[TF2] I Don't Like The Machina 

You use the Machina to land collaterals. I use the Machina so people can see me miss. We are not the same.

It feels like the machina is supposed to be the sniper version of the brass beast, it's big, strong as fuck, slow as fuck, and LOUD, even the tracers play into this.

8:26 That enemy Spy must've been like: "Ah shit. Uh... *SLAP MY HAND."*

no way that dude with 300k kunai kills didn't use a strange farm, or is the most dedicated basement dweller in the entire game

What I love about the Machina is you can look at a group of enemies and aim at the Medic. I'm like "My weapon don't care you are hiding behind your teammates, you're done". Also if you locate an enemy sniper, in some maps you can aim at him while you use his teammates as cover. Edit: also the random unlucky spy kills I have got is insane

Fish, you missed something important: the Machina allows a play style impossible for all other sniper primaries: the ground sniper. You see, bullets and arrows normally can hit a teammate that gets in the way, so you usually go to higher ground. HOWEVER, with the machina, you can do charge shots from behind your team to abuse closer sight lines while shielded by meat. It’s not about penetrating enemies Fish, it’s about penetrating teammates so the shots land!!! Ground sniper is fun!

Main reason why it’s banned in highlander (from what I understand) is cause it cripples the demo and pyro and because hardscoping is the meta, you’re going to be getting these shot far more than in normal play as it’s the “correct way” to play sniper

As someone who has the Machina as one of my most used weapons i found that there are two types of Machina Snipers. 1: A Sniper that uses it to hit bodyshots because they cant hit headshots to save their life. 2: A Sniper that is a god at hitting headshots and knows that he should probably use other Sniper rifles but uses the Machina because it looks cool and because the penetration shot the rare times it hits is a immense dopamine boost for said Sniper.

The virgin spy : backstabs a razorback sniper, panics, then either running away with cloak or shoots The chad spy : 8:24

I do get little sadistic enjoyment purposefully bodyshotting with machina. To extend that skial admin banned me from server

Sniper Mains: “I don‘t like the Machina, because it forces you into one single playstyle.“ Normal People: “Sniper has more than one playstyle?“

I've had issues with arguments like this in the past because it implies that Sniper can only do one of two things. You use the Machina? You have to bodyshot. No point going for headshots, ever, because the weapon you're using doesn't specifically advantage you for headshots. You use the Heatmaker or something? You have to headshot! There's no reason to ever bodyshot under any circumstances because you do less damage! But that's not realistically how it plays out. These are just examples obviously, but the Machina is still just as good as stock at headshooting enemy gamers, and the Heatmaker's bodyshot damage is still perfectly adequate sometimes even if it can't oneshot light classes or Medics. Don't see your weapon as the absolute defining role of your playstyle. Maybe there's a particular chokepoint I know I might get a lot of collat damage through, so I'll use the Machina. That doesn't pigeonhole me into a charge-and-peek bodyshot-from-China machine for the entire game though. It's like people who seem to think the Backburner has no airblast at all, or Soldiers who switch off the Black Box if a Medic exists on their team. TF2 games are way too dynamic to think like this.

11:11 "id be more happy with less overall damage but faster charge" so sydney sleeper lmfao

For me, the machina is about preventing bodyblocking. It's about not caring that the enemy medic is hiding behind his heavy BF.

I think you forgot that headshots are hard. I'll go for the body.

Bodyshotting Soldiers with a Machina when they're about to Rocket Jump is very funny, they almost universally kill themselves with it instantly after.

Finding out that Soundsmith is from Texas isn't something I was excepting to find. As like Fish said, they're polar opposites in pretty much every way except for their love for casual. That's the only thing they have in common Edit: and their hate for sniper

the machina gives me the confidence to even hit my shots in the first place. I will literally miss stationary targets with stock, with the machina I don't have that problem.

So it's a sniper rifle, that makes you play like a real sniper and how sniper was designed in the first place.

its almost as if every sniper rifle primary is LUCKY to even BE half baked in the first place.

Reminder that "hardscoping to a full charge" takes all of three seconds. You're wayyyyy out of position if the enemy is less than three seconds away from you

8:08 “I like being aggressive” Fish you are in their back line as a sniper and you just bang their medic and leave, I think that’s a bit more than aggressive lol

6:58 bodyshots are easier to hit though, you can't reduce sniper effectivity to raw damage output. I'd say that the machina niche is locking down one particular corridor at all costs from afar. Or when you just suck on that day and still want to contribute.

