My point is more that Snipe Master was intentionally designed to be horrible. They don't want Nova being able to burst people fast from ranged, so they ripped out the main culprit (GP) and replaced it with something that is so awful in both payout AND in functionality that it almost feels like a joke. Even if Snipe Master had the damage payout at max stacks, you're still playing a hamstrung hero that can't use her main damage dealer on anything but heroes and gets completely reset on missing a skill shot (which happens all the time against decent players, I don't care how good the Nova player is). They might as well have One in the Chamber highlighted and flashing on that tier because it's the only talent worth considering anymore.

But I don't think that's an accident. It's a poor showing on behalf of Blizz to intentionally release bad talents (reminds me of Fury of the Sunwell that replaced Ignite on Kael, but somehow even worse), but I honestly believe they're trying to push a new direction for the character (specifically, focusing on OITC / sustained DPS through cycling abilities and AA). That direction is less frustrating to play against, alleviates all the complaints from the newbies about getting blown up from stealth, and is one that they can freely buff and balance the way that they would similar heroes (like Raynor or Valla).

Remains to be seen, but this reminds of Kael's rework once upon a time. People hated fighting a guy that launched nukes from a screen away, so they stripped him of Ignite, put a suboptimal replacement in its place, and let everybody funnel into his newly buffed Chain Bomb instead. VERY similar parallel in Nova. People hated fighting a girl that blew them up from stealth. They strip her of all the talents that made it possible, replace them with horrible alternatives, and then buffed OITC through lower CDs and mana costs on abilities. Only real difference is that unlike Chain Bomb they didn't buff OITC nearly enough, and moreover, Nova requires way more attention to her base kit if she's going to suddenly be a sustained damage dealer.

I don't know though, we'll see. Maybe I'm wrong and they just didn't understand how unbelievably bad Snipe Master was and they'll fix it, but it seems unlikely to me.