Hero Concept: Realistic Sniper

General Discussion
1

I know Blizzard doesn’t usually take community suggestions for heroes, but I’ve been thinking about one recently. He’s a defense hero, with a sniper rifle (I know what you’re thinking, but hear me out) and a pistol as a secondary. He’s really a skill-heavy hero that requires a lot of skill to master. The hero is based on the realistic physics when it comes to sniping, such as bullet drop off and effects of wind. Here are the weapons and abilities.

Primary: Sniper Rifle
Powerful long range sniper rifle. The bullet arcs so you may need to aim a little higher than usual. There may wind, so you might have to aim right or left respective to the direction of the wind. Also, there is no steady aim, so the scope will be moving. Damage output is 150 with 2.5x multiplier for headshots.

Secondary: Pistol
Semi-automatic pistol. Damage output is 85, but rapid firing of this weapon makes it extremely ineffective at long range. The time it takes for the reticle to go back to regular position (100% accuracy) is longer than McCree’s revolver’s firing rate, so DPS output would be relatively same.

E Ability: Instinct
Using this steadies your aim and reveals the location of all enemies on the map (like Widow’s infra sight) but only to you. Using this depletes a bar and you must wait for it to be replenished.

Shift Ability: Rappel
Similar to Widow’s grappling hook, this is a rappel that can be steadied in mid air to shoot at a target. It can also be used to climb walls.

Ult: Chasing Bullets
You switch your ammo to a special kind that homes in on your enemy, eliminating your need to aim. Bullets that are deflected by Genji will target you, so this will be a good counter.

Passive: Stealth
Staying still will cloak you to become invisible. While in “stealth” mode, you have quicker weapon switches, faster scoping, and passive healing.

This’ll probably not get added to the game, but it’ll be interesting to see what others think. Leave your criticism in the comments below.

1 Like
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Reminds me a lot of Nova in Heroes of the Storm

3

They would have to implment a “wind” system and it would just be more stuff to break down when someone SNAFUs later. A cool concept but no thanks.

1 Like
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The wind system would only apply to the hero.

5

So a sniper from Battlefield? Also heavy aim hero you mean.

6

Yes, that’s what the hero is about. Overwatch has many unrealistic heroes, so maybe this one should be the first.

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Well i have to say this. Hard to balance. First if he is the only one affected by wind, then that means rng is going to be involved, and not having enough consistency is going to be detrimental.

Stealth snipers, not my vup of tea honestly. They can be very annoying.

Chasing bullets? You first need to define how hard or soft is the lock on in enemies. Then if you have to lock the target first or random target(problem).

Instinct honestly leaves Widow ult irrelevant. In a uncommunicated team not, bit with a little communication is op. I would make it just hold breath ability.

Rappel and pistol are fine.

To end i don’t think that kind of sniper could work in this setting( either too strong or too weak). Too many random things too.

8

I know you want realistic but that’s too realistic.

9

Realistic sniper - lays down on ground for 2 days pissing himself but unable to move until target is neutralized

2 Likes
10

Had a quick glance through your post. Sounds like Widow with physics enabled.

I don’t mind another sniper but you gotta mix it up more than this fam.

11

Bullet physics would be pointless in this game. At the ranges we play at, those would have to be some super wonky physics to even notice them 90-95% of the time.

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Overwatch’s core design is unrealistic heroes. You can’t fit a cube into a circular opening. What you want is a different game.

They can absolutely add more traditional FPS heroes with actual guns, even if they’ve still futurist fantasy powers to go with it. But the full scope of your design is not for this game.

13

The sniper is too unreliable in a game all about mobility like overwatch.

No thoughts on the pistol ,might be a bit OP in close rangs though.

UPAF ,what makes infra-sight so good is the fact that teammates can see exact silhouettes and positions ,something you just can’t describe in VC ,and the sniper us too unreliable for you yourself to use the ability.

Homing bullets on a sniper is just OP.

Rappel is fine.

The passive is OP ,I can see this hero just standing still near the enemy backlines while they’re respawning ,and just insta-gibbing a healer with the sniper (It’s close range ,so realistic physics won’t effect it much) and just spamming pistol on the other until they die

14

Sounds like Stryx from Paladins but with a handful of differences.
I would rather Blizzard get their first cloak hero done right before they attempt to make another one.

Also I don’t see the point in making “realistic” sniper physics for a single sniper. What’s the reward for doing so? Both other snipers can OHK already. Rappel seems kind of pointless because most maps have an open outdoors and most maps that have buildings are too small where hanging from them would be kind of pointless.

Kind of contradictory to have a hero have to learn how to aim differently than everyone in the game but then give an ult that takes that away.

Seems like a mish mash of ideas with little thought put together. Only thing I really like about the kit at all is that it’s trying to be more expansive than current kits. Which I think is sorely needed for offensive and defensive heros.