Man it is sooooo bad that you have to scope in to shoot it. it's not like quick scoping is already unreasonably strong or anything.

But you know what something funny? The machina doesn't have ignoring bullet resistance. Soldier's battalions, Medic's vacc, and some powerups. This gun has a penetration feature, but you can't one-shot people when low charge than full.

Evil FSoaS be like: "Man I really love bodyshots and hardscoping!"

So this can effectively be summed up, grossly as; Hardscope bad. Body shots bad. Puts more value onto positioning. Firstly, hardscoping is fine, not everyone can do quickscopes that well. Secondly, body shots are fine. You aren't always going to get that headshot off. Some damage will always be better then no damage. Thirdly, positioning. The tracers are great and to be honest, I don't think anyone gives a shit about them. Plus, the inability to fire unscoped just means you gotta be a bit smarter at where you stand, and puts more value on a damage-dealing secondary, something 90% of snipers I see don't do (it's always jarate bushwacka). There are plenty of times I agree with your sentiments, even partially...but I gotta disagree almost fully here.

Ok but counter point, I’m counter sniping the asshole who dominated me as scout and I’m sick of that little icon so I switch to makina get an easy body shot kill and go back to scout to have fun

My favorite thing to do if i have a friend playing with the machina is to stand in front of him as an invisible cloak and dagger spy. Its been a while but if i recall correctly it triggers the sound effect and also can be used to eat shots meant for your friendly sniper from anyone including enemy snipers who are NOT also using the machina. It is also my second favorite way to confuse enemy snipers, right being disguising as a friendly sniper pretending to actually be one. As a side note, you can use this to learn what you can try/do to make a non god sniper miss. (Also using the dead ringer while doing this creates less frustration and reduces downtime if the dodge isn't successful)

Fish is mad about getting stabbed by stabby lmao

"the Machina makes me play like a sniper and I don't like that" There, saved ya 12 minutes

Listen, I use the machina purely because it shoots through my allies. I cannot tell you how many kills I've lost because one of my teammates just so happened to walk in the way.

So, I see your points. But I somewhat disagree. I do find the machina fun. I see it as a sniper rifle with insurance, I can play normal sniper, headshotting and all that. But, sometimes, you're just gonna miss and hit a bodyshot. And this weapon gives you more wiggle room for when that headshot doesn't register. Furthermore, bodyshotting gives you more wiggle room when attacking enemies, like you said in the video, while this weapon doesn't kill them, it will cripple soldiers, pyros, and demos to the point where they'll either die to any chip or self damage, or be forced to run back to spawn, which is almost as good as killing them anyway. I personally have no issues with bodyshotting, hence why I I use the weapon. It's as soundsmith said in the stereotypes video I'm "willing to give up the flashiness of a headshot to secure a kill" and yeah, I don't give a damn about how I kill my opponent, I just care that they're dead. I think the issue is, you play aggressively, on a class that wasn't designed to play aggressively, so when a weapon comes a long that doesn't fit your playstyle, you don't like it.

fun fact: the machina has the pierce effect on headshot as well so idk what the cope is

2:12 “Hardly a stealthy gun despite the stealth game it comes from” It’s not exactly a stealthy gun to begin with in said stealth game so I feel that checks out just fine…

Please don't change the Machina. Its fine as is. You don't like the Machina because it wasn't made for you, that's fine, that's why we have options. But its still a balanced side grade, and there are people who like to take it slow. And I'd say its doing its job perfectly because you can tell immediately it forces you to play vary differently than what the other snipers entail. In addition I'd argue that the Machina is more balanced in the base game then stalk. Snipers two primary problems: Counter play; Short range weakness being mostly negligible. Counter play solution: Big fucking colored Tracers. Lack of short range weakness solution: No unscoped shooting.

The bit about Soundsmith and ZestyJesus's shared hatred of sniper is really funny to me. I love both creators and I didn't ever think about how both are gingers that live in Texas

Personally as a complete machina + cozy camper gremlin (back when I still played), yeah machina is at best mid in terms of solely performance and makes you super visible due to tracers and just being loud But that's exactly why I love it, it's a FLEX, nothing gives me a more immense sense of power than absolutely DUNKING on a bazaar bargain sniper with objectively inferior rifle (especially in sniper v sniper fights)

when i can be heavy, eat a dahlokas bar, have the heavy metal fists of steel, and STILL get one tapped by that monster of a weapon, ... it's the only sniper weapon that makes me go "This is sad day!..."

oh my God the shot at 6:45 totally deserved to get taunted, lmao

"It's not the way i like to play" , There. Literally the entire point of the video.

