U.S. Marshal Sharpshooter

U.S. Marshal Sharpshooter
U.S. Marshal Bellmead U.S. Marshal Sharpshooter taking aim Bellmead Sharpshooters
Description
Enemy Type	Marksman
Statistics
Health	120 (Normal) 180 (Hard) 360 (Very Hard) 720 (Overkill) 900 (Mayhem) 1,800 (Death Wish) 2,480 (Death Sentance)
Headshot Multiplier	2 (Normal) 2 (Hard) 4 (Very Hard) 6 (Overkill) 4 (Mayhem) 3 (Death Wish) 3 (Death Sentence)
Spawn Limit	2 (Normal) 2 (Hard) 2 (Very Hard) 2 (Overkill) 2 (Mayhem) 2 (Death Wish) 2 (Death Sentence)
Extra Statistics Suppression Minimum Maximum Duration 0.1s 0.15s Fear Threshold 100 200 Retreat Threshold 400 500 Panic Chance 0% ECM Vulnerability Minimum Maximum Chance 100% Stun Duration 8 10
Other
Internal name	marshal_marksman
Achievement(s)
v·d·e

U.S. Marshal Sharpshooters are special enemies in PAYDAY 2 added in the Midland Ranch heist, and a later update implemented them in all heists of the game in all difficulties. They only start spawning after the heist has been running for a while, and they behave like a Sniper on the ground alongside other enemies, rather than spawning in specific areas.

Background

"The Sharpshooter is a unit of the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group, deployed to neutralize fugitives of the federal government. Specializing in long-distance combat, they use streamlined ammunition and high-powered scopes to deal massive damage from the edges of battle. Their light armor allows them to move quickly between vantage points.

Notes: Gotta hand it to those Marshals, they sure know how to get creative with our tax dollars. What if you crossed a sniper with an entry officer? That's basically what the Sharpshooter is all about. Too bad their armor's so weak, and they should really do something about their scope glint. All that stupid camo, and you can still spot them a mile away."

—FBI Files Description.

Strategies

U.S. Marshal Sharpshooters can spawn at any point of the heist, either in pairs or accompanied with a U.S. Marshal Shield. Because of the rarity of these enemies, they are an insignificant threat most of the time.

Marshal Sharpshooters can be identified by the glint of their scopes and yellow tracer rounds. They deal high damage, but do NOT have AP, unlike ZEAL Marksmen or regular Snipers. Treat these enemies like tankier but less-damaging Snipers that appear alongside other enemies rather than specific perches of the map.

Their glint of their scopes heavily give away their position. Headshots from high-powered weapons like the Bronco .44, M308, or KS12 Urban rifle, are exceptionally good at finishing them off.

Unlike other special enemies, they don't have a melee attack, nor do they try to back up if approached, so melee attacks are an option too.

On Death Sentence, they are accompanied by exceptionally dangerous ZEAL combatants, making prioritizing them much harder, although due to their rarity of them spawning, they are not much of a high-priority compared to other special enemies.

Variants

Bellmead

"Modeled after the U.S Marshals unit of the same name, the Sharpshooter mercenaries of Bellmead International use heavy bullets and powerful scopes to attack from long-distances, while their light body armor allows for increased mobility.

Notes: I can't tell if those punks at Bellmead International are lazy or brilliant. They find Sharpshooters that got discharged from the Marshals, pick them back up, and give them the exact same job. Just with a new coat of paint. But the same job comes with the same problems. Their armor couldn't stop a kitchen knife, and that scope glint makes them an instant target."

—FBI Files Description.

According to the FBI Files, Bellmead Sharpshooters are discharged Marshal Sharpshooters that have been recruited as mercenaries for Bellmead International. They appear in all heists that do not have standard law enforcement. They also appear in the Crude Awakening heist.

Trivia

• The U.S. Marshal Sharpshooter formerly lacked the ability to be marked by heisters, players would instead attempt to make them surrender. A later update allowed them to be marked like a Sniper, and High Value Target would now work on them.
  • Heisters formerly did not announce their kills on a Sharpshooter, but an update fixed this.
• The U.S. Marshal Sharpshooter is one of the three special enemies in the game that do not have any unique regional variants, the others being Captain Winters and the U.S. Marshal Shield. They instead use a unique appearance for all of the heists that do not use standard law enforcement, appearing as black-uniformed sharpshooters working for a PMC called Bellmead International.
  • They retain English voicelines even in heists with non-standard law enforcement that do not speak English.
    • This raises questions on their presence in certain heists. How they managed to work alongside ruthless mercenaries (Boiling Point's Russian Reapers), a rival PMC (Murkywater), foreign law enforcement (Federales) or zombies (Cursed Kill Room) is not known.
• The Sharpshooter has a unique DMR that resembles an AR-10, similar to the Contractor .308. This DMR was later made available to all players in the form of the North Star Rifle.
• Despite being a sniper in class, killing a sharpshooter in melee wont give the Snipe this! achivement.