Snipers and Shotguns [ Edited ]

[Peri_Longbow_plz]

I finally decided to open this thread. I was unsure about it at first but really, after having 10 games today with the same outcome and result, I have to speak up about it.

Let me elaborate my personal issue with snipers and shotguns in detail.

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Snipers

I am someone who has always taken on the role of a sniper in games. I love ranged combat. Ranged combat to me is the risk/reward kind of approach where you are exceptionally useful in ranged engagements, but in turn you're vulnerable to close quarter combat. And every shot can reveal your position, or at least reveal that someone is aiming at you. In other words, you either land your shots right, or you're screwed.

Truth be told, in Apex Legends I don't have nearly as much fun with snipers as I do in various other games. And frankly it's not even the lack of insta-kill potential on snipers, it's the amount of cover offered and the lack of viable vantage points that rip snipers out of their context. In other words: You have nothing to shoot from a safe distance. This goes to a point where you prefer a G7-Scout over a sniper because it's way more versatile.

Here is the problem: Open fields are usually the safest to traverse. What do you have to fear anyway? You frantically move anyway, simply because you know snipers could have a lock on you. And if you get shot at, viable cover in the most cases is in grasping range. On the open field, I'm more scared running into people than a sniper potentially shooting me. And I have yet to die to a Sniper/Kraber after 130 levels, that's not a lie.

I also have yet to make a kill with a sniper that is actually purely done BY a sniper. And I'm not going to waste 20 bullets on a knockdown shield as the target slowly crawls behind a rock (and gets revived).

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Shotguns

Shotguns are the exact opposite. Aside from the R-99, shotguns are the weapons I fear the most. Many people I run into use EVA-8 or Mastiff or R-99. Both excellent weapons with a big damage output. Unless my opponent sucks entirely, my fights usually end there. And no, I am not terrible at using covers. But a Shotgun simply dishes out all the damage in a single burst, which makes peeking so much easier.

This goes up to the point where I simply take a Mastiff myself. And the performance is astonishing. With good peeking, movement and aiming, 3 well aimed shots can end the combat with you only taking minimal damage, ready for the next opponent, and killing the downed target is all the more easy with shotguns. And this is what I find unfair.

Shotguns perform so godly in this game. Of course, the opinions about weapons vary, and not everyone can handle a shotgun and prefers a sprayer weapon. Still, in the hands of a good player, EVA-8 or Mastiff can be monsters. Well, so is the R-99...

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So, what is my personal thought? Snipers are underwhelming because we have little uses for their actual purpose, which is ranged combat over a safe distance, while shotguns currently are overwhelming and fit perfectly into the cramped playstyle. I mean 80% of the times, you meet people in tighter quarters. Shotguns are not THAT inaccurate, and unless you suck entirely with aiming and you likely would have lost with any weapon, even combat across 10 - 15 meters is easy with a shotgun.

To be honest, I'm personally hoping for 2 changes in season 6 or season 7:

- More open space with actual support for snipers.

- More open space with less support for shotguns.