Redundnat

The Machina is pretty good for when the enemy team goes only heavy on the cart.

Even in deus ex, this sniper rifle alerts everyone to your position so i can see the design on this gun especially. I guess they wanted to keep the "immersive sim" element in the machina, but then there is the diamondback tho so... but at least we didnt get the gep gun in tf2

I think one aspect you didn't mention enough is how using this gun for like a minute or two makes the enemy really afraid of crossing some sightlines for some reason, so you can fuck them mentally with it

1 minute in: my answer is a fairer rifle that lets me get multi-kills

You forgot to mention that a fully charged machina headshot can kill a full 125 health spy with the dead ringer, the only exception being if they are overhealed

This is a really stupid idea, but I think it'd be kinda funny if the Machina got reworked to function similarly to the Snipewriter from Splatoon. Pretty much you charge up a shot, but upon a full charge instead of a single 450 damage shot, you get 5 weaker shots that you can fire one after another for slightly less damage. Not sure how to go about balancing, but it'd be way more interesting

Love the UNATCO theme in the background. I actually had no idea the Machina was a Dues Ex promotional item.

12:28 Fish when he sees a player that writes books for a living

i feel like something else to point out, at 4:27 you potentially could've just picked the med hiding behind the cart but ended up trying to go for a full charge shot again to what i assume, hit both med and heavy with a single shot but before the shot could be made, the med jumped away, the machina makes you hold off from taking the shot for a potential collat and can cost you important picks 9 times out of 10

9:34 that sniper duel had no right being that intense

I always thought this, the only reason I use the Machina is because the Shooting Star is the most expensive item in my inventory. The Machina is one of the worst sniper rifles. More damage on a class that can already one-shot every class in the game is silly, and collaterals rarely come into play. The tracer rounds give away your position, the worst thing that can happen as a sniper, to little to no benefit. On the same tier as the Sydney Sleeper.

4:22 lmao the ed edd and eddy kevin bike horn sound effect on the double penatration.

A gun so meme-y yet same-y that Fish doesn’t even have any suggestions to fix it.

i just the machina as my version of s1mple taking his suppressor off to let the enemy team know hes there and hitting a quickscope on a enemy team overconfidently rushing me and proceeding to taunt feels really good too

‪With this, FSoaS has covered every Sniper primary!‬

The classic is quite the sleeper pick, and as you said more engaging to use

9:42 Wow, thanks for letting me know that my Strange Shooting Star is worth so much! And I *unboxed* that thing, too! (Like that shiny Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger I opened in a pack.) I named it "Iridium" after the Dark Tranquillity song of the same name, with a description that takes lyrics from the chorus. "Scattered across forever // out from creation's core // an end beyond compare" Too bad I'm a Pyro main because I can't aim...

I think the extra damage is intended to help collateral bodyshots land kills so they don't feel like a let down when they penetrate but don't kill. But I agree the upsides should come into play regardless of charge. Maybe as downside to balance it, it could always have tracer while scoped in, just becoming more visible as it charges. It would also give counterplay, as enemies could spread out when they see ray of death go through them.

5:00 Fish you forgot the 4th heavy-related niche case: s fully overhealed heavy with the Dahlokas bar active.

Penetrate teamates to hit intended targets. Dab on your enemies with cool laser beam. Let everyone know where you are, and that you've got bad aim 😎. Otherwise make them conscious of you as a distraction and cause panic. Go click click unscoped for fun sound and sparks. Stronger first shot on sentries that are being babied. Giving away your position matters more when you don't have your team defending you or if the enemy sniper is looking for you. But normal snipers will look for other snipers irrespective of weapon, it just makes it easier for them on the first life.

I'm commenting before and after the video to see how my opinion changes or if it doesn't at all. Becauss right now I honestly love the machine, I think the head shot penetration gimmick is cool and is very useful when enemies are just stacked on the cart, the extra body shot damage allows you to finish off soldiers and demomen that have taken enough chip damage. Or you can shoot a soldier or demo in the body and then finish them off with your SMG. The downsides (especially the tracer) makes it so the sniper needs to ACTUALLY be aware of his position instead of sitting in a corner and farming kills. And the disabling of no-scope shots forces you to either use an SMG, or if you're confident in your quick-scope abilities or melee fighting you can sacrifce the SMG for a different secondary. (I wish this downside was just a damage penalty when no-scoping but it's really not too bad) And another thing is the sound of the machina is just soo powerful, that crack you hear when firing makes it sound like a rifle that could hurt instead of the pea-shooters like the other sniper rifles.

