Sniper Beta Patch Notes, June 2nd 2019

[MechaMarshmallow]

Having looked at the numbers a little more thoroughly, I think this change would be fine even if the recharge was left untouched at 12s instead of 15s. Right now, even with perma-fast snipe, blasters barely edge out scrappers in single target damage on average. Add to that scrappers benefiting from armour sets and mez protection, and in most fights I suspect scrappers have higher damage uptime than blasters.

 

Blaster secondaries might affect this, but most buffs end up going on melee party members anyway since they tend to be bunched up around enemies, so it probably evens out.

 

The more I think about the numbers, the more I suspect that a longer cooldown isn't necessary even with this change. Blasters were always supposed to be the glass cannon AT, so giving them a little more 'cannon' to make up for how much more durable their scrapper & stalker counterparts are doesn't seem too far-fetched.

[Golden Azrael]

In addition to the 'scale' with leadership tactics idea.

 

What about whenever you use aim/bu/power boost or tactics you can reduce your recharge time.  Using AIM+BU means a quicker, devastating attack.  Using AIM or BU or PBoost will each give a time discount to recharge for snipe.  For each 'slot' of to hit in Tactics it further increases your snipe efficiency to get your shot off quicker.

 

That way, IF you keep leadership you keep the 'old' recharge time of snipe...?  If you want an even faster snipe?  Hit Aim.  or BU.

 

If you want a 'hit like a truck' devastating and even faster truck bosser hurter?  AIM+BU!  And squeezing out even more efficiency if you hit PB as well!  AIM+BU+PB!

 

I've never been part of a coh beta before.  So this is a chance to be creative rather than be negative.

 

Thoughtfully...

 

Azrael.

[Golden Azrael]

Having looked at the numbers a little more thoroughly, I think this change would be fine even if the recharge was left untouched at 12s instead of 15s. Right now, even with perma-fast snipe, blasters barely edge out scrappers in single target damage on average. Add to that scrappers benefiting from armour sets and mez protection, and in most fights I suspect scrappers have higher damage uptime than blasters.

 

Amen to that.

 

Give me:

 

1.  12 sec recharge back.

2.  AIM/BU or PB to trigger combat range.

 

Done.

 

Azrael.

 

PS.  I'm going to bat for Leadership tactics to trim that recharge time further by eg. 0.5 sec' per each SO to hit slot...  (That would mean a recharge time of 3.5 to 4 sec snipe with hasten and leadership tactics on.)

 

See?  No IOs necessary.

[Captain Fabulous]

I rolled up an archery/devices blaster.  I don't have one leveled up on live currently, but I did back in the old days.  Leveled this one up to 25, loaded up with SOs, and hit Talos Island for some street sweeping and a Tip mission.  It felt off not getting the insta-snipe instantly upon clicking Aim, which is what I do on live when I want to snipe, whether from a distance or up close.  Logged out with a feeling of vague discontent.  Which I'm sure is very helpful feedback. 

 

Next, I recreated my highest level live character, a level 32 electric/martial blaster, and tried playing him.  Same deal -- some street sweeping, then a Tip mission.  Totally subjective and unscientific impressions:  Ugh.  This just feels off, somehow.  Feels like Aim is pointless.

 

In one hand, this is easily solvable by making Aim and Build Up trigger the "in combat" flag.

 

On the other, if you use Aim+BU with a slow snipe it really should hit like a truck. While the Aim text says it "slightly" increases damage, it actually increases damage by +62.5%, which is definitely not "slightly".

 

Question is, do you ever use the slow snipe? If not, try the Fast Snipe proc in there and see how that "feels". And remember that Aim is not just ToHit.

 

Personally I think allowing Aim and BU to trigger the in-combat flag is a very bad idea. I'm not against giving snipes some extra utility, but not at the expense of their intended purpose and most common use.

[Golden Azrael]

 

 

What I think I'm asking for.  We've had the chance to test the auto snipe changes with range put back.

 

Can we test the auto snipe changes with the original recharge times?

 

Please? :)

 

Azrael.

[Dan Petro]

This is more of a question than a suggestion, but is there a reason why dominators have a 12 second snipe and blasters have a 15 second?

 

Dominators traditionally have slightly longer recharge in exchange for more base damage on  many of their attacks (from what I had always assumed was a lack of consistent access to +damage powers.) 

