Question about mid range

Sounds like you need to improve your in game situational awareness.

Firstly let's look at dealing with knife fighters. As a midrange sniper you should be watching the distance of all enemies like a HAWK. Special attention needs to be given to the bot who is closest to you. Often the closest enemy is your priority target. As soon as they enter your range, you need to make sure you never let them get any closer. This usually means you will have to adjust your position while firing. Don't keep shooting one player just because you want the kill. You need to keep retreating from the closest enemy if you are going to succeed in staying alive.

As you get used to doing this, you will find you have particular places where you can often stay close to cover but can retreat with a clear line of fire. Under the bridges in Yamantau is example. The side lanes or the back bridge in Dead City is another. Or staying in the valley between the two hills next to the side beacons in Canyon. Watch other snipers and find what works for you with trial and error.

Regarding getting shredded by long range snipers. At the beginning of every game, no matter which setup you are running, you should always be looking to see if any red player has Trebuchets. You can usually see the yellow glow in the distance even before they come into their 1100m range. This is where you find a building or other cover to line up between you and that opponent. Only then can you start to close the distance. Alternatively you can also wait 2 seconds until one of your less intelligent teammates advances in front of you and let natural selection take its course. You could also find a Galahad or Rhino to hide behind to advance. There are lots of options and you should use all of them at some point in the future.

If you are running a Tulumbus Pin Griffin (RDB Griffin) you need to keep your closest enemy between 450 and 500m whenever possible. You should also be aware of any bot running Trident, Zeus or Trebuchet and avoid these setups by using appropriate cover.

This might seem a lot to keep in mind, but all the best players are constantly using these tactics and have practised them so much they become second nature. Start with staying aware of your closest enemy and spotting all Trebuchets at the beginning. From there you can branch out to the rest.

Hope this helps. All the best with it

Well my bigest problems are dead city and power plant ... just don't see any good spots to use my range as it seems everywhere is cover ...

EDIT:

Current setups:
- Patton (3), Spiral (4,5,5,5)
- Griffin (6), Pin(7,6), Tulumbas(6,6)
- Griffin (6), Punisher (7,6), Punisher MK2(6,6)
- Griffin (6), Molit (7,7), Molot MK2 (6,6)
- Leo (6), Thunder (7), Pinata (7,7,7)
- Leo (6), Trident(7), Pin(6,6,6)
- Natasha (6), Trebuchet (6,5), Gecko(6,5)
- Natasha (6) Kang Dae (6,6) Molot (3,3)

Also toyed with Zenit and Noricum but it is close to impossible to hit someone who is moving towards or away from you ... (even when i scored 2 kills with Zemit in one game :-D )
Working on getting a second Trident from event, thinking about buying 2 hydas and replace one of the griffins with a spydra griffin.

Still not sure how my final hangar should be looking, saving gold for 5. slot.Currently sitting on about 15k WP.

Your most useful sniping/midrange setups in this list are the RDB Griffin, Treb Gekko Natasha and Trident Pin Leo. 

Sounds like building a Spydra Griffin would indeed suit your playing style. Just be aware that these weapons don't really become very effective until about level 9 or 10. Also, these weapons aren't really viable at the very highest levels of play, as a good team will beat you on beacons within about 5 minutes of play. In any case, if you're running this setup you should be prioritising the 'hot of head' and the 'nearly dead'.

If you want a setup that is viable at ALL levels of play, I would highly recommend getting a Carnage. IMO it is the best bot purchasable with WP. It would be the perfect setup to put your second Trident on. As you rise in the Leagues, you will meet much stiffer opponents, some even 2000 league points above you. When that happens, you'll be very thankful to have a midrange Carnage.

Zeus Carnage is the ultimate goal as they have excellent Damage per minute, but Tridents are a perfect place to start while you're still saving gold. Some players prefer the splash damage of Tridents. Furthermore, it's easy enough to buy an extra Trident or Zeus if and when you ever find yourself in possession of a Fury (e.g. you might win one in an event).

You can even slap 2 Thunders on it and wreak havoc in short range. In any case, many players in Legends League run a Carnage. Their usefulness has long been tried, tested and verified.

My Tripin Leo is noticeably nerfed post 2.9.2, but is still playable. I just need to be more careful with my aim.

Am I missing something? Or is it not possible to compete with pure knife-fighters as a long/mid-range support focused player in terms of damage deald (and cause of that you can't win gold for being in top 3 unless you've got an afk or 2 and still win)

Dont get me wrong here. Mid range is a great skill and is much needed on many maps but, You have to have a balance. Knifing is a skill too. you cant do all of either one all the time an expect to be successful unless your in an organized squad where all the roles are covered. I would suggest working on our short comings as a knifer to balance your skills so your effective on all maps. Vagabond posted some excellent points and I would start there. Situational is a huge deal in this game no matter what range you play.