I think the machina could become an ambush weapon. Remove the laser dot so the enemies have no clue what ungodly sightline you've managed to wiggle yourself into so you can snag those collaterals much more often from unorthodox angles which most people wouldn't even believe was possible. I'd probably increase the time it takes to fully charge and remove it's ability to headshot. Lining up two heads is very hard afterall so why not make it the ultimate bodyshot machine where you have to think about where you take your sightline instead of just sitting down at the end of a corridor? Use cases will be limiting however with how choke pointy a lot of maps are. But I also imagine it would be very annoying to deal with an unpredictable sniper who only needs one shot to delete two or three. But goddamn it'll probably only happen a couple times a match with the need to find a place to hunker down and hardscope for an extended period before taking that shot, and ruining that sniper spot for the rest of the match after the tracer rings out. Secondary weapon or melee with some kind of movement buff may be required to fully flesh out this idea.

Let's force him to play only sniper with machina for entire month after that video

This used to be my primary of choice for sniper (on the rare occasions I play it), and I think I've only ever gotten a handful of collats with this thing in the entire time I've played the game.

A lot about the Machina makes sense when I realise the weapon is pretty much built around showing off.

The candy cane is another example of a weapon whose downside counter acts athe upside: more survivability from the dropped health packs vs less survivability against explosives, your second biggest weakness

Honestly machina is great as an insurance policy. It makes it so you full charge more. It gives away position but also tags enemies. It is a god sent on enemies with resistances. The extra damage helps especially with the vaccinator. Also encourages bodyshots which is great for tagging mutliple enemies. But yeah needs an upside like tagging the enemy you hit with the tracer round for a few seconds behind walls to signal allies "hey this guy is low health get him" Another idea is +damage against buildings making it p much a 1 shot on minis teleporters and chipping away at sentries and dispensers.

The Machina in x10 is a very interesting case. Whereas stock is just better than it usually is, the Bazaar Bargain is literally unchanged and the Classic charges in half the time of stock (seriously, this makes it viable), the Machina deals over 1100 damage on a charged headshot. This is extremely relevant in x10 due to Dalokohs Bar Heavies (800 HP), Demoknights (~400 HP, which exceeds your bodyshot damage) and Backup soldiers (400 HP exactly). The only thing you can’t kill in one shot is a Kunai Spy fresh off of a kill.

I really hate the aim trails, not because it gives away my position, but because “what do you mean my shot DIDNT connect I literally saw the laser hit them!!!”

Among my many, many custom weapons designs was the JDJ Thin Mac, a sniper rifle that had double base damage in exchange for not having headshots. Unless you're charging to one shot something other than a kunai spy, scoping is just an actual ADS, but it has an almost huntsman quality of being great on the move.

Here's my take: I love deus ex and as such, the machina. I'd tweak it to turn it into an absolute death cannon which is how the longsword works (actual in-game name in deus ex, don't know why it was the only D.E weapon to get a name change when the others didn't) Slower reload speed, keep the lack of noscopes and tracer rounds, less bullets But Keep the damage and make it apply permanently and not just while fully charged Make it go not only through team mates but buildings Give it the enforcer's quirk of bypassing resists Now you have a passive yet strong sniper playstyle that renders you fucked if you don't change your positioning. You know 'cause that's how sniper should actually work instead of having powerful close range tools to rival the bs powerclasses have. (The whole "becomes weak with proximity" thing) PS: also fuck quickscoping in general, i curse faze clan and mw2 for introducing such dogshit playstyle to snipers as a weapon in gaming because it fundamentally fucks balancing the class for the amount of people who want it even if it doesn't make sense for the weapon to pull that off. Snipers are meant to be long range pick players with clunky mobility and weapon handling who become easy prey at close range, not a fucking cowboy with a hand death cannon.

The answer to the Machina paradox is "I can't hit headshots"

The Deus Ex soundtrack for the Machina is noticed and appreciated.

