Whats your sniping guide?

[JohnTheRipper]

Tell us what your guide to sniping is.

Mine is simple
1: Engage only at long range minimum range of 300m max as far as my computer will allow.
2: Find a position that allows me to observe enemy movements of infantry and vehicles.
3: Once in position wait for high value targets to appear such as Medics, AT, Leads, Snipers, AA and even vehicle drivers or gunners if needed.
4: If position is found by enemy such as i'm fired upon or i see the enemy moving to me abandon spot and move to secondary position or extraction zone.
5: After every shot go back to hiding to avoid having the enemy spotting you.
6: always report enemy units you can't kill or unable to engage to your team and give location and direction of movement.
7: If in urban area have a spotter (medic or specialist or both) to provide protection if possible.

[Danger_6]

To be honest i believe Snipers in alot of the maps are irrelevant. Having been one of those players who once was thrilled to pick up the Sniper kit and realise that your job is useless. You contribute nothing to the overall outcome of a match. A sniper can't take down a whole squad unless they are daft about not talking cover.

Sorry to be so pesimistic about your Sniper guide, its good; sniping in PR is pretty useless in my opinion.

Any one going to prove me wrong, i welcome a discussion.

[Havoc134]

Well i am sorry that you have adopted such a pessimistic view of pr sniping, but i am glad to inform you that you are rather incorrect in your thinking. To adress your specific example i have taken out entire squads many a time. Anyway here is how i personally use snipers to their most potential.

First of all patience is the most important part of sniping, patience in chosing your target, getting to your spot, and waiting for the perfect shot

This really leads to the most success in a game. Your job is to take out key targets and give intel. U should aim for anti tank kits, other snipers, emplaced gunners, etc. Also always be talking to your team

I will answer any more arguments you might have

this is how i take out a squad

i aim for their marksman or sniper and take him or her out with one well placed shot, then the medic will probably heal him or her. Shoot the medic, then the sql, then everyone else. Its rather simple really

[503]

Change positions frequently. Make your one shot a kill. When facing with multiple contacts, aim for the highest priority one.
For me it's usually:
1) Anti- Tank or Machine Gunners
2) Officer (Highly Important to take the SL out to disorient the squad)
3) Medics

Personally I'm sick of everyone wanting to be sniper. They lose the kits very fast and do not use it correctly (providing valuable intel).

You basically have everything down. 3-7 are great. 2 is iffy. Depends on the position. I'm not to sure about 1 though. In urban areas, any distance from the enemy is good enough as long as you take him out with one shot and immediately move out.

[CampinCarl232]

Whenever I do it I go by whatever I find a bigger threat to me. If I see someone looking towards or that they might start looking towards me, I cap them. If I see a running squad usually I'll take out the last person, wait for him to yell over VoIP, then wait until I spot the medic, take him out, then the officer. Or if I see a civvie with his cellphone out I aim right for them. The trick is not to die, and you don't get as much of a punish. I never take out more then 3-4 people in the same spot unless I'm in a well defended area.
Sometimes I'll set up and watch over an area in advance and sit there and wait for the enemy, longest I've ever waited was 15 minutes, then when they start rolling in the supply trucks, look for the one with a SL, watch it until it stops, wait for him to run off to put a rally down, shoot him then. Watch the corpse for the medic to run and heal it, pop him. Then look for the next person with a special kit, take them out, and then watch the medic's body until the kit goes away. Make sure your 400-500 meters away at all times, so you have the head start. Before with my ghillie suit I would be as close as 200 meters and watch them. Cause they'd run past me, I'd jump up, knife the guy in the rear, sprint for 3 seconds then hit the deck. Cause a commotion, knife the next guy, hit the deck. Repeat until it's impossible to keep doing, then take out the good 'ol pistol and use him for the job.
My preferred stances are standing up and shooting on Urban maps, and prone on every other map.

