Viability of mobile sharpshooters in 1.3?

[Rebus]

I haven't had a chance to get to 1.3 yet, but just wondering how snapshot snipers are working out. Any substantial change in utility or ability synergy?

[bilfdoffle]

Snapshot was buffed considerably (it only switches to a snapshot shot if you move, and the penalty is 10/tile beyond 5 tiles instead of 20)

I still prefer DFA at this point, but it's certainly better. Depending on your tactics, they might be a better fit on some mission types now.

[Saph7]

I've used one in a couple of campaigns now. They're pretty good. Worse than DfA/RT sharpshooters on timerless missions, but better in any situation where you don't have time to scout out the map and pick out a perfect vantage point.

[Beerwolf]

With DFA, the bonus action you get can't be used to take another shot, that would require snapshot, but it is in the same tier, so you cannot have both.

So does this mean that if you go DFA, you cannot get the potential bonus shots from double tap or serial? As this requires the snapshot ability to take additional shots??

[Xavaal]

You can however command after getting DfA and take another shot. You even get DfA again if you get a 2nd kill.
That makes DfA really strong...

[gimrah]

With DFA, the bonus action you get can't be used to take another shot, that would require snapshot, but it is in the same tier, so you cannot have both.

So does this mean that if you go DFA, you cannot get the potential bonus shots from double tap or serial? As this requires the snapshot ability to take additional shots??

Both work with DfA. But DfA's use is still mainly to steady after shooting, although you can command so that you're back up to 2 actions and then shoot again.

I like the flexibility of snapshot sharps, especially on mobile missions that start without concealment like extracts and S&G. If there's a really good vantage point for a sniper they can use that. Otherwise, stay with the squad and act as a wide flanker. Also in S&G a sniper on a hill is not going to be much use against pods inside the compound.

[stefan3iii]

I haven't gotten far enough in a campaign yet in 1.3, but on paper it looks to me like DfA would be the preferred choice for timerless missions where you can park in a spot a steady->shoot all day. But I think snap shot snipers are probably the superior choice for missions that require some mobility. Also, every sharpshooter is occasionally going to have a useless turn because they have no LOS to a target, being able to prevent that, or moving to get a flank, should increase their reliability and damage output considerably.

Rapid Targeting continues to be highly overrated and should never be picked.

[Rebus]

Thanks all. So more or less same division of labour, with some refinement to snapshot, but no dramatic change in ability synergy to be aware of - good good.

[gimrah]

I haven't gotten far enough in a campaign yet in 1.3, but on paper it looks to me like DfA would be the preferred choice for timerless missions where you can park in a spot a steady->shoot all day. But I think snap shot snipers are probably the superior choice for missions that require some mobility. Also, every sharpshooter is occasionally going to have a useless turn because they have no LOS to a target, being able to prevent that, or moving to get a flank, should increase their reliability and damage output considerably.

Rapid Targeting continues to be highly overrated and should never be picked.

Rapid targeting is for sharps who just weren't born to be sharps and go holo officer.

[stefan3iii]

Rapid targeting is for sharps who just weren't born to be sharps and go holo officer.

I prefer to take my terrible 60 aim sharp shooters and make them haven advisers.

[Dwarfling]

I got two Sharpshooters, one with 16 mobility and the other with 17. High aim... Above 70 at rookies. Decided to take Snap Shot. So far, they haven't been that great. If you stick with the team you'll probably find them getting 50% shots most of the time. If you take a detour and go wide you'll find that getting flanking shots while out of sight doesn't happen often enough. So far my conclusion is that I'd rather have some other soldier that sticks with the team rather than bring a Snap Shooter for GOps.

[Rikokrates]

I found them to be very useful if they have high aim as they can squad site move and fire, add a stock too and they can be pretty lethal especially kicking off an ambush, esp with as they can reliably kill of low health units.

I had a dark vip mission pop with barely anytime for infiltration, i took the sharpshooter, shinobi and a specialist we stealthed the map until a drone spotted us, one shot the drone with sharp shooter then shinobi scouted to the dark vip, took her out and got to the evac, no sweat.

P.S I am early in the campaign so don't know how viable they are later on.

P.P.S If you don't like them you can always respec using the AWC.

[Bullett00th]

One important nerf is that yoy can't blue move and sniper overwatch anymore, snap shot only works for regular shots for whatever reason.

[justdont]

I'm pretty early in the campaign, and so far I found out that while snapshot builds at low levels aren't particularly productive, they also can be easily trained on timed missions (as opposed to DfA which is like 5th wheel on most missions that require lots of running around), and they combo extremely well with certain pistol perks (like no-action pistol shot or fan fire).

It's also pretty obvious that DfA will be a lot better for big cleanup missions like supply raid or HQ assault. But so far it looks like snapshot build has its own place in the game now.