The upcoming ‘Onslaught’ Expansion will introduce a lot of changes for each Class, including new abilities, Set Bonuses, and Tactical items. To help explain everything, we’re releasing a series of articles featuring each Advanced Class’s new ability, as well as new Set Bonuses and Tactical items. We will also describe various combat scenarios to show how these changes will mesh together, just like in our previous article covering Operatives and Scoundrels. In today’s article we’re showcasing the Sniper and Gunslinger Advanced Classes!

Sniper





Let’s take a look at the new ability for Snipers!

Holo-Locate - Activating this ability marks your current location for 10 minutes. When this ability is activated again, if you are within 60 meters of the marked location, you instantly return to the marked location. Holo-locate goes on cooldown for 120 seconds when used to return to the marked location.

Alongside a new ability, Snipers will receive a bevy of Set Bonuses and Tactical items. Set Bonuses are extra effects players can get for equipping a certain armor set. For instance, wearing two, four, or six pieces of a set will grant players progressively more powerful boosts. These can be in the form of increased ability potency or an added effect.

Tacticals are slightly different from Set Bonuses. While Tacticals also change how some abilities function, they come in the form of a new gear type. They don’t have actual stats on them like Power, Mastery, or Critical Rating; instead, they augment how an ability will function. Let’s look at some examples of how a Set Bonus and Tactical combination can alter the gameplay of the three Sniper Disciplines: Marksmanship, Engineering, and Virulence.





Marksmanship

“One perfect shot has the potential to change everything, and no one is more precise than the Marksmanship Sniper. From the safety of cover, the Marksmanship Sniper ambushes the enemy and follows up with an encore of penetrating blasts that make extra sure the Sniper’s job is done.”

When it comes to Marksmanship Snipers, distance is key--especially in Player vs Player (PvP) matches. Enemy players will be quick to charge a Sniper to avoid dealing with a volley of nonstop ranged shots. Let’s look at a Set Bonus and Tactical combination that will help our Marksmanship Sniper maintain their distance while applying pressure to anyone who gives chase.





Set Bonus: " Repositioned "

(2 Piece Bonus) +2% Alacrity

(4 Piece Bonus) Reduces the cooldown of Cover Pulse by 5 seconds.

(6 Piece Bonus) Evasion finishes the cooldown of Covered Escape and increases you and your allies’ movement speed by 50% for 6 seconds.

Tactical: " B-0 Differential Targeting System "

Activating Covered Escape or returning to your marker with Holo-Locate makes your next Ambush activate instantly and deal 20% more damage.









We’re in the middle of a heated PvP match, and an enemy player has spotted our Marksmanship Sniper, who’s firing off shots from a distance. The enemy player charges toward our Sniper, who places their Holo-Locate marker and fires a few shots at the incoming enemy player. As the enemy player reaches their feet, our Sniper uses Covered Escape to quickly roll away. Thanks to our B-0 Differential Targeting System, not only does the next Ambush do additional damage, but it’s now an instant cast. This allows our Sniper to fire off a one-two combo of Ambush and Followthrough, all while on the run!

Now that they’re positioned closer to the main fight, our Sniper opts to use Evasion, which has three benefits. Our Sniper now has 200% chance to dodge melee and ranged attacks--allowing them to get back to safety—and thanks to the Repositioned Set Bonus, Evasion also refreshes the cooldown of Covered Escape and gives bonus movement speed to our Sniper’s teammates.

The rival player hasn’t given up the chase yet and is hot on our Sniper’s heels. Much to the enemy player’s displeasure, Covered Escape is used again to avoid them, and they’re hit with another Ambush/Followthrough combo. They try attacking our Sniper one more time, but just as the enemy player is nearly within reach, our Sniper uses Holo-Locate to teleport back to where this chase originally started. Firing off another Ambush and Followthrough combination, our Sniper reminds the enemy player they’ll always remain out of their reach.