 

Power burst being 14 seconds vs. 10.  Blaze being 12 sec vs. 10

 

Though I guess this isn't universally true with BiB having 12 second base recharge on both blasters and doms.

 

Dom snipes at 16-18 seconds seems like they'd still rotate faster(as they are currently) but keep the trend in many (but not all) secondaries going.

 

Other changes look great though, and devices buffs in 2019? What kind of madness is this.  Taser getting energy punch stats? Web grenade being a tier 1 immob with damage like most other sets?  Looks pretty solid. 

 

 

[Golden Azrael]

This is more of a question than a suggestion, but is there a reason why dominators have a 12 second snipe and blasters have a 15 second?

 

Answers on a postcard...

 

Azrael.

[AngriestGhost]

 

Personally I think allowing Aim and BU to trigger the in-combat flag is a very bad idea. I'm not against giving snipes some extra utility, but not at the expense of their intended purpose and most common use.

 

I agree.  I feel a lot of people are looking at this solely from the blaster perspective.  Doms that have snipes don't necessarily have Build Up or Aim.  Psi and Energy Assault don't have any type of Build Up or Aim equivalent.  Addressing the snipe issue needs a solution that is baked into the snipes and not reliant on powers that aren't present across all ATs.

[Auroxis]

The more i try to enjoy the slow snipe the more i notice the issue. The interrupt mechanic is simply not fun to use since you can't use it while moving, and even if you do stop moving you're at the mercy of latency if you activate it too soon.

 

Just have all snipes be insta. Make ToHit add a chance to do the current slow snipe damage, like a crit.

[VirtualViolet]

Okay, you want testing and not gut feelings? Fine. I took the half hour or so to download the beta files, recreate my main blaster (EN/EN), re-choose all my powers and slots, type dozens of commands to get all my enhancements filled out, and finally do some testing.

 

I hate the sniper changes even more than I thought I would.

 

The in-combat "instant" cast isn't instant. Sure, there's no interrupt period, but there's still an activation time of around a second or so. It's not nearly as fluid as live.

 

The recharge time (along with the aforementioned activation time) increase screws up my rotation (Snipe>En Burst>En Bolt>En Blast>sometimes squeeze in another Bolt>Snipe - all within the duration of a single Build Up or Aim).

 

The out-of-combat alpha strike is fine, but it sucks not being able to instant cast. Also, it doesn't seem necessary. Like I said on the previous thread: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

I appreciate everything you guys are doing to get this game back up and running for us again. Bug fixes, texture/model fixes and such are great, but I'm really wary of these attempted "balance" changes. Blasters are one of the most popular ATs for a reason. They're in a really good place as-is. Please don't make drastic mechanical changes like this.

[Prototelis]

I liked the change when I played with it the other day.

 

Anyone complaining about having to change your primary attack chain; Is that.. like really that hard? I found it pretty easy to rotate the quick snipe into my attack chain, and enjoyed having it there.

 

I like that it has pairity to the changes they made to AS.

[TaceusJ]

I haven't personally tried the Beta server yet, but I can say without trying I don't like the sniper change.

 

I thought the i24 changes to Snipes were 100% perfect and needed no changing whatsoever and im not sure why they are being changed, were people really complaining about it?  I don't want constant instant snipe, and I don't want all snipes in a battle to be fast, or all snipes out to be slow.  I was Blaster all 7 years of live, I was thrilled to hear about the sniping changes on i24 and bummed I never got to see them.  Once I did get to test them on HC, I thought "This is perfect, finally how Snipe should be"

 

As a Blaster main, I think this is an awful change to snipes.  I can trust my gut because everything I read about it doesn't line up with what PS wanted to do with it.  You can get enough tohit with an unslotted Targeting Drone, Aim gives it, 3 small yellows give it.  Insta Snipe was already insanely easy to get but required giving a little bit to.  Now it's just a freebie for really no reason at all.

