Edge Gamers Organization TF2 Sniper guide.

CheeseW01f

Thread Junky
Joined
Sep 8, 2008
Messages
817
Introduction
The update sent number of spies and snipers on the servers skyrocketing and new players will often think that those classes must be really good/fun with so many ppl playing as those classes. In this guide i am going to concentrate on the sniper. Our Australian friend is a support class with 125 HP, is armed with a sniper rifle, SMG and kukri (Australian machete, very fun to use). The update features The Huntsman (bow), Jarate (the simplest and the least grose description possible: pee in a jar) and The Razorback (anti-backstab shield with a car battery hoked up to it). The update turns the support sniper into a battle sniper cos it adds a crosshair for the sniper rifle when unscoped and new weapons just make you lose that predator feeling of a sniper. Now Since i don't have all the new weapons i will concentrate on Sniper as support class. The reason for this is the fact that by introducing new weapons such as these Valve has completely changed the role of the sniper on the battlefield. If you have played as sniper just once you should know all you need about his default weapons. Your sniper rifle is your most important weapon and you will use it at least 80% of the time. NOTE: this guide is ment for new players just getting the hang of the class and this guide will not make you (new players sniper pros). You will have to find your own playstile and this guide will give you advice on how to get the hang of the class. Once you get the hang of sniper than you will be able to find your own playstile and one day teach others how to play the sniper.

Sniper tactics
Begining
First things first, pick a spot. The spot you pick must not be too exposed but from it you have to have a good view of the battlefield. Do not spend all of your time scoped in and don't shoot at everyone you see. Remember, Shooting will give away your position and so will the killcam. So it's better not to give away your position by trying to hit a scout and missing. Do not give your position away because of a scout. Always try to shoot at the more important classes like heavies, soldiers, pyros and medics. But remember that the more time you spend scoped in the more powerful will the shot be, you will see power bar on the left side of the scope (scoped in). And NEVER, and i mean NEVER stick around with more than one friendly sniper. But the best thing to do is to find a lone spot.

How to shoot
Always aim for the head if you can. But never try to headshot a running scout. Try to hit the scouts body. Two to three shots should bring him down. If you see a heavy medic pair always shoot the medic first (try to headshot him). Any you must remember to keep an eye out for enemy snipers. Snipers are also very effective against sentry guns, that is if you kill the engie first.

So you have taken the shot
One you have revealed your position you must relocate. Just pick a new spot that meets the criteria in the second paragraph. If you do not relocate the enemy will zero in on you and you will become target practice. Once you have relocated you just need to repeat the process so far. The original sniping point and the one you relocated to don't need to be that far away at all.

Sniper VS Sniper
Enemy snipers are your biggest problems. But how to locate them??? You can just listen for single gunshots, you can also look for dots. Dots, your sniper rifle emits a laser beam when you scope in and there will be a dot on the surface you are aiming at. The dot will be coloured, and it will be the same color as the "owners" team. Or you can simply "scan" the area for snipers. Remember to communicate with your team, ask them for locations of enemy snipers.

Problems closer to home
By this i mean spies and close quarters fighting with other classes. If you have The Razorback then problem solved but if you don't keep reading (NOTE: razorback replaces the SMG). You can just use your SMG or the kukri to spycheck anyone suspicious. OK, now for the close quarters combat part. Pull out your smg ASAP and try to weaken your enemy before entering melee combat. Yes, melee is your best chance unless you are dealing with soldiers/heavies/pyros/scouts. If you are up against these just run away as fast as you can.

Notes
One note actually. Do not try to headshot disguised spies cos their hitboxes are messed up. Aim at the chest or the legs.

Summary
I hope that this guide helped you at least a little. Feel free to comment and rate this guide but do not post it on any other sites without my permission.
 
Last edited:
Things I would alter:

Do not snipe by yourself in a "hiding" spot. You will be found by a spy and stabbed easily.

To fix this, snipe around a group of teammates, or more ideally, near a sentry gun. This ensures that if the spy has a vendetta against you, he will be killed in the process of taking you out. If you watch me on maps like badwater, egypt, etc. I always try and snipe near a group of people (this has become even more practical now that you can shoot through friendly players). I never snipe in corners away from my teammates. Sure, I may get a kill. But my life will be short because a spy will easily find me and take me out.

ALWAYS aim for the head. You want to kill your enemy. Not weaken him before he kills you.

ADVANCED:
This is more advanced (perhaps I will make a video), but their are two different types of sniper shots. I use both but one is a more advanced concept than the other.

