SNIPER:
Thing about the Sniper. He’s a loner. He stays away from conflict. His job is to keep out of the enemy sights, while only letting them out of his sight to do that. He stays behind the conflict, if just enough to line a good shot. Direct conflict is his enemy - he is literally one of the two weakest classes in the game (tied with the spy) in direct confrontation. His only saving grace is that he can use back-items to boost defense, slowly regenerate HP, or wield a jar of urine to put out fires or mini-crit enemies.
Twilight is a leader. She’s scientifically inclined, knows magic, and is a scholar by-and-by. While she is by no means a physical pony, she is not afraid to take charge and rush into danger. She is the pony everypony goes to when there’s a problem; friendship, magic, or eldritch horror related.
The Sniper immediately takes away any form of leadership role Twilight could potentially possess. The other classes do not rely on Sniper; he’s useful, but not really necessary. Sure, a wall of Snipers is a deadly thing, but we’re considering a solo concept - one character. Additionally, on a more flavor-based level, the Sniper is perhaps the most mundane class of them all, so Twilight’s status as a magician/scientist is entirely ignored.
That’s my opinion though.
Oh yes, they all have their areas, no doubt about that. The question isn’t ‘who is smart enough to do their job’ because we have to assume they all are (unless told otherwise). But even by that logic the Sniper is trivialized. Why make Twilight the bushman if she can be the Russian Lit PhD, the bomb maker, or the firestarter? The Sniper may craft his gear, but so do a few the other mercs… even Soldier made a bazooka from trash.
Sure, the Sniper is a wilderness survival expert, but there’s different types of smarts out there. Where do Mick Mundy and Twilight Sparkle intersect?
Heavy has a PhD in Russian Liturature, Soldier actually knows how to read and even knows about war (al bite from San tzu), Demoman is a Drunkmaster, Pyro is Pyro, Sniper knows how to craft a huntsman and other survival gear, Scout is smart as well but doesn’t really want to follow smarts.
All of them are smart in their own way.
Maybe, I’d have to read into that to find out. Still, in Expiration Date he doesn’t do anything to stand out. The only ones really seeming to try to do anything during the whole situation are Engineer, Medic, and Spy, who might also be the three smartest members of the team (given Spy is more cunning than intelligent). Sniper doesn’t seem especially smart, however. That’s not to say he’s stupid, of course, so much as it is to say his intelligence doesn’t really stand out.
In all honesty the End of the Line hasn’t really been considered canon by Valve. They just liked it so much that they added items and even an event for it.
I checked TV Tropes myself, and I feel the need to point out a few things.
Both Twilight and Medic are Ditzy Geniuses, Badass Bookworms, Large Hams, Squishy Wizards, and as of Two Cities, Barrier Warriors. Let us not forget both have Slasher Smiles. The Medic and Twilight share 6 tropes. Tropes aside, they both play vital roles on their teams, with the Medic being not only analytical enough to be an effecient healer, but also having a planning role on his team (as seen in End of the Line when the Medic and Spy (and presumably the Heavy) were trying to come up with a plan to counter the train.
Twilight and Sniper are both butt-monkeys (tendency to be on the receiving end of misfortune), Crazy Prepared, and for a time, they were both Ineffectual Loners, though Twilight grew out of it and became a Princess of Friendship. Depending on how important that last one is to you, they share two or three tropes. Tropes aside, the Sniper’s role on his team is heavily utility. Even in the shorts, he seems to be distant from the others, and his role in End of the Line seems to be playing lookout. Seems fair to notice he seems to suffer Tall Poppy Syndrome towards the Engineer, often using lines like “Not so smart with your brains outside your head, are ya?” that might lead one to think he’s not especially smart.