 

Shame I gotta play on the other servers now to get the actual Insta snipe I enjoyed

 

 

[Rahveryn]

I might be wrong, but I think the goal is simple.  Problem.. Blasters are supposed to be the hardest hitting AT in the game baseline.  As evidence, their survivability is crap becuase the expectation is they will likely kill the group before they die.  They however fall behind Strappers/Brutes, who beat them in damage and have solid to amazing survivability.  The devs determined that this is because Blasters lack a 3rd hard hitting ST ranged attack within their rotation.  Fire, Ice, and Beam, break this trend... the reason?  They have 3 ranged ST attacks a Moderate/Fast, a  High/Moderate, and a Superior/Slow (Fire and Beam actually have those and a snipe too).  It is no wonder then why Fire and Beam are kings of the Damage Sets for Blasters.  However, they could not shoehorn in another attack onto those sets that lacked that 3rd heavy attack, so I think they decided to add a feature that would convert that Snipe into that attack.  Then they did not finish the job and the game shut down before it left Beta.  So now our Hard Working friends are taking up that mantle for them (thank you very much).

 

I have to disagree with Azrael though, I am all in on that Aim+BU > Snipe attack, and if doing that puts you in combat and you lose the damage bonus for the "slow" attack, it loses it's "soul".

 

Instant Snipe in combat would fix those blasters that lack a 3rd ST ranged attack (which is most).  It's just a matter of tweeking it so that it keeps it's original flavor.  Maybe tie it to Defiance (if defiance is buffing it is instant)? 

 

For what it is worth, I like the animation timing of the 1.33 cast time.  Maybe allowing Blasters to take Fire's Blazing Bolt animation as an alternative in power customization might be a better fix for that complaint.

 

I never really understood why there are two traits that do the same thing.  Why is there ACC and a To Hit?  Two separate traits that buff the formula that determines whether your attack lands? Why?  Just combine them, and allow +ACC enhancements to enhance powers like Tactics and Aim.  It seems clunky.

[TaceusJ]

I might be wrong, but I think the goal is simple.  Problem.. Blasters are supposed to be the hardest hitting AT in the game baseline.  As evidence, their survivability is crap becuase the expectation is they will likely kill the group before they die.  They however fall behind Strappers/Brutes, who beat them in damage and have solid to amazing survivability.  The devs determined that this is because Blasters lack a 3rd hard hitting ST ranged attack within their rotation.  Fire, Ice, and Beam, break this trend... the reason?  They have 3 ranged ST attacks a Moderate/Fast, a  High/Moderate, and a Superior/Slow (Fire and Beam actually have those and a snipe too).  It is no wonder then why Fire and Beam are kings of the Damage Sets for Blasters.  However, they could not shoehorn in another attack onto those sets that lacked that 3rd heavy attack, so I think they decided to add a feature that would convert that Snipe into that attack.  Then they did not finish the job and the game shut down before it left Beta.  So now our Hard Working friends are taking up that mantle for them (thank you very much).

 

I have to disagree with Azrael though, I am all in on that Aim+BU > Snipe attack, and if doing that puts you in combat and you lose the damage bonus for the "slow" attack, it loses it's "soul".

 

Instant Snipe in combat would fix those blasters that lack a 3rd ST ranged attack (which is most).  It's just a matter of tweeking it so that it keeps it's original flavor.  Maybe tie it to Defiance (if defiance is buffing it is instant)? 

 

For what it is worth, I like the animation timing of the 1.33 cast time.  Maybe allowing Blasters to take Fire's Blazing Bolt animation as an alternative in power customization might be a better fix for that complaint.

 

I never really understood why there are two traits that do the same thing.  Why is there ACC and a To Hit?  Two separate traits that buff the formula that determines whether your attack lands? Why?  Just combine them, and allow +ACC enhancements to enhance powers like Tactics and Aim.  It seems clunky.

 

I agree on thats why the PS devs change it, I think that is pretty spot on actually.  A way to add a powerful superior hit into the rotation.  In fact, thats why I love the current instant snipe, I can choose when I want to add another power into the rotation.  But Insta snipe is already a thing.  Most Blasters get Build up and Aim, both of which give Insta Snipe.  Tactics will give it a I think a few slots, and targeting drone gave it unslotted.  This proposed change on the Beta I don't think actually helps Blasters, I think it is taking away the ability to choose how you want your snipes to be.

[Captain Fabulous]

I never really understood why there are two traits that do the same thing.  Why is there ACC and a To Hit?  Two separate traits that buff the formula that determines whether your attack lands? Why?  Just combine them, and allow +ACC enhancements to enhance powers like Tactics and Aim.  It seems clunky.

 

To hit and ACC are calculated very differently. To hit buffs directly add to your base to-hit %, where ACC is a multiplicative modifier. Removing one or the other would create a fair amount of chaos in the game, making some foes absolutely impossible to hit and others ridiculously easy. It would also play havoc with the way defense works. The entire game would need to be rebalanced.