[Jarhead[NL]]

Patience... Patience and a lot of Patience!
Get your kit, go on by foot en start walking to the area you think its good. Lay down on each 50 m and just search en observe with your binocs. Then slowly crawl to your spot and dont immediately start shooting like rambo. Just observe and you will get your shot soon. Also very important that you not laying on top of a hill but in the middle of it. They will always look on the top for snipers. Just pick them out and shoot the Officers, Medics or any other big threats for your team. And simply wait a minute of 1 or 2 between the shots. This will not reveal your position. Just shoot and crawl backwards and hide. If you get spotted just move to a other spot slowly and always with your pistol. Take your time! Patience...

[Tartantyco]

-Mine is: Don't!

[Danger_6]

To be Honest you can only really take out an entire squad if they have a daft SL or team members. If you are recieving sniper fire you can hear the shot being fired from a sniper and most likely after the 1 person has been killed you can do two things:

After taking cover:

1) If there are no threats in the region you are operating simply deploy smoke and revive.

2) if you are hard pressed to reach an objective or you can see any other threats locate a path to cover like in a city by running from cover to cover. If one person does this at a time ie running from rocks the sniper will not know when the next person will pop out and there is less chance of hitting a target.

Of course you can take out a whole squad but i believe the chances of that are very rare, the sniper really doesn't contribute to the overall outcome of a match because they don't operate (99% of the time) with the rest of the team to take out or capture locations simply because that is not what their role is designed for.

If this was a real battlefield i would love to have a few snipers operating in the combat areas, because it really is one shot one kill in real life. In these games its one shot 20 secs and you are up again!

[Havoc134]

It is true that because of respawning a snipers role is partially diminished. The most effective outcome i find is area denial. If you take out one or two whole sqauds or the majarity of those squads, chances are they will not try to pass through that area again. Mor or less you try to provide your team a clear area from which to defend.

Since i already gave you my instructions on how to kill a squad i will now tell you how it goes down realistically.

First of all if you hit the first target with only one fatal shot and do it right they will simply drop. They have no idea where the bullet came from and half the time the target doesnt even realize it was a sniper. Everyone proceeds to either go prone or find cover. The prone position simply helps the sniper take out targets faster. Because the squad has no idea where you are often times people take cover that provides you a full view of their body. As long as you can take out the medic then the rest is really easy. if the squad took some good cover they will fall back and you have removed them from the battlefield for a few minutes at least.

[JoyRider]

1. 8 Second Pause after Weapon and Position setup

2. 4 Second Pause between shots

3. The weapon and land with you is your friend use it to your advantage.

4. Keep low, Keep quite, Keep Moving....Survival is a weapon

["SJT"]

1. 8 Second Pause after Weapon and Position setup

2. 4 Second Pause between shots

3. The weapon and land with you is your friend use it to your advantage.

4. Keep low, Keep quite, Keep Moving....Survival is a weapon

^
basically yeah.

5. A sniper that doesn't relocate after every shot is a bad sniper. (Link with 7)

6. Remember. 1 shot, 1 kill.

7. First shot they know you are there, the second shot they know where you are. (Link with 5)

8. REMEMBER THOSE GOD DAMN BIRDS. (Moving in wooded areas can cause birds to fly up and give away your postilion. Be care full of this and use it to YOUR advantage.

And remember. A sniper isn't always there to shoot people.. most of the time snipers are there to lead an attack by scouting the area for most hostiles and if needed, cover units by providing directions and if needed well placed shots.

[KSorrow]

Do not hide on hilltops.

Try to shoot the medic at first and then the leader. Without a medic and leader the squad is fully yours.

There is no perfect cover.

Use the environment.

Train alot with friends.

[superaki]

When I take sniper and I want to be teamplayer I:

-Give enemy positions before shooting
- I look 3 times on the map if it could be a friendly
-I take a lot of time between shots to avoid being spotted
- Try to find out the distance to decide whether i have to compensate for bullet drop

If im bored:

-shoot first, ask questions later
- If there is a squad i try to decimate it ASAP, no wait for minimizing risk cover to be blown

[TomDackery]

If someone takes aim at you at all, relocate. I've seen many a sniper get taken out because he refused to relocate his position and ended up getting flanked.

Don't try to snipe from less than 200m, you'll be quite easy to spot.

