My Proposed Sniper Rebalances

Well, since Valve is talking about rebalances, I’m going to make a list of Sniper changes that I have in mind. By that, I mean a series of Sniper nerfs that’ll make the game better, mostly for me. So yes, if you’re expecting some nice, thought-out balance changes for the Sniper, get out. Why would you expect a guy that mainly talk about cosmetics to know anything about game balance anyway.

1. Inverse damage falloff for Sniper Rifles

For ranges that are shorter than half the length of the 2Fort bridge, the Sniper Rifle will have inverse damage falloff. At point-blank range, a scoped-in Sniper Rifle will have only 60 damage on headshot without charging, increasing to 120 damage on full charge, and 20 damage when unscoped.

A Sniper is meant to be a long-range pick class, no? Being weak close up is a Sniper’s main weakness, so why not just build that into his primary weapons? The Huntsman was built to be a close-range Sniper primary, so I won’t touch that (the hitboxes though, seriously…), but I have no qualms about nerfing the Sniper Rifles’ performance at close range.

2. Lower base headshot damage

Instead of a base headshot damage of 150, lower it to 120.

I’ll be honest, I really don’t like having instakill shots from half a map away, and I hate it even more when a Sniper can have almost instant access to it by left-clicking. So yes, make it so that the base headshot damage can’t one-shot anyone that has full health.

3. Slower reload

While we’re at it, the Sniper probably should have some reload time penalty. If he misses a shot, a casing will be jammed in the ejector and Sniper will need to spend 30 seconds getting it out. And if he gets a headshot, Sniper will do a fist pump before reloading, adding five seconds to his reload time.

4. Remove the Jarate + Bushwacka combo

Yes, because letting Sniper have a melee crit combo that’s actually usable makes so much more sense than giving Pyro one. What happened to the Axtinguisher?! OI VALVE, ROLL BACK THE AXTINGUISHER CHANGES!

All right, real talk here.

As the only dedicated long-range class in TF2, Sniper always have a distinct advantage over the other classes in combat since he can hit others while no one can reach him. However, in a sense, he is still necessary to the game by giving a team options to reliably remove a dangerous threat from a relatively safe position. His main weakness is that he as a class can’t actually advance the team’s progress in the match. He can only create openings and some breathing space for his team, and the bulk of his team still has to push through it to make progress. That is why having a team of Snipers normally never get you anywhere. Sniper’s design, on paper, is solid, and necessary for the game.

However, the issue with Sniper is that he is essentially removed from the fight while still being able to have a very real impact on it. That is why in high level gameplay, the Sniper’s only true counter is another Sniper, since only he can actually take out his counterpart with the most reliability. However, some classes have options to avoid the Sniper. A Spy can sneak in front of him with invisibility and disguises to get that key pick right under his nose. A Pyro can harass him with flares. That is the key reason why I am extremely angry with the proposed new stats for the Darwin’s Danger Shield.

This gives Sniper an advantage over Pyro even in close range, which is where Pyro is supposed to have the upper hand. Aside from that, if a Pyro manages to sneak through the Sniper’s sight and enemy gunfire to reach the Sniper, he should not be punished by facing a dedicated long-range class that somehow has a weapon built to counter him. Aside from that, this will remove the only option Pyro has against Sniper at long ranges.

A Sniper’s effectiveness should be at range, and no class should be punished in any way for being able to get close enough to him to take him out, since the Sniper failed to use his advantage of range to protect himself. So yes, the proposed DDS rework is irredeemably bad and should be scrapped. Especially since this is likely to arrive in the new Pyro update, where the rather underpowered Pyro is suppose to get reworked and buffed so that he can be more viable in high-level games.

Sniper should have his effectiveness confined to long ranges, and any sort of mid range effectiveness should have a severe trade off to his long range effectiveness. That is why the Huntsman can never pack the same amount of lethality as the Sniper Rifles, being rather bad at long range and only having its maximum damage at 360 instead of 450. Although I’m pretty sure that is still cold comfort to any Scout that died to a close range arrow when the Sniper isn’t even aiming anywhere near his head.

In summary, make sure Sniper is only effective at long range, have some severe trade offs to his long range capabilities if he’s getting something to aid him in mid range combat, do not give him any close range viability, and for the love of all that is holy, scrap that stupid DDS rework suggestion and leave Pyro alone.

Although I really have no problem with Sniper being removed from the game. Spy picks are more impressive and exciting than Sniper picks anyway.