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11:26 AM on 10.04.2007

33 comments
How to not look like an idiot in Team Fortress 2: the Sniper
Anthony Burch

sniper

Welcome to part four of ten in our "How to not look like an idiot in Team Fortress 2" series, which started this Monday and will end on October 10th with the release of The Orange Box

The Sniper is perhaps the most demonstrative of Team Fortress 2's gameplay philosophy. As a character class, he's got one foot planted firmly in the realm of typical multiplayer warfare (he can pull off headshots, kill baddies in one shot, etcetera), but also has some unique, gleefully unrealistic drawbacks so as to balance his abilities against those of the other classes.

Are you a Vasily Zaytsev wannabe who just needs a few tips on how to make the most of your long-range rifle, or do you find yourself in a position where you have to put the hurtin' on a Sniper before he can put the hurtin' on you?

Dubious tips for both situations can be found after the jump. 

When playing as him:

-Never fire twice in a row from the same spot

As a significant amount of a Sniper's frags will consist of other, enemy Snipers, it's never a good idea to let the other guy know where you are. Kill him from one area, then run somewhere else -- if he's too wrapped up in thoughts of revenge to notice, he'll immediately aim where you used to be, thus giving you the extra half-second necssary to put one in his dome.

This is also sound advice when it comes to dealing with any other class; Demomen love to shoot grenades into Sniper nests, so refusing to stay in one spot will confuse the hell out of them. 

-Spend the least amount of time outside of cover as humanly possible

Again, this is a method of safeguarding yourself against enemy snipers. It only takes a split second for a sharpshooter on the other team to squeeze off a shot, so try to pop out of cover for less than a few seconds at a time. Quickly sidestep out, survey the area, take any obvious shots (a Heavy Weapon Guy standing aimlessly in the middle of a map, for instance), and then move back into cover before the other Sniper has a chance to take you out. 

It can take a while to develop the skill of quickly surveying the landscape within a single second of leaving cover, but learning how to do so properly will make you very, very difficult to kill. 

-Watch your back

Spies love killing Snipers almost as much as they love killing Heavy Weapon Guys. Snipers tend to only look in one direction, and the scope on their rifles effectively eliminates all of their peripheral vision. For this reason, don't hesitate to put down the scope for a few seconds and look around -- especially if you've just killed an enemy Sniper and he hasn't reappeared anywhere, even though his respawn timer should have already elapsed by now.

Irritable, unsportsmanlike Snipers who have been defeated by enemy marksman will often decide to quickly switch to the Spy class, infiltrate the enemy base, backstab the Sniper who previously owned them, and then switch back to the Sniper class, secure in their fighting ability. Don't let yourself be victimized by these bastards.

-Headshots are worth it

This may come as something of a surprise, but the Sniper is the only character in TF2 who can deal extra damage by aiming for the head. Headshots are a Sniper-specific privilege -- one which should be utilized as much as humanly possible. 

While a fully charged torso shot can instakill a Scout, Sniper, Spy, or Medic, the Headshot is the only way to immediately kill a fully-healed Heavy Weapons Guy or Soldier. Given the goddamn size of these characters' heads, it's really not too hard to actually pull of a headshot. Just take your time, move the cursor with your target, lead them just a tiny bit, and BOOM -- headshot.

-Become a first-aid junkie

As a Sniper, make it your duty to always be at 100% health, whether you have to hire a medic, run back to the spawn, or scramble around looking for health packs, it's worth it to put yourself in a position where you cannot die quickly. Snipers have a fair amount of health, but not so much that they can't be torn to shreds by most of the offensive classes within the span of a few seconds should they not be at 100%.

As a (mostly stationary) Sniper, it is important to numerically reduce the things you have to worry about -- panicking about dying at the hands of a Sniper headshot or a Spy backstab is better than worrying about both of those things, and death by stray rocket, and the potential of getting owned by a distant Heavy Weapons guy, and on and on and on.

-Never, ever try to use your sniper rifle without the scope up 

The sniper rifle was intentionally designed not to do an even remotely considerable amount of damage unless charged, so as to prevent it from becoming an uberweapon.

If you have to run through corridors or engage an enemy in close-quarters combat, do yourself a favor and switch to your SMG or machete. Firing your sniper rifle with the scope off probably does about as much damage as a single bullet from the Scout's pistol, if not less.

