Look, the SHARP rifle needs to be thrown into the dustbin of CM history. Better things have been removed, like Tank, APC, Scattergun, and Anti-Material rifle; this thing BLOWS.
Weapon specialists are meant to be the protagonists, members of the groundside Marine force that can save the right person, kill the right Xeno, or give the push the extra umph it needs to get across the finish line and grab the dub Scout, Pyro, SADAR, Grenadier, and even Sniper fill this role to an extent. But then you have the SHARP. This sad, pathetic gun is just useless. As an SL, I would rather have another SG or medic than a SHARP specialist. If I wanted someone to shit out mines, Iād have a CT buy Claymores. Burst damage? SADAR sniper or SG fills that role. If the silly Sam who made this weapon desperately wants to keep it in, then add it as a restricted weapon like the Heavy pulse, but as it stands right now, it is a noob trap that takes up a slot that is too important for it.
Tank is still in the game, itās locked behind a pop limit. APC, was removed because they kept blocking the queen from leaving LV 624 caves, leading to free kills on the queen if the driver was good (This isnāt why it was removed, just speculation). Scattergun with replaced with Brute which is just so much cooler IMO. AMR is still in the game.
In my opinion, Sharp should stay. Not because itās good or consistent but because itās fun. Not everything in this game has to be effective at killing xenos. I know a marine player that only carries a revolver to every deployment because they have fun with it.
I think sharp should stay because itās fun and itās clear that while a small minority do use it, itās fun. Iāve been saved a handful of times from backliners after sharp āsharps offā the medics so nasty runners canāt jump in and ruin the people Iām doing IB on.
Sure you could use a pack of claymore, but claymore donāt get deadlier with time. You could also have a Sharp WITH a claymore. Iād like that personally as a medic.
Also, someone spent time coding and spriting SHARP. Iād hate to see their time wasted because their idea isnāt good.
I have no stake in the gameplay side of things, but the SHARP is a terrible weapon that should never be allowed to exist in anything, ever. Aliens: Colonial Marines (Not to be confused with Space Station 13: Colonial Marines) was disastrous for the general perception of Aliens games but also me specifically because I have to see its dumb guns everywhere.
Yeah its consistantly the most useless spec and its still griefing to pick it. GLs is RIGHT THERE AND ITS NOT THAT HARD TO USE AAAAAAAAH.
Infact the amount of times Iāve been griefed by mines on the front being triggered by suicidal lessers really overcomes the amount of times ive seen it do damage/save me
I would make some long reply going indepth into it but honestly theres been multiple threads on it
See this wouldnāt be an issue if the SHARP would get a buff in the near future, but the problem is that is never going to happen, it is going to remain a sad crappy gun that wastes a very important slot in the Marine force. It being a specialist weapon and not a restricted weapon is actively detrimental to Marines that anything would be better replacing it short of an all knives riflemen.
In my 2 years of playing CM I have maybe seen the tank 3 times it is effectively all but removed from the game, along with the APC. Really I think the SHARP is a symptom of a problem with balancing that marines get the poopy end of the stick when it comes to new additions and balance because they are either considered OP and are removed or are underwhelming and poorly designed see: Scatter gun, Stims ,bone mend CIC, scramble, and SHARP
Also, someone spent time coding and spriting SHARP. Iād hate to see their time wasted because their idea isnāt good.
Just because someone spent time on it, doesnāt mean it should be implemented/stay in. Where is thwomperās vulture?
I can see some SHARP usage in scaring off xenos from coming a certain way, but pyro does a much better job of that anyways, as opposed to the single explosion/fire burst from a SHARP nade. Not to mention, pyro has a lot more control over where they can block off pushes. On top of that, pyroās āmax damageā if you will is instant, whereas the SHARP grenades have to sit there for some time before they reach max damage.
I think SHARP could be better if the mines werenāt triggered by lessers and facehuggers and if the grenades reached max damage sooner.
I like the idea of a Spec that works with deployable traps, like C4 (I tried to give OT versions to scout with proxy triggers for a bit; it never took) and claymores, but I canāt give SHARP anything as OT. Admittedly, Iām not actually sure what the stats on the launchers munitions are, but Iām assuming its compensated for that fact somehow (I did a moments look on the wiki and couldnāt find anything but Iām blind so idk.) The launcher part of the kit just encroaches on regular GL anyways and with most of the ammunition seemingly being delayed reaction/mines (sorry I cant read the wiki and never played it, so if there is more idk) it does seem weird that it would require a launcher.
Lotta GL Specs seem to already ditch the specs gl for one from req (Iām not sure what the ratio is or if its one guy who perma rolls it and does it.) Cade and corner interactions are a lil whacky too.
Specs in general are really disproportionate. x2 from OT point of view (and a lil more when you look at req budgeting)
If you made SHARP something a non-spec could do, I doubt anyone would genuinely care, but that might be my ignorance speaking
protagonists may have been too strong a word, but specs are meant to be a force multiplier for the marines, where as sharp is about as useful as a super soaker against a forest fire
As a SHARP gamer myself:
Imma be real with you boss, itās not bad, itās just that most of the people that pick it are fucking stupid.
Protip for people that wanna use it:
You arenāt the GL, SHARP plays VERY differently than most specs and when played right it accomplishes AMR levels of area denial or pre-nerf scout levels of backline carnage, potentially both in the same round if you are that good.