Going to be straight up here: I'm a horrible sniper. Infiltrator is my least played class specifically for this reason, to the point where I am actually more proficient at stealth ops as light assault. Can any accomplished sniper give some tips to make the class fun again? (Also I will NEVER be an SMGfiltrator. I may be a grenade and C4 spam junkie but there are lows that even I won't sink to.)
Memorise drop, get used to cloaking, firing, cloaking firing. Bolt action, preferably Parallax or if you're feeling self-defeatist/skilled the Phaseshift. You now snipe.
If you think smg infi is a "low" you wouldn't go to you won't like tips to be effective at sniping either... You simply need to take advantage of the fact you have a very low ttk as an infi it is the same if you are smg or sniper. If you decide to perhaps come to this part of the forum without insulting lots of people in it then you may get some decent advice... But I'm going to be nice and give you some! So to start: Buy the 100 cert BASR, get a silencer, get straight pull bolt (but do not stay scoped between shots) and finally find a scope you like - it doesn't really matter which one you use, all work for all ranges you will use the rifle at. So we are talking 330 certs, but a few levels of ammunition belt as well, it is very helpful. If you are NC this is the default sniper rifle you get for free so just cert that the way I said General things you shouldn't do: Hide on top of hill - they are the worst places are the whole game to snipe from. Use your cloak as if people can't see you - they can, they will and they will hear you... Shoot moving targets - avoid them until your aim gets better. Snipe near other snipers - you are making it easier to find you! Sit 300 m away - literally pointless you aren't killing anything and you aren't helping... Things you should do: Only fire if you are 90% certain you will get a kill, it means less people looking for you Hide in trees - learn how to get in to them, check YouTube Camp vehicle terminals - these people are free kills (don't say that's low, it stops the massive zerg pulling tanks and crushing your team) Find locations where your targets feel safe, and make sure you can see them, these people are also free kills. Kill enemy snipers - if you can see them, they are bad, kill them. Ideal distance from a fight is 70 - 150 m. Obviously distance to enemy snipers can be a lot more but you don't judge based on them. If you are breaking the rule from above about sniping near other snipers and sniping from your own lines - never stop moving. Line up your shots cloaked, decloak, fire and then instantly recloak and move! If you are sniping from a weird location like a tree or a crevice half way up a mountain then DO NOT move and do not cloak unless you've been seen or you really really need to move. The human eye is very sensitive to movement if you don't move you will not be seen as often as if you are moving. Think of your targets as the t-Rex from Jurassic Park - if you don't love they don't see you. My view of sniping, the skill in sniping is not in the aiming. The skill in sniping is positioning and taking the right shots. Most of all, just practice... You'll probably be awful at first but you will get better.
Yeah the smg thing was just a nasty joke. What always happens is I come face to face with one, lose the resulting duel, and IMMEDIATELY get the assist for damaging him. Just a personal peeve...
Right...sniping tips. Here goes! 1: Pick your targets and your shots. This one makes sense: If you're at a decent vantage point, preferably flanking an enemy force, and you see someone repairing a tank, or a medic keeping the rear line alive, those are your targets. Call them out if you can't one-shot them. 2: Expect counter-sniping. Don't sit in one place too long. I can't tell you how many times i've killed a sniper by running around the back, then double-tapping his head whilst he was trying to pop someone, or just pulling out my railjack for an easy +1. 3: Try employing dirty tricks. I know this sounds mean, but..eff it. Infiltrators are a dirty trick class. One of my favorite ones? Sniping enemies who are being bombarded. Even with the radar spot, they can't tell where you're at if you snipe them in the middle of a barrage. Mines, motion sensor, pistols, smg's.. Use them. They're there, others have them too. Don't forget: You have a low ttk, you also have low health. Make use of your steath, pack a medikit if you don't feel like using mines.
Go to vr and drop a waypoint on a dummy in the field. Pick your bolt action sniper, parralax on vs, sr 7 on track, or the base NC gun (I know this isn't the equivilant to the other 2 but its close enough to not require additional cert investment.) Pick the scope of your range choice with a full crosshair and pip dots at regular intervals. Walk 50 m away and find out how far above the target you need for a headshot. Then walk 100m away and do it again. Repeat at 50m intervals until the target doesn't die in one headshot.
