Archer and Sharpshooter are of course the two dedicated ranged classes in PVKII. The Archer uses a bow and crossbow, and the Sharpshooter uses a pistol and musket. Despite the technological difference, I have reason to believe the Sharpshooter is inferior and not balanced with the Archer. Here are some simple reasons why:
1. Let's get what may be a personal preference out of the way first, which is that I feel guns are harder to hit with. Bullets travel almost instantly, but arrows and bolts are slower and easy to lead.
2. The bow has unlimited range, but the artisan pistol has a maximum range.
3. The butter knife is longer range, and can attack from all directions, whereas the fancy dagger auto-swings with the exception of thrust. This means the fancy dagger is more situational, and harder to hit with.
4. The Archer can carry more ammo than the Sharpshooter.
5. The Archer's special is quicker to ready up and fire, can be held as long as you want, and is longer range. You also can't damage yourself with it.
6. The Archer's crossbow has a quicker reload than the musket.
7. Arrows and bolts can bounce off something and still hit their target, but bullets cannot.
8. Archers can fire underwater, but Sharpshooters can't.
Maybe there is something I'm doing wrong, but I find all of these to be very good points. Let me know what you think.
Comments
If I remember correctly only the musket can headshot, and it has a lengthy reload. Not the pistol. Am I wrong?
His weaknesses involve low health, a slow firing speed, an inability to deal damage through shields without the crossbow, and no way to block without switching away from his bows. An empty crossbow could be considered a weakness as well.
Layering these on top of each other, one can conclude that the range offsets his low health, and somewhat his firing speed. The crossbow's shield-breaking head-shooting back-knocking power is cut off when it's not loaded, and mitigated in one way or another by various circumstances, and though the short sword is able to mitigate some damage it will not preserve him forever.
Team-wise, his lack of health is further made redundant by the presence of Heavy Knights who have it in spades, and cause the enemy to take longer routes around them. His range makes up for their lack of speed, and takes advantage of their area-denial. His inability to deal damage through shields may persuade enemies with shields to use them, denying them their primary and ranged weapons.
Sharpshooter analysis.
His weaknesses include very low health, a long reload on his rifle, a smoke cloud that makes it difficult for him to see, an inability to shoot through shields, and the dagger's low damage in an environment that suggests large weapons.
Layering these over each other, one can conclude that the range and power of the rifle, combined with it's quickly-moving bullets and the pistol's, offset his low health. The high-speed projectiles further offset his low health, as he can leave cover, shoot, and get behind cover before a counter-attack takes his head off. The smoke is both an asset and a hindrance, thus, neutral. The dagger is small and weak, but also unpredictable and quick. Like a pirate.
Team-wise, his low health is often offset by the threat of Skirmishers backstabbing would-be assailants. The power of his rifle can either severely weaken an enemy, making them easy prey for his team mates, or stop them from attacking head-on, creating a hole in their team's defense. It can also persuade enemies with shields to use them, denying them their primary and ranged weapons.
Special analysis.
The Sharpshooter's with a rifle shot and a pistol shot, or a few pistol shots.
The Archer's special is geared more towards dealing a lot of damage to people in a wide line, while the Sharpshooter's is better at disorienting a larger group, and occasionally launching an enemy skywards.
Both are useful for their respective teams.
Closing thoughts. They're different. One's more at home at range, surrounded by metal shields. The other is more adaptable. Effective at long range and out of the way, or swarming with his team mates just out of enemy sword range.
To respond directly:
- The fact of bullet spread counts for something when deciding which weapon is easier to aim. Your personal opinion, doesn't.
- The bow does not have infinite range, though it is longer than that of the pistol. At that sort of range, one should take advantage of the distance, and use the rifle safe in the knowledge that nobody's gonna kill them while they reload.
- The shortsword may have longer range, but the dagger has attack speed. The shortsword can attack from and be parried in all directions. The dagger is unpredictable.
- The question of ammo is a tie-breaker at best.
- The specials work differently because they fufill different roles. The Archer's gets right through a defense, whether of dodging or of shields. The Sharpshooter's has the potential to cause the obliteration of two full teams, spread over a large area that extends behind him in some cases. An opportunity to get out of the way is quite welcome, but even then, that could be taken advantage of. This is less of a stats thing and more of a tactics thing.
- The crossbow does reload faster than the rifle, but it can't headshot, can it?
- Bullets don't need to ricochet off of something to hit their targets. They hit what they're aimed at.
- Your last point is true, though situational. It may be my graphics settings, but I have an extremely hard time seeing anything above the surface when I'm underwater. Perhaps this point doesn't carry as much weight as some of the others?
Edit: updated for the current version.
I thought that is obvious.
Now that's an analysis, clap clap.
I think the two classes are comparable in ability but if I had to give the edge, it would be to sharpshooter actually - although I love playing archer.
To address your points:
1) It depends on the range - close to short range, guns have a huge advantage because they can be fired from the hip easily with a good chance of hitting. Medium I'd say roughly about even between the two. Long range again would go to the rifle as a bow / crossbow may require a "test" shot to find the distance and the flight time of the projectile gives the target more time to dodge.
