Balance or Destruction? How the 2026 Shaft Nerfs Turned a Sniper into a Broken Tractor

[Mr.Blitz 60]

Dear Developers and Community,

I am writing this out of sheer frustration, but with cold, hard facts. The recent 2026 balance changes regarding the Shaft turret and its augments haven't balanced the game; they have completely gutted the only viable options for free-to-play (F2P) sniper players, turning us into sitting ducks against the unstoppable wave of pay-to-win (P2W) aggressive hulls.

 

Let’s break down the math and the reality of what you just did to Shaft:

1. The "Short-band Emitter" Illusion
You decreased the arcade reload penalty from +34% to +15% and probably thought you were buffing it or keeping it stable. But you conveniently forgot-or ignored-the fact that you increased Shaft's base arcade reload from 1.5s to 1.8s. In reality, this completely kills the fluid, mid-range playstyle. It’s a hidden nerf wrapped in a fake buff.

 

2. Destroying the Purpose of "Stellarator"
Stellarator was the only tool F2P players had to stop heavily armored, aggressive hulls charging into our base like maniacs. Dropping the initial sniping damage from +380% to +300% destroys its one-shot potential. Now, a heavy hull will survive the shot, close the distance and obliterate us while we are stuck in a 100-year-long reload animation.

 

3. The Assist Timer Penalty (Adding Insult to Injury)
Cutting the assist time from 10 to 5 seconds is a joke for a sniper turret. Shaft requires positioning and long reloads. If I land a massive shot and deal 90% damage to a target and my teammate finishes them off 6 seconds later while I am taking cover to reload, I get absolutely nothing. No points, no crystals... You are actively punishing Shaft players for doing their job.

 

The Bigger Picture:
Getting competitive augments like Rapid, Quasar or Excelsior takes forever or requires a credit card. Regular players relied on Stellarator and Short-band to stand a chance.. By ruining these two, you have left us with a turret that is slow to reload, slow to aim and rewards less than half the points it used to.

 

I am not asking for Shaft to be overpowered.. I am just asking for it to be usable. Right now, on the battlefield, my Shaft feels like a broken tractor. Please review these numbers and give Shaft its defensive capabilities back.

 

 

[TheCongoSpider 9,052]

On 8/19/2026 at 10:47 AM, Mr.Blitz said:

The "Short-band Emitter" Illusion
You decreased the arcade reload penalty from +34% to +15% and probably thought you were buffing it or keeping it stable. But you conveniently forgot-or ignored-the fact that you increased Shaft's base arcade reload from 1.5s to 1.8s. In reality, this completely kills the fluid, mid-range playstyle. It’s a hidden nerf wrapped in a fake buff.

 

On 8/19/2026 at 10:47 AM, Mr.Blitz said:

Regular players relied on Stellarator and Short-band to stand a chance.. By ruining these two, you have left us with a turret that is slow to reload, slow to aim and rewards less than half the points it used to.

Nothing even changed with Short Band Emitters. It just had reshuffled parameters to keep the reload the same as Thunder (2 seconds). In fact SBE got a relative buff because other Shaft arcade firing rates became worse. SBE in that patch became Excelsior-lite and even more of a must-pick for anyone picking up Shaft from the garage.

[Mr.Blitz 60]

@TheCongoSpider 

Calling it a "reshuffled parameter" or a "relative buff" is a massive stretch to justify a clear performance downgrade, and it completely ignores how a match actually plays out in reality.

First, SBE didn't get "buffed" just because the base Shaft arcade became worse. That’s like saying a broken leg is a buff because the other person broke both legs.. The turret as a whole was slowed down, which inherently hurts SBE’s viability. Furthermore, comparing Shaft's arcade reload to Thunder’s 2 seconds ignores basic mechanics. Thunder has splash damage, excellent horizontal tracking and aggressive mobility.. Shaft in arcade mode has none of that.

Let's look at the brutal reality on the battlefield.. if any other turret gets within half a meter of me, I am already dead. While I am stuck waiting for that slow reload, the enemy has already blasted me twice with weapons that deal far more consistent damage. Even when my shot finally reloads, a Shaft arcade hit deals a pathetic damage..  Against modern, mobile hulls, that is literally just a scratch. 