1. Use a BASR with high velocity 2. Moving Target: try to hit the chin (target moving your direction) Standing: try to hit the forehead 3. No Suprressor /8x Scope (My recomandation for CQC sniping, sth like a amp-station) 4. always move/aim for the head, even in hectic firefights, stay cool and survive xD
Mostly related to long-range BASR sniping: Hills are your friend if you can get on them without being silhouetted. Get the squad logistics for the Valk and use it to drop places the enemy wouldn't expect you. Learn where the bullet is going to go. OHKO or you're dead. Move when you can. Be patient. Sometimes kills can be minutes apart. Don't be afraid to go close. Don't be afraid to go far. Get familiar with your sidearm. Doesn't matter which one you use as long as it works for you. Recognize when there is a good time to cloak, or when you should stay uncloaked. Spam the Q key. Even if you can't get the kill, the intel is invaluable for your team. Spam recon darts. Spam recon darts. Spam recon darts. If you don't run out every life, you're not using them enough. Learn from your mistakes. Learn how to work with a normal squad. Team up with other infiltrators. A squad of snipers is unexpected and can be effective. Recognize when going lone wolf is more effective than being in a squad. Hit from where they don't expect you. Take the long way. Be aware of your immediate surroundings. Be aware of what is going on in nearby bases. And, most importantly: be dedicated. Do not give up, no matter how many times you die or headshots you miss. Welcome to the Brotherhood.
My only tip, be somewhere unexpected, as being 90 degrees or more from where the main force is can yield good results as your targets will duck into 'cover' and make themselves nice targets for you
Flanking is usually a good idea, although there are definite downsides to being away from the main force. If you're sniping from among your teammates, you have the benefit of attacking those enemies who pop out of cover to attack your teammates, so you always have high priority targets. And you also have the benefit of being revived if you die. On the other hand, if you're flanking, you'll have more exposed targets and potentially easier kills on enemies who think they are safe and aren't dodging. When flanking, you have to keep in mind to change position often and watch out for anyone who might come looking your way. Overall, I'd say maintaining a position with both height advantage and cover is more important than flanking laterally, as you can often use the height advantage to kill enemies behind terrain cover, and you can more easily defend yourself against approaching enemies.
My one piece of advice that I can give you is after you take a shot and cloak don't stand still, instead move a bit to the side. A fair amount of the enemy snipers that I've counter sniped have died when they were cloaked because they didn't move from where they were when they were visible and I shot where their head was when they were viable and killed them.
My two main advices would be 1- Don't listen to the guy who said to buy a silencer, in fact, don't listen to anybody telling you to get a silencer. 2- Get the High-Velocity BASR (Parralax, Longshot, RAMS .50) everything else is being said above. Now, if you're someone who wants to snipe and you've got a solid, really solid, pair of balls, I suggest you get the cqc BASR and do cqc sniping. Nothing is quite as rewarding, efficient and skill demanding as that. Advices for that are way different than long range only sniping, since the cqc are more polyvalant and work at all ranges. Make another thread if that's your goal, the list would be long to write here and I'm a lazy ***. You can always go look at Elusive01 videos to get an idea of how it looks, although he's only showing cqc clips, there's a lot more normally going on.
Wow or you know you could give a reason for telling him not to listen to people but ok just state it as a fact. If you are sitting 200+ m back on a hill fine silencer is pointless, if you are doing what I suggest in my post then the silencer stops you dying in 2 minutes but you know feel free to ignore my suggestion because you think you know best.
The high velocity rifles help a lot. Also, if you're doing long range sniping you can go to VR and use waypoints to get an idea of how many mildots to use at each range. Then in combat, plant a waypoint near the folks you're shooting at to get an instant rangefinder. Eventually it becomes second nature, but that's a good way to learn quickly. Take shots at moving targets, practice makes perfect.
Silencer on a sniper has always been bad. But if you want a more detailed description as of why, go look at other posts on the subject, you'll get bigger explanations there. As far as cloaking, I never even knew someone could think that. I thought it was common sense to cloak. In any case, go look at other threads or whatever works for you, but I won't let things like that be said in a post where a player ask for help; without pointing it out.
You actually don't read do you... AS I HAVE SAID both times you've said this to me, I said don't cloak in WEIRD places like in a TREE (those are the big green and brown things around Indar, Amerish and Hossin) NOT if you are on a flat battlefield 150+ m away then cloak yes... That is common sense... Once again READ. As for silencer, it removes some velocity... That doesn't make it bad... Means you have to correct for a bit more bullet drop but doesn't actually change anything and doesn't get you caught as much. End if story not bad, you don't have to like it but doesn't make your opinion right or wrong.
There are 2 key factors to sniping: mechanical skill and positioning. For mechanical skill, it really comes down to first finding a good sensitivity that is not too fast and sticking with it and then a ton of practice. I recommend going to VR and just running around outside practicing your aim. Practice flickshots, cloak/recloaking, proper breath management etc. For positioning, I'd recommend watching torokokill's stream or VOD's (here: http://www.twitch.tv/torokokill/profile/past_broadcasts ) as he always manages to find amazing spots to snipe from.
