I got those sniper ADS blues.
Helldivers 2’s sniper rifles have a problem—the problem is they’re kinda terrible to use. The last balance patch has attempted to address that by bumping the anti-materiel rifle’s (AMR) damage by a chunky 30%—and while it can tear through enemies in the hands of a skilled player, there’s still a lingering issue: The scope on the thing doesn’t work.
Go into ADS (Aim Down Sights) mode with the AMR and you’ll find yourself whiffing shots. That’s because to hit your target, you need to aim with the top left corner of the reticle, rather than the center. Here’s a great video demonstrating the problem via CoseyPigeon on the game’s subreddit.
Anti Material rifle sights Missaligned bug. Please upvote so devs can see. from r/Helldivers
The AMR isn’t the only weapon with this bugbear, but it’s by far the most noticeable since, well, it’s a sniper rifle. Being accurate is sort of the whole point.
Arrowhead’s senior game designer Alex Kravchenko, fortunately, is aware of the problem—and is working on a fix, though “it’s a time consuming and iterative process, so the only thing we need is time and your trust.”
(Image credit: The official Helldivers 2 discord.)
Despite this, when Kravchenko asked for AMR-specific feedback, players gave it a solid thumbs up. “I’m enjoying the extra oomph,” writes one player, while another observed it was “more consistent at killing medium [armoured bugs]”. Still, overall feedback was universally: “Good, but fix scope.”
“Okay so judging by all the feedback, the game is great and has no issues, and the sights are awesome and well calibrated,” Kravchenko jokes, later signing off with the promise that “If there is an issue, it has to be resolved. Arc thrower misfiring, spear not locking correctly, misaligned scopes.”
It’s not all positives, however. Players have also been a little baffled by comments regarding nerfs to the Slugger shotgun, which Kravchenko notes “was just hands down the best sniper rifle out there, which is not fitting for, you know, a shotgun”. The only issue is, the last patch nerfed the Slugger by reducing its stagger force, overall damage, and demolition force. None of which stop it from being effective at range.
(Image credit: The Helldivers 2 discord.)
Still, the AMR and Diligence Counter Sniper buffs at least seem to be an indication that Arrowhead’s aware of its lacking long-range options. Personally, I’ve had no reason to swap from the new Warbond’s LAS-16 Sickle, which my fellow writer Morgan Park rightfully called out as a favourite. It’s got a small wind-up, but it’s very capable of turning bots to scrap metal at a distance—and the scope works, which is a plus.
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