What's the point of a sniper?

[roob]

1. The problem isn't that there's no commander operating, it's that no one in PR listens to you when you say "there's a squad bla bla", "there's a FB there bla bla" in the team chat. The only thing the commander does is pass along the info to others so that they have to listen over voip.

2. Lasers are of utmost importancy if the pilots listen to you...

3. Aaaaand for the kit details... If you're any good you'll be able to make out which one's a medic and which one's a squad leader if you just observe instead of shooting the second you see them. This was useful in 0.75 and will be useful again in 0.86

[hiberNative]

terrorize/disrupt enemy squads while staying alive and having fun...

[Rissien]

Going on your number two it depends on your pilot. If the sniper is in the pilots squad it does wonders. Even being on vent helps alot, lase somethi ng and give us a grid and well mark it. Alot faster than typing, Ive been flying the F-16 on Kashan the past two nights and lasted a good while, in fact last night I lasted an hour , shooting down the Mig once and the Frog twice before the Mig managed to sneak up behind me. Before hand I hit multiple targets with my bombs.

[Mad-Mike]

Most of the time Snipers are not in Squads with infantry etc..
they make there own 2 man squad, sniper and a spotter.

[LittleFoX]

In a serious match (like a tournement) having a sniper/recon squad is really usefull, but in pub matches their not always an important asset to the team, but that is the problem with public matches. If you really want team work at it's best, you should join a tournement. Thats how project reality is meant to be played.

[TheLean]

In guides and stuff, they say the role of a sniper is to do recon for the team, lase targets, and take out enemy officers.

See, this is where you take the wrong turn. The sniper in PR is used to totally own squads on ranges over 300 meter. If you kill 20 people with the sniper you have taken 20 tickets from the enemy and disrupted their attack plans. IRL, sniper might not be used for this, but in PR it is awfully effective as a LONEWOLFING UBER KIT.

[TopeH]

Some times on Muttrah city I pick up the sniper kit if the Squad leader lets me take it. I just go high ground and Recon my squads surroundings and spot enemy Apcs and Infantry.

[Rissien]

Lonewolfs die alone, if you go look for a certain two snipers getting slammed. Snipers should move after taking one or two targets down, staying hidden is key.

[goguapsy]

The point of sniper is just to kill the lonewolfers giving them a lesson.

Which is really useful to filter out the VBF2'ers.

rofl!!!!
this is gonna be my sigh now, togheter with "this is some kind of joke?"

[Qaiex]

Whats the problem with recon without a commander? You're assuming the SL's for the other squads aren't listening.

[UncleRob199]

A lot of the time I find point 2 to be true, as even though the size of the maps are a big improvement over vbf2, pilots always have to be conscious of the edge of the map. A realism problem which can only be solved with the maps being even more massive than they are now. There is usually anti aircraft stuff about as well, probably more than there would be in real life, and in my opinion the hand held AA missiles are too long range.

[killonsight95]

they should just expanned maps out of bounds range even if that means just for aircraft and just seeing flat land and no detail round the edges only the aircraft will see it so doesn't matter

[Solid Knight]

The thing about snipers in BF2 is they are usually easy to spot. If they are in the mountains you can easily see them as their body floats in the air at long ranges.

In urban combat there is so much cover that you can negate their presence altogether. It's easy to sneak up on them and kill them.

On Insurgency just about every insurgent will come raining down on them as soon as they hear the sniper rifle shot.

I think the sniper class is the weakest class out there. It's so easy to exploit their slow fire-rate and long settle times to get up in their face. So, unless they're on a map like Koregal where it is pain to get from one point to another, their usefulness is limited.

[Outlawz7]

the sniper is amazingly useful for Recon

So is any other kit with binocs. The point of recon isn't having a leet kit, it's being in the right spot. If the sniper keeps spotting vehicles when on recon, he can't do **** to them so why bring it there in the first place?

and Laser Targeting.

Any SL with an officer can do that and considering that the stuff that SLs laze will usually have more impact on the team's progress, as an actual threat is removed rather than some lone guy lazing vehicles coming out of enemy main or yanking off at the other side of the map.

[freeway]

as my Signature says . sniper is the deadliest force on battlefield . i dont care much about blufor ... in insergency role snipers are their heros , enfield hase limit range of 200 meters if u could go over this limit let say 500 - 600 meters we will win the round . last night i played Korengal ofcourse i picked taliban, when the match started i stayed on the otherside looking over the outpost , killed 3 guys while they r standing on the fence trying to stop my team from attacking ( it was 400 something meters ) 5 mins later they all backed down fearing of being sniped which is good for my team . then when they got us main i decided to get on the hill by it to pin them down as long as i could , the result 17 kills ( most of then killed while getting kits , and few humvee's gunners , 2 LB pilots ) i made them relocated to outpost to avoid snipers . the end of the map i have 21 kills and 1 death my best ever with the enfield . yes i dont follow team but i tell them where are the bad guys , i always pay attention where is blue and which one is killed , who is gonna be attacked , guide them and help them kill enemy . i am proud to be a sniper ( only play sniper when i could have the enfield )

[Mongolian_dude]

Your points 1 & 2 are pretty flawed, as its rather dependent on the server you play on and the time at which you play on them.
I make sure the servers I play on rarely have those traits you have mentioned, therefore I dont share this problem.

