Guides

Rev. Sparticus's guide to sniping


Rev.Sparticus's "follow the light my child" Sniper's Guide

So you want to learn the art form of camping... Ahhhhhh I mean sniping.. so you have mastered the m10 & the m4 (spammer, I call them this because they aren't accurate...plain and simple). You have snuck up on people with the handcannon and seen the fear in thier eyes... as they know that they're going to DIE, and now you want to become one of the lowest form of life known to mankind, a camper..... Well most professional spammers will have you belive that you are camping. But this is quite the contrary.There are 2 types of snipers, these are Sit back and assess the situation and set em up...
Gain position, hold it, and choke the enemy...
1) The First Type of sniper will be more likely to be shooting at snipers like him... Shooting long distances is reasonably easy with the rifle just turn up the zoom ya say...BUT should your team mates get waxed you wont even see what killed ya...to over come this when I shoot at long distances I will only use 2x zoom, you should be able to see everything you need to see at x2 zoom, except when they are hiding behind something or there are obstacles in the way ect.. then I will go up to x4 to take the shot then I'll go straight back to x2 and try and get a better shot..though some people like to use x4 zoom straight at the start but this is not for everyone as it's just as accurate in x2 zoom....but the decision is yours....
As for killing other snipers at distance you will notice they wont stand still for you. So how do you overcome this? well pregocgnition is the best thing you can use. Basically, Guess work AND just knowing the map, he might be moving in and out a a crate. Solution, move to a diffrent position try and narrow his firing arc down to only one side of the crate, he wants to know where ya went so he has to take a look, he looks = head damage. As you know where he will be. So he walks into your sight. Or just disappear for about 10 - 15 seconds so he will think you have moved on, and he will begin to doubt himself that he missed you leaving the area. (this is a great time to have a look around to check if any of the enemy are tring to shoot ya + you can check on your team mates,and tell your team where he is at as well useing basic radio commands). then u jump out and while he's looking around for targets.. BOOM...
2) The second type of sniper will die more reguarly BUT he is a huge pain in the ass to the enemy, as his wepon is the most powerfull weapon in the game taking only one shot to kill. Ie Head Chest Stomach (unless someone is wearing the Vest leaving only the Head and Stomach) As for holding the enemy at bay, If your a Spammer and u rush foward with your buddies and your freind's head dissapers what do you do, keep running straight in a line, I think not, u strafe toward some cover whilst moving forward Thus the sniper has achived his objective it has slowed you down and allowed the snipers team to gain more control of the map..and allowing the snipers m10 buddies to have one less m10 shooting at them this type of sniper will also be excellent at evasion, as he will have to run more often unless he enjoys spectating. This type of sniper will usally be good at getting people to follow him and knowing where his team mates are going what they can see from where they are going and how long its gonna take em to get there. (this all sounds like a lot but is actually easy. it is just basically knowing the map..)
EvasionWell this all comes down to how well you know the map + Guess work. The biggest guess you will have to make is knowing when to run.. If you are left on your own and you can see the nice men with the submachine guns coming for you, its a party you dont want to be at... the best way to do this is to disappear from them for a little while then show your self in the same spot or there abouts take a shot then back off and reload. The snipers reload is music to the Spammers ears, he thinks your vunarable. But really you have to back off and while reloading are getting the hell out of there. Another great tactic is to do this and look back to where you came from in zoom (just reload the once to suck him in) and your opponet sees that your gone, (and its quite funny everyone I have ever played against does it, they look over to the only place you could have gone BOOM... Thanks for coming) (all whilst running backwards). Then you have 2 choices... 1 Go back, hey why give up a perfectly good sniping position :} 2 Keep running, Good idea if there was more than one Spammer.. Up Close and PersonalWhat do you do if the enemy's all over you. 1. Dont panic or try and line up a shot MOVE Don't be There!!!(but u want to be close to him still) use cover, try and keep your opponent in your feild of veiw as much as possible... oks now the tricky part you want your opponent to waste his ammo so how ya do this?. Only one way, give him a target to shoot at!. To do this, you will have to be sly DO NOT duck in and out of the same hall way ect.
