The Guns
M95 is medium range with dual uses:
Anti-Light vehicles
Single Armored infantry
+95 damage at an instant to any infantry.
-Distinct sound, hard to take out drivers/pilots on the move.
-Largest bullet drop (contested)
SVD/Type 88: medium range with dual uses:
Taking out masses of infantry
Allows for misses
+Greatest amount of damage/time:
-Con 3-4 shots to get a non-headshot kill.
-Difficult reticles to master
L95/M24: long range single use:
Taking out lone targets at range
+Relatively Silent
+variable crosshair size to aid acquisition (M24
Long, L95 Extreme
+Lowest bullet drop
-Only 56 damage to armored targets
Note: Thinner crosshairs are also the easiest to lose track of in scaffolding/dark areas.
Overall Facts
1. Bullet drop effects all non-rocket weapons
2. All weapons require leading at range, for the round to travel and then hit a mobile target.
3. Ping/server/packets/FPS change their effectiveness dramatically.
4. Sniper Movies are rarely accurate depictions of skill
Console Command
Console Aid: Press tilde
********************* "settingsmanager.floatset GSDefaultLatencyCompensation 0.1" (without the ""). Now modify the 0.1 (= 100ms) to say 0.04 for 40 ms or 40 ping. This WILL AID SNIPING as it "minimizes the prediction that your client is doing, thus giving you a higher chance to see where the target is, as opposed to where your client predicts it is." Thanks to Valli for the clear explanation.
*********************
Aiming
How hard is it to aim a sniper rifle? Simple enough right? What about hitting that guy from 400 meters who is on the run, not quite so simple is it?
Tracking Method: Keep your reticle on the target at all times
+Provides the best results at medium range (30 to 100m)
+Improves your ability to use pistols and other close range weaponry
-Only viable if your shots do not lag, thus its based on server, ping, and video card.
-Very difficult to use on a target who knows you are there.
Leading Method: keeping the reticule in front of the direction your opponent is traveling
+Provides the best results at long-extreme range on moving targets
-Only works if the opposition is traveling in straight lines
-Is more difficult to head shot and is more prone to getting you killed.
Snap Method: upon sight you quickly aim and fire directly at the opponent.
+Works well against stationary targets
+Improves reflexes
-Most difficult to master
-Doesn't work on long range moving targets unless you compensate for lead time as well.
Stealth
-Do not skyline, the human eye tends to pick up on differences in appearance, if you are on hill standing up on the top, you will be very visible due to the horizon on your back.
-Do not snipe at the edge of a building, most novice snipers will lay down prone and will have their gun sticking off. Again think about visual differences, you stand out if you are moving or if you do not blend in, plus in this case most players tend to show their head as well. One suggestion is to kneel in the middle in front of cover in the middle of a rooftop, it provides a better angle for viewing below, but does not create an apparent profile.
-Limit your FOV (field of view), if its harder to see, it's harder to be seen.
-If you are in a bush or high grass, moving your aimer, reloading, or moving will make you stand out. Thus the enemy may spot you.
-Snipe from unlikely locations, just because it’s a water tower or crane doesn't mean its an ideal spot. The fastest ways to be spotted and killed are by staying stationary against a decent commander, who can cartillery, artillery, UAV, or scan and spot you. Stay on the move.
-Be a loner, if your team is around you, you draw artillery to your sniping location, so while it may seem to be a great idea to have 6 snipers at the crane, it only takes one spot, before an attack helo will ruin your day. On that note, if you hear artillery from the opposition, be ready to run, especially if your teammates are around. While squad leaders are meant to stay in the rear, snipers rarely make good ones, as it will often draw attention to your position.
-When relocating, take the path least traveled, unless you are using the SVD/Type 88/M95 relocating can be very risky as you have minimal means to defend yourself. The M24/L96 are not as suitable as they do not provide a high ROF, or piering ability to take out body armored opposition. In those cases, use your grenades and claymores and sprint away. If you can't outrun them, or find cover, play the dolphin dive snipe game.
Tracking Finding targets is simple enough, but doing so while remaining undetected isn’t..
