[Suggestion] Elite Specialization: the Sniper

[Trise.2865]

We all know what a "sniper" is: the patient, stealthy soldier who eliminates key enemies at long range, right? WRONG!

 

A sniper is a specialized hunter, skilled at tracking and shooting down fast-flying snipe and other game birds. They usually work together with a dog or pack of dogs to find, flush out, and retrieve their kills. WHICH MEANS, the Sniper must be a Ranger specialization focused on avoiding detection and area denial, similar to the Necromancer or Guardian. Naturally, the special weapon would be the Rifle, and its skills should reflect the hunter/stalker style of gameplay, while also rewarding quick reflexes. Its special mechanic would change your Pet into a Pack of 3 pet creatures that share a greatly expanded health pool (but also multiplies AoE damage). The Pack would function similarly to the base Pet. "Attack My Target" becomes "Divide and Conquer", allowing your Pack to target multiple enemies and/or multiply its attacks at the cost of reduced damage per hit, and "Return to Me" becomes "Retrieve", Finish a nearby dying or dead foe to heal themselves, then return to you. Here's a mockup of what their skills might look like:

 

Rifle 1: **Snap Shot**: Deals bonus damage the first time you hit a new target. (CD:0) Small heal next time your Pack hits the target.

This skill would reward switching targets rapidly to maximize damage, but also help sustain your Pack in 1v1 and many-v-1 situations.

 

Rifle 2: **Guiding Shot**: Fire in a piercing, line skillshot. Up to 5 enemies near the line but not struck are Feared away from the center line; becomes **Pack Ambush**.

**Pack Ambush**: Teleport your Pack to your Target, and they immediately attack. If the target was Feared, it is Knocked Down and Bleeds.

Like a skilled hunter, sometimes you want to hit the target for damage, and sometimes you want to direct its movement into a trap... or simply scatter them.

 

Rifle 3: **Sniper's Special**: Fire an unavoidable shot that removes 2 Boons; for each Boon removed, your Pack gains that Boon. If the target has Swiftness or Alacrity, it becomes Crippled or Slowness respectively. If the target has both, it is also Dazed.

Reflecting the Sniper's skill at taking down fast-moving targets, this attack cannot be Evaded/Dodged (but can be Blocked or Destroyed), and lets your Pack chase down your target easily.

 

Rifle 4: **Flush Out**: Fire your rifle into the air to trick targets into revealing themselves. Reveal in an area around you. Your Pack teleports to any enemies Revealed (up to #Pack) and Knocks them Down. Enemies that are not Revealed are Feared instead.

Also a master of accoustics, the sniper can make its quarry feel as though it is being attacked, even if it isn't.

 

Rifle 5: **Sniper's Scope**: Adjust your scope to give yourself Fury and remove Blindness and Weakness. Also affects your Pack.

Seems pretty obvious. Adjust your sights for pinpoint accuracy.

 

This leads to the Sniper's Utility kit. A Sniper is a master of using its environment to their advantage. Since the Ranger already has Traps, it would need to take a more direct approach. Therefore, the Sniper may emulate the Guardian, and pick up some Wards. Here's a few ideas:

 

**Double Blind**: Ward. Stealth yourself and place a Ward that blocks projectiles and Blinds foes who touch it.

Emulating hiding in a bush or shrubbery to avoid quarry animals from getting aggressive.

 

**Cornered**: Ward. Place a line in front of and behind your target that enemies cannot cross.

Snipers excel at making their quarry feel trapped.

 

**Wall of Thorns**: Ward. Place a line of thorny vines that enemies cannot cross. Pulses alternating Bleed and Cripple.

Has that bramble patch has always been there?

 

But what kinds of Traits might a Sniper have? Here's a few ideas (in no particular order):

 

Den Leader: Your Pack size increases by 1.

Pack Tactics: Your Pack gains bonuses if they Divide and Conquer on different targets.

Skeet Shoot: If a target would be Knocked Down, it is Launched instead.

 

Disclaimer: I fully admit this is a half-baked idea. I only hope this will inspire someone.

[Oglaf.1074]

So... Deadeye basically.

[Trise.2865]

> @"Oglaf.1074" said:

> So... Deadeye basically.

 

Not quite. The Deadeye is what everyone thinks of when they think of a"sniper", focused primarily on single targets or building Malice to set up a kill zone. The idea here is hard denial at short-to-mid range, like a Guardian or Mesmer, with much more front-loaded damage, encouraging a more... "social" combat style.

[derd.6413]

that's not a sniper you've described, that's a (bird) hunter.

 

the 3 pets thing sounds like a development disaster waiting to happen (also isn't the hyena pets whole stick that you can summon a second one)

 

rifle skills have too much going on (especially 3)

 

also wards aren't a skill type like you are describing here (and double blind isn't even a ward) and would be extremely difficult to make a full set of skills out of.

[Oglaf.1074]

> @"Trise.2865" said:

> > @"Oglaf.1074" said:

> > So... Deadeye basically.

>

> Not quite. The Deadeye is what everyone thinks of when they think of a"sniper", focused primarily on single targets or building Malice to set up a kill zone. The idea here is hard denial at short-to-mid range, like a Guardian or Mesmer, with much more front-loaded damage, encouraging a more... "social" combat style.

 

Mechanically it seems very, very much like the Deadeye. The things your Sniper throws out seems functionally far too similar to the things the Deadeye throws out.

[Trise.2865]

> @"derd.6413" said:

> that's not a sniper you've described, that's a (bird) hunter.

