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Sharpshooter needs a rebuilding.

I love sharpshooter, but there are definitely issues with the perk.

Personally, I would fix two things about it:

1. All headshot bonuses should instead become weak spot bonuses. It feels terrible to be penalized for shooting weak points that aren't the head.

2. The sharpshooter needs some form of survivability improvement, without sacrificing the feel of the perk. I get the appeal of a relatively immobile glass cannon, but it needs to be practical and the reality is the game as a whole is designed to discourage that. To preserve that playstyle while making it practical, I would recommend adding 1%/level passive movement speed while reloading and replacing the tier 4 skills with the following options:
  • Dealing weak spot damage with a perk weapon stumbles nearby zeds.
  • Remaining stationary increases damage resistance 7% per second up to 35%.

    (exact numbers are hypothetical)
Both of these grant you some kind of leniency to remaining still to aim, while the passive speed on reload allows you to quickly reposition.

The first option is similar to the firebug's Heat Wave skill, but requires precision in exchange for affecting all nearby zeds. It doesn't require you to stand still, but it will definitely help players who do while helping the sharpshooter in general avoid the crowds that spell death for it more than any other perk.

The second option specifically rewards setting up a sniper spot, granting some leeway should you let yourself get surrounded. Stacks would fall off one at a time like Rack-em-Up to provide some safety as you shoot your way out of whatever mess you're in and into your next perch, and also allow you to make quick adjustments without dropping the whole bonus.

I like these ideas. The Sharpshooter currently sacrifices reloading speed for damage which I think is kind of a mistake. I'd think a level cap addition increasing reload speed per level would help. Also if the Sharp has to stay still for more damage, I like the idea of a second passive increase as level increases. Also maybe slowdown Gunslinger movement speed while reloading. Or maybe Sharpshooter should get a movement bonus while reloading.
 
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As another sharpshooter player (nice to see others!!), I'm also on board with some tweaks.

I don't think it needs as severe a rework as some of you pointed out, although the stuff yall have come up with is fantastic. I definitely feel almost every aspect of the game is hostile to sharpshooter gameplay and for the most part that's ok because of how much damage the sharp can deal. IMO, the rack em up/tactical reload choice should be reviewed, I like both perks but I almost always choose tactical reload without hesitation. I think the perk should get a small passive speed boost, like Zaenos pointed out. Like not enough to turn it into a gunslinger but enough to where you can be just quick enough to survive if or when things go to hell. Lastly, big agree on doing away with penalizing the sharp for shooting weak spots that aren't the head.
 
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This change for level 10 Stability

Increase damage 30%, movement crouching speed 50%, and reload speed 20% while crouching and using a perk weapon, and running movement speed 40%, when using a perk weapon

Would be excellent. I also think Deadeye needs a rework. Does anyone use Deadeye? Does it work or is it broken?
 
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You guys must be playing a different game. Sharp has always been one of the strongest perks in KF2, if not the strongest. Here's what a sharpshooter offers the to the team -

1- Ability to trivialize big zeds with 1/2 bullets with railgun/m99 from a distance

2- Being effective against both trash and Large zeds with M14/FAL builds. Its essentially a higher DPS version of GS

3- Ability to trigger zed time every 10 seconds with M14/FAL. Its the most powerful passive in the game. Have a commando to extend and it straight up breaks the game

4- Stun scrakes with bullets both inside and outside zed time. No other perk can do that

5- Freeze grenades, which completely neutralize big zeds and offers a get out of jail free card

6- Best perk for deleting bosses with railgun

So you effectively have a perk that offers higher DPS than gunslinger, on demand CC (with freeze and stun), And more team utility than commando. How is this even considered weak?

Also sharpshooter doesn't need movement speed bonus. Marksman skill (level 5) already provides 10% movement speed bonus. That's the same bonus as medic passive. Effectively it makes sharpshooter the 4th fastest perk in the game. 3rd fastest if we exclude medic buffs

The only issue with sharp is that it can get screwed by irresponsible firebug/demo players. But that's not a issue with sharpshooter itself, its more of a issue with how disruptive firebug and demo is in this game

Most veterans who play 6P HOE and Controlled Difficulty would agree that Sharp is one of the strongest perk atm.
 
