I am really confused right now, bulletdrop/sniping.

So, I got the first cheap TR Bolt Action rifle, and the x12 scope.Then I tried shooting some enemys that were 400-550 meter away.


I used all my bullets.I did not hit a single shot. At the end I tried shooting my teammates (they were sitting still), I did not hit (from 450 Meter). It often looked like it hit. I am at a total loss, I am not sure if I aimed too high, too low, or if there is a bug.

During that a small jeep drove by, I shot it, it exploded. Around 200-250 Meter.

I tried aiming everywere. Straight at their heads. A bit above them. A half mil dot above them. 1 Mildot, 1.5. 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4 and so on. I tried aiming 1 Meter above their head, I tried aiming one head above their head, I tried aiming 1 body lenght above their head, I tried aiming one person lenght above their head. Nothing freaking worked.

Before, I had hit enemys at 350 meter with the free semiauto Sniper and 8x zoom. There I did hit.

So, what would have been the right aim? I tested the Mildots before, and the physiks in this game are definitly not accurate. When I tested it the bulletdrop for 550 Meter seemed to be only around 1,5 Meter instead of 9,8. (for the Semiauto).

Thats why I am now asking: Expierience. Does anyone can tell me how many mildots I should aim above the enemy with the M77-B with the x12 scope at 550 Meter? Thanks.

Or if there is a bug. One Idea I had is that I was in another phase? Like when I played WoW, and saw a crafting material. Then when I walked closer it dissapeared. Something like that?


Edit: Also, can anyone tell me where I can find the test area/shooting range? And are there targets that give me a hitmarker if I hit them? Then I could get used to the bulletdrop and test stuff.

Firstly, the unfortunate thing is no one can really tell you what the correct mildot is to get a headshot at those ranges as screen resolution can affect which mildot is best used for what distance.

What I would definitely recommend you do, is go to VR (you can do this by going to your faction Warpgate and accessing the terminal from there, if you don't yet know this) and then go to an infantry terminal, then make sure in the implant slot you equip the implant called Rangefinder. This is a great way of determining range on a variety of weapons, especially longer-ranged sniper rifles.

Make sure you equip the highest tier Rangefinder, if I remember correctly, it will allow a max range of 500 metres, this should be enough for you to test out ranges with a 12x scope. From there, test out from a variety of different ranges what mildot you'll need to use depending on how many metres away from your target you are.

Also, a couple of things as an aside in case you're unaware. Make sure you use Left Shift to hold your breath when you're intending to make a headshot at a certain distance away as it'll steady your aim. Secondly, despite holding your breath and steadying your aim, there is still sway though this is often overlooked as it is very small, but it can determine a hit from a miss on targets at a distance much further away.

Edit: While I remember, something else to keep in mind is whether or not your target is moving. A still target is much easier to hit than a moving one. The further away your target is, and if it's moving, the harder it will be to hit. Therefore you'll also have to keep in mind that you'll also have to use the left/right mildots in order to lead your target. A higher muzzle velocity means less time spent leading targets down range.

Thanks, I find the ranges through objectives or setting waypoints (and I never have implants... -_-).
Yeah I know shift (even though I find it a bit short... -_-^^).
The biggest problem I have with testing the ranges, is that I can't see where the freaking bullet lands. Did it already hit the ground? Did it just dissapear? I don't know.... -_-.

But yeah thats all annyoing an makes it hard to find the right aim and test stuff, but I am pretty sure I should have hit atleast something in that test. I did shoot at enemys that didn't move, I did hold my breath, they were perfectly in the middle of my scope, I compensated for drop in all kinds of matters, but I never hit. God, I even tried hitting my Allies.

Where is my Factions Warpgate, and how do I get there? I guess VR means Virtualreality as in a Testground?

VR, or Virtual Reality is indeed somewhere where you can test things. As it's a testing area, everything is unlocked there. This means you have access to each and every weapon your faction can have, all cosmetics can be worn, everything that can be certed into is at max rank and you will own all Implants.