You want him to chase you so you slow down for him if ya have too, most ppl will take a shot at a target even though they have little to no, chance of hitting it at all, thus achiveing your objective.. when you hear him empty his clip, DO NOT run back trying kill him cause he's still got the pistol and mabey a second clip'o'fun, You don't want to be on even terms with a opponent at any time..now you want to try and get some distance between the 2 of ya. Reason for this is the sniper rifle is inaccurate when its out of zoom even worse when you are running jumping ect. Get a resonable distance, while still making your self a target and keep the enemy thinking he has a chance, yes this will give him time to pick up another weapon BUT he has to change from chasing you, And if you really have your act together you will remember how many people died around where you 2 are fighting so he will obviously be going to obtain one of those, the rest is simple timing or you can get away and either try and snipe from another position or pick up another weapon... But this is a very hard art to learn and you will be put in this situation during your sniping career. But a good sniper will see when this type of situation is going to occur and will probably run or if he decides to stay and kill the attacker while he is on a ladder for example, but if he missed his shot, time to practise evasion...but you should have reasonble evasion skills as you have learnt to dodge m10's while you were a spammer...people who choose the m10 as there weapon excel at this skill they put them selves in it all the time.
ReloadingI try and keep my sniper rifle at full ammo all the time just incase but you have to be careful as you never know who is gonna poke ther head around the corner or what a perfect shot you might miss. I try and time my ammo reload with after I've shot one or 2 bad guys and can't see all that much more in zoom in the way of targets I'll relaod then, because it will zoom out and I can take a look at the bigger picture, and when done reloading it will return back to, zoom, Plus when it realoads it doesn't make that annoying zoom noise giveing away your postion should the enemy not know where you are (if they are at a distance and they didn't hear you realoding). another great time to realod is on ladders, even the good players screw up and botch a ladder, botching a ladder in zoom is dangerous as you can get confused easily... while on the ladder your not doing anything anyway so utilize the time to relaod so you have no chance of missing the match winning shot while realoding....
Where are My buddies???Know where your team is, the best you can. If you know where your team is going you can help them by gaining the attention of the enemy so they are spending their time shooting at the sniper on the roof + emptying their clips,which is (if you time it right)when your team come around the corner and gee there all these people not looking at us and reloading= round over Swat Won!! Knowing where your team is is excellent knowledge, if you are up close and personal with the other team, you can run to your team mates and all of a sudden the tide of battle has turned and now they want to run. Knowing where your team mates are is the best way to back them up if you see your team mates in trouble you can help them keeping them alive this will help your longevity(this also falls under knowing the map if you know the map well you should be able to have a fair idea as to where your spammers are). Now there is one more point that is Extremely Important, if a bad guy is all over you and you think you can get away thats good BUT. its when you have leg dammage and your pretty low on life, you will need to make a decision, Do I run to my friends? cause its very likely that your freinds already know what situation your in, and do you really want to put them in the same situation as you. Sometimes its best to sacrafice yourself for the greater good. Just make sure ya make enough noise when ya die so I know I'm by myself.....
Know the MapKNOW the map like the back of your hand so much so that its almost sick. ie When you hear footsteps you will have a good guess as to when they will be comming around that corner and you will have a good shot at them OR you know to run and what he will and wont be able to see. Or your can run backwards in the map (this is retivly easy in any map that you know reasonably well...) BandagingKnowing when to bandage is just common sence if ya get hit in the stomach (witha sniper riffle) theres no point on bandageing try and get a shot off into a bad guy before you die(you will kill heaps of ppl like this). You get hit in the head you wont get the chance to bandage. Chest, well once again your dead.. not even a chance to bandage try and get a shot off, unless you have a vest on. it will take you to about 19 - 17 life if you bandage fast . You jump behind cover BUT its always sneeky to once you have been shot in the vest your opponet will think you have begun to bandage and you pop back out and take a shot, sometimes your opponent wont be ready for that one and he will in the same predicament as you..or worse....
