User talk:Lordofhyphens

Sniper Abilities

After playing around with Snipers in XCOM:EU for a while (the game seemed to want to give me an endless supply of them), I think I've figured out some of the tradeoffs and (at least for me) what are the "more useful" highlights.

If anyone else agrees with these sentiments, feel free to move them to a main page.--Lordofhyphens 12:32, 21 October 2012 (EDT)

• Headshot
  • You don't get a choice about this, and that is quite all right. It's fine on its own.
• Snap Shot/Squad Sight
  • I rarely found myself in the position where I needed to fire the Sniper Rifle in a turn where the character moved. Squad Sight, on the other hand, gave my primary Sniper character the ability to make kills almost every turn. I also think Squad Sight affects Overwatch, but I can't be sure.
  • My recommendation is Squad Sight every time.
• Gunslinger/Damn Good Ground
  • I mostly picked Gunslinger. The main reason for this was that I didn't get Skeleton Armor until I already had Titan Armor. Additionally, since I had picked Squad Sight instead of Snap Shot, the upgrade to pistol damage gave them almost as much firepower as a Support character at short ranges (particularly with captured plasma pistols).
• Disabling Shot/Battle Scanner
  • I honestly didn't really use either ability much; this choice is strictly preference. My only 'knock' against Disabling Shot is that it requires the use of the Sniper Rifle. At higher tech levels, a Headshot or normal fire will kill most aliens outright (except for Sectopods).
• Executioner/Opportunist
  • Take Opportunist. You won't need the +10% Aim bonus anyway, and most things you shoot at later in the game will be killed in one hit anyway. Just put a S.C.O.P.E. on.
• Low Profile
  • Low Profile is awesome. That is all.
• In the Zone/Double Tap
  • I only got one Sniper to Colonel rank, and chose Double Tap. Double Tap is wonderful, and when combined with Headshot can give you that 1-turn kill on the toughest enemies. Double Tap also works with pistols. The only "uncovered" enemies I tended to run into were Sectopods (which aren't going to go down from a single rifle shot), Chryssalids, and Berzerkers. Most enemies are good enough at finding cover that getting them flanked is sufficiently dangerous to not be worth it. I can see where going on a murder spree on Chryssalids would be useful, though.