Definitely not something he’d want to work for. Cultist don’t really need a guy to be alive to carry on His message, so likewise, Metal don’t need to do nothing for a small group of those who prefer his line-up to attempt to convince others of said line-up. :)
as I said, it’s a quote from T.V Tropes. I’m biased against Metal-Kitty’s work, but I don’t hate him/her’s work. In a nutshell, I find the originals (as I call it anyway) to be better than Metal-Kitty’s. I respect you pointing those things out. The Reason why I am biased is because it’s already been widely accepted about the pony mercs, anything like this immediately feels like a threat to the “original” pony mercs, such as this. I mean if Metal-Kitty were to convince the brony TF2 community about HIS pony mercs, then I might not feel bias.
I’m not arguing, I’m just pointing out some things.
The Sniper’s motto is not really something that says analytical, so much as being professional. He’s efficient, but are not the other mercs efficient in their fields? They seem to be, even if they don’t always act like it. Does crazy preparedness mean intelligent? After all, any psychopath can plan to kill everyone he meets.
His job is analytical to a point in that he must find a good camp spot and then kill key targets and plan to flee. Question is, how many other classes do this sort of thing? The Medic is an observer, being almost removed from the fighting and focusing on what’s going on. He has to keep track of his allies, who needs him, who can live without him, when an uber is useful, and when he should make a tactical retreat. An Engineer has to plan where to set his sentry nests to best defend against explosives, heavies and spies, where to place his teleporters, when to babysit and abandon his buildings, and when to move his equipment around.
This is not to say the Sniper is not a good match for Twilight, so much as it is to say the reason for the match is not really as iron clad as some people think. Just about any argument you can give in favor of Twilight Sniper could be equally given to other classes. The only thing the Sniper did that others don’t is say that part of his motto was being efficient, but is that really enough, especially given none of them is really inefficient?
Personally, it’s not that I don’t hate metal-kitty’s work, it’s only that I am mostly bias to the system on the right instead of the left. I can understand where Metal-Kitty is coming from, but it just doesn’t work out for me.
Valid. Metal’s works too, but there ain’t no Twilight Medic skins yet.
Hang on, let me write this out:
Twilight :: Medic :: Fluttershy
Fluttershy :: Sniper :: Twilight
Derpy :: Soldier :: Spike
Spike :: Pyro :: Pinkie
Pinkie :: Engineer :: Applejack
Applejack :: Demoman :: Zecora
Right, Zecora was replaced by Derpy before everypony else was rearranged. With two rosters, one widely used, one employed by one individual FA artist, modding Metal’s roster shouldn’t take too much work if a fan decides to com a guy or make the mods themselves. :3
In any given Team Fortress 2 crossover, Twilight Sparkle is almost always portrayed as a Sniper. One might consider this strange, since they don’t really appear to have anything in common. How is a scholarly purple unicorn learning the Magic of Friendship™ anything like a jaded Australian survivalist? Upon closer examination, however, this actually makes a lot of sense. The Sniper’s most famous line by far, from the eponymous “Meet the Sniper” video is: “Be polite, be efficient, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.” Much like Twilight, the Sniper is very analytical-minded and never does anything without planning it out beforehand. Being a successful Sniper in TF2 involves carefully finding a good spot to camp out on and cautiously anticipating enemy movements. Being caught unprepared as a Sniper is a death sentence; if you don’t see a threat coming, it will end you before you can get a chance to defend yourself. Given how poorly Twilight generally responds to anything that she can’t anticipate or prepare for in advance, it’s fairly obvious why the Sniper is a good fit for her.
Maybe I’m reading this wrong, but I think the point is stating that the Sniper tends to be more ‘instinct’ oriented than the logic-founded Twilight Sparkle. Thus, because she takes her time and doesn’t focus on her surroundings, backstabbed.
On a more flavor-based thing, I never liked this matchup because I don’t see Twilight being a bush pony. I kinda see why the artist picked Fluttershy as Sniper in his comics.
If a Pyro isn’t switching to melee at point blank, then I think he probably needs to rethink his strategy, don’t you agree? :P
At point blank a spy can kill a pyro with its revolver faster than a pyro can kill a spy with its flamethrower.
Still, if you make the mares learn a few tricks and give them a little mental training, you could solve those problems and make them better fighters.
Seems someone is butthurt that their headcanon was challenged
With a running start, usually.
How can opinions jump of a cliff?