Expectation: Sick sci-fi railgun with matching cyberpunk outfit Reality: GivusVision 2fort Sniper

there is kind of a way to do close shots with machina: hold left click, and then do m2 when you wanna shoot this isn't exactly quick scope, it's a little easier

Holy shit, when you started getting into the Machina already existed? I still think of it as 'that new thing I don't like'

The penetration gimmick, while niche, is such a fun concept that it's a shame it was made even more niche with how painfully slow the rifle wishes you to play.

I think the extra damage is only useful to help get those double kills for collateral damage... but as you said, most of the time it's used for bodyshots or the opportunity just never arises for collats

with all the snipers being so similar, i almost wish sniper had more unique ranged weapons, like a crossbow akin to the half life 1 version would be kind of cool.

My main issue with the Machina is the tracer. Not because it gives away my position, but because the tracer clearly hits players but the hit reg said no, which makes it feel like it is somehow worse than stock on hit reg. Otherwise I view it as a mostly useless sidegrade to stock. It is better to use the Bazaar Bargain for the simple fact it has no downsides if you're not charging your shots, which you don't need to do most of the time anyway.

When it comes to tracer rounds on Sniper, I'd actually like it if we somehow got unique tracers for each rifle, making it more evident which rifle is being used from a distance, with the Machina's simply being the most noticeable by far. You obviously have the Classic and Machina with it already. The Sydney Sleeper could have one that's faintly yellow (perhaps also having some yellow water particles getting dropped from the line). The Bazaar Bargain could have one with the Matrix-style "ripples" of air around the tracer. An idea I've had for a change to the Machina, which I don't know the logistics for, would be to replace the extra damage upside with the upside of ricochet shots. Regardless of charge, your shot will ricochet once on any environmental surface it hits (so not players, unless you have full charge and thus pierce through the player to hit something behind them). The ricochet would likely need one of two penalties applied to it, being less damage or the inability to headshot with it. It would also be amusing if said ricochet shot could damage the Sniper using it.

honestly, i think the machina is good where it is right now, that being: sniper training wheels. it teaches you how to play sniper by making a missed headshot somewhat more forgiving with more damage, and encourages hardscoping because it's easier to line up a shot when scoped in, as well as forcing you to learn positioning by effectively calling you out any time you take a shot. it also discourages hipfire because the devs intended sniper to mainly hardscope. obviously it's not that good because it removes a lot of versatility in your kit, but it comes with the promise of extra damage, multikills, and an edgy black model, it's practically designed to pull in people who are newer to the game, and so it'll teach them about playing sniper in a similar way that the medic's syringe guns do. I haven't played TF2 since jungle inferno but i remember picking this gun up specifically to get better at sniper, and it worked really well at teaching me the ropes.

its a pretty decent side grade in MVM as you can do over 1k dmg to giants (Which it can penn so line 3 giants together an you do 3k in one shot, further more saves ammo at the cost of attack speed), and are able to drop giant uber med before they reach low enough hp to pop their uber. Timing is a bit rough but possible. While arguably the Heat maker has the best sustain dps and so remains uncontested in that. But if you want to drop giants the Machina is king.

I could see it being good in MVM where extra Bodyshot damage is useful if you can't snipe well.... BUT the Sydney Sleeper fills that role much better and has amazing team support, AND penetration is a cheap upgrade for Sniper primaries across the board

8:31 deserved for being so rude to that spy, man just wanted a quick high five!

In general, what videos talking about weapons leave out is that, in reality and practice, its almost impossible to enter a fight with both opponents at max health. Ergo, almost always, stats that include damage reduction aren't actually a big deal because "you are now not able to one shot {x} class" doesn't usually happen because in most situations people will run around injured, (not to mention random damage numbers) making rare the occasions when the difference mattered BY that same logic, a weapon that has a buff of "it deals extra damage" isn't actually that good, because 9 times out of 10 you would have secured the kill anyway, with the Machina being an egregious example

You can get a friendly spy to go invisible and stand in front of you. This way you are protected from enemy Snipers and can earrape the server with constant collateral sounds.

At least with the machina I can repsect a person using it cause they have the patience to charge the whole way instead of quick scoping. I mean the charge mechanic barely comes into play when using stock cause most snipers would rather quick scope over having to wait a full second just to drop a heavy.

It's so strange to me that I'm so into videos like this and Great Blue's videos on TF2 weapons, since first-person shooters and online multiplayer competitive games are neither things I'm particularly interested in and I haven't played even a single match of TF2. Not the only subject on which I love deep dive looks into the minutiae of something I don't consume the actual base version of, either. I think part of it is that I'm a game designer as a major hobby of mine, and looking at the various traits being discussed and balanced in tradeoffs interests me on the theoretical level.

