I really don't like the sniper changes.

[Myrmidon]

On one hand, I can agree with wanting it to feel special. On the other hand, I like the mass amount of windows this opens up in old builds I have that were factoring for perma snipe. Maybe kismet won't feel like such a necessity IO anymore.

 

This right here.

 

Also, not everyone plays IO’d to the gills, so this gives everyone more options across the board. Send this thing live the moment any bugs are cleared.

[subbacultchas]

It strikes me as a change that really didn't need to be made, and I think it takes the reward out of building your character properly.

 

Not really. Any character I consider built properly usually doesn't include snipe. This change allows me to actually work it into builds.

This is me as well. I can't remember the last time I did include a snipe, because I don't really use them. Now though? My /MA dom is very very happy with this change.

 

Not sure how you like to build your doms but for PvE mine always go leadership pool for the easy LoTG mules in manuevers and vengeance and take tactics for the to-hit.  If you had taken your snipe and I do believe /MA gets a +tohit buff in envenom blades then you can toggle up two nasty strong insta-snipes usually by the time that buff wears off.  With tactics and the kismet +6% to-hit any very small addition to to-hit would get you to the insta-snipe, meaning whenever you popped your domination, envenom blades or even vengeance for a longer buff. 

 

I suggest you don't play it on live quite yet because if the proposed changes go through it's quite a loss on that QoL buff doms got.  Or please do play it on live as it currently is and realize it's damage is proposed to be cut by 1/3 so we can add your voice to the small amount of us dominators asking for a compromise.

Rarely do I take leadership toggles as a dom personally, I usually find enough spacing in epic shield power, weave, cj, and stealth or maneuvers (usually stealth). Just preference, nothing actually wrong with leadership at all, I just don't use it on a dominator usually. So for me, this change is a much bigger thing than I suppose it is for you, or at least a much more likable one.

 

But beyond that, I don't want *two* strong insta-snipes, I would prefer them to all be insta-snipes.  As you say, I could plan for that using leadership and +to-hit from kismet, but I don't build in that manner and don't want to be pigeonholed into it. I build usually for perma-dom and closer to soft-cap defenses, and I don't have the fluidity needed to do it the way you've suggested. So I believe the changes actually offer more choices and viability in the long run.

 

Thanks for the suggestion though, it may be that I try your route with a future build!

[Mezmera]

It strikes me as a change that really didn't need to be made, and I think it takes the reward out of building your character properly.

 

Not really. Any character I consider built properly usually doesn't include snipe. This change allows me to actually work it into builds.

This is me as well. I can't remember the last time I did include a snipe, because I don't really use them. Now though? My /MA dom is very very happy with this change.

 

Not sure how you like to build your doms but for PvE mine always go leadership pool for the easy LoTG mules in manuevers and vengeance and take tactics for the to-hit.  If you had taken your snipe and I do believe /MA gets a +tohit buff in envenom blades then you can toggle up two nasty strong insta-snipes usually by the time that buff wears off.  With tactics and the kismet +6% to-hit any very small addition to to-hit would get you to the insta-snipe, meaning whenever you popped your domination, envenom blades or even vengeance for a longer buff. 

 

I suggest you don't play it on live quite yet because if the proposed changes go through it's quite a loss on that QoL buff doms got.  Or please do play it on live as it currently is and realize it's damage is proposed to be cut by 1/3 so we can add your voice to the small amount of us dominators asking for a compromise.

Rarely do I take leadership toggles as a dom personally, I usually find enough spacing in epic shield power, weave, cj, and stealth or maneuvers (usually stealth). Just preference, nothing actually wrong with leadership at all, I just don't use it on a dominator usually. So for me, this change is a much bigger thing than I suppose it is for you, or at least a much more likable one.

 

But beyond that, I don't want *two* strong insta-snipes, I would prefer them to all be insta-snipes.  As you say, I could plan for that using leadership and +to-hit from kismet, but I don't build in that manner and don't want to be pigeonholed into it. I build usually for perma-dom and closer to soft-cap defenses, and I don't have the fluidity needed to do it the way you've suggested. So I believe the changes actually offer more choices and viability in the long run.

 

Thanks for the suggestion though, it may be that I try your route with a future build!

 

Never said I wasn't for dumbing down an easy to attain mechanic for more people to enjoy.  A few weeks into recreating my dom I didn't have snipe either.  But I realized how easy I could get insta-snipe and just how good snipe currently is for a dominator with the high damage scale to make up for lack of damage in all their other powers. 