[Tater Todd]

For the people who want to keep Snipes as is even for Dominators do you think that's fair?  Or should they just replace the Dominator Snipes with the Altered/Former Snipes the Sentinels have?

[Blaze]

I wanted to test the snipe changes in a way that I wouldn't have any preconceived notions of, so I rolled up my Rad/Rad Defender that I'm currently playing on Live.  This character is only level 13, and I have never used Proton Volley with any instasnipe mechanics, so I felt I could get a better impression of what it was like to play with a snipe as it would be on a new character.  I leveled the Defender to 17 and slotted it with reasonable slotting for the level (prestige enhancements from the P2W vendor and level 20 DOs).  I did a very basic test with a +0/x0 x/ bosses police radio defeat boss mission.

 

In the end, I'm very excited for the snipe changes on this character.  The snipe was immediately useful to my Defender and the extra strength of the attack will greatly assist the long haul to Cosmic Burst as a Defender (which I always wish came earlier than 28).  Radiation Blast really lacks in single target abilities early and having the snipe useful long before I could afford the power tax makes me all the more excited to get it.  Defenders don't have much damage in general, so every little bit helps if you want to solo.  The slow snipe portion was useful too for taking out (or at least severely damaging) an even level minion prior to debuffs being toggled.  I'm sure it's just a display difference, but I wasn't expecting to get the snipe bonus show on each of the 3 hits  The only downside was that I couldn't get a slow snipe after laying down debuffs because I would have then been in-combat stance.

[Vanden]

For the people who want to keep Snipes as is even for Dominators do you think that's fair?  Or should they just replace the Dominator Snipes with the Altered/Former Snipes the Sentinels have?

Dominators having Snipes never made sense to me. The only use it seemed like they had was that trick to fill up the Domination bar immediately.

[TaceusJ]

For the people who want to keep Snipes as is even for Dominators do you think that's fair?  Or should they just replace the Dominator Snipes with the Altered/Former Snipes the Sentinels have?

 

I think if they want to change Dominators snipe to even out that is okay I guess, but at the same time, Dominators have control sets.  Brutes don't have the auto taunting that tanks do because they have rage and play differently.  Dominators have control powers and domination, an insta snipe on top of that just because Blasters have it doesn't seem like balance necessary.

 

I would say this is actually a nerf to blasters, now that Defenders and Dominators can instant snipe as efficiently as a Blaster can.  It was meant to be a Blaster buff when they added it to I24.

 

The same question should go both ways, should Blasters get Domination on their Immobs and holds?

[Jaguaratron]

Ran some testing, seems pretty solid, Im sure there are some things I havent considered but I think its worth trying out to see what/if repercussions are on the live environment

[Novacat]

A lot of the loudest complaints yesterday came from accounts that didn't log in to Justin at all; gut feelings are nowhere near as valuable as playtesting fedback.

Not really surprised.

1) Some things you can tell right away from the patch notes - playing/testing them just lets you refine the bad feeling into better words is all. This was the case for the range change - I thought "oh shit" but it took a minute of trying it to see "oh, this is counter-intuitive".

2) Some folks will complain about anything that might improve an AT they don't play just like all the scrappers saying "learn 2 play" back in the old Blaster forums.

Old version, five-slotted: 47.7% accuracy, 116.6% damage, 47.7% endredux, 25.6% range and 42.4% recharge.

New version, five-slotted: 47.7% accuracy, 92.8% damage, 42.4% endredux, 12.8% range, 66.3% recharge and 51% interrupt time.

The Fast Snipe enhancement now has a Range component; this means that if you six-slot the set, the 51% interrupt time becomes meaningless, but the Range is boosted to 25.6%.

To me this seems alright: You can either slot it 2-5 pieces like a normal snipe set, or give up on the interrupt, slot in fast snipe and probably just 2pc this one with 3-4pc of another set. It'll take testing numberwise later (too bad it ain't on pines) to figure out what one wants to do with it but I find most of my planned builds have multiple broken sets all over the damn place anyways.

All snipes, regardless speed, will again have maximum range. This means 150ft feet for most snipes, 175ft for Psionic snipes.

The "engaged" flag that drives fast snipe now requires 10 seconds without attacking or being attacked, down from 15 seconds.

