunslinger. The two seem to fill the same niche - retain nominal combat effectiveness for snipers on the move. The problem I've encountered with this is twofold. Firstly, the offensive penalty from snapshot inhibits all but the highest ranked, most well-equipped sniper from landing after-movement shots with any kind of reliability, even with the close-range penalty for sniper rifles disabled. In most situations, any time you might make a snapshot shot, it would be better to simply use a pistol instead. Secondly, Gunslinger itself synergizes with the Foundry's pistol upgrades a bit *too* well, making pistols almost as effective as assault rifles. The result is that it is still better not to take Snapshot - Gunslinger still seems like the clear choice. I am beginning to suspect that Snapshot is simply too inhibiting to be as attractive as most other perks.

 

I'm currently debating (with myself) on ways to counter this disparity. One option is to rearrange the perks so that snapshot is not in opposition to gunslinger. This is rather unattractive, as there aren't really any other perks that snapshot should logically oppose. Another would be to not only disable, but reverse the sniper rifle's aim penalty, so that they receive bonus aim with range, just like every other weapon. I am also hesitant about this, since it contradicts the nature of snipers as distance killers. Lastly, I am considering nerfs to pistols in general, such as range reduction, damage reduction, or an inherent accuracy penalty to offset snapshot's (though this would make pistols less effective for other classes and for non-gunslinger snipers as well). This is the most likely solution that I'll pursue, though hardly the most ideal.

[InsufferableSmartypants]

I'm baffled by the sentiment that squadsight is somehow bad or even overpowered. Without an extended range, a sniper serves virtually no purpose. Even with squad sight, snipers are very situational soldiers. Line of sight (correctly) remains to inhibit the sniper's field of fire, and the AI is smart enough that the enemy (with a couple exceptions) always runs for cover.

 

Why is nobody complaining about bullet swarm giving 2 shots per round (or potentially 3 when combined with overwatch and rapid reaction). Yes, heavies are a little less accurate than average but with their rate of fire they're still fantastic. I find snipers to be lacking until they hit colonel. Then they become merely adequate.