By making SBE an "Excelsior-lite" and a "must-pick," the developers didn't add variety; they destroyed choice. It is not a buff, it's a desperate crutch. Players are forced to use it just to make the turret semi-functional, while still being turned into target practice for every aggressive player on the map. Try playing Shaft on the front lines against an aggressive hull before calling this a "relative buff" from the safety of the garage.

[YourLovelyCrush 21]

On 8/19/2026 at 5:47 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

2. Destroying the Purpose of "Stellarator"
Stellarator was the only tool F2P players had to stop heavily armored, aggressive hulls charging into our base like maniacs. Dropping the initial sniping damage from +380% to +300% destroys its one-shot potential. Now, a heavy hull will survive the shot, close the distance and obliterate us while we are stuck in a 100-year-long reload animation.

Since I am NOT a shaft main I can't discuss the actual balance and SBE's state

However I completely disagree with this point, the Stellarator nerf imo feels fair. the damage went from 3k ->2.8k which makes a medium hull survive it (I'm unsure if its damage varies since again, not a shaft player) 

But this only helps the average player playing a medium hull without defender (Since only they will get one shot through DA), while it will do great damage but not one shot people with defender

+ It can still hit 3ks if you use Booster (Which really nerfs the really strong players playing with stellarator + Defender)

Perhaps It should get rebalanced once the drones update comes up, since damage buffs and reductions cause the augments to get insane damage numbers
 

[Mr.Blitz 60]

@YourLovelyCrush 

You start by admitting that you are NOT a Shaft main and that you don't play the turret, yet you claim the nerf "feels fair." This is exactly the problem with forum balancing-players who don't face the mechanics in high-tier matches giving opinions on what is fair for a playstyle they don’t experience.

So, i am ready to talk about your math and the reality of the battlefield...

First, saying the damage drop from 3k to 2.8k is "fair" because it allows a medium hull to survive completely misses the entire point of a sniper turret.. Shaft is a high-risk, high-reward weapon with a massive reload penalty. If a medium hull can easily survive a fully charged, well-positioned sniper shot, the sniper becomes obsolete.. You are essentially saying that a sniper shouldn't be able to punish a medium hull for running out in the open, which destroys the strategic role of Shaft.

Second, your argument about using "Booster" to hit 3k damage is a classic pay-to-win mindset. You are assuming every free-to-play player has a maxed-out drone setup and a bottomless pit of supplies to constantly burn just to make a basic sniper shot viable. Heavy and medium P2W hulls already walk around with insane defensive configurations.. Forcing a Shaft player to rely on active drone boosts just to achieve what used to be baseline damage isn't balancing-it's shifting the goalposts to favor aggressive rushers.

 

It’s easy to say a nerf is "fair" when it makes your own preferred hulls safer on the map.. It’s especially easy for players who run around with expensive setups like the Booster drone and the Rapid augment, spamming arcade shots and pretending to be "snipers" when their entire playstyle requires zero sniper skill.

But for those of us who actually main the true mechanics of Shaft, this change stripped away our only defensive deterrent. I used this turret to defend our base, hold chokepoints and provide heavy cover support so my teammates could fulfill the objective.. By destroying its high-damage defensive capability, you don't balance the game..you just turn me into another useless number on the scoreboard with a broken weapon.

[Akame 4,700]

On 8/19/2026 at 3:47 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

Regular players relied on Stellarator

 

 

you what

[neet 3]

On 8/19/2026 at 4:47 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

the only viable options for free-to-play (F2P) sniper players,

This has to be bait

The status augments are more than enough and they outperform SBE, Quasar and Excelsior in most cases.
Since the current meta is still lifeguard and excelsior, 1 status effect is enough to leave them vulnerable may it be AP, Stun, Cryo or Jammer.

Let's rank them in order of the best to 'worst'.

1. EMP
2. AP
3. Stun
4. Jammer
5. Cryo / Incendiary

You actually will get more score with incendiary however jammer is a better team player augment because defender noobs will have to change drones or think twice before risking losing the buff and die to your team mates.

[Mr.Blitz 60]

@neet 

You are completely detached from the reality of a regular player. Let me show you what the garage of a non-whale actually looks like.

Those status augments you love to rank on your imaginary tier list? They are locked behind a 4,990 Ruby paywall or impossible container RNG. Telling me to just "use them" is a joke. I have to rely on what is accessible—Stellarator and SBE—both of which were just gutted.