Engineering

“Technology-and its application in deploying advanced weaponry-sets the Engineering Sniper apart from the rest. A variety of probes at their disposal allows the Engineering Sniper to attack from a distance with explosions, electrical jolts, and waves of destructive plasma designed to eliminate any target.”

Waking up refreshed and ready to decimate some bosses, our Engineering Sniper aims to hop into Group Finder and complete as many Flashpoints as possible. With this goal in mind, our Engineering Sniper wants a Set Bonus and Tactical combination that will augment their hardest hitting ability, Explosive Probe, and make it pack even more of a punch.





Set Bonus: " Precise Target "

(2 Piece Bonus) +2% Critical Rating

(4 Piece Bonus) Reduces the cooldown of Target Acquired by 15 seconds, and activating Target Acquired restores 15 energy.

(6 Piece Bonus) Laze Targets gets 3 charges and its cooldown is reduced by 15 seconds.

Tactical: " T0-R0 Ionic Discharge "

Explosive Probe now only triggers from EMP Discharge and deals 50% more damage.









Our Engineering Sniper starts off the encounter by priming themselves with Laze Target, increasing the critical hit chance of the next Explosive Probe by 100%. They follow this up with their Interrogation and Explosive Probes. Now that the stage is set, it’s time for detonation! Thanks to the effect of our T0-R0 Ionic Discharge Tactical, our Sniper activates EMP Discharge to trigger Explosive Probe, giving it a 50% damage boost on top of the guaranteed critical hit!

Thanks to the Precise Target Set Bonus, Laze Target gets three charges, so our Sniper can repeat this rotation much more frequently during boss encounters. Between the Set Bonus and Tactical, every Explosive Probe used with Laze Target on a boss can be a guaranteed critical hit with a 50% damage increase. Our Sniper can tear through bosses quicker than ever before!





Virulence

“Some Agents prefer a less direct method of eliminating a target, such as administering poison. Lethal toxins and all-consuming microbes are the domain of the walking biohazard known as the Virulence Sniper, who inflicts lethal shots and lobs corrosive grenades from a safe distance where they can witness the results of their handiwork.”

Similar to their Lethality Operative counterpart, Virulence Snipers are known for their lethal poison damage. These deadly toxins can prove to be fatal, especially in PvP matches. Most people would expect a Virulence Sniper to deal consistent damage over time, but with a Set Bonus and Tactical combination that really boosts our Sniper’s burst damage capabilities, we can turn that expectation on its head.





Set Bonus: " Established Foothold "

(2 Piece Bonus) +2% Mastery

(4 Piece Bonus) The cooldown of Entrench is reduced by 10 seconds.

(6 Piece Bonus) While Entrenched, you build stacks of Entrenched Offense, increasing damage by 1% per stack while you remain Entrenched. Stacks up to 5 times. Breaking cover or Entrench being removed removes Entrenched Offense.

Tactical: " Ultraviolet Blast "

Weakening Blast finishes off all your poison effects at once, dealing all their remaining damage. Weakening Blast's cooldown is increased by 6 seconds.









Escaping the heat of a PvP match, our Virulence Sniper uses Entrench to prepare for another assault. Thanks to the Established Foothold Set Bonus, our Sniper can build up a 5% damage boost to the barrage of incoming damage. As the Entrench stacks build up, our Sniper throws a Corrosive Dart and Corrosive Grenade at an unaware enemy. This is followed up by Cull, a channeled ability that does extra damage for every poison effect currently on the enemy. This standard setup from our Virulence Sniper is sure to draw some attention…

As the enemy player turns their attention to our Sniper, it’s the perfect opportunity to hit them with some unexpected burst damage. Our Sniper uses Weakening Blast, and thanks to their Ultraviolet Blast Tactical, the enemy player takes the remaining damage from all poison effects on them at once! Not giving their opponent a chance to recover, our Sniper finishes them off with a well-timed Takedown. The opponent falls, and our Sniper can set their sights on a new target.