For beginners I suggest:
Spot shot/reflex reaction shot. Basically, if you know your reflex time to click the mouse, aim at a position of high traffic (or just in space in general). Basically wait for your enemy to pass into your cross-hairs and click to blow his head off. Essentially, you are letting your enemy come into your crosshairs as he passes a high traffic area.

(examples: Coming out of spawn on any map. Dustbowl first stage 2nd point - the gate at the top near the point. Payload maps near the cart. Aiming at high traffic areas will maximize your opportunity for kills.)


For veteran snipers:
The drag shot. The flick shot. Essentially, you are combining your reflex ability with right hand mouse movement and "flicking" to the targets head (this is rapid and in one motion, it is NOT "following the target with your crosshair till it is charged"). This is especially necessary against faster moving classes like scouts and medics. The flick shot is the only way to kill more elusive targets successfully, or anyone that is moving around a lot (rocket jumping soldiers, and jumping demoman included) I do not recommend this unless you are comfortable with the sniper rifle.


If you have any questions, want some 1 on 1 help, or w/e, feel free to contact me.
 
Last edited:
And then there's the whole bow and arrow thing which works completely differently from the old sniper rifle. I disliked sniping before the bow and arrow. Now I love it.

ARROWED!
 
Things I would alter:

Do not snipe by yourself in a "hiding" spot. You will be found by a spy and stabbed easily.

To fix this, snipe around a group of teammates, or more ideally, near a sentry gun. This ensures that if the spy has a vendetta against you, he will be killed in the process of taking you out. If you watch me on maps like badwater, egypt, etc. I always try and snipe near a group of people (this has become even more practical now that you can shoot through friendly players). I never snipe in corners away from my teammates. Sure, I may get a kill. But my life will be short because a spy will easily find me and take me out.

ALWAYS aim for the head. You want to kill your enemy. Not weaken him before he kills you.

ADVANCED:
This is more advanced (perhaps I will make a video), but their are two different types of sniper shots. I use both but one is a more advanced concept than the other.

For beginners I suggest:
Spot shot/reflex reaction shot. Basically, if you know your reflex time to click the mouse, aim at a position of high traffic (or just in space in general). Basically wait for your enemy to pass into your cross-hairs and click to blow his head off. Essentially, you are letting your enemy come into your crosshairs as he passes a high traffic area.

(examples: Coming out of spawn on any map. Dustbowl first stage 2nd point - the gate at the top near the point. Payload maps near the cart. Aiming at high traffic areas will maximize your opportunity for kills.)


For veteran snipers:
The drag shot. The flick shot. Essentially, you are combining your reflex ability with right hand mouse movement and "flicking" to the targets head (this is rapid and in one motion, it is NOT "following the target with your crosshair till it is charged"). This is especially necessary against faster moving classes like scouts and medics. The flick shot is the only way to kill more elusive targets successfully, or anyone that is moving around a lot (rocket jumping soldiers, and jumping demoman included) I do not recommend this unless you are comfortable with the sniper rifle.


If you have any questions, want some 1 on 1 help, or w/e, feel free to contact me.
If you camp in one spot you will get backstabed but if you relocate there is less chance of a spy finding you. And SG's draw too much attention.
 
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXf0nDDBk6E&feature=related[/ame]


aG was once a high ranking cevo team

in the video, notice how they work as a unit with all the classes

although there is no sentry, the sniper plays with and around the other classes (ie. not off on his own) (noticeable in the first 1:30 of the video)

sniping near sentry's is ideal, if you attract attention, so what, that's what the sentry is their for, to provide support.

ideally you want to be 10 paces back and 10 paces to the side of the sentry (45 degree angle away) ---- any spy that tries to take advantage of you will be killed

running off and finding new spots is NOT a successful strategy, you will see no top tier team in competitive play do this

edit: this is not to say you should just stand still, moving around among your teammates is preferable, moving around on your own is not. as a rule of thumb, you should always be moving around, standing still is an easy way to get killed
 
Last edited:
Everybody's got their own style. I prefer to snipe with a group of two to three other friendly snipers nearby. That way, if an enemy sniper's got me pinned down behind a crate (Blackmesa's A point) I can tell a buddy where he is, and have him shoot while the other one is distracted by me.

Also, I have to say this: Headshots aren't the only way to kill people. With things like scouts, I aim for the body. One fully charged shot will kill a scout no matter where you hit them. Sure, I can hit them in the head if I try for it. But when they're coming after you, they're a little more cautious.