I know this sounds like a bit much but please, just hear me out. What if the Machina's stat page looked more like- This weapon fires a red hot projectile that deals an aditional 2 seconds of afterburn damage (said afterburn should deal 6 damage per tick) + This weapon deals +90% more damage on fully charged shots. The projectile is the moves faster than the direct hit (because idk how fast it is but I'd imagine this one being faster to feel kinda like hitscan with a bit more margin for error) - The end if the gun glows bright and brighter with team color as it charges up This gun deals high knockback to the shooter and the target (similar to thw force of nature but with more forece on the shooter if they are in the air alling the sniper to finally have some movement) This gun doea not charge up from scoping in and thus, does not have a dot on the surface where the player is looking at, until the player has held down or pressed left click to shoot. The dot will appear regardless of being scopwd in or not, foe as long as a charge is being built up. - This gun takes 1 full second of charge to deal headshot damage. To head shot you must be scoped in. (So it doesn't step on the clasic's toes) + This gun's projectile explodes when fully charged and hits a surfave or when getting a headshot This gun's projectile does not use the target player's projectile hitbox to determine headshots from body shots. (Because that's stupid.) It does however, use it foe the explosion aftermath. - This gun charges much slower + This gun penetrates all players, regardless of team afiliation when fully charged, only 6 when at half or above half charge, no penitration unt half charged. The purpose of this gun is to give sniper more mobility, have a new projectile weapon thay still feels fair when getting hit by it, while still giving him an option to hit harder than the other rifles should a few medics and resistances get in his way, while still keeping him in check to just taking down one target at a time, inconvenienceing those who are bunched up, making people less mad for quick scopes but more awair when the sniper is around with a glowing light, slower charge and with the shots still leaving behind a cool yet telling/intimidating trail of light behind. It should feel cool and be cool to shoot and be shot by this thing. Weather it's ballanced or not is another question. Idk if thing will be much more useful or not against resistances and overheal, but I just hope that should someone try to make this gun, that they make the charge slow enough to be fair but not too slow to be un-fun to use. That and I'd like credit for the idea, because I haven't really herd of anything quite like it by anyone else. It might be a bit much to make but I think it wpuld be cool. Maybe thwy or you'd have to make it do less damage than I proposed but have resistance ignoring properties. I'd say in absence of more damage, it should ignore 33% resistance and deal minicrits instead of full crits when headshotting. Idk. Please leave feed back, I love making up weapon ideas and talking about them back n fourth peacefully.

There's one thing that I have always exploited about this weapon's extra damage. It lets you two shot level 3 sentries. If the engineer ever leaves his nest for even a split second, you can sometimes do a demoman's job.

A thing you forgot to consider is that the machina is pretty good for taking out maxed building since a fully charged shot and an uncharged shot back to back do 223 damage. Also you can get the engineer behind his buildings.

I love the machina. On payload and attack defense maps there are typically plenty of choke points where you can get collateral hits. Even without a multikill, doing 173 damage to two or more is incredible. Charge 4 seconds, move out of cover, shot into the crowd, repeat. And tbf I think the downside of having long times inscope being vulnerable is how sniper is meant to be. Playing full tryhard with stock and quickscoping is op

I use the machina just for the design, I don't care it's redundant and I gimp myself while playing sniper to be a bit more respectful of other players

I use the Machina for two main reasons. 1. Because it is _inevitable_ that some idiot teammate will jump in front of my shot and eat the bullet. I don't use it to penetrate enemies, I use it to penetrate _teammates._ 2. There is a psychological effect in seeing the tracer. Especially if you are hitting your shots, the enemy will play a lot more conservative. Usually too conservatively, opening up more space for your teammates to maneuver. I typically only use it when pushing out of spawn when the downside is completely negated. Sometimes it is worth switching to if you know you are going to get a long narrow hallway where you can get penetrations on either teammates or enemies. I don't even think about the extra damage and use it like a stock rifle outside of those situations.

Wasn’t expecting an Xavier renegade angel reference, but I’m happy to receive it.

what if it was: *+* Fully charged shots ignore resistances *+* Scoped shots penetrate targets *-* can fire 2 unscoped shots before needing to recharge (10s / 5s per) *-* still fires Tracer rounds *-* 30% less Ammo

I really only use it because it looks cool