Know your enemy: Sun Tzu's art of war emphasizes information gathering and disinformation is one of the best on this subject. Figure out what your opponents want... is it a flag because they have one or two left? Is it a highly prized vehicle? Is it simply the most kills? What kit do they seem to use, do they have body armor, do they have enemy snipers? Do they want to kill the sniper that just killed them, do they know where you are to extract revenge? Thinking is what makes a sniper's rifle k/d more than 1.0, though accuracy helps. (and of course sniping vehicles to pad the ratio...)
Also, think of Enemy at the Gates/Saving Private Ryan after incapacitating a target, a medic may greedily run in to save the day, and since they usually remain stationary for a moment, they make perfect targets to wait for.
Manuevering
When evading shots it's usually best to stick with one of two things, the dolphin dive return fire shot (esp w/ SVD/Type88), or sprint perpendicular to what is firing at you while adjusting your depth. Realize that zooming in slows down all movements immensely, so in sniper battles, its best to quickly zoom, shoot, unzoom, dodge or relocate (repeat). If you die, respawn at an uncontested flag, as that will allow you to find a new position without getting "spotted". Though, if you are trying for your explosives badge, the run/drop clays/die method works well... Regardless, remember to ask your commander to spot out outlier infantry that are not under the UAVs, this will help immensely in city maps so that you can locate sneaky opposition.
Vantage points: When going for sniper kills, its usually best to position yourself so you can catch enemies on-route to contested flags; alternatively you can position yourself to take out enemy flag cappers, though usually most veteran players will continuously move within the flag-cap radius.
Claymores
Claymores are blissful little toys that while are unbalanced, compensate for a snipers inability to get torso one shot kills.
Placement: While most players assume that the top of ladders is ideal, its usually best to place them on the side, facing a ladder. That way if the individual uses the F11 view when climbing, they will most likely not see it. Many snipers place their claymores out in the open, hoping someone will charge through and get blown up. This works on morons, but you should make the pathway seem clear so the opposition will run carefree consistently. Place them in dense grass, on the side of a hallway facing the opening perpendicularly, in front of highly desired vehicles. By common flag defense locations, by AA/TOWS, etc. And of course, try to save one so you can pull off the infamous, bait and clay trick when relocating.
Targets: While the primary target is infantry, it is rare to get 2 kills with a single claymore, and similarly rare to take out vehicles. If you do wish to take out fast movers, place them out on the sides of highly traveled roads.
Grenades
Grenades are a snipers reality-TV lifeline, capable of taking out groups of opponents, finishing off wounded, or weakening them for another sniper shot.
Grenades provide greater control than clays when in hot pursuit, as claymores may not activate in time. Grenades have many uses, but are often forgotten by most snipers. Using them to distract armor, so you can relocate or take out other snipers nests is common sense, however... Most snipers will try to rely on their pistol than their grenades. This is often foolish if you haven't hit them with a sniper rnd, as it is highly likely that you will die. That is why grenades are often the perfect tool for vengeance.
If your "Com" places a UAV or spots the enemy around the bend of a corner, try tossing grenades at the upcoming soldiers, as at that range the grenade usually detonates upon impact leaving minimal time for evasive maneuvering. And of course, remember to toss them in to defend flags, etc.
-Anti-medic: clays, grenades, and SVD/Type88s are the best tools for taking out skilled medics. As they can't heal themselves if they are dead. The pistol however is less effective, as med packs heal while in the medics hand, requiring continuously more shots to down the medic. Also, consider throwing grenades at recently killed enemy soldiers, if you wait a moment a medic may come to the players rescue, may revive, and die shortly thereafter. Try tossing two quick grenades, then either saving the other two, or tossing them after a brief wait.
Pistol
-While the pistol is silenced, it is rarely useful with the directional damage indicators. Though it is useful when sneaking up on enemies that have passed by. The exception to this rule is:
-Mercy blows: think of the pistol as your mercy tool when using the —95 or L96/M24 vs non-armored infantry (except MEDICS!). If the enemy has only 5/100 health after being shot chances are they won't survive a firefight or fall, and thus are relatively useless until healed. While in most situations its wise to fire the pistol carefully, though use some haste as the pistols greatest advantage is its rate of fire/accuracy deviation.
