Yet, I still see shaft players getting good scores in games. Already explained that paywall is there for desperate and/or clueless players. Are we not going to discuss the fact that stell is not even obtainable aside containers. (But all status augs still are, you talk 2 faces) I didn't think the skill barrier for status augs was that high, but then again, you're making me think otherwise. I, and several other players can provide enough evidence that status augs are usable. The only flawed logic here is your delusion. Decided to hop a game with a lovely AP shaft, laugh out loud; If you really want me to go on about nerfs. If it wasn't obvious enough, my main combo is shaft hopper (yes the flying monkey/mosquito whatever you want to call it). Lemme name the nerfs I've adapted through, not in any general order. First nerf, drones get cooked. Rip Crisis. Second nerf, od nerf. Became a subpar hunter OD. Third nerf, stability nerf. Very easy to flip. On the plus side, amazing trickshot era. Fourth nerf, blaster nerf. Why did light hulls need to get cooked, I attack a lot as is. Fifth nerf, miner nerf. Was funny on the release with sabo maining. Didn't even need to camp. But it was stupid. Sixth nerf, shaft arcade nerf (Not even gonna count stell nerf, I can play with any augment I own). ... Upcoming potential nerfs may come with the drone rework too. Will be interesting to say the least. I think you forget that stock shaft can deal 3300 in sniper mode. Maybe stop relying on an augment that makes quickscopes deal a great amount, RNG is unfortunately a mechanism in many games, if this is the first one you've experiences, oh boy, I don't know what to say. Snipers main damage is still there, yet I repeat. Stop relying on needing an instant 0.4615-0.4619s scope.   Also, let me put it out there, all augments are subject to changes, the whole point of stell now is, you have an amazing quickscope, but you will not be able to 1 shot mediums without the extra requirements. By default, this already outdoes LC which is what it was intended to powercreep in the first place. Have you ever used LC? If so, you would understand. Opex would say otherwise (not sure if they'd be able to program this well enough either), this suggestion would make shaft a lot more tedious to play with, whilst it works well in fps games, for this games, you'd make it a lot more complicated with the amount of different physical hitboxes there are. Needless to say, the potential hacks that will arise from it from the parkour/hyper community.   TLDR; Many people have seen this and laughed at how out of touch you are with this game and ignorant on your 'side of the story'. To put it in the most blunt way, that for some reason, you will find offensive, you need to stop coping.

Good luck to everyone 🤞

@THRN I really appreciate this highly constructive and realistic take on the matter my friend... You hit the nail on the head, especially with your final point. Your idea about hitting the turret acting as a "headshot" to destroy a medium hull is an excellent concept.. I completely understand what you mean because I am someone who has spent matches precisely hitting hidden Magnum players right on the tip of their barrels across the battlefield. That level of high-skill precision should be rewarded, which is exactly what a true sniper turret should be about, rather than forcing us into spamming weak arcade shots because our baseline capabilities were destroyed... and I completely agree with you on the compensation aspect. The current 5-second window for assist points is an absolute joke. If I put a heavy high-risk shot into an enemy and half-destroy their HP, I should be fairly rewarded for that contribution to the team whenever they drop, unless they manage to heal up. Right now, the game punishes you for doing the heavy lifting while giving all the credit and score to whoever lands the last basic hit. Thank you for bringing actual logic and interesting ideas to this thread instead of just toxic forum spam ☕🖐️  

@neet Telling a player to "just stick with what you have and wait for a container drop" is the most anti-player balancing advice you could possibly give.. I am discussing the mechanical viability of accessible gear right now, not sitting around waiting for a 1-in-1,000 RNG lottery win to make my turret functional again.. Your comparison to Firebird is completely brainless. Firebird doesn't need long-range capabilities because it has massive, melting damage and high speed to close the distance.. Shaft is supposed to be a long-range turret, YES, but when its sniper damage is heavily reduced and its close range defense is completely destroyed, it fails at BOTH roles. You are left with a slow weapon that cannot properly punish medium hulls at a distance and gets easily farmed by any rushing hull at close range.. If a sniper is weak at a distance and turned into a defenseless target practice at close range, it's not a functional weapon anymore..it's a liability. Your logic is what's baffling here.

@Acecaddy Thank you for seeing the bigger picture here. You made an excellent point 👊 While they are completely stripping away Shaft's ability to hold a line or stop a rusher, other turrets are still running around with insane one-shot capabilities against light hulls. It shows a massive inconsistency in how the developers balance the game.. If the goal was to reduce instant-kill metas, it should have been applied fairly across the board, rather than selectively destroying the only defensive deterrent a sniper has. Appreciate your constructive input. 🖐️