Usually Warpgates are located around the edges of a continent's map. There are 3 per continent and 1 per faction. Whenever you start the game (at least on the PC version) and have logged into your character, you'll find yourself looking at a map of the current continent you're on. Look at the side panel of the map, it'll give you a list of areas you can currently spawn at and you can look for your warpgate there. Alternatively you can look for the green spawn blobs on the map directly, you can either double click the green blob or click it once and then press the Spawn button on the left hand side.

If you're already in-game and are spawned, press DEL as this is the button which will redeploy you. Then pretty much repeat the above to locate your Warpgate.

If in the future you find that your Hold Breath is too short, you can unlock an Implant to increase how much time you can spend holding your breath.

Don't worry about not having implants just yet either. Implants are dropped over the course of time you spend playing. Each time you get a certain amount of XP, the game 'rolls' whether or not you will receive either a Tier 1, Tier 2 implant or an Energy Charger. Basically, you can get these for free by just playing the game.

The VR is nice. One more question, I think I hit the enemys there in the head, but it seems they take 2 hits. The second hit on the same hight shows headshot with the kill, the first shot doesn't kill but I am pretty sure I have also headshottet. Do these dummys have the upgrade that reduces damage? (I am using the Boltaction M77-B again.)

Each weapon comes with a damage drop off range. The further away from the target you are, the less damage you're going to be doing. The M77-B has a damage profile of 650 up to 10 metres but after 350 metres it will only do 400 damage. This means that if you're trying to headshot them after this point, it is far less likely that you will actually kill them.

Also, whenever you're in a live fight against enemies, there are also other factors to take into account such as if you're engaging Heavy Assaults who have their overshield on. As HA's have access to 3 shields, 2 of them will add an extra 700 HP from the moment they're activated (Nanite Mesh Generator and Adrenaline Shield) whereas the Resist Shield resists damage. (This includes headshots if I recall correctly)

That is another reason I went cqc with my infiltrator. I tried to do the long range shooting. Sometimes I got them, but other times I missed totally. Not to mention the hold breath isn't long enough. I can't VR test since ps4 version doesn't have it yet, so trying to live figure out is exhausting.

Is there a specific formula like in real life with how far each mil is in regards to distance and drop off for weapon?

The Bolt Action sniper rifles should always be a one hit kill to the head. Special circumstances like if a Heavy Assault has his resistance shield activated will prevent one hit kills (OHK). Other factors where a headshot may not score a OHK, is when your firing beyond the weapons maximum range.

Planetside 2 has tiered sniper rifles. Something like the XM98 for vanu, which I **think** is the faction equivalent to your M77-B have a much shorter effective range then rifles which are geared to operate at longer distances. These T2 and T3 rifles usually have more velocity, but have a longer re-chamber time as a drawback. Even if you were a master of getting the drop absolutely perfect on the M77-B if your most likely firing beyond the its OHK potential.

I'm trying to find a handy chart with all the rifles and their maximum distances. Even the wiki doesn't have it...

Off the top of my head:
T3 = 300 meters (very slow re-chamber, very fast velocity)
T2 = 250 meters (slower rechamber but faster velocity)
T3 = 250 meters (faster rechamber but slower bullet velocity)
CQC bolt actions are 200 meters

So if your shooting at targets beyond 250 meters with the M77B its going to take more then just one headshot.

Sniping isn't generally my thing so someone else can probably better explain. Edit: I should also say that I really love my XM98 and use it for hide sniping its perfect for having extra range over my CQC bolt action. The ability to shoot more rounds in less overall time on the CQC and T3 can really come in handy when you get yourself into a very nice spot.