Point 3 is not necessarily correct.
Important aspects of of specialist kits are usually made visable up to greater ranges by the Devs.
For example, you might not see the kit geometry, but you can see that the player is holding an Automatic Rifle or a LAT, allowing you to priorities your targets.

A general rule I play by is, the Medic is usually one of the skinnier guys.
If i still cant tell, go for one of the high priority targets and see which one of them runs for the revive. Target that man. Kill him.
Then go through the rest of the squad as they scramble to retrive the Medic kit and save the day, to no avail.


Cant find the screenshot, but on TG a few days ago I achieved 21-1 KD as a sniper with my spotter. Average engagement range was about 500m+.
M.Warren was our commander, and I was passing up Squad, FB and Armour positions to the CO, which were marked for the team.
Sniper wins.


Your issue to being spotted will likely be down to patience or greed.

Firing often will get you more kills in the short run, but decrease your chances for survival.
1st Shot alerts the enemy there is a sniper targeting them.
2nd Shot will give them the sniper's general direction.
3rd Shot will give them a degree for the sniper.
4th Shot will pretty much give them Sniper's exact location.
Sometimes, its just wise not to shoot at all.


Chosing a location is perhaps the most important aspect.

Not being able to have a 360' field of view or at least a good view around you gives the problem of not knowing if there are contacts near by and sneaking up on you.
Areas such as dense woodland mean that you will have to move after every 1-2 shots, or you will be discovered and likely killed. Movement is key.


As fun as it is, travelling with 2 snipers together is generally a really bad idea.
Aside from limiting the kits to be used elsewhere, it means that you are firing twice the shots and risking losing both sniper kits in one fatal swoop.
Inevitably, the snipers end up competeing for the same targets and firing lots of shots.


You should be very aware of where friendly units are operating.
There are advantages to having a big, hazy battle raging on as it means you are less distinguishable and have people to use effectively as a shield, by keeping them bewteen you and your enemy.


From your experience of playing public games, you should know where the frequently traveled routes are across the map. Stay away from them, as you'll find yourself too close for comfort, but not too close for a body bag.


It can be allot to think about, but if you want to keep that SR all round, then its pretty much a must.


...mongol...

[Punkbuster]

1. Recon for the team is useless without a commander, which is most of the time.

In this one you are right

2. Jets and choppers aren't in the air long enough for target lasing to be effective.

I last for the whole round in the F-16 on Kashan, Same as attack huey and sometimes I gun in the apache on muttrah and last for 2 hours or so, so what you said is wrong!

3. You can't see kit details at sniper rifle range, which I would say is upwards of 350 meters.

Forget the manual and shoot everyone who you see!

We're also stuck with the inherent weaknesses of the sniper, which is: flanking, being spotted. If you've ever played as a sniper before, you know how easy it is to be flanked, because you only ever have a view of one area, and you probaly aren't paying too much attention to what's behind you.
And to spot a sniper, all someone has to do is pop up with binoculars and see you instantly. There's rarely enough time for a sniper to take out someone who just pops up with a set of binoculars, sees you, then pops back down.

Sometimes, on maps like mestia I like to be a sniper, but the sniper squad is full, so I be good with the team and join the sniper squad and be their medic, so when someone gets close, he is mine

After all, the goal of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bast*rd die for his!

Thats what a good sniper do!

[HusseinObama]

Answer to post 1: The point of a sniper is to kill people with his long range bolt-action rifle.

[iFerret]

If I'm engaging a squad, I usually take out the medic first, then the officer, thus making a panic to the squad. I then get any Marksmen or Snipers that may be watching, then anyone who has binoculars, then any noobs running around. After that, you nailed a whole squad.

[ma21212]

Well on barcuda I get alot of kill on the beach area, jabal too and qwi . all other maps are just bad for sniping. but the point of a sniper is to kill (that is IF u know how to do it correctly) if someone suks at it but takes a sniper kit anyway i WISH he/she gets banned cuz
1) they will loost the kit to an enemy which anys the hell outta me cuz i see this ideot called "snipz4lif99" but gess wat his K/D ratio is 2 to 8, he took the second sniper kit cuz he lost the first 1 4 mins ago, and hes in enemy territory alone (if i wanan snipe i cant cuz this noob took all the sniper kits)
2) that team basicly lost 1 person