 

Look at all of the QoL changes that have been implemented for blasters and the like.  I presume that dominators didn't really get much of an overhaul thanfully is because there must have been some agreement that their new uber insta-snipe made up for a lot of things other ATs were getting. 

 

My assertion to go leadership pool was to show just how easy it is to have an insta-snipe without limiting your choices.  I have presence pool in my build for gods sake.  Sure if you'll never ever team with anyone sure queing up two uber snipes may seem a mundane albeit easy to do task, but if you do team with at least one other person and they have tactics as well, or happen to die, now you have a great snipe at very little cost to your build. 

 

If you don't have snipe currently on your dominator and won't give it a shot with how it is currently why even speak on it?  It's damage scale being reduced so severely in relation to what it currently is in comparison to all other ATs snipes changes without performance enhancements to most dom secondaries coming first is what I have issue with.  Not that it's free to use for all.

 

P.S. Also note you'll still want to build up that to-hit anyways to get the full use out of maximizing the damage, meaning leadership, or you're back to "two strong snipes" and a bunch of meh snipes. 

[Super Homer]

What I remember is the only reason doms got fast snipe capability at all is because they decided this was a redefinition if what a snipe was.

 

They also told people that they would not give dominators any easy way to achieve perma fast snipe precisely because the snipes were adjusted long ago to be different, with the intention that the slow (and only) form would end up having non-shitty DPA (something that convinced no one to use them still.) So they tossed doms a bone to be able to use fast snipe only just after domination was activated.

 

Btw, dom snipes were not always that strong, they became that strong after the revamp that removed the damage buff from domination.

 

[Mezmera]

What I remember is the only reason doms got fast snipe capability at all is because they decided this was a redefinition if what a snipe was.

 

They also told people that they would not give dominators any easy way to achieve perma fast snipe precisely because the snipes were adjusted long ago to be different, with the intention that the slow (and only) form would end up having non-shitty DPA (something that convinced no one to use them still.) So they tossed doms a bone to be able to use fast snipe only just after domination was activated.

 

Btw, dom snipes were not always that strong, they became that strong after the revamp that removed the damage buff from domination.

 

Sounds like you are in the know from the secret servers.  What this comes off as is a very democratic approach to see that everyone got a piece of the QoL improvement pie.  To me it sounds like a bunch of thought was put into it over the 5 years and a reasonable compromise was made so that everyone was happy.  Maybe that's just me. 

 

So we're going backwards?  Cool.

[Super Homer]

I'm talking about i24 beta. I dont think score touched dominators much, if at all, other than delivering Radiation and Savage Assault.

[subbacultchas]

It strikes me as a change that really didn't need to be made, and I think it takes the reward out of building your character properly.

 

Not really. Any character I consider built properly usually doesn't include snipe. This change allows me to actually work it into builds.

This is me as well. I can't remember the last time I did include a snipe, because I don't really use them. Now though? My /MA dom is very very happy with this change.

 

Not sure how you like to build your doms but for PvE mine always go leadership pool for the easy LoTG mules in manuevers and vengeance and take tactics for the to-hit.  If you had taken your snipe and I do believe /MA gets a +tohit buff in envenom blades then you can toggle up two nasty strong insta-snipes usually by the time that buff wears off.  With tactics and the kismet +6% to-hit any very small addition to to-hit would get you to the insta-snipe, meaning whenever you popped your domination, envenom blades or even vengeance for a longer buff. 

 

I suggest you don't play it on live quite yet because if the proposed changes go through it's quite a loss on that QoL buff doms got.  Or please do play it on live as it currently is and realize it's damage is proposed to be cut by 1/3 so we can add your voice to the small amount of us dominators asking for a compromise.

Rarely do I take leadership toggles as a dom personally, I usually find enough spacing in epic shield power, weave, cj, and stealth or maneuvers (usually stealth). Just preference, nothing actually wrong with leadership at all, I just don't use it on a dominator usually. So for me, this change is a much bigger thing than I suppose it is for you, or at least a much more likable one.

 

But beyond that, I don't want *two* strong insta-snipes, I would prefer them to all be insta-snipes.  As you say, I could plan for that using leadership and +to-hit from kismet, but I don't build in that manner and don't want to be pigeonholed into it. I build usually for perma-dom and closer to soft-cap defenses, and I don't have the fluidity needed to do it the way you've suggested. So I believe the changes actually offer more choices and viability in the long run.

 

Thanks for the suggestion though, it may be that I try your route with a future build!