Back when I first started playing this game over 2 years ago, Implants weren't in the game which meant I had to figure out mildot ranges without the use of a rangefinder. This is entirely up to you, but what I did back then was find a really open space that was quite rocky. The South East area of Indar was reasonably good for this as it's filled with a lot of canyons and such. From there, I'd take a shot at the edge of a distant rock, stay scoped in and see if I could hit it. I spent time doing this until I could determine ranges this way. It was a bit clunky and it took a fair amount of time but it was certainly worth it.

Another tactic you could try is finding as many tower fights as possible. You're bound to find someone standing still repeatedly and so even if you miss a few times, if you keep going up and up on your mildots, eventually you'll score a hit. If you hit them but no headshot, you'll know you're getting closer to where you need to be.

Long-range sniping can take some doing but if you keep at it and with practice, you will get better and you'll eventually reach a point where you'll begin to shoot instinctively.

https://ps2model-axiom.rhcloud.com/#dmg/la/1/25000/25004/25003/25001/124

?

I have the railjacks. Is that a T2 or T3?

Railjack should be faction flavored T3, with a cap at 300 meters. Its not listed though but going off memory. Sorry for the Typo in the original post.

Source here :December 17th 2013 patch notes

Oh yeah, I calculated the damage, and you need 476 to oneshot someone with 1000hp. (2.1x damage for headshots).
Because the minimum damage for all Boltactions is 400 damage, and none of them have enough min range, it seems like the longest range one hit kill you can get is at 303 (364 against Infiltrators) Meter with the RAMS .50M. For the M77-B its around 248 Meter. (304 against infiltrators). I am sad. Why would they cap it in such a way? Headshoting someone from 600 Meter is hard enough, why should you need 2 hits then?

Also, on the VR map, the dummys seem to dissapear at 700 range, I yet have to find a good spot where I see one from 500-600.

Edit: Also it seems like the bullet just disappears at some point. And thats around 0,5 or less seconds, doesn't seem right. The bullets seem to travel too fast.
Oh, and also thanks for the nice links and patchnotes beaver!

The railjack is 450 at 400m.

Oh, you are right. "Interesting" decision to put the only Sniperrifle that is able to oneshot infiltrators at everyrange only in one Faction.

Good thing I went NC then.

Interesting... I wonder why everyone whined about... oh thats right, the Railjack has the delay on it.

It takes some getting used too.

Hello. Friendly NC sniper here.

CuteBeaver was correct with the distances, for the most part. For the T1 weapons, you should be able to do 300 meter headshots. If you go even a meter beyond that (I've tested extensively), you will require an additional shot. Trying from beyond that meters is just unnecessary for a few reasons:

1) You will never kill anyone with a T3 or T2 sniper rifle from that distance unless they are already severely injured or you have a very good understanding of how to compensate for the velocity drop. Even then, you would even require an additional shot beyond 250 meters because of damage falloff. And even THEN, the chances of a person not moving after realizing their being sniped is slim. You would have to able to read their movements and lead properly once they try to run.

2) The T1 rifles are powerful and don't require more than 300 meters. The majority of people play with their maps zoomed in and it is very unlikely they will spot you on the map at 300 meters. Generally, people will acknowledge there is a sniper is a given direction but unless they Q spam or can follow your tracers, they will probably not be able to see you. ESPECIALLY since every keeps short range scopes in CQC.

500 meters is just ridiculous and unnecessary but if you really want to commit yourself to it th the best way to test bullet drops is to use the VR. There are hills right behind the spawn are that you can fly up to and practice your range and learn where your mildots are. But just remember that moving targets are a lot harder to hit and from that distance is nearly impossible since your target can change directions at least two or three times before your bullet makes it that distance.

P.S. The Railjack just takes getting used to. Once you compensate for the 0.5 sec delay, it's not bad at all.

Just try to shoot some centimeters above the head and shoot,the bullet drop do the rest. And if u have silencer forgot to do miracles.

Minor note: Most people call the long-range BASRs T3s, and the bolt-driver equivalents are T1s. It's an arbitrary convention, of course.