Quick question to all of you people out there:
When would you take double tap over Serial or AMF (LW1's Mayham)
The main issue I have with this perk is probably... that it just feels straight up worse compared to the other two.
Firstly you have reduced aim on the 2nd shot (which could mean the difference between a crit or a graze)
Secondly: You HAVE to hit the same target. Which means that it's probably useless unless facing sectopods or other ridiculously high health targets. (My sharpshooters hit for around 15 on a crit right now... with mag rifles and without AMF)
So.. is it just me or does Double Tap seem just BAD compared to Serial (which is ridiculously good if you are about to be overwhelmed with a sniper in a good position) or AMF which means you could just oneshot the enemy instead of having to rely on the 2nd shot (which ALSO consumes an extra shot)
Balance of Double Tap (Sharpshooter)
Re: Balance of Double Tap (Sharpshooter)
double tap is my default even when it is not as power full as it use to be in xcom 1, because you get a reliable 2 shot when ever you need it where serial require you to kill the guy and then there are rng you need to deal with. for me my sniper is my certainy back up because he is able to get that 100% HIT AND 100% CRIT so getting a sec shot from that for certain just make planning easier
now that i think about it most of my double tap are used on those pesky activated shield bears
now that i think about it most of my double tap are used on those pesky activated shield bears
Re: Balance of Double Tap (Sharpshooter)
Serial has a 6 turn cooldown. Double-Tap is usable once per turn. With Serial, you'll probably kill lots of fodder or weakened enemies. It's pretty cool. But you'll only do that once every several turns. While you aren't bringing snipers on timed missions too often, it's not uncommon to chain pull multiple pods in Moderate+ missions and not have time to wait for cooldown. Double Tap basically means that, for a well positioned Sniper, they pretty much get to say "Okay, your turn to die." To be fair though, it can eat through ammo fairly quickly. So unless you have Death From Above to shoot and reload the whole clip on the turn after you Double-Tap, or Expanded Magazines / Auto-Loaders, you'll have some limitations.
But even apart from that, two shots, only one of which is at a relatively small penalty (for a max rank sniper -10 is pretty much nothing) can really help to remove the uncertainty in killing an enemy you could normally one-shot. And if you hit with your first shot, then you don't spend the second bullet. Whether for taking down large enemies, or vastly reducing the chance that you'll fail to kill a single target, Double-Tap is pretty handy, and always ready.
Serial gives you a clutch ability to murder a lot of enemies with a bit of luck and preparation. Double-Tap ensures you can kill enemies, even big ones, every turn. Serial is probably the best option, especially if you lack other clutch AoE options, but there's something nice about Double Taps massive effective increase in damage and aim of your Sniper.
But even apart from that, two shots, only one of which is at a relatively small penalty (for a max rank sniper -10 is pretty much nothing) can really help to remove the uncertainty in killing an enemy you could normally one-shot. And if you hit with your first shot, then you don't spend the second bullet. Whether for taking down large enemies, or vastly reducing the chance that you'll fail to kill a single target, Double-Tap is pretty handy, and always ready.
Serial gives you a clutch ability to murder a lot of enemies with a bit of luck and preparation. Double-Tap ensures you can kill enemies, even big ones, every turn. Serial is probably the best option, especially if you lack other clutch AoE options, but there's something nice about Double Taps massive effective increase in damage and aim of your Sniper.
Re: Balance of Double Tap (Sharpshooter)
Double Tap is also the default for my sharpshooters. I mean, their job is to kill the most dangerous/annoying thing in the pod and it needs to happen when I desire it. Usually the shieldbearer; see white on the field, rage mode enabled!
Re: Balance of Double Tap (Sharpshooter)
Haven't gotten a Sharpshooter to MSgt, but in LW2's XComLW_SoldierSkills.ini, it say Double Tap has a cooldown of 2 turns, which means it's usable every other turn. Still with enough Aim it's a 50% boost to damage output.Sines wrote:Serial has a 6 turn cooldown. Double-Tap is usable once per turn.
Re: Balance of Double Tap (Sharpshooter)
My issue with double tap is that gunners, rangers, and at close range assaults are already all really good at putting lots of damage on a single target.
Whereas serial offers something fairly unique -- a multitarget ability without any proximity requirements, the target area is the entire map. Especially on the larger missions where you're likely to have multiple active pods at once, the ability to clean up 5-10 enemies (expanded mag+autoloader are a must for serial and double tap both) from multiple pods all over the map is amazing.
It has significantly fallen off as advent tech has surpassed mine through. Midsummer with a mag rifle my first MSGT sniper could solo 8 man advent pods with some luck on the damage rolls, now the trooper variants have ~17 health and 3 armor so even coil crits don't reliably kill them from full. Still gets those 5+ kills a mission, but requires some setup damage now.
Whereas serial offers something fairly unique -- a multitarget ability without any proximity requirements, the target area is the entire map. Especially on the larger missions where you're likely to have multiple active pods at once, the ability to clean up 5-10 enemies (expanded mag+autoloader are a must for serial and double tap both) from multiple pods all over the map is amazing.
It has significantly fallen off as advent tech has surpassed mine through. Midsummer with a mag rifle my first MSGT sniper could solo 8 man advent pods with some luck on the damage rolls, now the trooper variants have ~17 health and 3 armor so even coil crits don't reliably kill them from full. Still gets those 5+ kills a mission, but requires some setup damage now.
Re: Balance of Double Tap (Sharpshooter)
Serial is amazing paired with a saturation fire gunner. Gunner weakens enemies and removes their cover and the sharpshooter cleans it up with serial. It's great for the "oh sh*t" moments when you pull half the map.
Double tap suffers from being located on the last tier, as "knrp" said you're already gonna have a lot of single target dps from other sources. So Double tap becomes a bit redundant imo. If it was one tier earlier I'd take it every time though, but it would probably be a bit to strong if it was.
Double tap suffers from being located on the last tier, as "knrp" said you're already gonna have a lot of single target dps from other sources. So Double tap becomes a bit redundant imo. If it was one tier earlier I'd take it every time though, but it would probably be a bit to strong if it was.