First part good. Second part we'll have to see after work - maybe the range being good again will make up for it kinda like having to wait for it, shinobi style? 15s without range was definitely getting frustrating at around the 5s mark the first time around so will check after work.

 

Devices changes seem good overall but one thing I would note: The lack of Build-Up is actually a lot worse due to the IO and Incarnate system than it was back in the day of single-origins. Reason is, it's damn near impossible in endgame not to have a TON of +accuracy everywhere on all of our attacks. The damage buff becomes the real treat there. Maybe the recharge part'll make up for that however.

[vynestra]

A lot of the loudest complaints yesterday came from accounts that didn't log in to Justin at all; gut feelings are nowhere near as valuable as playtesting feedback.

 

 

Are you reducing people's criticisms to "gut feelings" just because they didn't play on the beta branch? Don't you find that a bit ridiculous?

 

1. You don't need to play on the beta branch to know that ToHit (namely from tactics) is going back to being a useless endgame stat.

 

2. You don't need to play on the beta branch to know that people will have to re-work their builds and that new builds (on sets with snipe) will not work for other servers anymore.

 

Didn't most people used to run tactics for chance for BU anyway before the i24 snipe changes?

 

[Tachstar]

I rolled up an archery/devices blaster.  I don't have one leveled up on live currently, but I did back in the old days.  Leveled this one up to 25, loaded up with SOs, and hit Talos Island for some street sweeping and a Tip mission.  It felt off not getting the insta-snipe instantly upon clicking Aim, which is what I do on live when I want to snipe, whether from a distance or up close.  Logged out with a feeling of vague discontent.  Which I'm sure is very helpful feedback. 

 

Next, I recreated my highest level live character, a level 32 electric/martial blaster, and tried playing him.  Same deal -- some street sweeping, then a Tip mission.  Totally subjective and unscientific impressions:  Ugh.  This just feels off, somehow.  Feels like Aim is pointless.

 

In one hand, this is easily solvable by making Aim and Build Up trigger the "in combat" flag.

 

On the other, if you use Aim+BU with a slow snipe it really should hit like a truck. While the Aim text says it "slightly" increases damage, it actually increases damage by +62.5%, which is definitely not "slightly".

 

Question is, do you ever use the slow snipe? If not, try the Fast Snipe proc in there and see how that "feels". And remember that Aim is not just ToHit.

 

Okay, did some more testing, jumping back and forth between beta and live with my lvl 32 electric/martial blaster.  Compare and contrast.  He has a few partial IO sets on live, but just SOs on beta.

 

I mostly solo with him.  Here's how I typically run him.  If there's a single bad guy, I'll pop any reds I have, hit Aim, and snipe him.  If there's a couple of bad guys, say, guarding a prisoner, I'll usually snipe one, then blast the other one or move into melee range, often with Voltaic Sentinel assisting. 

 

If there's a group, I'll hit Aim, then port into their midst with Burst of Speed, followed by Dragon's Tail, Spring Attack if it's up, then Ball Lightning, and if necessary, Short Circuit.  If somebody survives all that, I might hit him with an insta-snipe if it's available, or hit him with Storm Kick and Ki Push -- and if he survives that, while he's drifting gracefully away, I've got plenty of time for a non-instant snipe.  I've got a pretty good rhythm going with that, provided I don't miss-click something.  Burst of Speed seems a little finicky at times.

 

On live, I played a defeat all vs Freakshow -- smooth sailing.  In one room with a lot of guys wandering around, I used snipe (with Aim and without) several times, and if the target didn't die, following up with Lightning Bolt would do the trick.  Most of the rest of the time it was the combo platter described above.

 

On beta, I played a rescue mission vs Crey.  I tried to play just as I would on live, but something felt off.  Seemed like the insta-snipe was often there when I didn't need it, but if I used it, it wouldn't be there when I did need it.  A few times I found myself ready to use it, like when a target was drifting away after a Ki Push, but had to wait for it.  I think I'd adjust eventually if I played it like this for a while, but again it seems perfectly fine to me on live just as it is right now.  This is from a blaster point of view, of course.  I've got a fire/martial dom in the low 20s, but no snipe there, so I don't know what issues dominators may be having with it.

 

D'oh! -- I forgot to try that Fast Snipe IO.