Knife
-Most players have found the knife to save them once or twice, but when killing an opponent who doesn't know you are there, often the knife humiliation is ideal... Try to resist that urge, knifing an opponent tells them that in 15 seconds they have a rough estimation of where you are. Instead try sniping their head or pistol shooting them in the head twice. That way, they may try the same location.
General tips
-When going for M95 versus helicopter/humvees kills, its often wise to just aim for the cockpit, if its on the move, getting a headshot occurs about as often as being hit by lightning... twice. For that reason, its best to avoid giving away your position when you have the cockpit shot. The exception to this is when the enemy is otherwise distracted, or hovering. Plus it takes roughly 16 m95 shots to the cockpit to take out a chopper, so its unlikely that you will do any good against one at full health.
Smoke: Remember that there are four conditions for vehicles, no smoke more than half health, white smoke has about half, grey is a third, and dark grey is near death, and black means on fire and will blow up. Aim for the dark-grey and black ones, they will be more prone to dying... or crashing into trees during the escape.
Barrels: Barrels take two shots from all sniper rifles except the M95, they serve as wonderful flag defense tools during the beginning of a battle.
Spotting: A sniper may not always have a shot, or may have multiple targets, so spot the opposition as you line up for a shot. It may not seem like much, but if you teammates move to engage the opposition, they will likely be more distracted with them, then trying to locate the sniper.
Sniper Locations: visit http://www.secretsofbattlefield.com/maps.php
***Special thanks to other sniper guide authors for constructive suggestions***
Please feel free to discuss and add your own suggestions, though please omit sniper rifle preferences.
You can reach me at www.uvclan.com
DebonairX
Note: I was nub-sniper prior to bf2, as such this account's statistics are skewed by that, please take that into consideration prior to judging rifle k/d as an accurate assessment.
M95 is medium range with dual uses:
Anti-Light vehicles
Single Armored infantry
+95 damage at an instant to any infantry.
-Distinct sound, hard to take out drivers/pilots on the move.
-Largest bullet drop (contested)
SVD/Type 88: medium range with dual uses:
Taking out masses of infantry
Allows for misses
+Greatest amount of damage/time:
-Con 3-4 shots to get a non-headshot kill.
-Difficult reticles to master
L95/M24: long range single use:
Taking out lone targets at range
+Relatively Silent
+variable crosshair size to aid acquisition (M24
Long, L95 Extreme
+Lowest bullet drop
-Only 56 damage to armored targets
Note: Thinner crosshairs are also the easiest to lose track of in scaffolding/dark areas.
Overall Facts
1. Bullet drop effects all non-rocket weapons
2. All weapons require leading at range, for the round to travel and then hit a mobile target.
3. Ping/server/packets/FPS change their effectiveness dramatically.
4. Sniper Movies are rarely accurate depictions of skill
Console Command
Console Aid: Press tilde
********************* "settingsmanager.floatset GSDefaultLatencyCompensation 0.1" (without the ""). Now modify the 0.1 (= 100ms) to say 0.04 for 40 ms or 40 ping. This WILL AID SNIPING as it "minimizes the prediction that your client is doing, thus giving you a higher chance to see where the target is, as opposed to where your client predicts it is." Thanks to Valli for the clear explanation.
*********************
Aiming
How hard is it to aim a sniper rifle? Simple enough right? What about hitting that guy from 400 meters who is on the run, not quite so simple is it?
Tracking Method: Keep your reticle on the target at all times
+Provides the best results at medium range (30 to 100m)
+Improves your ability to use pistols and other close range weaponry
-Only viable if your shots do not lag, thus its based on server, ping, and video card.
-Very difficult to use on a target who knows you are there.
Leading Method: keeping the reticule in front of the direction your opponent is traveling
+Provides the best results at long-extreme range on moving targets
-Only works if the opposition is traveling in straight lines
-Is more difficult to head shot and is more prone to getting you killed.