Furthermore, your idea that status effects are "more than enough" is mechanically useless on the battlefield. If I run a status augment with Shaft's current nerfed state, I am just acting as a charity worker for my teammates. I freeze or jam an enemy, my team gets the kill and the crystals, while I get left behind with zero score, a turtle-slow turret rotation, and a pathetic 300-500 arcade damage.

Shaft cannot win a close-range fight now, period.. While I am waiting a literal lifetime to reload a single weak arcade shot, any mobile hull running, railgun, thunder, smoky, twin, vulkan, Isida, Firebird, or Freeze will melt me down 3 times over before I can even turn my turret. If a sniper is weak at long range because its damage was chopped, and completely defenseless at close range because its arcade reload is broken, it ceases to be a threat.

You are defending a patch that turns a high-risk turret into an easy kill and a free point on the scoreboard for aggressive rushers. I am not playing to be target practice for your P2W setups.

[Akame 4,700]

On 8/20/2026 at 5:58 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

Whole lotta yap

 

Pause, pray tell us, how you acquired such a legendary stellarator augment.

 

I think you forgot how shaft has always worked in the past.

You scope for a set amount of time, to charge your damage. Simple to understand and remember, correct?

The release of this quickscope augment has made you numb to balance issues and thus suffering against a general nerf.

Other turrets being better isnt a reason to ask for shaft buff itself. That is the complete wrong way to think.

As for shaft.

You have emp shaft, which, if you know how to use stell, you will by default be able to play with it too. Granted, with a basic understanding of weaving arcades and quickscopes and harder scopes.

You have healing emitters too, which is a cheap thunder nanobots, but very effective in many places.

You have stun shaft, which is fun to use, even moreso when you start annoying players and cancel their od's.

Do you still play viking? I see you do. Have you stopped to consider this is hardly synergetic with shaft as you can only use it's arcade firing mode?

I assume you use booster in general now. If not, then you're struggling on supplies I'll take it?

 

On 8/19/2026 at 3:47 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

+380% to +300% destroys its one-shot potential. Now, a heavy hull will survive the shot

 

 

Also, before the latest nerf, shaft stell did not ever 1 shot heavy hulls on general grounds. Medium+Excel norm grounds still survived a booster hit. The main change was that you now need booster to get those medium norm kills. Which is still currently a general meta at the present moment.

 

I don't know what reality you are living in, as much as I would enjoy a shaft buff. In general, any buff on stell will make it more potent than usable it is right now.

[Mr.Blitz 60]

@Akame 

Starting your comment with "Whole lotta yap" just shows you lack real arguments and have to rely on cheap toxicity. If you can’t handle a structured balance debate without getting emotional, maybe don't reply.

First of all, how I got my Stellarator was pure luck from an Epic container (RNG), not a choice. Second, your obsession with telling me to use EMP, Stun, or Healing just proves you don't understand the reality of matchmaking.. Look closely at my screenshot: things like Incendiary or Freezing are locked behind a 4,990 Ruby paywall that I don't own... And the status augments I do have are completely useless for a defensive solo player because they gut Shaft's raw damage. If I run Stun or Jamming, I am just running a charity service for my team-applying an effect, getting no kill and no crystals, while leaving myself 100% defenseless with a turtle-slow turret rotation and a pathetic 300-500 arcade damage.

 

Let's address your garage-philosophy about my combo.. You stalked my profile, saw Viking and made lazy assumptions. I do have a maxed Booster drone, but unlike P2W whales, my supplies do not fall from the sky. Running Booster constantly drains your drug supplies in no time, forcing regular players to run Saboteur to manage resources.. Your entire argument is based on the elite, detached mindset that everyone can blindly burn max supplies and run rare status setups every second. Stellarator was the defensive backbone for average players to push back against aggressive rushers. Dropping its damage to +300% while ruining the base arcade reload turns the turret into an absolute liability. I am living in the reality of the actual matchmaker where Shaft is currently being used as target practice. You are living in a theoretical bubble wrapped in premium items. Keep your garage philosophy to yourself.

[Akame 4,700]

Because a condensed form of a quote was too much, I'll do it in a small form.

On 8/20/2026 at 9:09 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

@Akame 

Starting your comment with "Whole lotta yap" just shows you lack real arguments and have to rely on cheap toxicity. If you can’t handle a structured balance debate without getting emotional, maybe don't reply.

 

 

 

Simply chose to condense it all because it looks like spam.