Aim for the most immediate threat to your team first, keeping in mind that enemy snipers pose a threat to you also. HAT kit aiming at a friendly tank? Take him out first. Other than that, aim for officers first, then watch for medics rushing in to save the wounded. After that, everything else is gravy.

Don't lone wolf.


EDIT: Pretty important: avoid the highest buildings on a map. Those are the first place the enemy will look. Anywhere that you will be backlit by the horizon (most ridges), I try to avoid.

(if you take out officer first, he will be bound to call for a medic. A medic, once dedicated to reviving another play, will give you a few seconds of a window in which to take a shot. Its a vicious tactic, if used properly.)

[L4gi]

2. 4 Second Pause between shots

This is actually not needed. If you dont move between shots, you can simply fire off until your magazine is empty.

[JKRMAUI]

I agree with most of the above.

I'll add, don't grab the kit if you just want kills.

Playing Bluefor on INS your job is to spot caches first. Not kill Haji, kill special targets as needed only.

Playing OPFOR, DEATH TO THE INFIDELS! I just try to use up as many tickets as I can. I prefer people in gunner positions since they cannot be rezzed, I try to hit high value targets. Mainly if I can get a kill I take it, if the squads working together, I wait for the medics.

Best cover is playing level. Shooting through clutter. Like between rocks. Just objects that show up at distance, and that you can cuddle up against. Don't make a silhouette.

Sniping is very strait forward. I find it hard to understand how people mess it up

[Durandal]

Go with what most people say here, with one exception - relocating IN PR after every shot isn't very practical nor is it very safe after every shot. The maps are too small/crowded to do so. Plus, you put yourself at greater risk of detection by trying to relocate. You'll also more than likely run into an enemy squad on foot at ground level where you will be at a HUGE disadvantage.

[Ace42]

Don't lone wolf.

?!? Surely the whole point of a sniper is that he CAN'T stick with a pack. He's not a marksman, getting in close to a bunch of loud clumsy grunts is gonna flag him up quicker than skipping through trip-flares. Taking up a valuable slot on an inf squad that's gonna be moving quickly and into areas that aren't suited to sniping is hardly practical. At the most you're going to want one squad-mate to work as a spotter / security / grapplehook, and even then that's of debateable use in a lot of situations, especially given the lack of a rally point or medical care, which means squad-cohesion between the two of you is next to 0.

Personally I'd be tempted to agree with the second poster - snipers are of limited benefit in PR ATM, as EVERYONE has binocs and can see and report things over VOIP / mumble; hardly any of the maps I tend to play on have any lazer-guided munitions, and even then there's plenty of officers about to mark stuff up; and killing a HAT user or officer is only as useful to your team as they were to the opposition. Quite often, killing a HAT user is basically depriving a nub of his lame-gun and allowing someone who actually has a practical need to get it. Or, what with the kit despawning, you're giving them free reloads after a minute or so instead of them spending 10 traipsing around trying to find ammo crates, etc.

The one thing everyone who goes for the sniper kit has in common is they basically want to feel "elite"; exactly the same reason why people gravitated towards the SF kit. The reasons for removing the SF kit apply to the sniper rifle; the only difference is everyone is addicted to a little "snipey snipey" and it's a mainstay of every FPS since Team Fortress.

If the devs ever implement a "ticket economy" - where specialist kits (including officers) are bought with tickets, and thus need to be protected; then "high value" targets will LITERALLY be high value and in need of protecting / specific assassination. This ticket value reflects the investment in both equipment and specialist training IRL. Until then, or other similar changes, most snipers are rather self-important.

[JKRMAUI]

Hiding in PR is very easy. The easiest way to find your kit liberated by me as blufor on an ins map is to keep shooting. Sniper rifles make a very notable sound. Keep your shooting to a minimal. Shoot what you can hit, and if you have been firing, move.

Moving after every shot might be a little over the top. Moving every few shots is a very good idea.


As for the usefulness of snipers. I feel that they can be useful. I have had times when a blufor sniper nailed a few "people" on roof tops that were...killing my squad, or take the gunner off a techy. They do come in handy. Most of the time they are just a ticket prancing in the fields doing nothing but giving the enemy a new toy.