 

Never said I wasn't for dumbing down an easy to attain mechanic for more people to enjoy.  A few weeks into recreating my dom I didn't have snipe either.  But I realized how easy I could get insta-snipe and just how good snipe currently is for a dominator with the high damage scale to make up for lack of damage in all their other powers. 

 

Look at all of the QoL changes that have been implemented for blasters and the like.  I presume that dominators didn't really get much of an overhaul thanfully is because there must have been some agreement that their new uber insta-snipe made up for a lot of things other ATs were getting. 

 

My assertion to go leadership pool was to show just how easy it is to have an insta-snipe without limiting your choices.  I have presence pool in my build for gods sake.  Sure if you'll never ever team with anyone sure queing up two uber snipes may seem a mundane albeit easy to do task, but if you do team with at least one other person and they have tactics as well, or happen to die, now you have a great snipe at very little cost to your build. 

 

If you don't have snipe currently on your dominator and won't give it a shot with how it is currently why even speak on it?  It's damage scale being reduced so severely in relation to what it currently is in comparison to all other ATs snipes changes without performance enhancements to most dom secondaries coming first is what I have issue with.  Not that it's free to use for all.

 

P.S. Also note you'll still want to build up that to-hit anyways to get the full use out of maximizing the damage, meaning leadership, or you're back to "two strong snipes" and a bunch of meh snipes.

I think you're under several mistaken impressions here. But that's okay, because I can address those pretty easily. And I'm going to try, and probably fail, to be a fair bit less antagonistic than I've found this reply to be.

 

Taking the leadership pool  in order to get two strong insta-snipe does, by definition, limit power pool choices. It requires you to miss something else on a very tight build (at least for my dom) in order to get said toggles. So it's not an answer that exists without baggage, I don't know why you would think otherwise here. Again I am not dissing the choice, it's a valid one, but it is not for me and it should not be a suggestion for people to short-change their build because you don't like the new sniper changes. I understand the lacklustre damage of insta-snipes now compared to previously, but it's not something that bothers me overmuch. I still like the change.

 

Why the assumption that I neither have it in my build currently (I do) or that I haven't tested the changes (I have)? I didn't imply either one of those. Regardless, if I had neither it would not invalidate my opinion on the whether the changes are good enough. It might abstract them a level from being personal experience with the powers, but it wouldn't make them worthless. I've tried the changes, and I currently have been running with the snipe since the beta, and tested out the both version of the snipe a pretty good amount. I'd appreciate you taking the time to ask in the future, rather than summoning baseless opinions from the aether.

 

I don't build for to-hit very much, and it's not really a totally necessary component even with the changes to snipes.  Why would it be? It's your preference, not a codified requisite. Regardless of our disagreement on this, I think we can talk about this minus some pretension and snark in the future.

 

 

[eldriyth]

I don't like the proposed sniper changes. They range from too good to clunky.

 

After some testing, these are my thoughts on them, they're kind of raw, and I might edit the wording later.

 

Most sniper-archetypes could already get snipe as an instant-cast in bursts, such as when popping build up, aim, domination or simply by being in a team with +tohit buffs. Of course, you could build to have it up all the time, too. Now, everyone can do it all the time, and it's less impactful overall as a result.

 

The "Out of combat/in combat" dynamic is nonsensical. You'll maybe land one of the 'slow snipes' maybe once-a-mission. If nothing else is to change, this bit needs to go and the ability just needs to do X amount of damage. The whole point was that a character with good aim could fire instantly without taking a few seconds to aim.

 

It strikes me as a change that really didn't need to be made, and I think it takes the reward out of building your character properly.

 

Furthermore, non-sniping powersets will fall further behind, which, while I'm sure that can be addressed later, is an immediate issue that comes to mind when massive "everyone gets instant snipe" change is made.

 

 

ZOMGZ a blaster can hit 1 NPC really hard! Let's not complain about the next door brute killing +4/8 content like it's a joke. (should know I do this myself lol) I think the changes are fine. Blasters and pretty much every other AT need love.

[Mezmera]

It strikes me as a change that really didn't need to be made, and I think it takes the reward out of building your character properly.

 

Not really. Any character I consider built properly usually doesn't include snipe. This change allows me to actually work it into builds.

This is me as well. I can't remember the last time I did include a snipe, because I don't really use them. Now though? My /MA dom is very very happy with this change.

 

I think you're under several mistaken impressions here. But that's okay, because I can address those pretty easily. And I'm going to try, and probably fail, to be a fair bit less antagonistic than I've found this reply to be.