On 8/20/2026 at 9:09 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

 

First of all, how I got my Stellarator was pure luck from an Epic container (RNG), not a choice

 

 

You realise, this is not a f2p augment. Just because you managed to get lucky, does not mean the 'masses of the playerbase' do.

On 8/20/2026 at 9:09 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

Second, your obsession with telling me to use EMP, Stun, or Healing just proves you don't understand the reality of matchmaking.. Look closely at my screenshot: things like Incendiary or Freezing are locked behind a 4,990 Ruby paywall that I don't own...

 

All of those augments are in the same container pool. You can still get them from your, let me quote, "Epic container (RNG)". These are not meant to ever be purchased with rubies, anyone who does, simply is desperate or has no clue about the game.

On 8/20/2026 at 9:09 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

I do have are completely useless for a defensive solo player because they gut Shaft's raw damage. If I run Stun or Jamming, I am just running a charity service for my team-applying an effect, getting no kill and no crystals, while leaving myself 100% defenseless with a turtle-slow turret rotation and a pathetic 300-500 arcade damage.

 

So, you're telling me. You want to camp and have insane damage to 1 shot players? You realise status augs are simply stock shaft in sniper/scope mode. You just need to hard scope and fire. It is that simple.

On 8/20/2026 at 9:09 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

Let's address your garage-philosophy about my combo.. You stalked my profile, saw Viking and made lazy assumptions. I do have a maxed Booster drone, but unlike P2W whales, my supplies do not fall from the sky.

 

 

I actually did mention you may not have the supplies. Look who made the lazy assumption and didn't read;

Spoiler

On 8/20/2026 at 8:05 PM, Akame said:

If not, then you're struggling on supplies I'll take it?

 

On 8/20/2026 at 9:09 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

Stellarator was the defensive backbone for average players to push back against aggressive rushers. 

 

You're insanely out of touch if you think that this wasn't used by aggressive rushers and the whales of the playerbase who have already been farming players with ease.

On 8/20/2026 at 9:09 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

I am living in the reality of the actual matchmaker where Shaft is currently being used as target practice. You are living in a theoretical bubble wrapped in premium items. Keep your garage philosophy to yourself.

So, I'll take it that you finally understand that stellarator was not able to one shot heavy tanks. Good boy.

But also, by all means, you're free to go ahead and check my profile. Stellarator did revive shaft a lot. But at the same time, was clearly not balanced. Your tears on this are wasted, it's time to move on.

 

It's still unfathomable how you think emp shaft is subpar for your gameplay. You have the ability to instantly swipe a players supplies off and that should help improve the grounds for combat. If you're struggling to make do with that augment, which I am still trying to get on my alt account. I'm afraid your career as a sniper was over before it began.

 

I wonder what people were doing when stellarator didn't exist. Did they simply just not use shaft? (This is a rhetorical question, because it may not be obvious)

Edited August 21 by Akame

[THRN 29]

ln reaI Iife Snipers aim to the Head to have a One Shot. 

l don´t think they shoot at a finger and the victim expIodes.

The shots are not instant, and yes, rifIes don´t have a Iaser beam. But these two Iike canceI each other out in Shaft.

l say if Shafts hit the Turret of an enemy tank it shouId be abie D a medium sized tank. That shouId be iike the CriticaI for Shafts. But a moving tank shouId be harder to D, Iike in reaI Iife, because it wouId be harder to aim at the head / turret.

l know, Shafters won´t Iike this, but what if there was a thing caIIed lnternaI Damage, where even if it onIy the HuII, damage wouId continue? Yes, l know, this is not l & S.  

Where l agree with the poster is that damage infIicted shouId be compensated, no matter the timeframe, unIess the victims repairs itseIf or is heaIed by others.

Edited August 21 by THRN

[Acecaddy 71]

Im not saying stellarator should be buffed, but I will say that one-shot augments from OTHER turrets against light hulls should be nerfed

[neet 3]

On 8/20/2026 at 6:58 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

They are locked behind a 4,990 Ruby paywall or impossible container RNG.

You literally have EMP and Stun what are you yapping about. And if you play long enough you will eventually get a drop, if not then just stick with what you have.

 

On 8/20/2026 at 6:58 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

Shaft cannot win a close-range fight now, period..

Hello? Firebird can't win a long-range fight either. Shaft is supposed to be LONG-RANGE turret.

