Will Assault weapons get toned down in 2.2 ? Thread - MISERY mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

In the last few games I've been experimenting with Assault rifles on the Sniper class. I was blown away by the deadly efficiency of these weapons even with Medium proficiency. Simply put- they are too damn accurate!

Starting with a FN2000 that dropped quite early in the game, I soon realized that it could snipe from half way across the map with a high degree of accuracy- while also having an insane fire rate compared to sniper weapons. With cheap and easily acquired class IV piercing rounds, there's not much to fault on it. While not as potent as the SG 500-s (which I also regard as being ridiculously overpowered) My killing efficiency and killing speed increased ten-fold with the FN.

I'm far from being an expert on how these weapons should function in real life, but it doesn't make sense to have (relatively short barrel) fully automatic capable weapons with accuracy ratings rivaling that of some sniper rifles. I've only sampled a handful of assault weapons but my general conclusion is: the effective range should be short-medium going by the weapon ergonomics alone as opposed to pin-point accuracy at 500 meters.

That is not to say that sniper weapons are perfect either, And I believe some balancing should be done on the AI side so that AI have a better chance of returning fire at long ranges. But at this point I don't see any reason to choose a traditional sniper weapon when I have a large range of fully automatic sniper weapons in the form of modern assault rifles.

Is this a consideration for future versions of Misery or am I pissing into the wind ?

I always use a G36 or something of the kind as my primary Sniper weapon because it is good enough for most situations and can mount a grenade launcher( I dig the holgraphic sights too). Sniper rifles are your only option for beating class V armour, and since the characters wearing it are not to be trifled with up close ...

If anything, some of the sniper rifles are nerfed somewhat to keep them from being totally OP. Assault rifles are pretty overpowering which is why they are illegal most places. To make the game a bit more challenging, and to induce more thoughtful choices, a greater rarity for the availability of AP ammo for the assault rifles would be more to my liking. Something similar to the earlier games where until late in the game it was very hard to come by.

That's exactly my point, the assault rifles are way too versatile. They can assume the role of both short, medium and long range weapons while retaining supreme efficiency.

I don't believe sniper rifles are needed at all at this point. Due to the extreme fire rate and high accuracy of assault weapons. Even full exo mercs are dispatched in short order, superseded by the fact you can either head-shot them from 500 meters away, or just swing your head around a corner and fire several well-placed shots in quick succession before the AI can even react.

Conversely, the same engagement with a bulky sniper weapon you get 1 shot every 1.5 seconds plus the expense of aiming a weapon with abysmal handling, making a modern assault rifle superior in both situations. The AI simply aren't quick enough to react to ultra-accurate burst fire in single-shot mode- where one can conceivably fire 3-4 shots in 0.5 seconds with sniper rifle accuracy. It seems omnipotent.

Pseudo-giants and exo wearing mercs used to be something to fear, but the combined rate of fire and accuracy provides too many options to exploit them. My concern is that there is nothing to fear anymore when you have a modern assault rifle in your hands. I believe this could be fixed quite easily by drastically reducing Assault weapon accuracy universally and instead give them slight damage gains at short-medium distances.

To correct the balance offset of the Sniper class, AI could be given augmented load-outs with more emphasis on AI snipers. AI equipped with sniper weapons could have a passive vision increase making them more deadly. That way neither Sniper players or Assault/Recon players will have it easy. This is "Misery" after all.

Nerfing assault rifles would cause huge unrealism and would just not make sense at all. They're fully-automatic weapons that fire full-power cartridges, what do you expect?

My concern is not that they are fully automatic or that they fire full-power rounds, as this is true of real life models. What isn't true is that they have Sniper rifle accuracy.

Firing an AEK or a FN2000 at a stationary target 500+ meters away still grants a 100% hit ratio. I don't think that translates into real-world functionality of such weapons.

A good illustration of how these Assault rifles are far superior to any sniper rifle is the fact you can decimate a group of 4-5 enemies in less than 2 seconds (at sniper ranges) before they can even get off the road or return fire. In the same time-frame you get "one" shot with a dedicated sniper rifle- which may result in a one-shot kill, but the other 4 enemies then run behind cover and into scrub. Essentially making the engagement infinitely harder.

A similar comparison can be made for medium distance engagements, where the sniper rifle becomes even weaker, while the Assault has lost no efficiency. In fact it becomes even more potent due to it's fire-rate potential, extremely high handling and accuracy while still having class IV piercing in addition to grenade launching capabilities. It's like God-mode.

It's only after my recent experimentation with Assault weapons that I could see the irony of playing a Hardcore mod with mechanics and balancing that let players cheese the game through exploitation of different weapon classes. The way modern Assault weapons are balanced seems a likeness to giving the player access to Gatling-sniper-rifles, for that is the current functionality of modern Assault weapons.

Weapons are very easy to modify. Tweak your own.