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Thinking back to the first KF, the sharpshooter was also a fairly slow perk, and if you miss a shot or two on scrake or flesh, that was big enough of a mistake to wipe the team many times. I love having that kind of pressure personally, it's what made me fall in love with the perk. At the same time, the perk could be made to be a little more enjoyable with a tad bit more mobility and reworking the rack em up/tactical reload choice (the latter being the more necessary step IMO). Passive mobility would help those who choose the damage to be slightly more able to defend themselves if things go bad and those who choose the speed perks would be even faster which is fair because you sacrifice a ton of damage choosing those perks.

IF there was a change to give more mobility passively, then there would have to be a balance to make sure that you can't create a monster sharp with both more power and speed than say the gunslinger.

Agreed that the cryo grenades are severely underutilized and the extra stun is unnecessary because of the M14/FAL combined with the Ranger zedtime perk. (I still think the suggestions at the beginning of the thread are creative and fun though!)

Speaking of the zedtime perks, it would be interesting to see what percentage of players chooses which perk. I'm fairly certain the damage one is the more utilized perk.
 
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The SPX is my bread and butter both as a gunslinger and as a sharpie. The LAR was already one of the most fantastic T1 gun in the game, as it's very versatile and reliable for its short price. The SPX is pretty much the LAR... on crack.

I like it even more so than the M14 EBR, and with a few upgrades : it can stay your main gun until well into the late game. I don't understand why it's shunned by so many players. It's one of the best guns in the SS arsenal.
 
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I am not a fan of the sharpie playstyle - but the perk always felt very strong to me [and I'm not a very good sharpie, full disclosure].

Something about the "sitting duck" playstyle noted already in here has rubbed me wrong considering how much more mobility is involved in KF2 compared to KF1 .

I'm not sure how much I'd mess with it though, as I'm guessing the perk plays as it was intended. Getting more damage for being stationary makes sense for a sniping perk - but I see the conflict this creates in a game where things move pretty fast, especially on HOE.

I've never played sharpie on HOE, as it just seems like an exercise in frustration lol. That being said, some people pull it off quite well so maybe it's just something you need to get used to it you like the perk?
 
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I think Sharpshooter is fine as far as performance goes. It is suppose to be in clunky in some way and at a degree that'll keep its one-shot power from getting rampant and untamed. I mean this by large Zeds are the central pillar for keeping the game's gameplay somewhat challenging even for the most skilled players, and eliminating large Zeds in the matter of seconds if not near instantly should come trade-offs, which in this case is the perk's clunkiness slash mobility: you have to entrench yourself even just a little bit so that Zeds' offenses would at least be relevant at numerous points, instead of being negated all the time because no one would ever stop kiting them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with changes that will make the Sharpshooter perk sharper, like better invest-n-reward for being pin-point accurate (albeit unlikely given there just aren't enough of mechanics in the game to implement/push this further), but not in such ways that will practically remove the constraints that in turn allows its one-shot power being as good as it currently is.

Speaking of pros and cons, Gunslinger does that in exchange of burning ammo quickly (roughly 10% the ammo pool of .500 Magnum by average-- versus the 5% from a Sharpshooter using M99), Support does that by risking life at point-blank range, Berserker does that by requiring skills in micro-positioning and action timing. Commando could do it but it's not that efficient, and the SWAT is even more so.
 
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The problem is not SS. The problem is the nature of KF2.
Spamming zeds on all sides in tight maps will that to any Sniper class of any game.

I get that KF1 was sometimes boring and too much "shooting gallery", but the pressure was higher and mistakes were punished more heavily.

KF2 went in the right way of making the game less of a shooting gallery, but maybe they went a bit too far.
 
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