 

On 8/20/2026 at 6:58 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

You are defending a patch that turns a high-risk turret into an easy kill and a free point on the scoreboard for aggressive rushers. I am not playing to be target practice for your P2W setups.

Your logic baffles me

[Mr.Blitz 60]

@LambSauce 

Calling a post "low effort AI" just because you are incapable of formulating a proper logical counterargument regarding game balance is a text-book definition of derailment.. I shared actual numbers, math, and an actual screenshot from my own garage. There is nothing "low effort" about pointing out the broken mechanics of a turret that affects regular players. If you have nothing valuable or constructive to add to the discussion about Shaft's balance, then do not post here just to summon the moderators because your feelings got hurt.

The topic here is the Shaft nerf, the ruined arcade reload, and the 4,990 Ruby paywall for status augments. Talk about the game or move along.

 

 

 

 

@Akame Dropping condescending lines like "good boy" and "your tears are wasted" just proves you are more interested in ego-tripping than holding a serious balance discussion. You can drop the arrogant act, it doesn't cover up your flawed logic... I have absolutely no intention of justifying myself to you or debating every useless augment you want to hold lectures about. Let's make one thing clear: those status effects you are praising do not do the job on the battlefield.. They do not have the defensive stopping power or the raw damage needed to hold a base. I brought forward a critique about the core nerf to Stellarator and SBE-the only augments that actually provided a tactical defense for average players. Your historical arguments are completely obsolete. The game has evolved with overdrives and aggressive mobility buffs.. Trying to pretend that a sniper is "fine" while being completely helpless at a distance and turned into an easy kill at close range is pure delusion. I am talking about the mechanical survival of Shaft on the actual battlefield for everyday players. You are viewing it from a toxic, theoretical bubble. Keep your patronizing comments to yourself.

[Mr.Blitz 60]

@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. 

[Mr.Blitz 60]

@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.

[Mr.Blitz 60]

@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 

 

[Akame 4,700]

On 8/21/2026 at 1:33 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

 

The topic here is the Shaft nerf, the ruined arcade reload, and the 4,990 Ruby paywall for status augments. Talk about the game or move along.

 

 

 

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)

On 8/21/2026 at 1:48 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

@Akame Dropping condescending lines like "good boy" and "your tears are wasted" just proves you are more interested in ego-tripping than holding a serious balance discussion. You can drop the arrogant act, it doesn't cover up your flawed logic... I have absolutely no intention of justifying myself to you or debating every useless augment you want to hold lectures about. Let's make one thing clear: those status effects you are praising do not do the job on the battlefield.. They do not have the defensive stopping power or the raw damage needed to hold a base. I brought forward a critique about the core nerf to Stellarator and SBE-the only augments that actually provided a tactical defense for average players. Your historical arguments are completely obsolete. The game has evolved with overdrives and aggressive mobility buffs.. Trying to pretend that a sniper is "fine" while being completely helpless at a distance and turned into an easy kill at close range is pure delusion. I am talking about the mechanical survival of Shaft on the actual battlefield for everyday players. You are viewing it from a toxic, theoretical bubble. Keep your patronizing comments to yourself.

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;

Spoiler

Had 22 assists in this game, we lost but still performed well. Used hyperion, unfortunately I don't think your supplies can back that either.

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.

On 8/21/2026 at 1:53 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

@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. 

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,

On 8/21/2026 at 1:55 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

@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.

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.

On 8/21/2026 at 2:09 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

@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 

 

 

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.

[Hypersomnia 1,876]

On 8/21/2026 at 8:47 PM, Akame said:

flying monkey/mosquito

ive been summoned.

On 8/21/2026 at 8:47 PM, Akame said:

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

true. 'headshots' would be a better 'slop update' rather than in-match emojis (as if we dont have enough things like nicks blocking your vision already) but they should be added as a bonus. so like stock shaft 3300 dmg, 'headshot' would deal 4000dmg or something.

 

On 8/21/2026 at 3:55 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

@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..

agreed that this is beyond stupid, probably one of the main reasons new players leave the game for good too.

the person's nick being 'neet' of all things is very funny considering the statement lmfao

 

On 8/19/2026 at 5:47 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

Stellarator was the only tool F2P players had to stop

i don't remember stellarator being cheap or easily obtainable in any way to F2Ps lol

 

On 8/19/2026 at 5:47 PM, Mr.Blitz said:

I am not asking for Shaft to be overpowered..

and i am asking for stellarator + crisis to have the ability to oneshot medium + excel hulls. they can go to hell for all i care.