Snap Method: upon sight you quickly aim and fire directly at the opponent.
+Works well against stationary targets
+Improves reflexes
-Most difficult to master
-Doesn't work on long range moving targets unless you compensate for lead time as well.
Stealth
-Do not skyline, the human eye tends to pick up on differences in appearance, if you are on hill standing up on the top, you will be very visible due to the horizon on your back.
-Do not snipe at the edge of a building, most novice snipers will lay down prone and will have their gun sticking off. Again think about visual differences, you stand out if you are moving or if you do not blend in, plus in this case most players tend to show their head as well. One suggestion is to kneel in the middle in front of cover in the middle of a rooftop, it provides a better angle for viewing below, but does not create an apparent profile.
-Limit your FOV (field of view), if its harder to see, it's harder to be seen.
-If you are in a bush or high grass, moving your aimer, reloading, or moving will make you stand out. Thus the enemy may spot you.
-Snipe from unlikely locations, just because it’s a water tower or crane doesn't mean its an ideal spot. The fastest ways to be spotted and killed are by staying stationary against a decent commander, who can cartillery, artillery, UAV, or scan and spot you. Stay on the move.
-Be a loner, if your team is around you, you draw artillery to your sniping location, so while it may seem to be a great idea to have 6 snipers at the crane, it only takes one spot, before an attack helo will ruin your day. On that note, if you hear artillery from the opposition, be ready to run, especially if your teammates are around. While squad leaders are meant to stay in the rear, snipers rarely make good ones, as it will often draw attention to your position.
-When relocating, take the path least traveled, unless you are using the SVD/Type 88/M95 relocating can be very risky as you have minimal means to defend yourself. The M24/L96 are not as suitable as they do not provide a high ROF, or piering ability to take out body armored opposition. In those cases, use your grenades and claymores and sprint away. If you can't outrun them, or find cover, play the dolphin dive snipe game.
Tracking Finding targets is simple enough, but doing so while remaining undetected isn’t..
Know your enemy: Sun Tzu's art of war emphasizes information gathering and disinformation is one of the best on this subject. Figure out what your opponents want... is it a flag because they have one or two left? Is it a highly prized vehicle? Is it simply the most kills? What kit do they seem to use, do they have body armor, do they have enemy snipers? Do they want to kill the sniper that just killed them, do they know where you are to extract revenge? Thinking is what makes a sniper's rifle k/d more than 1.0, though accuracy helps. (and of course sniping vehicles to pad the ratio...)
Also, think of Enemy at the Gates/Saving Private Ryan after incapacitating a target, a medic may greedily run in to save the day, and since they usually remain stationary for a moment, they make perfect targets to wait for.
Manuevering
When evading shots it's usually best to stick with one of two things, the dolphin dive return fire shot (esp w/ SVD/Type88), or sprint perpendicular to what is firing at you while adjusting your depth. Realize that zooming in slows down all movements immensely, so in sniper battles, its best to quickly zoom, shoot, unzoom, dodge or relocate (repeat). If you die, respawn at an uncontested flag, as that will allow you to find a new position without getting "spotted". Though, if you are trying for your explosives badge, the run/drop clays/die method works well... Regardless, remember to ask your commander to spot out outlier infantry that are not under the UAVs, this will help immensely in city maps so that you can locate sneaky opposition.
Vantage points: When going for sniper kills, its usually best to position yourself so you can catch enemies on-route to contested flags; alternatively you can position yourself to take out enemy flag cappers, though usually most veteran players will continuously move within the flag-cap radius.
Claymores
Claymores are blissful little toys that while are unbalanced, compensate for a snipers inability to get torso one shot kills.
Placement: While most players assume that the top of ladders is ideal, its usually best to place them on the side, facing a ladder. That way if the individual uses the F11 view when climbing, they will most likely not see it. Many snipers place their claymores out in the open, hoping someone will charge through and get blown up. This works on morons, but you should make the pathway seem clear so the opposition will run carefree consistently. Place them in dense grass, on the side of a hallway facing the opening perpendicularly, in front of highly desired vehicles. By common flag defense locations, by AA/TOWS, etc. And of course, try to save one so you can pull off the infamous, bait and clay trick when relocating.