 

Taking the leadership pool  in order to get two strong insta-snipe does, by definition, limit power pool choices. It requires you to miss something else on a very tight build (at least for my dom) in order to get said toggles. So it's not an answer that exists without baggage, I don't know why you would think otherwise here. Again I am not dissing the choice, it's a valid one, but it is not for me and it should not be a suggestion for people to short-change their build because you don't like the new sniper changes. I understand the lacklustre damage of insta-snipes now compared to previously, but it's not something that bothers me overmuch. I still like the change.

 

Why the assumption that I neither have it in my build currently (I do) or that I haven't tested the changes (I have)? I didn't imply either one of those. Regardless, if I had neither it would not invalidate my opinion on the whether the changes are good enough. It might abstract them a level from being personal experience with the powers, but it wouldn't make them worthless. I've tried the changes, and I currently have been running with the snipe since the beta, and tested out the both version of the snipe a pretty good amount. I'd appreciate you taking the time to ask in the future, rather than summoning baseless opinions from the aether.

 

I don't build for to-hit very much, and it's not really a totally necessary component even with the changes to snipes.  Why would it be? It's your preference, not a codified requisite. Regardless of our disagreement on this, I think we can talk about this minus some pretension and snark in the future.

 

No worries mate.  You and a few others are opining that this change is a great one for doms when in actuality its NOT.  Was just pointing out the many ways you could at this very moment before any changes have insta-snipe on your dom without limiting your builds.  Yes you'll need to go for tactics which also by the way makes your controls so much more reliable.  But you could still go for speed, fighting and leaping.  Super Speed and stealth IO is the same as invisibility anyways so that can save you on one power pool and the defense you get out of leadership is superior to any you get from stealth. 

 

Here's the thing.  I don't want you copying my build I like being a unique little flower.  But if you'd ever like to play around I'm always doing high level content on my dom in Excelsior.  Seeing is believing.  Cheers. 

[Solvernia]

i like the sniper changes

[earthaddy]

This is probably a stupid question that may have been answered a ton already, but if sets with a snipe get insta-snipe, what do sets without a snipe get?

[subbacultchas]

No worries mate.  You and a few others are opining that this change is a great one for doms when in actuality its NOT.  Was just pointing out the many ways you could at this very moment before any changes have insta-snipe on your dom without limiting your builds.  Yes you'll need to go for tactics which also by the way makes your controls so much more reliable.  But you could still go for speed, fighting and leaping.  Super Speed and stealth IO is the same as invisibility anyways so that can save you on one power pool and the defense you get out of leadership is superior to any you get from stealth. 

 

Here's the thing.  I don't want you copying my build I like being a unique little flower.  But if you'd ever like to play around I'm always doing high level content on my dom in Excelsior.  Seeing is believing.  Cheers.

No worries Mezmera. Same extended to you, I'm usually messing around with my Plant/MA on Excelsior, or one of the other alts. I'm interested enough in seeing how our differences in building pan out at the end of the day.

 

Also no, no, no to SS + Stealth IO. I've done SS too many times in the past, I just don't think I can go back to that :) I will gladly take stealth and pretend like I like it.

[eiynp]

I really just cannot understand why people would oppose this change; like, people dislike the idea that they won't have to take tactics anymore? That kismet acc IO will have gone to waste?

 

even for dominators, the relatively small dps haircut is probably worth reclaiming the slots/powers devoted to making snipes instant

[subbacultchas]

I really just cannot understand why people would oppose this change; like, people dislike the idea that they won't have to take tactics anymore? That kismet acc IO will have gone to waste?

 

even for dominators, the relatively small dps haircut is probably worth reclaiming the slots/powers devoted to making snipes instant

We may disagree, but I get Mezmera's dislike. For Mezmera, the new insta-snipe conditions actually cost a good bit of DPS. For me, who doesn't take the power at all, it's only an increase. Both are valid positions I think for very different build styles.

[eiynp]

I really just cannot understand why people would oppose this change; like, people dislike the idea that they won't have to take tactics anymore? That kismet acc IO will have gone to waste?

 

even for dominators, the relatively small dps haircut is probably worth reclaiming the slots/powers devoted to making snipes instant

We may disagree, but I get Mezmera's dislike. For Mezmera, the new insta-snipe conditions actually cost a good bit of DPS. For me, who doesn't take the power at all, it's only an increase. Both are valid positions I think for very different build styles.