I actually like to carry a dedicated sniper rifle playing as an assaulter because the accuracy/zoom is much better....or, at least with the configuration I play. Do sniper rifles not zoom in very far in the default config of 2.1?

odizzido wrote:

I actually like to carry a dedicated sniper rifle playing as an assaulter because the accuracy/zoom is much better....or, at least with the configuration I play. Do sniper rifles not zoom in very far in the default config of 2.1?

I've found several Assault rifles that allow 5x zoom magnification by way of upgrade or compatibility. Enough for any Stalker to snipe half way across the map. 4.6x magnification is just as good on them.

What FOV do you play at? I can tell you exactly what file to edit and what factor to use to obtain precisely 4.6X zoom if that is your preference.

AFAIK, there are no 4.6x PSO scopes. I'm not a gun nut, so hardly an expert. Weapons like the Nikonov are designed for accuracy to 700 meters.

Haven't tried the Nikanov yet. Interesting is the fact that the Nikanov has the same "effective range" as a real life Dragunov SVD while having a 200mm shorter barrel. Still I don't think that definition of "effective range" translates to pin-point accuracy like it does in the game. The main difference being a Nikanov can kill at 700m but the accuracy would be greatly diminished since it relies on precise human input and real life bullet physics. The engine isn't advanced enough to impose those constraints correctly, so we see minimal deviation in bullet-drop/velocity to a point it feels non-existent. But as I have said- we still reap the full benefit of accuracy rating to the extent of the weapons peak range.

Simply put, you couldn't reliably head-shot with a Nikanov at 700m, where in the game you can do that with any modern Assault rifle. That's why I think they are unbalanced.

The scope upgrade for the FN2000 is a 4x not 4.6x. I had it confused with the 2.6x scope that fits the AEK. Playing ABC Inferno again, so you don't have to put up with my whining anymore haha!

All constructive criticism is welcome, and ideas. In truth, the better sniper rifles are nerfed for the game to keep them from being too OP. So, the anti-materiel rifles which IRL can really throw a body around and pierce significant thicknesses of wall and steel are greatly reduced in penetration power. I consider scopes between 3.5 and 6X to really be mid-range scopes. 2.2 will see the reduction of a couple scope zooms on the high end with the max being 8X. Also, unintended exploits where you could obtain greater than advertised zooms on some weapons/scopes by using a different FOV are all eliminated. If it says 4X that is exactly what it is. If you use a high FOV that will make the target look smaller and any deviation from a perfect shot will result in a miss. It will appear 4X bigger than without a scope, but no more. Iron sights zooms are greatly reduced as well.

Still, I stand at the ready to guide anyone to reduce a particular weapons zooms before and after upgrade if they really want it.

The upgradeable weapons do have a trade off in that the player must choose to permanently make it either a mid-range sniper weapon or leave it at a suitable closer range weapon. CQC with 4X zoom is less practical and all weapons are more accurate when sighted via iron sights or scope than when fired from the hip or using just the cursor.

Very few players will run at 600-700 meters for switch_distance so targets at that range will not be drawn.

Happy Hunting!

I very much agree with OP, and i think in general, the main issue is that rapid single shot fire (ie. spamming your mouse 1) is waaay to accurate.

You can basically make groupings of 3-4 shots in a second, with a spread that completely negligible, thus completely overpowering the difference between damage of the weapons. Furthermore, mistakes dont hurt as much. If you miss a shot on a assault rifle, it takes a quarter of a second to readjust. On slow sniper-rifles, it takes enough time to warrant changing locations.

I think that assault rifles need to either have their single shot recoil turned up a notch, or their accuracy at long ranges drastically reduced. Same goes for semi-auto snipers vs manuals, the difference in performance makes it a no brainer.

Someone should do a video demonstrating firing 4 single shots in a tight group with a stopwatch showing the 100ths of a second tick off.

Every time you fire from a position you should be moving, especially if you miss or it is within sight of another npc. If you are firing 4 single shots at each NPC, it belies the claim of being too accurate in my view.

Again, tweaking a single weapon takes only a minute and a couple more to test. Editing 3200 weapons files to set a different balance point for a very small minority who have issue with them is another matter altogether. Someone who feels strongly about it should do a weapons mod with their own take on weapon balance. It's not at all difficult for anyone with a month (very conservative estimate) of free time per round of adjustments.

Not sure if it's been said, but, you can tweak the files yourself. Adjust the damage and rarity of things to your own liking or, find someone who knows how to do it and ask them, politely, if they could make you a little difficulty patch.

Go back to the north, Stark !

Assault rifles ARE accurate to long ranges, especially the presumably souped up and mofified versions ingame.

Try using the AK 47 or something at long range, its pretty inaccurate, its only the higher tier weapons you can reliably snipe with.

AEK is a VERY modern weapon, and highly accurate in reality.

I disagree. While ARs are undoubtedly a versatile and powerful weapon, a shotgun is better up close and a sniper rifle is more accurate and powerful at long range. An assault rifle just fills any role acceptably. Maybe an increase in recoil would be warranted, but other than that, working as intended.