TL;DR Go to the bold part that says "The Solution" Basically by making only certain scopes available based on sniper impact, players will have to choose between rez sniping with a long range scope or getting closer sniper kills with a lower impact sniper. Calls for sniper nerfs are currently abound. With this much outcry Bungie is likely to respond in some manner. However the solutions the community are posing stand the risk of pretty much dismantling snipers of any functionality in pvp and worse yet some proposals would be even more disastrous in pve. As much as I dislike playing sniper peekaboo I actually don't want to ruin more weapons. Descoping, for instance, would mean the death of snipers if something like a stray AR bullet from across the map hits for 2 damage and causes you to descope. It would also be a major pain in pve where a large amount of damage comes in the form of aoe. Have fun sniping golgoroth when you have to rescope every time a cursed thrall nicks you for some damage. [b]The Problems:[/b] [i]Lack of Clear Design Goals for Sniper Rifles[/i] Bungie's design goals for sniper rifles is the classic "effective in long range, significantly more difficult to use in medium and close ranges" which is honestly as vague as you can make a design goal. Is long range across skyshock? Or is long range from the water tower to the lake spawn on Rusted Lands? Good luck trying to define medium range or even close range. But even with vague definitions of what medium and long distance means there's a pretty solid gut feeling that snipers are still very effective as weapons that you can swap to and pop a head down a small hallway once you see red on your radar. [i] Lack of Variety of Snipers Used [/i] Another problem is the lack of variety in sniper rifles. It's quite easy to see why and it's not because of aim assist. A sniper rifle with 31 impact or higher can one shot kill any guardian even if they have an overshield and max armor or are in a damage resistant super. Any sniper in the 22/16/13/10 impact range is pretty much worthless unless you are specifically going for double taps. There are some outliers like Defiance of Yasmin and Praedyth's Revenge that can't rez snipe but either have a really nice clear scope or are pretty much two shot scout rifles. [i] Only Three Effective Scopes [/i] Ambush SLH25, Shortgaze SLH10, Tacsys SLS15 There are eighteen (legendary) sniper scopes if you include the Hakke and Omolon exclusive ones. Ambush and Shortgaze SLH10 are generally considered the "best scopes" because they have the lowest zoom (4.5x) of all other scopes. Preference between the two is largely dependent upon how much you believe aim assist helps you. Some people swear by the Tacsys (6x) and it pretty much seems like the "I didn't get Ambush or Shortgaze but I like the roll" choice of scope. These three problems combined is what I believe to be the root of the problem with snipers in their current state. Only having a couple of snipers that are immensely powerful in that they can rez/super snipe as well as roll with low zoom scopes while all other snipers get scrapped without a second thought because of their impact stat is a problem. [b] The Solution [/b] 1. Clearly define the role of snipers based on their archetype. 2. High impact snipers can only roll with longer ranged scopes, Low impact snipers can only roll with low range scopes, thereby providing a motivation to use low impact snipers without actually messing with how snipers work. I went on a really neat site that laid out all the scopes and magnifications currently in destiny. 31+ Impact snipers: Their role is to be heavy hitters, capable of taking out powerful foes with overshields and supers with a single headshot from far away. They should actually take more skill to use in medium distance encounters than they currently are. You hold up from a safe place and you take your time. You know map flow like the back of your hand and can predict where enemies will be before they even know. You take advantage of this with every shot and every shot further when they rage and try to get you. You hear a hammer clang or a stormtrance activation and know that your aim is true enough to take them down when they round that corner. Scope choices: Eagleeye SLR20-9x Sightsys SLS20- 8x Longview SLR20-7x Hawkeye SLR15-6x Tacsys SLS15-6x ATB Long Range 5.65x (hakke) WildHawk SLS20-5.5x Aquilla SS4 5.5x (Omolon) Corvo SS2 5.5x (Omolon) ATD Raptor 5.15x (hakke) 29- Impact snipers: This archetype is for your run and gun hyper aggressive snipers. The first to rush into a hallway, aim down sight, and start firing, quickly swapping back and forth between weapons. Body shot one guy, finish with half a mag of last word, start shooting second guy with the remaining last word mag, follow up with a body shot, get another body shot on another guy follow up with the throwing knife. That kind of stuff. Scope Choices: Longview SLR10-5x Viewtac SLH20-5x Yepaki SS2 5x (Omolon) Condor SS2 5x (Omolon) Faucon SS1 4.8x (Omolon) ATA Scout 4.65x (hakke) Shortgaze SLH10- 4.5x Ambush SLH25- 4.5x What I hope that this will achieve for snipers is that players will actually have to make choices based on their playstyles. If they like to run and snipe aggressively they may want to put down the 1000 yard stare and maybe pick up a Tao Hua Yuan with Ambush. If they like to rez snipe and hardscope doorways then they will need to get used to longer ranged scopes and play more conservatively from a bit further away. Personally I think these changes actually help snipers as a whole by playing to their strengths rather than outright nerfing them into submission. 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