Semi-Automatic Sniper
I don’t think there’s a single person in the Respawnables community who wasn’t excited when they found out that the next new event prize was going to be a sniper weapon. At the time of the weapon’s release, there hadn’t been any new snipers for well over a year, and snipers were quickly becoming irrelevant as Respawnables shifted to overpowered weapons like Minigun and Battle Ram. So does the Semi-Automatic Sniper revitalise the sniper class of weapons? That depends on what you expect of the weapon. It’s needless to say that if you’re expecting the weapon to counter Battle Ram, you’re going to be disappointed. However, if you’re looking for a fresh new way to use snipers or a way to quickly kill players with body shots, you’re in luck.
This weapon has two shots in the clip, each of which will do around half of a player’s total health. It’s not a one-shot kill weapon, but based on how quickly the weapon fires, it may very well be. This weapon fires so quickly you can barely notice that you’re firing two shots and not one. Since each shot will generally do around half of a player’s health, this weapon kills players insanely quickly, and certainly feels like a one shot kill weapon. |
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At this point, you might be wondering how this weapon improves on the Hunter Rifle, which is capable of killing some players in one shot instead of two. To that, I say that the Semi-Automatic Sniper is much more effective at killing players with high health. The Hunter Rifle will fail to one-shot kill any player who uses more than about 15% health, and since the weapon only has one shot in the clip, it will be forced to reload, allowing the player to escape. This is not the case with the Semi-Automatic Sniper. For the Semi-Automatic Sniper to be a three-shot kill (and thus be forced to reload to kill a player), the target will have to use closer to 30% health or be a very long way away. The amount of players using that amount of health is comparatively very low, and gives the Semi-Automatic Sniper a major advantage over other snipers in this way. The Semi-Automatic Sniper is, hands down, the way to go in matches full of experienced players with overpowered armour.
Besides its fantastic ability to one-shot kill players using health armour, this weapon is largely the same as the Hunter Rifle. Its agility feels nearly identical despite being one bar higher, and the weapon’s scope is very similar in function. It’s not any more or less accurate, and doesn’t function any better or worse with range. The only other difference is its reload, which has an animation very similar to the Anti-Material Sniper. It takes a bit longer than the Hunter Rifle, but it’s good enough to sustain the weapon. Speaking of the Anti Material Sniper, I think that weapon is now fully outclassed. The Semi-Automatic Sniper fires faster than it does, and is not nearly as dependant on headshots. Even the Hunter Rifle feels distinctly better, thanks to its speedy agility and occasional one-shot kill ability. The only time I’d recommend the Anti Material Sniper is if the match is full of players using ridiculous amounts of health, but even then, you shouldn’t be sniping in that match anyway. The newbie Sniper Rifle remains irrelevant.
So, with all these things considered, the Semi-Automatic Sniper certainly sounds like the best sniper in the game, doesn’t it? Don’t write off the others just yet, as the Semi-Automatic Sniper has some flaws of its own. Despite the speed at which the weapon fires, it’s possible for you to hit a player with one shot, but miss the other. This happen especially often if you or your target is moving while you are firing. If this occurs, you’ll be forced to reload in order to get more shots off on the player. Given Respawnables’ ridiculous fast pace, there’s a good chance you’ll due in that time. This really isn’t much worse than missing a player with the Hunter Rifle, but it’s still quite annoying. I feel like the weapon would be much better off with a higher clip size, so players aren’t forced to reload if they miss.
My other problem with this weapon is its performance at close ranges. The chance that you’ll miss one or both of your shots at close range combat is especially high. At least the Hunter Rifle can one-shot kill some players, but a single body shot with the Semi-Automatic Sniper is never a one-shot kill. I didn’t expect the weapon to be good at close ranges, but I also didn’t expect that it’d lose nearly all the time. If you happen to get yourself into a fight at a close range, I recommend walking backward from the player and attempting to quick-scope them, something this weapon does extremely well. There’s no point in circling around them around them, since you’ll probably just keep missing and end up dying. At least you’ll have a chance to scope in and kill them if you walk backward.
