Let's talk about sniper rifles and their horrible accuracy?

Borderlands Loot and Weapons
#1

So I started Mordecai not so long ago. And since I feel Trespasser is an amazing skill, I decided to go the sniper way.
But then I realized how unaccurate sniper rifles are. I have hard time landing headshots on enemies 10-15 meters away from me and enemies which are at a range of, like, 30 meters are nearly impossible to hit.
I specced into the sniper rifle accuracy skill, and every sniper with around 80-90 accuracy should be around 100-112.
So is that normal, that sniper rifles are so bad, or am I doing something wrong?

#2

I don’t have the exact details but I guess barrel types have hidden accuracy buffs and penalties. So you can have a sniper that shows 95% or more accuracy but in reality it feels closer to 20%.

If you ask me this is terrible and ruins sniping in bl1 for me.

If the stats changed on the card with the barrel it would help but you need to really study the gun parts to have a clue to why this happens.

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#3

Here’s the problem: your sniper has Barrel 2. Barrel 2 is the most inaccurate barrel in the game, for any gun type. It’s not that snipers are inaccurate, it’s that Barrel 2 is junk. If you can get a sniper that has barrel 5 or so, then you’ll be much more accurate.

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#4

And sniper rifle proficiency plays a big part in accuracy too.

And the accuracy skill doesn’t add a flat % boost on top of guncard accuracy, it more “closes the gap” between guncard and perfect accuracy.

#5

If the barrel isn’t 4 or 5, don’t bother with it.
And I’d like to argue that barrel 4 isn’t worth it unless it is the Bessie.

Unless it is a Penetrator, but that is a sniper rifle who thinks it’s a combat rifle.

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#6

So. how do I know which barrel is which?
Looked up and found this.


Does it mean best parts are at 5, and worst at 1?

#7

Barrel4 does the highest damage, but has slightly more spread than barrel5, which is the second strongest in pure damage, but it is also the most accurate. On shotguns 4 is argueably better for instance.

Also:
There’s a bug that sometimes applies hipfire accuracy to ADS, instead of the intended ADS accuracy.

#8

Just something I thought I should mentioning after watching your video, you can tell roughly how accurate your sniper is by the zoomed in scope. In the very middle is a red dot, and surrounding that is a thin-lined circle.

Examples!

This is the Gamble type sniper I keep around. Gambles, as their name implies, are very inaccurate but when you hit a crit with them they deal gigantic damage.

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88.0 accuracy is pretty crap, and looks like this when scoped in(with a low zoom scope).

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As compared to my Hyperion Lance, with guncard accuracy of 98.5(and high zoom scope).

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The difference is night and day.

So when you fire, the bullet will go somewhere in the circle in the middle. So when firing you might not want to center your sights directly on a critical spot, but actually aim so you’re more likely to get a hit at all.
As you start finding more quality weapons, stat-boosting COMs, etc. you’ll find your sniping getting more consistent. Except for that damn flinching you do when you get shot, that’s always there.

And I was wrong earlier when I mentioned sniper proficiency raising accuracy, forgot they get stability instead accuracy buffs.

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#9

If every sniper rifle had pinpoint accuracy, there would be no reason to spec into different skills, generate different ones or build skill with using them, which would make for a worse game.

BL2 ‘fixed’ this by making nearly every gun + rarity level weapon the exact same.

#10

This is a great explanation! Going off the top of my head, I’m pretty sure a Vladof gamble is the most inaccurate sniper rifle in the game. Get a better one and you’ll have more fun with it :slight_smile:

#11

Yeah, they are, but if they were more accurate what’s the point?

BLACKJACK

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JACKPOT

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SOME OTHER GAMBLING TERM

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Now, let’s ignore the other 20 screenshots I took right after firing.

#12

@billthebetta Thank you for reminding me that my game is censored with your cool screens :dukecry:

#13

Ugh, nooooooo. Anything but that! Sorry if this thread has been a bit of a bummer for you, all I can do is wish you luck on finding some sniper upgrades and a solid Sniper COM.

“A guy without a sniper COM is just a guy with a gun.” - Marcus Kincaid

#14

@billthebetta I forgot to ask. Is the red circle a thing that happens to be there in the scope texture, and a guideline for the spread, or is it an actual mechanic? That the ring is intended to show the spread of scopes.

#15

It varies in size depending on the accuracy of the gun, so it does indeed show the spread. Your bullet will go somewhere inside that circle.

1 Like
#16

Horrible accuracy? Big momma Bessie begs to differ. :sunglasses:

#17

This topic is weird, because people with dedicated sniper builds complain about sniper accuracy, while my Heavy Gunner Roland headshots perfectly fine with a Gamble.

#18

Depends on range. Gambles are OK at short-medium, past that you’re gonna need a lot of luck to hit anything, much less crit.