Height Vs Ground and where to aim for...Oks I prefer height to sniper from as it will allow your to disappear from the veiw of your opponents should they be on the ground and there is usally one way in and one way out of high areas and it takes longer to get up close to you ,on the ground you open yourself to being up close to a spammer, thus usually you ending up spectating, but on the ground has its advantages theres usually more dark areas on the ground to hide and more ways to escape and more of your team. Where should you aim?? thats easy the chest! theres more of it to hit + if they jump you can still hit the legs which is basicly a death sentence against a sniper.. The head is a good shot but I wont aim for it cause its a small target and there's more of a chest there and with the rifle all ya got to do is hit....
When to take the shotOks when you are worrying about this u are starting to use your head a sniper advantage, is hes accurate is someone knows you are shooting at you you move more eradic thus making you harder to hit. if your sniping from a roof top and a bad guy is running for a hallway if u dont think its not ganna hit DONT SHOOT... he probly dosent know you are up there so he will probly be looking around.(as u know the map, you know the best places to look from and which ones you can see from where you are so u watch them he shows up he looks hes dead....) It basicly comes down to common sence thou u have a fair idea of when you are going to hit and not just ask ya self is it worth basicly telling him where i am????....+ why waste good ammo.....
What Item Should I use
1) Vest
Its good but it makes a big sound when you shoot though but it will alow you to maybe get hit once.
2) Bandolier
Now I dont see the point of having 26 bullets with the sniper rifle one shot one kill is what your aiming for...not 4-5 shot and maybe a kill = a very short sniper career and lots of spectating but you will get some great screen shots (not what you want) the only reason I can see why you would choses the Bandolier is for its grenade but that is personal Choice ( I really dislike the grenade doesn't belong in team action quake)OR for Night Vision i myself dont like IR as i can see well enough most of the time, if not ill move to a place where i can.. But some ppl swear by it, once again this comes down to personal choice.
3) Silencer
Well everyone knows that this item was designed for the rifle it reduces flash and makes little to no noise but fails to increase accuracy or protection or increase your ammo.. remember if they dont know where you are they cant shoot at ya...
4) laser Sight
what can I say.. if ya pick this one it was by accident it does nothing for a sniper really.Unless ya really like to be accurate with your pistol.. 5) Stealth Slipper's
well unless you plan on doing lot of running around or trying to set up ambushes for opponents theses aint much use to ya..but they have their uses (better in death match)
Team WorkI can not stess to you the importance of teamwork it is imperitive that your snipers and Spammer's work as a team, single handed efforts will beat lousy teams, but to beat a good team you are useless, but as a team you can get into anywhere and kill even the most dug in team, My suggestion is talk to your clan know what maps you all like and what maps you would like to play in a clan war and work out tactics for theses maps and simple radio commands to let your team know the status of a particuar area that they might not be able see.
Know the map Oks if ya dont know a map it will stand out so badly to the other team as u will do some stupid stuff(you may not know it). they only way to gain better knowlage of the map is to play in it and while being dead have a look around at the map see what you can see from certain positions, and what u cant see, Also learn the spawning points for the teams, if you know where the other team is even before you have seen is a awesome advantage,as you know wheer they will be likely to be comming from so you know wheer is the best sniping position to go to.
Well that is the basics of the sniper some ppl will disagree with what I have said but it works for me, (and The Disiple Aka REV havent lost a clan war yet...Nor dropped a map...) it may not work for them. personal choice, and in the words of the musicians 311 "if you dont like it.. well i hope ya do..." Rev.Sparticus
(I am open for discussion about this and would love to hear any comments ppl have about my arcticle (constructive pls) and any questions they may have about areas I may have overlooked). My email is sparty@bit.net.au .