2) The bow might have a theoretical longer range but due to flight time the chances of hitting a target at longer range decrease dramatically assuming they're not just standing still. I'll give you this one because there is always that chance to hit.
3) Both weapons have pros/cons as others have pointed out. The dagger is very good at finishing badly wounded opponents with its quick strikes. Also, although the dagger only has one "power" direction which requires walking backwards on the part of the SS - chances are that's exactly what will be happening anyway as they are almost certainly fleeing from another class at closer ranges. The butter-knife can actually be a little bit of a liability in the sense that it feels/looks like it should do more damage than what it actually does and gets an archer like me into trouble with relying on it too much.
4) They both carry the same amount of heavy-hitters though.
5) I have to tell you, the number of times I have died while trying to pull that last archer special out of the bag is too many to count. Both are slow, but I'd say the SS has the upper-hand as it is an AoE weapon that not only damages but also blinds. Often times you'll see a good SS fire that special, blow someone into the air and have that pistol ready by the time they land and shoot them while they're still blinded. Put it this way...if you're being pursued by an angry bunch of vikings which would you rather have, a weapon that might kill one and piss the rest off even more or a weapon that can scatter the whole group and give you time to escape?
6) True on that - but the musket can take someone's head off.
7) Bullets can be fired from the hip much more easily though and it's much more difficult to tell when an SS is going to pull that trigger versus an archer having to nock the arrow and draw. Skipping arrows can be fun but it's not really a viable tactic in general as chances are your opponent is going to be in the air coming down at you with some kind of large weapon and an angry facial expression. Accidental skip-hits are fun too but exactly that - accidental and therefore rare.
8) True but as an SS you can "tread water' and shoot from it (at least you can with the pistol). Often times you can catch someone unawares with this tactic.
To sum up my thoughts: the SS is able to be more maneuverable at close range with hip-shots (which also has the duel effect of not telegraphing the actual moment the decision to shoot takes place), more precise with the potential to do head-shot damage at range, has a built-in smoke grenade type effect especially with the musket, has the ability to stun/kill an entire group of enemies with a special and still retains a means to defend at close-range with strong back-pedal dagger thrusts and to finish off wounded players with quick slashes; this is why I give the edge to the SS.
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MOBO: MSI Z87M GAMING
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-4770K OC'd @ 3.7 GHz
GPU: EVGA GTX 660 Ti
RAM: Ripjaws X 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 2133MHz
OS: Windows 10 Technical Preview
Yeah, and he could before the update, that was a point already made.
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MOBO: MSI Z87M GAMING
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-4770K OC'd @ 3.7 GHz
GPU: EVGA GTX 660 Ti
RAM: Ripjaws X 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 2133MHz
OS: Windows 10 Technical Preview
It's not "another" area, it's just an area. Like I said, it was already pointed out. The SS only gained in this update. The new projectile system can be viewed either way. Once you get used to it, it's just fine. In fact, I find it better with hit registration. He can also switch between iron sights faster than before. The archer on the other hand while gaining a headshot ability had his crossbow damage lowered.
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MOBO: MSI Z87M GAMING
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-4770K OC'd @ 3.7 GHz
GPU: EVGA GTX 660 Ti
RAM: Ripjaws X 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 2133MHz
OS: Windows 10 Technical Preview
I don't play SS or Archer, so I forgot about that. But it's a very welcome change
They may be missing from the changelog, but they're definitely there. Like these signs (some that are inconveniently placed as well):
(Full Size)
And more notably, the Knight spawn:
(Full Size)
SS4Life.
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MOBO: MSI Z87M GAMING
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-4770K OC'd @ 3.7 GHz
GPU: EVGA GTX 660 Ti
RAM: Ripjaws X 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 2133MHz
OS: Windows 10 Technical Preview
Oh? I challenge any veteran archer to fight me as a sharpshooter.
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MOBO: MSI Z87M GAMING
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-4770K OC'd @ 3.7 GHz
GPU: EVGA GTX 660 Ti
RAM: Ripjaws X 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 2133MHz
OS: Windows 10 Technical Preview
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=339438488
http://steamcommunit...m/groups/aclans Join and be pro today!
"I like axes"
--kokoronokawari
loli loli loli loli loli loli loli loli
The Sharpshooter doesn't have to charge his shots at all. It is not possible to "spam" with a greater or lesser degree of ease if by "spam" you mean "shoot as quickly and as inaccurately as possible". Ammunition is irrelevant, as it's all over the maps and both classes have more than enough to win or die before they run out.
In situations where I'd have to jump while shooting, I'd probably be in close-quarters combat, and not too worried about accuracy penalties. The specials are not better or worse than each other, they are different, and suited for their respective teams.
The Archer can parry effectively, the Sharpshooter can strike quickly. I think you mean that "The Archer can fire no matter what, it's easy to see etc." While true, it's not enough to support your argument by itself.
I wouldn't call the Archer a lone ranger as much as I'd call him a great ranged generalist. The Sharpshooter's more supportive, but equally versatile.
Well that's on you. If you can't aim your shots, then don't play SS. If you can't aim with him anyway, why defend the Archer?
Then that's your fault for missing, and not taking advantage of the rifle.