And I'd like to add: When going up against other snipers, dancing works well on the less experienced ones. If you're going against a good sniper, it's just a mild annoyance. Rather than flick my mouse over onto their head, I prefer to walk the dot onto their head myself. :P
 
For veteran snipers:
The drag shot. The flick shot. Essentially, you are combining your reflex ability with right hand mouse movement and "flicking" to the targets head (this is rapid and in one motion, it is NOT "following the target with your crosshair till it is charged"). This is especially necessary against faster moving classes like scouts and medics. The flick shot is the only way to kill more elusive targets successfully, or anyone that is moving around a lot (rocket jumping soldiers, and jumping demoman included) I do not recommend this unless you are comfortable with the sniper rifle.

I'm not a good sniper, but found I hit more often doing this. actually moving crosswise in the opposite direction of the target, i find I hit the most. I don't know why this is... i imagine some hitbox weirdness that i cannot explain
 
I'm not a good sniper, but found I hit more often doing this. actually moving crosswise in the opposite direction of the target, i find I hit the most. I don't know why this is... i imagine some hitbox weirdness that i cannot explain
Could be lag
 
Nah, I do the same thing too. It lessens the amount of time spent aiming just a little, which gives the target less time to do something unexpected, or so I like to think. :P That's usually how I wind up getting scouts and other snipers that know I'm there, but aren't aiming for me.
 
I'm gonna be honest Cheeswolf. I don't think you've played Sniper enough to be qualified to write a Sniper guide.

I mean, seriously "Razorback then problem solved?". The Razorback just makes you a slow target for the Ambassador, too slow to run away, too slow to reach the Spy in time to Kukri, and no SMG to actually be able to do anything about it.

I mean, I'm not even that qualified a Sniper (I've only being playing it a lot recently because Jarate + Huntsman is amazing), but even I know the rubbishness of the Razorback, not to mention that everything you wrote and more is written more eloquently at the Sniper Strategy article on the TF2 wiki.
 
I'm gonna be honest Cheeswolf. I don't think you've played Sniper enough to be qualified to write a Sniper guide.

I mean, seriously "Razorback then problem solved?". The Razorback just makes you a slow target for the Ambassador, too slow to run away, too slow to reach the Spy in time to Kukri, and no SMG to actually be able to do anything about it.

I mean, I'm not even that qualified a Sniper (I've only being playing it a lot recently because Jarate + Huntsman is amazing), but even I know the rubbishness of the Razorback, not to mention that everything you wrote and more is written more eloquently at the Sniper Strategy article on the TF2 wiki.
Just hold on for one minute. (one minute later) The razorback will solve the backstab problem. You will hear the shield breaking and you can try to shoot the spy (no scope) and then just pull out your kukri and melee him. And about the ambassador, it's just as accurate as the sniper rifle so fighting a spy with the ambassador is about the same thing as sniper VS sniper. And if you still think that i am not qualified to write a guide you can just go to my steam profile and see my class records for sniper. I have reseted my stats about a week ago and now i have just 4 hours and 20 minutes as a sniper but you can see what i have achieved in those 4 hours. Everyone has their own opinion and i appriciate you posting yours but i am gonna be honest too, you're wrong in some segments.
 
Just hold on for one minute. (one minute later) The razorback will solve the backstab problem. You will hear the shield breaking and you can try to shoot the spy (no scope) and then just pull out your kukri and melee him. And about the ambassador, it's just as accurate as the sniper rifle so fighting a spy with the ambassador is about the same thing as sniper VS sniper. And if you still think that i am not qualified to write a guide you can just go to my steam profile and see my class records for sniper. I have reseted my stats about a week ago and now i have just 4 hours and 20 minutes as a sniper but you can see what i have achieved in those 4 hours. Everyone has their own opinion and i appriciate you posting yours but i am gonna be honest too, you're wrong in some segments.

If you have ever used the razorback for any length of time you will know that spies will see the huge shield on your back and shoot you thrice with the revolver before you can do anything, or even better two shots with the ambassador. The SMG is a deadly weapon in the hands of an expert.

In the gravelpit segment of this you will see what the smg can do in the hands of an expert: [ame]http://www.vimeo.com/980264[/ame]

About your part on relocating after every shot: This may be a good tactic for snipers in real life but in team fortress 2 it just doesn't work that way.
 
