Agents in The Division 2 who have a knack for eliminating enemies from a distance will appreciate the Sharpshooter Specialization. In Ubisoft's The Division series, these eagle-eyed specialists can help Division Agents secure the win against nefarious factions without having to get up close and personal. Moreover, in The Division 2's post-apocalyptic capital of Washington DC, Sharpshooters can turn the tide with their handy sniper rifles.
However, players interested in taking up the Sharpshooter might find the Specialization overwhelming. After all, this move means having to rely on taking out foes from secure vantage points - something tricky considering how chaotic firefights can get. However, the right approach to the Sharpshooter skill tree can help any player dominate with their trusty sniper.
First Things First: Death From Afar
Agents checking out the Sharpshooter might feel overwhelmed seeing the skill tree branch out across all directions. After all, where should they focus first? In turn, players need to understand how to "read" the skill tree first before proceeding with their eagle-eyed killer. Essentially, the Sharpshooter skill tree "branches out" to allow players to diversify builds depending on how they want to approach their stealth kills. As such, the Sharpshooter specializes in the following key points:
TAC-50 C Rifle: The Sharpshooter gains the TAC-50 C Rifle as their signature weapon. Essentially, this rifle enables players to identify a target's weak point to break armor or even outright get headshot kills.
Headshot Damage, Advantage In Precaution: The Sharpshooter specializes in eliminating enemies from a distance, and their Perks enable them to do just that. Sharpshooters gain increased accuracy and reload speed, get better defense in cover, and take down targets more efficiently and quickly.
Rifle Specialty: The Sharpshooter gains modifiers that further encourage a long-range rifle-based build. Sharpshooters can get a burst fire pistol (93R), better rifle damage, and a specialized digital scope.
Tactician: The Sharpshooter's drone transforms into the Tactician, a smart drone capable of scouting and marking hostile targets. This enables Sharpshooters to better plan approaches in combat.
Signature Weapon: TAC-50 C Rifle
Unlike other Specializations, the Sharpshooter's Signature Weapon of choice further incentivizes their skill in long-ranged combat. Thanks to the TAC-50 C Rifle, Sharpshooters can eliminate targets quickly and efficiently. Unlike other snipers, the TAC-50 C has rounds that not only kill enemies efficiently but also render most kinds of armor useless. In turn, manufacturers built the weapon to surpass most defenses.
See Through Weaknesses
Perhaps the best feature of the TAC-50 C lies in its M5Xi 15x Scope. With this scope, the TAC-50 C Rifle highlights the weak points of various targets. In the game, this feature translates into high-power damage capable of breaking most armors.
Moreover, this feature allows the TAC-50 C to headshot-kill unarmored personnel with just a single hit. Interestingly, the TAC-50 C retains its usefulness even after Title Update 8, which reduced all Signature Weapon damage against named NPCs. Here are the base statistics of the rifle:
Damage: 449.7k
Rate of Fire: 41
Magazine: 6+1
Range: +50 Meters
Fire Mode: Manually-operated rotary bolt action
.50 BMG Rounds (Weapon Talent)
Sharpshooters can attribute the lethal impact of the TAC-50 C to its .50 BMG Rounds. Unlike other sniper rounds, the.50 BMG Rounds are not just anti-personnel, but also anti-material in nature. As such, these rounds can penetrate through most kinds of body armor, and even detonate Weakpoints along the way.
Moreover, the rounds come with a handy decompression shockwave that can hit nearby hostiles up to 400 damage. In turn, these rounds give a nasty kick, even if it deals reduced damage to Named opponents.
Signature Weapon Damage (Passive)
Sharpshooters can further improve the TAC-50 C Rifle's damage courtesy of the Signature Weapon Damage Talent. With this Talent, players can obtain as much as (Tier 4) 40-percent increased Signature Weapon damage.
Skill Modifiers: New Pair Of Eyes
Sharpshooters also get a modified drone to aid them in their eagle-eyed conquests. However, whereas other Specializations have combat-oriented drones, the Sharpshooters get something a little stealthier. Essentially, Sharpshooters gain the Tactician that acts as a mobile radar. With the right skill combination, the Tactician can help Sharpshooters secure the most kills from very calculated positions.
Tactician (Item, Drone)
As mentioned, Tactician helps Sharpshooters by scouting and marking various hostile targets. Moreover, Tactician feeds this information not just to the Sharpshooter's HUD. Rather, every member of the squad gains the Tactician's intel. Essentially, the Sharpshooter and their squad can plan approaches to combat based on the information they've gotten.
However, in high-intensity combat situations, Sharpshooters might not be able to capitalize on the Tactician's visual prowess. After all, high-stress combat might not give Tacticians ample time to analyze the information they receive.
Graphene Battery (Mod)
The Graphene Battery Talent improves the overall performance of the Tactician. This Talent increases the Tactician's ability duration.
Carbon Fiber Frame (Mod)
The Carbon Fiber Frame Talent further adds safety mechanisms to the Tactician. This Talent decreases the cooldown time of the Tactician's ability.
General Modifiers: It's All Down To Patience
Sharpshooters take pride in their ability to take enemies down in a single strike. However, not everyone realizes that the best snipers calculate everything that goes on outside the scope to ensure the kill. In The Division 2, Sharpshooters gain a combination of Perks specially-designed to capitalize on focus, patience, and caution. Essentially, the
Sharpshooter Tactical Link (Talent)
Accuracy pays off, and the Sharpshooter further incentivizes this kind of performance from their teammates. With the Sharpshooter Tactical Link Talent, all squad members closer to enemies than the Sharpshooter gets a 10-percent headshot damage boost. This is vital for most encounters, especially for specializations that like to get their headshots in without having to take up the Sharpshooter Specialization.
Moreover, given how headshots generally deal more damage than body shots, this Talent adds a huge dose of positive reinforcement for team members to aim their shots more carefully.
One In The Head (Passive)
In speaking of headshots, the One In The Head Talent gives Sharpshooters a massive damage boost whenever they aim for the head. At maximum upgrades, this Mod gives (Tier 5) 25-percent additional headshot damage.
Essentially, if the Sharpshooter's squad can't eliminate targets with the Tactical Link, the Sharpshooter will probably get that killing blow with this Talent.
Vital Protection (Passive)
Sharpshooters prefer to stay in cover to line up their shots. However, at the moment they need to move to get a better vantage point, snipers often become vulnerable to damage. With the Vital Protection Talent, Sharpshooters get a 20-percent reduced critical hit chance in Conflict. This adds a huge survivability element to Sharpshooters, who often need a few moments to aim properly to get their headshots in. This Talent also helps with securing control points, which often house a ton of enemies that can easily overwhelm Sharpshooters.
My Home Is My Castle (Talent)
Sharpshooters find their home in cover, where they can carefully aim down sights at unfortunate targets. To further incentivize this preference, the My Home Is My Castle Talent increases overall armor in cover. Essentially, Sharpshooters become much harder to kill and damage while cover protects them. Moreover, this gives players a bit of time to plan if they should launch a counterattack or find another cover.