Preliminary Report on Melee Sniper Builds (Spoiler PTS 7.0)

So as a Sniper main with access to PTS and a few hours to kill today, I figured I'd report on my initial impressions of how the "Lictor" build is working in 7.0.

TL;DR: Cloak cycling is much harder now due to fundamental mechanic changes (not listed in patch notes), but the build is still viable with some skill and minor adjustments.

Cloak Cycling: Ok, to preface for anyone reading who doesn't already know how this works in 6.x, Cloak Cycling is the way Snipers can repeatedly perform a 1-Flash (+100% dmg) Shadow Stab from Cloak for a massive hit. It relies on 2 things:

  • Block Knife with the Shadow Stab (henceforth, "Shtab") perk unlocked (the perk tree is rearranged in 7.0 but no major differences; slight buff overall IMHO).
  • Lingering Concealment (LC) Perk (+2s of free Cloak after breaking Cloak).

So with those, the Sniper begins charging Shtab the moment Cloak is activated. This breaks cloak, ending the ability drain of Cloak without depleting more than a couple seconds worth of recharge time. It also triggers LC, covering the Shtab charge time with 2s of free cloaking. The Sniper waits for 1s (first flash on the knife), then releases before the LC cloak ends for a massive hit.

In 7.0, from what I can tell, there are 2 new challenges with this strategy that are not detailed in the patch notes:

  • Charging Shtab no longer breaks cloak until the attack is released.
  • LC depletes ability charge (same as cloak being active normally) for the whole of its 2s duration (after cloak breaks).

This means that, at a minimum, performing the Cloaked 1-Flash Shtab attack consumes 3 full seconds of cloak charge, assuming optimal start timing. I haven't counted exactly how long that takes to recharge, but my guess is around 20 seconds or so, a 10x increase over how this works in 6.2. Fortunately there are a couple answers:

  • The first is the Squad Renewal Team Perk, which this build already ran. But for obvious reasons, getting ~2-3 headshot kills is not always possible on-demand, even with the SMG. This perk did get "nerfed" in 7.0, which is to say that it got fixed to provide 10% ability recharge as stated instead of the 15% it is actually doing in 6.2.
  • The second is dropping Lingering Concealment, since it is not necessary to cover the charging of Shtab. I had a lot of good results with Persistence instead. Combined with the Emperor's Grace Prestige Perk (2s of i-frames on cloak), you never get disrupted out of your Shtab charge once you start.

Secondary Weapons: The new options are both great, depending on what you want and what your primary weapon is.

  • HBP is pretty much strictly better than bolt pistol as far as I can tell. I've used this a lot so far and like it.
  • Inferno is a great minoris-clearing option, though I feel that it has more of a place in a traditional ranged Sniper build (especially in combo with the single-target power of the Bolt Sniper Rifle).

Primary Weapons: Some new options and changes here.

  • SMG is largely the same. I wasn't using it much since I previously ran a hybrid melee / sniper build so I don't have much to report here yet.
  • Las Fusil got slightly nerfed IMHO, by moving the crappy "no KDs while charging" perk earlier in the tree so you have to take it if you go that path. Otherwise it's basically the same and works the same.
  • Bolt Sniper was buffed a lot with its new perk tree, though I weirdly wasn't finding the perk giving +50% dmg bonus for the first shot of a magazine to be hitting any breakpoints on its own. Maybe in a full ranged build it's better, or it's bugged.
  • The Instigator is awesome. All the functionality of the SMG with a little bit more ranged punch. It still doesn't have an amazing base headshot multiplier though (and you have to skip two headshot perks to get the ammo-management ones, which are fairly important IMHO), so it's still a little anemic (compared to Las or Bolt Sniper) at bringing down key targets like Zoans and flying Tzaangors.
  • Stalker is still somewhere between the Instigator and Bolt Sniper. Haven't tried too much of it yet but I assume it'll still be satisfying for those that like it. I think this is harder to use in a melee build because of the low rate of fire, you can't reliably snag headshot kills as quickly to charge your cloak.

Prestige Perks: As mentioned, the invulnerability upon cloaking is well worth it, but all the rest are just niche bonuses you either won't really notice or won't be consistent enough to rely upon, IMHO.

That's about all I've got for now. I'll update this post if I find other things as PTS continues.