Dear fellow Snipers,

After the update for the Sniper, we all got the famous (or infamous) Huntsman. While this is a very fun weapon to play with, and perhaps handy in close range against spies, for long distances it pretty much sucks compared to the Sniper rifle.

Don't get me wrong, you can very well hit something with it, however the time it takes for the arrow to fly the distance makes it much harder to hit someone with, not to mention headshot someone.

Therefor i have an idea for a special item which should help boost the huntsman, and wanted to share it on this thread.
What if the Sniper got a special headgear item (hat) as a drop item instead of one which goes in the usual 3 slots? The Hood of Robin!

This item is haunted by the long gone spirit of Robin Hood, therefor anyone who wears it automatically receives mini-crits from anyone who hits it's wearer as a penalty due to the curse, taking away the advantage the huntsman has against close range oponents.

However! The ghost of Robin Hood guides the arrow fired by the huntsman while the Sniper is wearing this special headgear! This has two effects:

1: All arrows don't have any traveling time, or very little, meaning that once you have someone in your sight you don't have to worry about him running to another place and the arrow hitting the barn right next to him, leading to a very emberassed Sniper.

2: SEEKER ARROWS! To counter the disadvantage of not having a scope, and the fact that the automatic mini-crits against the sniper now make him useless in close range, he will be buffed for long range.

The seeker arrows automatically seek out an opponent (preferably his head) who is within a certain radius of the Sniper markpoint. The diameter could be about half the Snipers length, meaning that Snipers will no longer have to spam arrows or throw salt over their shoulder just to be able to hit an opponent, and are actually ABLE to get a headshot.

This may seem powerfull, but it's a high risk item: other snipers with the sniper rifle will be able to kill an enemy sniper wearing the hood instantly, not to mention a soldier firing a rocket next to him! Did i mention pyro's who come to visit?

The upside is that we Huntsman users will no longer have to fire an arrow at long range, and be forced to calculate where it might hit, hoping for a hit, and praying for a headshot.
With all the upgrades the Heavy has gotten, I think giving the Sniper a chance to make the huntsman usefull for long ranges sounds pretty fair. Especially given the permanent mini-crit penalty the Sniper will have to endure.

I hope this or something similar will be given to us Snipers in the future, especially since the Spy has pretty much gotten the longer end of the stick compared to us Snipers (+100% regen and headshot with their revolver anyone?) Don't get me wrong, i love the huntsman and the jar o pee, but it just seems fair to ask for a buff.

Thanks for reading, give me your opinions in the comments below and tell me what you think of it.

Niels

How would you be able to function alone?

Also, "Sniper" is supposed to "snipe". Meaning aim. Seeker arrows would not have any skill-based additions.

"How would you be able to function alone?"

Simple, you try not to find yourself in a position in which you do, snipers are pretty dead if a pyro sneaks up to them anyway.

"Also, "Sniper" is supposed to "snipe". Meaning aim. Seeker arrows would not have any skill-based additions."

Then why is it so much easier to hit long range targets with the sniper rifle?

And they would very much still need "skill based additions", seeing as you still have to aim for the opponent within the radius of the cilinder. It's not meant to do the aiming for you, it's meant to counter the fact that the huntsman has a much lesser chance to hit an opponent due to the arrows flight speed. Not to mention the fact that all headshots are basically done out of luck.

The radius doesn't have to be that wide, just wide enough to prevent that very frustating "just missed him" moment.

Like i said, see it as a high risk, but high reward item. If you don't like it, don't wear it and use the huntsman normally

Same reason why i don't use the direct hit, the -70% blast radius is just a too big penalty for me, even with the speed and damage increase. No item is better then the other.

The "chance of hitting a target" you speak of depends on the sniper's skill. Experienced huntsman snipers know how to use it and can hit long-range targets. If a sniper wanted to hit ONLY long range targets, then he/she would use the rifle.

Quote:Then why is it so much easier to hit long range targets with the sniper rifle?

Because people can aim.

That frustrating "just missed him" moment helps the sniper improve and lead on his target the next time he shoots. Missing = mistake--> learn from your mistakes and don't ask for buffs that make sniping easy for everyone.

Just my two cents here, but I believe that sniping is almost an artform. Sure, there are those of you who refer to the huntsman as the "lulzman" but in fact in the hands of a good sniper, it is less luck and more skill. For instance, seeing a heavy walk by with a glowing beam behind him is a pretty good indication of a medic following. Therefore, I shoot a second before I see the medic and wham, headshot. It also helps when you know the trajectory of the arrow and height of the player models.

If you were to give the huntsman a buff like "seeker arrows", it would make them so overpowered that people who used to play sniper well will get mad. Its like saying, "I don't want to take the time to learn to use a class/weapon, so lets take out the skill and just make it a noob weapon."

Perhaps instead of what you suggest, I could live with a hood that gives the ability to fire three arrows at once in a random scatter pattern withing a few foot grouping to increase the chance of hitting an enemy. The accuracy of the bow would need to be dropped though, and the quiver size would need to remain the same as the sniper would run out of arrows so quickly that it would make it hard decision to use the three arrows. Also, the reload time would need to be longer since knocking three arrows takes much longer than just one.

"Perhaps instead of what you suggest, I could live with a hood that gives the ability to fire three arrows at once in a random scatter pattern withing a few foot grouping to increase the chance of hitting an enemy. The accuracy of the bow would need to be dropped though, and the quiver size would need to remain the same as the sniper would run out of arrows so quickly that it would make it hard decision to use the three arrows. Also, the reload time would need to be longer since knocking three arrows takes much longer than just one. "

That actually isn't a half bad idea! I think i agree in a sence with the posts here, although skill can only bring you that far. The tip with the heavy is a good one, but there is always far too much luck involved for my taste.

Perhaps the hat could go in the secondary slot, though the minicrits would then be too disadvantous