[Tater Todd]

For the people who want to keep Snipes as is even for Dominators do you think that's fair?  Or should they just replace the Dominator Snipes with the Altered/Former Snipes the Sentinels have?

Dominators having Snipes never made sense to me. The only use it seemed like they had was that trick to fill up the Domination bar immediately.

 

That's why I assumed too but it's just down right clunky on a Dominator.  Sometimes I feel like a Dominator is a mix of Controller and Brute and the last thing we need is a Snipe to slow us down.  Granted you can work the current snipes in your rotation but the original snipe was a mess.  I also think they added Snipes on Doms b/c they hit hard and make up for their Primary focus being control.  Sadly, snipes don't work well with a fast place play style especially if you don't always have Aim or Build Up to give you an Insta Snipe.

 

For the people who want to keep Snipes as is even for Dominators do you think that's fair?  Or should they just replace the Dominator Snipes with the Altered/Former Snipes the Sentinels have?

 

I think if they want to change Dominators snipe to even out that is okay I guess, but at the same time, Dominators have control sets.  Brutes don't have the auto taunting that tanks do because they have rage and play differently.  Dominators have control powers and domination, an insta snipe on top of that just because Blasters have it doesn't seem like balance necessary.

 

I would say this is actually a nerf to blasters, now that Defenders and Dominators can instant snipe as efficiently as a Blaster can.  It was meant to be a Blaster buff when they added it to I24.

 

The same question should go both ways, should Blasters get Domination on their Immobs and holds?

 

Dominators often didn't use their Snipe pre To-Hit change and really not that much afterwards either.  With a Dom in many ways you had to sacrifice control or damage in order to make your

Snipe useful. 

 

Blast and Assault sets weren't balanced around insta-snipe, they were balanced around the original way Snipes worked.  I think it would be strange to fix a dated power for only 1 Archetype but leave it be for the rest across the board.  Snipes still hit far harder on a Blaster.  Blasters have a higher damage scale, Defiance and have access to two Aim like powers which makes their version of Snipe far more potent than the Corr, Defender, Dominator, Scrapper and Stalker version of Snipe.  For the sake efficiency the other versions of Snipe should be also made useful or at least turned into the Sentinel Blast versions Snipes.

 

I'm not calling for the other ATs to get a buff but I just want to let others keep in mind that Snipe is not a uniquely Blaster power and one needs to think of how the changes will affect all ATs that can use the power.  Dominators being able to have a useful Blast power isn't the same as having the Defiance Blaster inherent power.  I'm just asking for All Archetype Empathy 'tis all.

[AngriestGhost]

For the people who want to keep Snipes as is even for Dominators do you think that's fair?  Or should they just replace the Dominator Snipes with the Altered/Former Snipes the Sentinels have?

 

I don't think snipes have ever worked out well in general.  People skipped them very often across all ATs and that's why the devs had the original insta-snipe in the works.  Had testing went any further, I'm sure some would have raised the issue with how they work on Doms.  The to hit threshold is simply nowhere near as accessible as it is for other ATs.  You either take Tactics + Link Minds + Kismet (the only option for Fire/Psi Assault), work with Power Boost + Tactics + Kismet (Energy/Dark Assault), or you get to use it once or twice right after you pop domination.  The only assault sets with an intuitive way to hit that 22% are Radiation and Electric assault.  Corruptors, Defenders, and Blasters can all access them with one power pick that is well slotted and Kismet.

 

I think if they want to change Dominators snipe to even out that is okay I guess, but at the same time, Dominators have control sets.  Brutes don't have the auto taunting that tanks do because they have rage and play differently.  Dominators have control powers and domination, an insta snipe on top of that just because Blasters have it doesn't seem like balance necessary.

 

I would say this is actually a nerf to blasters, now that Defenders and Dominators can instant snipe as efficiently as a Blaster can.  It was meant to be a Blaster buff when they added it to I24.

 

The same question should go both ways, should Blasters get Domination on their Immobs and holds?

It's not a matter of giving Doms something just because other ATs have it.  Doms are meant to be control/damage dealers and they lag behind in that second role due to their generally poor AoE damage.  Giving them more options for a single target attack chain won't fix that problem, but the added efficiency will help to offset it.

 

Didn't most people used to run tactics for chance for BU anyway before the i24 snipe changes?

 

I mostly used it in Aim so that it acted like a secondary BU.  Putting it in Tactics meant it could fire off at times when you didn't really need it.