>

> the 3 pets thing sounds like a development disaster waiting to happen (also isn't the hyena pets whole stick that you can summon a second one)

>

> rifle skills have too much going on (especially 3)

>

> also wards aren't a skill type like you are describing here (and double blind isn't even a ward) and would be extremely difficult to make a full set of skills out of.

 

Yes, that's what a "sniper" is: A snipe hunter. One who hunts snipe. A snipe is a game bird similar to a quail.

 

Think of it more like a pet that can trade Might for a DoT and back again. Hyena summons an independant Hyena.

 

Do they? I was sure "damage and conditional condition, also Pet does something" was straightforward enough. /shrug

 

Difficult to say, there are only two in the game currently. "Creative licence" and what-not... or they can call it something else.

[Randulf.7614]

I have visions of the duck hunt light gun as the elite weapon skin

[derd.6413]

> @"Trise.2865" said:

> > @"derd.6413" said:

> > that's not a sniper you've described, that's a (bird) hunter.

> >

> > the 3 pets thing sounds like a development disaster waiting to happen (also isn't the hyena pets whole stick that you can summon a second one)

> >

> > rifle skills have too much going on (especially 3)

> >

> > also wards aren't a skill type like you are describing here (and double blind isn't even a ward) and would be extremely difficult to make a full set of skills out of.

>

> Yes, that's what a "sniper" is: A snipe hunter. One who hunts snipe. A snipe is a game bird similar to a quail.

 

we don't even know if snipes are a thing in the gw universe and please show me who calls snipe hunters snipers because i can't find them (did find a practical joke called 'snipe hunt' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe_hunt). and even if all that was addressed you would now have a name that not many ppl will get (because they'd think of deadeye when they hear sniper) and refers to a hunter of a very specific species of bird.

 

> Think of it more like a pet that can trade Might for a DoT and back again. Hyena summons an independant Hyena.

 

doesn't put my mind at ease but alright

 

> Do they? I was sure "damage and conditional condition, also Pet does something" was straightforward enough. /shrug

>

> Difficult to say, there are only two in the game currently. "Creative licence" and what-not... or they can call it something else.

 

there's 6 wards in the game and all of them are areas of effect that stops enemies from passing through while allowing allies to move freely.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ward

[Zedek.8932]

The problem with the terms are that there is no _real_ border between them.

A sniper can be a concealed shooter, relying on ambush and guerilla tactics.

Then we have the Deadeye, which is the same, but not necessarily restricted to long range, as you can also have a perfect aim (dead = definitive, eye = aim) on very close range.

The real-life military sniper is usually working in teams, one is the actual armed person, the other one is some kind of scout.

 

Now you can mix up all the terms and you will have a huge overlap, but one thing is for sure - even though it's not neccesarilly the case: A sniper does usually not have pets. They are supposed to be sneaky and stealthy, and that's not possible the more animals you gather around you. So it belongs to the thief profession far better. What is this supposed to be like? "I have a bunch of pets, so better not move and wait until I aim my rifle at you?"

 

The Deadeye we have right now is perfect (I am totally biased there of course). It's a selfish profession that relies on stealth, ambush and burst, not on huge AoEs and pets. He's also a very small part some sort of, uh... "black magician" (stealing is not about taking away physical objects anymore and malice).

 

Your idea up there is some weird idea that could look cool on a movie poster or a piece of art (a lone person with his rifle and his animal friends) but actually is not.

Why would it need a great health pool? If you are on the hunt, you are usually doing that alone as said above. You get camouflage, and a mediocre health pool and not just some overly protected AI zerg.

 

Excelsior.

[Trise.2865]

> @"Zedek.8932" said:

> Now you can mix up all the terms and you will have a huge overlap, but one thing is for sure - even though it's not neccesarilly the case: A sniper does usually not have pets. They are supposed to be sneaky and stealthy, and that's not possible the more animals you gather around you. So it belongs to the thief profession far better. What is this supposed to be like? "I have a bunch of pets, so better not move and wait until I aim my rifle at you?"

 

I feel like you're getting hung up on military assassins and not their huntmaster originators... which, admittedly, was the point of using a ubiquitous title and then subverting it so... mission accomplished? go team! :sweat_smile:

 

In answer to the question: It's supposed to be like "all of you! go over there and fall into my/our trap or I'll make you do it!". Truth be told, the first idea was to use the Pet mechanic as a sort-of "dog-shaped ballistic missile", where every attack by the Ranger is also an attack by the Pet... hence, the teleporting/attacking tech within these Rifle skill concepts. The play loop evolved over the VERY limited development into a zone denial/area control setup with coordinated pressure over singular spike damage. The Pack mechanic came about as a way to toggle between self-sustain and amplifying damage pressure, while also allowing complex/coordinated maneuvers as attack skills, similar to Heart of Thorns' Mini Raptor AI.

 

...and to try giving Rangers a stronger place in PvP and WvW.

 

> Why would it need a great health pool? You get camouflage, and a mediocre health pool and not just some overly protected AI zerg.

 

Consider: the Pack as described in the original post is a single unit with multiple bodies, as opposed to a swarm of independent minions. A group of animals would need more health than a single animal simply because it is a group of animals; they should take more damage collectively than individually, and their combined health must reflect that, else it becomes a detriment. Conceptually, the shared health pool between Pack animals was to highlight its cohesion without complicated modifications in coding, though splitting it up using something akin to the Mesmer's Illusion counters or the Ammo mechanics wouldn't go amiss.

[sorudo.9054]

if we go for the proper terms, a ranger is supposed to be a guardian of the forest.

they don't have a pet, they solve forest crimes.

a hunter however does have a pet, a bloodhound or a golden retriever is common for them to have by their side.

so since you are all about proper naming things, let's also rename the ranger "hunter" since that's the right theme here.