Last edited:
Just hold on for one minute. (one minute later) The razorback will solve the backstab problem. You will hear the shield breaking and you can try to shoot the spy (no scope) and then just pull out your kukri and melee him. And about the ambassador, it's just as accurate as the sniper rifle so fighting a spy with the ambassador is about the same thing as sniper VS sniper. And if you still think that i am not qualified to write a guide you can just go to my steam profile and see my class records for sniper. I have reseted my stats about a week ago and now i have just 4 hours and 20 minutes as a sniper but you can see what i have achieved in those 4 hours. Everyone has their own opinion and i appriciate you posting yours but i am gonna be honest too, you're wrong in some segments.

No one will ever backstab you while you're wearing the Razorback because it's so obvious you're wearing the Razorback. They're just Ambassador you in the head once and then shoot you one more time for the kill. You wouldn't even have time to pull out of your scope.

You can't just pull out your Kurkri and melee him because he's much faster than you when you're wearing the Razorback, making it easy for him to just run away shooting you. So your last resort if your Sniper rifle, which has a must slower rate of fire than either the Revolver or Ambassador.

The Razorback is essentially rubbish. I suspect it was originally designed so newb snipers could feel more comfortable in their role, but there's far too many cons to make it very useful.
 
I'm gonna be honest Cheeswolf. I don't think you've played Sniper enough to be qualified to write a Sniper guide.

I mean, seriously "Razorback then problem solved?". The Razorback just makes you a slow target for the Ambassador, too slow to run away, too slow to reach the Spy in time to Kukri, and no SMG to actually be able to do anything about it.

I mean, I'm not even that qualified a Sniper (I've only being playing it a lot recently because Jarate + Huntsman is amazing), but even I know the rubbishness of the Razorback, not to mention that everything you wrote and more is written more eloquently at the Sniper Strategy article on the TF2 wiki.

Regardless of the information and cheese's qualifications he put some effort into this to help out the community. I think that at the very least we should respect him for trying to contribute instead of questioning his merit. I read every guide that i come across in our forums and i almost always find very good information. I am sure your sniper guide will be just as informative and i look forward to reading it.
 
I just really go solo and camp.
In the TF2TV video, the teams know what spawn area they should capture and what bases they should leave out, so they can quickly capture a base.
The thing is, I know this is not anything to do with sniper, teams really need to think about strategy on how to get all the bases quickly. I mean, in Black Mesa today, us red teams had 4 bases, one was left for blue, it was B, but you could see people rushing to C? I mean, I was like wat, we have B to conquer, but no one is coming. :/
 
My Sniper Guide:

Spy + Ambassador.

Need I say more? :)
LOL
Sad but true: spy + ambassador = sniper
And DRaGZ, you are very quick to tell other people that they suck/are bad, but you don't try to prove them that you can do better. So why don't you try to write a guide instead of just spitting on my guide. It took me a while cos they were pushed back by loads of new threads but i found some of my older guides so that i can prove to you and the rest of the clan that my guides are not just rewrites of someone elses.
Soldier guide: http://edgegamers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=81196
Engie guide: http://edgegamers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=81499
Spy recognition guide: http://edgegamers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=81388
 
Last edited:
I actually dislike the whole spy+ambassador=sniper connotation. The ambassador has no scope, therefore you aren't quite as accurate over longer distances. Not to mention if you count the range in, after one shot you have to wait much longer with the ambassador to have another accurate shot at killing someone than with the sniper rifle. Plus, the sniper rifle has more raw power in it.

The ambassador, I imagine was made less for sniping and more for a closer range. Sure, you can snipe with it in a pinch, but you'd probably be better off switching to the sniper.
 
I'm not saying that your guides didn't take time to write, nor am I saying you didn't write them. I am saying that they are inaccurate, often misinformed, and aren't indicative of a player who has played the class enough to write an effective guide on it.

Sniper guide nonwithstanding, I have played enough Soldier and Engie to know that your match-ups are rubbish. The Demoman's only a difficulty of 2/5 against the Soldier? What are you smoking? Engie engaging Scout at all? Any decent Scout would destroy an Engie. Medic's aren't a challenge for the Engie? That's asking for an uber-sawing.

And I keep mentioning that the TF2 wiki has all this and more because...it does, meaning nobody needs guides that, while holding a few interesting tidbits, also carries lots of inaccurate information. A lot of the guides just seems to be theorycraft on your part and not based on experience.

And I don't mean to be mean either. I'm just being truthful so you don't get your ego carried away. Stuff like "Do not post on other sites without my permission" for something so small and consisting of universal traits is a mark of a pompous author.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back
Top