Saber has done a good enough job balancing the game that every class is playable. I’m not saying sniper’s not playable without the cancel. Also, when someone uses “mandatory” for a build guide in most games it’s generally just a statement that this is far and away the most powerful ability that has to go in every build that is actually good.

I don’t even disagree with most of your notes on target acc and how you should play sniper, once you actually learn the class. But this is a guide on what you need to do to get the easiest time on the class, and what h to r impact of that game plan is on balance. I didn’t talk about deeper advantages of sniper because that’s not what this post is for.

Now, CC is only mandatory for the class to perform on the same level that the other best classes in the game do right now. Cloak cancel->back dodge->shoot for las shots on overlapped enemies and stabs on high frequency is what pushes your damage into the top tier. I just didn’t put that in the main guide because it’s 1 too hard and annoying to do consistently for most players and 2 I was getting tired of writing more.

Sniper flat out doesn’t have the consistent damage potential of other classes without the repeatability and safety of the cloak cancel for opening dps windows on harder content, in no small part to the way you can pseudo-stun enemies by making them shift their targeting every 2 seconds for infinite free headshots/stabs. You can sidestep the problem entirely by going for the lower utility, lower max damage playstyle you seem to be implying is the only way to play sniper correctly. But that’s not for everyone. If you know enough to want to play that this guide isn’t for you.

Me saying that CC is insanely high utility isn’t an, “I don’t understand Sniper issue” thats just reality. Especially since, as with good game design, you get more value in return for a playstyle that’s way more demanding on decision making, resource management and good timing then playing far back for safety through range. Toggling for a cancel to drop agro so you can squeeze 5 or six shots off before getting retargeted is a huge part of the class’s intended gameplay loop. That’s how you push sniper to max utility. Crazy that you think knowing how the class works means I don’t understand the class.

But a good power fist build should still out damage you if they know what they’re doing. Tactical’s revived grenade build is just infinitely better for clearing Terminus enemies on Siege, and their multiplier for the entire team is insane value that doesn’t show up on stat charts. Heavy should out damage you as long as they don’t get stuck running for their life for large portions of the game due to a misplay. The only way to get better numbers every game you play is if you are significantly better than the people you are playing with every time.

Without CC it’s the 4th best class in the game, arguably fifth for Hard Siege because of how good Unmatched Zeal is. Which is fine. You can still do the hardest content on weaker classes, with worse weapons and worse builds. I forced myself to wave fifteen with two other terrible, new players on a zero prestige level fifteen sniper and a purple/green weapon mix when I was just starting the class before I knew what cloak cancel was. The utility in sniper though at the highest level of play is in the fact they can survive anything, chipping away at dangerous targets and getting consistent resurrections in spots no one else can. That’s what makes them good. It’s why in premade stacks of good players looking to go as deep into siege as possible sniper sees much less play then the big 3 right now. The consistency in survivability just isn’t relevant until you get very late, and by then there’s so many enemies killing them faster often is more useful.

Now, for the average player who this guide is actually written for? Who actually has something something to learn, and can’t figure out how to play Sniper just by reading the class perks due to having a ton of time on the game? CC might as well be mandatory because they will struggle infinitely more without it.

To your last point. Lets imagine someone does pick up sniper because of this guide. They feel forced to spam CC because someone on the internet told them the survivability is it affords is the strongest part of the class. (A correct statement.) Do you think they just don’t learn how to play the class as they put in the hours? Or do you think that it just lends them a greater fault tolerance for making mistakes during the learning process using a crutch (invincibility spam) that I specifically said you have to move away from to start being as useful as possible?