So I got the chance to play around with the Archer last night on the Test server, and here are the things I have to say about it:

Sounds

• The firing sound is good, but it definitely could be better. I think if some more bass was added, it would be fantastic.

• The rechamber sound is alright, but shares the problem the firing sound has. It could definitely be great if it was a bit beefier.

• The reload sound is god awful. You are replacing a clip the size of a small book, and it sounds like you are playing with a pen's spring.

Balance

• The balance is perfect against maxes. 3-4 body shots and 2-3 headshots is right where it should be.

• The balance against infantry is awful. It puts the engineer in a terrible position, almost defenseless. I often found myself putting a shot or two into someone, only to have them turn around and kill me. Engineers are pretty useless against infantry when using it.

• I think the best course of action would be to give it the standard bolt action sniper damage model against infantry, and increase the rechamber time as balance.

Infiltrator

The infiltrator really should have access to this weapon. In fact, as it currently stands, it makes more sense to give it to infiltrators than it does engineers. Infiltrators could at least get away after putting a useless shot into someone, engineers cannot.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts after playing around with the Archer for about 20 minutes last night. It should be kept in mind that my testing did consist of a TDM at the crown, however this did make its shortcomings against infantry incredibility apparent. I think the Archer is already a good weapon, but with a few tweaks, it really could be a great weapon.