My other tips for this weapon are largely the same as those for any other sniper weapon. Quick-scoping is the way to go. Don’t trying to drag your scope across the screen, it becomes very difficult to hit players. Half your screen is blocked too, so it’s very easy for people to backstab you or even fire at you from the side. Scoping in and out allows the weapon to “reset” its aim, making it easier to hit players. As usual, Spotter gadget is a very good idea, as it allows you to prepare for players coming around the corner. One final tip is to avoid aiming for the head. This might sound stupid on a sniper, but this weapon is much more effective just going straight for the body shot. Even on players using lots of health, I found that headshots would often fail to KO them anyway, which is normal considering how weak each individual shot is. Aiming for the head also increases the chance you’ll miss one of your shots.
Besides its fantastic ability to one-shot kill players using health armour, this weapon is largely the same as the Hunter Rifle. Its agility feels nearly identical despite being one bar higher, and the weapon’s scope is very similar in function. It’s not any more or less accurate, and doesn’t function any better or worse with range. The only other difference is its reload, which has an animation very similar to the Anti-Material Sniper. It takes a bit longer than the Hunter Rifle, but it’s good enough to sustain the weapon. Speaking of the Anti Material Sniper, I think that weapon is now fully outclassed. The Semi-Automatic Sniper fires faster than it does, and is not nearly as dependant on headshots. Even the Hunter Rifle feels distinctly better, thanks to its speedy agility and occasional one-shot kill ability. The only time I’d recommend the Anti Material Sniper is if the match is full of players using ridiculous amounts of health, but even then, you shouldn’t be sniping in that match anyway. The newbie Sniper Rifle remains irrelevant.
So, with all these things considered, the Semi-Automatic Sniper certainly sounds like the best sniper in the game, doesn’t it? Don’t write off the others just yet, as the Semi-Automatic Sniper has some flaws of its own. Despite the speed at which the weapon fires, it’s possible for you to hit a player with one shot, but miss the other. This happen especially often if you or your target is moving while you are firing. If this occurs, you’ll be forced to reload in order to get more shots off on the player. Given Respawnables’ ridiculous fast pace, there’s a good chance you’ll due in that time. This really isn’t much worse than missing a player with the Hunter Rifle, but it’s still quite annoying. I feel like the weapon would be much better off with a higher clip size, so players aren’t forced to reload if they miss.
My other problem with this weapon is its performance at close ranges. The chance that you’ll miss one or both of your shots at close range combat is especially high. At least the Hunter Rifle can one-shot kill some players, but a single body shot with the Semi-Automatic Sniper is never a one-shot kill. I didn’t expect the weapon to be good at close ranges, but I also didn’t expect that it’d lose nearly all the time. If you happen to get yourself into a fight at a close range, I recommend walking backward from the player and attempting to quick-scope them, something this weapon does extremely well. There’s no point in circling around them around them, since you’ll probably just keep missing and end up dying. At least you’ll have a chance to scope in and kill them if you walk backward.
My other tips for this weapon are largely the same as those for any other sniper weapon. Quick-scoping is the way to go. Don’t trying to drag your scope across the screen, it becomes very difficult to hit players. Half your screen is blocked too, so it’s very easy for people to backstab you or even fire at you from the side. Scoping in and out allows the weapon to “reset” its aim, making it easier to hit players. As usual, Spotter gadget is a very good idea, as it allows you to prepare for players coming around the corner. One final tip is to avoid aiming for the head. This might sound stupid on a sniper, but this weapon is much more effective just going straight for the body shot. Even on players using lots of health, I found that headshots would often fail to KO them anyway, which is normal considering how weak each individual shot is. Aiming for the head also increases the chance you’ll miss one of your shots.
TL; DR
Good weapon. Semi-Automatic Sniper is the way to go in matches full of players with health armour. Otherwise, stick with Hunter Rifle.