 

it isn't really that much dps, though; even if we ignore damage gained from extra available slots and/or assume that you will stick to your +tohit slotting, the buffed recharge time is a big deal. It's going to let you spend a much larger portion of your attack chain using a higher-dpa power (snipe) than you did previously. Individual snipes will obviously do less damage, but your attack chain will include many more of them. This only winds up being a big loss if you already had a chain that specifically needed a snipe every 8-10s to fill a gap and was already fully occupied by higher-dpa powers (fire with incinerate/blaze, maybe?)

 

I haven't done a deep dive into what my dom's new attack chain will look like but I'm pretty confident I won't take that big a dps hit, especially if I'm not in melee. Being able to replace your weakest attack with snipe more often is a big gain

[Mezmera]

I really just cannot understand why people would oppose this change; like, people dislike the idea that they won't have to take tactics anymore? That kismet acc IO will have gone to waste?

 

even for dominators, the relatively small dps haircut is probably worth reclaiming the slots/powers devoted to making snipes instant

We may disagree, but I get Mezmera's dislike. For Mezmera, the new insta-snipe conditions actually cost a good bit of DPS. For me, who doesn't take the power at all, it's only an increase. Both are valid positions I think for very different build styles.

 

it isn't really that much dps, though; even if we ignore damage gained from extra available slots and/or assume that you will stick to your +tohit slotting, the buffed recharge time is a big deal. It's going to let you spend a much larger portion of your attack chain using a higher-dpa power (snipe) than you did previously. Individual snipes will obviously do less damage, but your attack chain will include many more of them. This only winds up being a big loss if you already had a chain that specifically needed a snipe every 8-10s to fill a gap and was already fully occupied by higher-dpa powers (fire with incinerate/blaze, maybe?)

 

I haven't done a deep dive into what my dom's new attack chain will look like but I'm pretty confident I won't take that big a dps hit, especially if I'm not in melee. Being able to replace your weakest attack with snipe more often is a big gain

 

Subb at least gets my point as well as some others who seem to play doms more and understand it's not all dps sequencing.  Sure if I have a snipe back up quicker great!  But at a cost of 1/3 of the damage?  That's not a haircut that's going bald.  So Subb can now take snipe but it's now the bald version.  This shorter recharge also really reduces proc chances of firing so your consistency is out the window. 

 

Yes if I put my snipe on ctrl + click maybe it'll be around the same dps, maybe.  But most doms build for perma dom so snipe recharging wasn't an issue I can snipe twice within 10 seconds.  So I am not looking to snipe more often I want to hit like a truck when I so choose.  If you're not building your tohit back up all the snipe turns out to be is basically a longer reaching blaze, so why even have it?  Don't you have some team friendly controls you could be laying out between snipes in those 10 seconds?  Other attacks?  You do have blaze.

 

Most times I'm controlling things so I don't need snipe to recharge super duper fast and it's always there.  When I need to grind into an AV I still wouldn't find the bonus recharge helpful, actually it would encourage bad behavior by making me focus on dps trying to keep my snipe as useful as it was ignoring that there may be some controls necessary to lay out. 

 

My dps chain if I so need to grind it goes: Dominate (hold with ATO +dmg proc), Energy Transfer (Nothing else can compare to this damage), Siphon Life (High dmg + heal back the damage ET just caused me), Snipe.  I'll mix in Gather Shadows to boost damage, the heal and a little more tohit if I really need it to max out.  But this chain is easy to sustain and even as l33t as /fire is I can't see why you'd want snipe to recharge faster when you have two other fire attacks and a control you can spam in the middle. 

 

It's a big dps loss plain and simple for all doms. Except for those already without a snipe may they not be forgotten. 

 

 

[eiynp]

yes, can't imagine why I'd want a second blaze, lol

 

on my dom (~170% global) snipe currently recharges in 6.5 or so seconds. When the base recharge goes from 20s to 12s it will instead recharge in about 4s (napkin math.) It will do a third less damage... but I'll be able to use it about 30% more often, making it a much more prominent part of my attack chain.  It will be a small dps loss, and will allow me to remove the weird +tohit slotting necessary to make it perma-instant.

 

It's fine to say that you prefer a big snipe, or that a big snipe is a good thing for some particular gameplay reason, but that's rather a different claim than "it's a big dps loss for all doms"

[Mezmera]

Here cut out the parts to help you understand:

 

"This shorter recharge also really reduces proc chances of firing so your consistency is out the window. 

 

Yes if I put my snipe on ctrl + click maybe it'll be around the same dps, maybe. 