(whenever excel gets nerfed you can nerf stellar accordingly too, whatever)

[Acecaddy 71]

On 8/21/2026 at 8:47 PM, Akame said:

 

After trying stell more, I think this is a fair trade off, you can land arcade shots to avoid alerting the enemy that they are at low health, then use stell as a finisher, or just pick off enemies left by teammates.

Or just spam scopes and arcades.

But this kinda splits me between sbe and stell, one has better quickscopes, the other has better arcade damage, what do you recommend?

[Akame 4,700]

On 8/21/2026 at 7:47 PM, Acecaddy said:

After trying stell more, I think this is a fair trade off, you can land arcade shots to avoid alerting the enemy that they are at low health, then use stell as a finisher, or just pick off enemies left by teammates.

Or just spam scopes and arcades.

But this kinda splits me between sbe and stell, one has better quickscopes, the other has better arcade damage, what do you recommend?

The more obvious potent one is stell, because of how short your scope needs to be for a good burst of damage. SBE is still just a rare augment though, although it is one of the few crystal augments that are usable, it is not generally considered endgame material. It certainly is usable, but stell will be a lot easier to use, just like you said, weave an arcade then finish with a scope, and takes a bit more if they're built with meta tank combos.

Both generally want booster/crisis, but sbe can get away with hyperion as it can still hardscope for 3300. Since games are swarmed with defenders and/or excels, naturally these have taken a hit.

The obvious high damage alternative shaft has, is quasar. Consider it like the nemesis of gauss. Though imo, quasar still needs a little bit more of a buff, but buffing high damage 1 shot kill augments is very damaging to meta too as we saw how stell wreaked havoc for a good year, only because it was able to dish out that insane 1 shot medium damage potential.

[THRN 29]

On 8/21/2026 at 12:47 PM, Akame said:

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.

Been one-shoot and sent to spawn and traveI iarge distances again is aIso tedious.

ln my idea the turret hitbox couId onIy work in Shaft's Scope Mode.

Outside Scope Mode everything wouId be the same. 

Anyway, l'II take your concerns into account.

[Akame 4,700]

On 8/22/2026 at 5:46 AM, THRN said:

Been one-shoot and sent to spawn and traveI iarge distances again is aIso tedious.

ln my idea the turret hitbox couId onIy work in Shaft's Scope Mode.

Outside Scope Mode everything wouId be the same. 

Anyway, l'II take your concerns into account.

I want some stats/parameters rather than just words, but that in itself sounds like it needs to be an idea/suggestion in a separate thread.

 

On the main other side, to bring back some vague nostalgia. Shaft should ideally get some form of piercing back rather, and that in itself would revive a lot of it for special plays. It suffers a lot as it's generally the only long range that is single target. And being a LoS turret with no splash or piercing capabilities.

Railgun, has piercing and insane crit parameters. (100% piercing at max)

Gauss, no warning indicator for now, has good splash.

Magnum, no warning indicator, unsure if ever will happen, has good splash. Doesn't need line of sight at all, works with a parabolic motion.

Scorpion, no warning indicator, does have small splash potential, but it's main gimmick is, it has the potential to shoot from various angles with homing projectiles.

Tsunami, well this is simply a super range smoky and as a released turret, it'll be a bit stronger for tanki's purpose of 'powercreep' for now. 

[neet 3]

On 8/21/2026 at 8:41 PM, Hypersomnia said:

agreed that this is beyond stupid, probably one of the main reasons new players leave the game for good too.

the person's nick being 'neet' of all things is very funny considering the statement lmfao

How is that stupid? I was assuming he doesn't want to play anything other than shaft, you can stick with what you have unless you want to use another turret.
I guess I'm in another league, having played 4 accounts to legends and one with legend 110+
I feel like you guys are complaining about the wrongs things and these things can be very well be abused against players of your skill, or lack thereof. Doesn't matter if you're using maxed out combo with heavy hull excelsior + max defender + max protections. You will still be farmed by someone better than you with "worse" equipment.

 

Spoiler

Here's me with 10 kills with mk7-0 stun shaft against much higher opposition even with a healer. I hard scoped and my team mates finished them up and I ended up finishing 2nd.
I could provide much more cases, even make a whole youtube video montage showing how trash you guys are (the complainers)