Sniping for those who hate scopes, part two!

Since my last article, I still haven’t recovered from Vlepsophobia, the fear of scopes. It’s just so dark and scary, like a tunnel of light when someone dies! It’s horrible! Thankfully, the nice people behind all our weapons made loads of alternatives to these scopes, one of which allows you to remain as a Sniper. But silly me, I forgot a couple of weapons…

So yes, there are more weapons that reward you for good aim! Really, I should have called this “Weapons that reward you for being good at shooting moving targets but don’t force you to play Sniper!” but that’s a stupidly long name for an article and I’m better than that. Plus, the current title is fine. Don’t fix what ain’t broke and all that.

Wait, where was I? Oh yes. Discussing weapons. As always, there’s some answers here. Two of these answers are great answers, the other is a stupid answer. What’s an article without a bit of stupidity?

The Obvious Answer: The Loch-n-Load.
Bad punny name aside, the Loch-n-Load is perfect for the Demoman who hates rollers and just wants to show off his skill by one-shotting Scouts of out the air, while taking advantage of the faster firing speed and not minding the clip of two because this damn weapon is so powerful… Phew, that was a long sentence. It does sum up the Loch-n-Load though. The main gimmick of this weapon is that each grenade is more powerful and has a slightly larger explosive radius, but if you fail to hit anyone, the grenades just shatter harmlessly on the floor. Or the wall. Or that inconveniently placed rail. Or basically anything that isn’t a player or one of Engineer’s buildings.

Problem is, these grenades, if you do hit something, are so powerful that, if you manage to hit a crowd of people, they’ll all blow up. It’s particularly problematic for Scouts, who can be killed with one hit thanks to damage spread. Then again, so can Spies, Engineers and Snipers. But as a Demoman’s main enemy is the Scout, that’s more of an issue.

There’s no fancy variant for the Loch-n-Load, but it’s available in strange.

The Obvious Answer I Should Have Included In The Last Article: The Direct Hit.
I really should have included this in last time. The Direct Hit is the perfect example of rewarding god-like Sniper aim to those who play other classes, especially those who play Soldier. It’s a rocket launcher. But it has TINY splash damage. When I say tiny, I mean tiny. Really tiny. But what can you expect from a rocket launcher that wants to be a sniper rifle? Look at it, it even has a damned scope on it! Thank heavens I don’t need to look down it…

But yes, the beauty of the Direct Hit is that it guarantees mini-crits to anyone who’s in knocked up into the air. Kinda like the Reserve Shooter, but for people with real skill. Any Pyro can airblast someone into the air and shoot them with a Hitscan weapon. It takes pure American skill to shoot someone’s feet, knock them into the air and finish them off with another perfectly timed rocket. It’s so good, it’s barely used in competitive play.

And there’s only a Strange version of it too. No Golden Direct Hits for you.

The Stupid Answer: The SMG
“Medic, you idiot, that’s an automatic weapon! That’s like suggesting that mini-sentries need aim!”

Well, if you give me a minute to explain, I will! You see, the SMG, like some other weapons that I’m not sure about (I think it’s just the Cleaner’s Carbine, the pistols and the revolver weapons) can have absolutely perfect aim. The very first bullet you fire will go EXACTLY where your crosshair is. Exactly. But after that first shot, each bullet is less and less accurate. Hence why this is the stupid answer. So, if you’re willing to wait (it’s about 1.5 seconds for the SMG), you can fire a perfectly aimed, low damage shot every few moments. Of course, doing this makes you perfectly useless, but oh well, it’s a bit of fun.

The Answer That Isn’t An Answer At All: The Sydney Sleeper
“Medic, you’re just being stupid now!”

I know, I know, but let’s face it, the Sydney Sleeper is just a glorified revolver if you don’t scope in. All Sniper Rifles are. Rifles all do about 50 damage when not scoped in. All the time. Consistently. For ever and ever, also forever. That’s a definite amount of damage every time you pull the trigger, assuming you’re aiming at an enemy and not a wall or a friend or something. It takes three shots to finish off any 125 class, four shots to finish off 8/9 classes. That’s not something to sniff at.

Of course, that’s a stupid suggestion, as you can do 90 damage with a flare, up to 75 with a crossbow, 102 damage with the Ambassador or plain old normal awesome wall-pinning headshots with the Huntsman. Or you can be awesome and just blow them up.

Or you could just not be Sniper. Not everyone has to be Sniper, you know!