Targets: While the primary target is infantry, it is rare to get 2 kills with a single claymore, and similarly rare to take out vehicles. If you do wish to take out fast movers, place them out on the sides of highly traveled roads.
Grenades
Grenades are a snipers reality-TV lifeline, capable of taking out groups of opponents, finishing off wounded, or weakening them for another sniper shot.
Grenades provide greater control than clays when in hot pursuit, as claymores may not activate in time. Grenades have many uses, but are often forgotten by most snipers. Using them to distract armor, so you can relocate or take out other snipers nests is common sense, however... Most snipers will try to rely on their pistol than their grenades. This is often foolish if you haven't hit them with a sniper rnd, as it is highly likely that you will die. That is why grenades are often the perfect tool for vengeance.
If your "Com" places a UAV or spots the enemy around the bend of a corner, try tossing grenades at the upcoming soldiers, as at that range the grenade usually detonates upon impact leaving minimal time for evasive maneuvering. And of course, remember to toss them in to defend flags, etc.
-Anti-medic: clays, grenades, and SVD/Type88s are the best tools for taking out skilled medics. As they can't heal themselves if they are dead. The pistol however is less effective, as med packs heal while in the medics hand, requiring continuously more shots to down the medic. Also, consider throwing grenades at recently killed enemy soldiers, if you wait a moment a medic may come to the players rescue, may revive, and die shortly thereafter. Try tossing two quick grenades, then either saving the other two, or tossing them after a brief wait.
Pistol
-While the pistol is silenced, it is rarely useful with the directional damage indicators. Though it is useful when sneaking up on enemies that have passed by. The exception to this rule is:
-Mercy blows: think of the pistol as your mercy tool when using the —95 or L96/M24 vs non-armored infantry (except MEDICS!). If the enemy has only 5/100 health after being shot chances are they won't survive a firefight or fall, and thus are relatively useless until healed. While in most situations its wise to fire the pistol carefully, though use some haste as the pistols greatest advantage is its rate of fire/accuracy deviation.
Knife
-Most players have found the knife to save them once or twice, but when killing an opponent who doesn't know you are there, often the knife humiliation is ideal... Try to resist that urge, knifing an opponent tells them that in 15 seconds they have a rough estimation of where you are. Instead try sniping their head or pistol shooting them in the head twice. That way, they may try the same location.
General tips
-When going for M95 versus helicopter/humvees kills, its often wise to just aim for the cockpit, if its on the move, getting a headshot occurs about as often as being hit by lightning... twice. For that reason, its best to avoid giving away your position when you have the cockpit shot. The exception to this is when the enemy is otherwise distracted, or hovering. Plus it takes roughly 16 m95 shots to the cockpit to take out a chopper, so its unlikely that you will do any good against one at full health.
Smoke: Remember that there are four conditions for vehicles, no smoke more than half health, white smoke has about half, grey is a third, and dark grey is near death, and black means on fire and will blow up. Aim for the dark-grey and black ones, they will be more prone to dying... or crashing into trees during the escape.
Barrels: Barrels take two shots from all sniper rifles except the M95, they serve as wonderful flag defense tools during the beginning of a battle.
Spotting: A sniper may not always have a shot, or may have multiple targets, so spot the opposition as you line up for a shot. It may not seem like much, but if you teammates move to engage the opposition, they will likely be more distracted with them, then trying to locate the sniper.
Sniper Locations: visit http://www.secretsofbattlefield.com/maps.php
***Special thanks to other sniper guide authors for constructive suggestions***
Please feel free to discuss and add your own suggestions, though please omit sniper rifle preferences.
You can reach me at www.uvclan.com
DebonairX
Note: I was nub-sniper prior to bf2, as such this account's statistics are skewed by that, please take that into consideration prior to judging rifle k/d as an accurate assessment.
Last edited by DebonairXcel (2006-07-24 01:43:25)