 

Most times I'm controlling things so I don't need snipe to recharge super duper fast and it's always there.  When I need to grind into an AV I still wouldn't find the bonus recharge helpful, actually it would encourage bad behavior by making me focus on dps trying to keep my snipe as useful as it was ignoring that there may be some controls necessary to lay out."

 

All good got it?  Need a picture book?

 

You seem to have the dps sequencing of a blaster.  Maybe you're on the wrong AT?  Most people that want to play Doms play most secondaries.  Blasters that want to have a mez shield play /fire.  You should make a fire/trick arrow blaster, the better dps you keep saying you think you'll get from this change is already there for you along with a mez shield.   

 

[eiynp]

you'd look better in these discussions if you didn't start from the premise that nobody else knows what they're talking about

 

you like the current snipe behavior better than the proposed changes; that's fine. You like snipe doing big damage when you choose to press it, also fine. But the claim that these changes are a big dps loss is just incorrect.

 

It may (and I stress *may*) be a small loss for high-recharge builds that were already using instant snipe, depending on the power set, amount of recharge, whether they're in melee, and so on. It is a dps gain for anyone without 150%+ recharge and anyone who wasn't already built/slotted for perma-instant snipe, nevermind for people out there leveling, otherwise doing lowbie things, or just not driving a high-end IO build.

[Mezmera]

Like I said.  You should look into a fire blaster nowhere have you acknowledged that you actually have to participate in doing your primary job first.  All you've shown cause of was how this leads into better integration into /fire's attack chain. 

 

It's a net loss and even more so when you actually get caught doing something other than fiery embrace, blazing bolt, blaze, fire blast, flares, blazing bolt, blaze, fire blast, flares, etc.....

[eiynp]

doms have a whole powerset devoted to dealing damage my dude, lord forbid I try to do a good job of it

 

but hey by all means, continue throwing shade as a method of argumentation rather than provide anything whatsoever substantive

[Mezmera]

doms have a whole powerset devoted to dealing damage my dude, lord forbid I try to do a good job of it

 

but hey by all means, continue throwing shade as a method of argumentation rather than provide anything whatsoever substantive

 

So you skip any and all controls? You don't sneak in a hold here and there even when you have domination running?  Weird playstyle I'd think you'd get to do a better job of damaging on a fire blaster.

 

Not throwing shade you just don't acknowledge you have primaries to use.  Makes sense to ask where are your other powers right?  I've been very substantive what about you?

[Orivon]

I have an idea, but not sure if it's doable. But I would guess that these proposed changes are so sniper powers are more useful? (I thought they were pretty good with the i24 changes and tohit). What if sniper powers become instant cast if you are in closer range. IRL it's easy to aim at something if you're closer to it. If you're farther out, it takes longer but you line up the shot for more precision. Now if we leave the +tohit giving instant snipe. Then those builds who want set their character up that way aren't penalized but can use the high damage insta snipe no matter what range.

 

It kinda helps everyone. People who don't like having to get the +tohit, still get to use snipe in their attack chain as another ST attack. But if they get more +tohit then it gets more powerful. win/win?

 

Again, not sure if that's possible. I know the game checks range not sure if it would have to be two powers. For instance, you choose the sniper attack and it grants you two powers. A quick shot and a steady shot, the ladder being the more powerful one. Anyway, my two cents.

[Captain Powerhouse]

What if sniper powers become instant cast if you are in closer range. IRL it's easy to aim at something if you're closer to it.

 

Funny you should mention this, because over the years this was not the first attempt at making snipes more useful, and triggering fast snipe based on range was one of the first things attempted. It was also the most universally detested. Runner goes away, suddenly the snipe cast time changes without notice. Someone knocks something out of fast range, the same. To make things worse, the game has no way to base the ring highlight on target attributes, so its not possible to light up the ring to let the caster know he is close enough for a fast snipe, other than to try.

[naraganeun]

So far the snipe changes feel amazing when fighting against mobs with -tohit. On homecoming live it is really hard to get 97.5% tohit on dom, you have to take kismet, mind link, and 4(+5) tohits on tactics just to barely scrape by. As soon as one of those council vampires smack me, I have to go back to my crush,lift,propel attack chain instead of my delicious psi snipe.

 

Also I tested the stalker snipe changes and I have mixed feelings... it seems to only be worth using with build up, so that it does big enough damage to compensate wasting an activation on a skill the does not build assassin's focus. Without the tohit bonus from build it, combat zap does almost the same damage as ice sword. Love being able to use snipe on a stalker but it just hits like a wet noodle. I think it would be worth including in the main rotation if it had a chance to grant assassin's focus