Long War Class Builds - Sniper

Snipers are super fun.

Everyone likes the Sniper. This is a super fun soldier to play, especially in the late game when ITZ enables vicious killing sprees. Before MSGT rank, the Sniper is confined to firing once per turn, while every other shooter class gets bonus shots much earlier. No matter. The Sniper makes up for this weakness with super high aim, squadsight, and disabling shot. With these skills the Sniper can guarantee shots, hit enemies that are otherwise unreachable, and control enemies like no other soldier. The Sniper is a very well designed class, being both a pure shooter, and also very unique. They occupy a role in the squad that is hard to replace.

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• Deadeye

• Disabling Shot

• Ranger

• Vital Point Targeting

• Lock N’ Load

• In the Zone

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Deadeye

Its good to have this skill on at least one soldier in your squad. The Sniper is a really good fit, because of their high aim, and the fact that ITZ procs on flyers. With Cyberdiscs and Heavy Floaters always a threat, Deadeye is valuable throughout the campaign.

Alternative: Low Profile or Lone Wolf

Low Profile is a good ability because there is never enough cover for all your soldiers. Someone needs to take the half-cover. Still, I tend to keep my Sniper out of range using squadsight, and also field SHIVs and MECs which draw most of the fire.

Lone Wolf is tricky to use. It is one more thing to worry about when positioning your soldiers, which is already complicated enough. This ability encourages you to spread out your squad, which is often dangerous. Usually I am most in need of bonus aim when fighting numerous enemies, which means my guys are probably clustered together in a cloud of smoke.

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Disabling Shot

This is a life saving ability. Disabling a Mechtoid, or Cyberdisc will give your squad a full turn of relative safety. There are very few methods of controlling the enemy in the early game, suppression and flashbangs, and those are both soft control. Later you will acquire both chem grenades and mindfray, which are also only soft control. There are only 4 methods of full control in the game, the others being Psi Panic, Mind Control, and the Flamethrower. Disabling Shot is available sooner, and has a higher probability of success in most scenarios than the other methods of full control. It is also invaluable when capturing aliens.

Alternative: Precision Shot or Snapshot

Precision Shot is a great ability that is not as good as disabling shot.

Snapshot is a neat ability that enables the Sniper to carry a sniper rifle but still be able to move with the squad and still overwatch, or reposition and shoot. While this ability does make the sniper rifle a more viable option, it is not necessary to that loadout and comes at a high cost. For those who plan to equip the Gauss Long Rifle it’s a price worth paying.

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Ranger

+1 damage is great as it will often make the difference between killing an enemy in one shot, instead of two. Ranger also complements ITZ as it will help keep the chain from breaking.

Alternative: Damn Good Ground or Sharpshooter

Damn Good Ground is ok, but with elevation, your Sniper already has +20 aim. I generally prefer abilities that help my soldiers when they are in a bad situation, or better yet, in every situation.

Sharpshooter is a great ability as it will help the Sniper in tough situations. One of the few situations in which your Sniper will not have a high probability to hit, will be when shooting at an enemy behind full cover. Of all the bonus aim abilities offered to the Sniper I think this is the best option. The others are either not as good or compete against better alternatives than Ranger.

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Vital Point Targeting

+2 Damage is great. Just like Ranger, this is going to make a huge difference, especially with ITZ. The alternatives to VPT are both skills that grant bonus aim in certain scenarios. With aim already so high, the Sniper benefits more from bonus damage, than bonus aim.

Alternative: Executioner or Platform Stability

Executioner is a very good ability, that is usually redundant for the Sniper but can come in handy against the nastiest enemies, and in awkward situations.

Platform Stability is another bonus aim ability that can often be redundant for the shooter with the highest aim, but like Executioner will occasionally make a difference.

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Lock N’ Load

LNL allows the Sniper to disregard concerns about ammunition, which results in being able to shoot more often. Without this ability, the ITZ Sniper will want to reload at the end of a chain, to refill a depleted clip. When ammunition gets low, trying to extend the chain becomes risky, as it may leave the Sniper without sufficient ammunition on the following turn. With LNL that risk is eliminated completely, furthermore the Sniper can take a final shot at an enemy in cover, or use Disabling Shot, knowing that the next turn can start off with a reload if necessary. My guess is that LNL adds an extra shot at least half the time that there is something left to shoot at, and sometimes enables a full chain of shots, when otherwise the Sniper would have needed to reload.

Alternative: Tactical Sense or Bring ‘Em On

TacSense is a great ability that will prevent enemies from targeting your weakest soldier. It shouldn’t matter very often, though, as Snipers should be well behind the front lines, using squadsight to target enemies.

Bring ‘Em On is great, but conflicts with ITZ, which rewards the Sniper for targeting enemies that are guaranteed kills, or nearly so. In such cases, a crit isn’t even necessary, let alone bonus crit damage. This ability is great for Snipers that plan to pick Double Tap, or Mayhem.

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In the Zone

One of the best abilities in the game, ITZ becomes a principle tool in every encounter, and often enough the actions of every other soldier revolve around setting up targets for the Sniper to cap. With ITZ the Sniper is transformed into the most effective killer in the game, that still possesses limbs.

Alternative: Mayhem or Double Tap

Mayhem is the exact opposite of ITZ; instead of granting more shots, it makes the Sniper’s single shot one of the most deadly in the game. That is not as good as firing more bullets.

Double Tap is also not as good as ITZ, but still very good. The only reason I see to take this ability is if you are picking ITZ on your Scouts or MECs and don’t want too many soldiers with ITZ which would create conflicts, and diminishing returns.

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