-Don't camp in obvious Sniper-friendly areas

Large, high windows that oversee the entire map literally scream "SNIPER AREA" to your enemies. They assume Snipers are in there even when there aren't any, and tend to act accordingly. There's no harm in hanging around these sniper nests for a few seconds, maybe surveying the area and (if you're absolutely sure you can pull it off) making one or two kills, but you should never stay in one of these areas for long.

Spies flock to them like bees to honey, Demomen love to chuck grenades inside, and the large, rectangular windows you aim out of will make a really great frame for the enemy Sniper who blows your head off with a fully-charged shot. Instead, keep mobile and camp in places the enemy wouldn't expect to see you (ideally with your back to some sort of natural wall).

-Treat your laser sight like a curse

The scoped rifle emits a laser sight that, while helpful for aiming, is extremely visible to your enemies. If you're aiming at a doorway where you think someone will come out, then they won't come out -- instead, aim a few inches to the left or right of the door, where the enemy can't possibly see the laser until it's far too late.

When playing against him:

As a Spy, either backstab him if you can, or blow him away at close range with the pistol if you can't. Even the best Snipers will often neglect to cover their backs, though, so a persistent Spy will always find an opportunity to shank a Sniper. 

Scouts are really great at eliminating Snipers (especially on 2fort, where they have a direct path from one 2nd-story battlement to another); the Sniper's submachine gun doesn't have enough ammo to kill a jackrabbiting Scout, thus giving you the opportunity to feed him a faceful of buckshot after he begins to reload. 

As a Heavy Weapons Guy, do not assume that you will be able to easily make it past a lone Sniper just because you have an asston of health. You won't. Heavies move very slowly and they've got heads roughly the size of watermelons -- in other words, they're irresistible targets to a Sniper. Get a Sniper or a Soldier to give you covering fire before making a run for it (the Soldier's rockets won't actually hit the enemy Sniper, of course, but they will force the Sniper to move from side to side to avoid damage), or wait for a Spy to try and Eff his Ess up.

I've also seen some really clever Demomen plant a bunch of sticky bombs in an area Snipers tend to frequent, then run back and jump around so as to call the Sniper out of hiding. The Sniper peeks around his corner, aims, and almost fires, before the Demoman detonates the bombs and blows the living hell out of the Sniper. It's not a particularly time-effective method of Sniper disposal as it requires the Sniper not be around when you plant the bombs, but it's funny as all hell if done correctly.



MORE IN OUR Valve SECTION

Latest comment by reticulate |view all 33 comments
One of the awesome things about the sniper is that you're essentially playing a one-on-one game against other snipers. The class is all about being alive more than the other guy so you can kill ......



B-Radicate's Avatar
B-Radicate at 10/04/2007 11:34

The more articles I see about the depth of this game, the more I cannot wait for Tuesday. I haven't bought a game in a few months and I need a new multiplayer experience. This looks to fulfill my class-based needs EXACTLY. Can't wait!
BlindsideDork's Avatar
BlindsideDork at 10/04/2007 11:42

Tuesday/Wednesday can't come soon enough. I think I might have to take off work *gasp*
Pyramid Head's Avatar
Pyramid Head at 10/04/2007 11:44

I'm confused, can I buy TF2 without the entire Orange Box?
DeusPayne's Avatar
DeusPayne at 10/04/2007 11:46

With the demo bombs being sticky now, it's real easy to hide them inside sniper nests on the ceiling and whatnot.
Anthony Burch's Avatar
Anthony Burch at 10/04/2007 11:46

Apart from getting the Black Box later on, nope. But considering it comes with the HL2 episodes and Portal, it's definitely worth the money (if you buy it for PC, anyway).
Rockvillian's Avatar
Rockvillian at 10/04/2007 11:47

My home PC's GPU just started dying of cancer, so it looks like I'll be portal'ing and fortress'ing and Half Life 2: Episode 2'ing at work. Can't drink as much while playing, but better than nothing I guess!
pwned88's Avatar
pwned88 at 10/04/2007 11:50

sniper or heavy weapons guy seems the be the classes for me
DeusPayne's Avatar
DeusPayne at 10/04/2007 11:55

Rev: From my understanding the Black Box won't be released at all. And you can buy TF2 separately for 29.99. As for why they stopped the Black Box, you can give away the duplicate parts that you already own after buying the Orange Box, so there's no reason for the Black box any more.
BlindsideDork's Avatar
BlindsideDork at 10/04/2007 11:56

I thought they did away with the Black Box?
BlueJester's Avatar
BlueJester at 10/04/2007 12:01

You CAN buy TF2 alone. It is $20. You can't play till Oct.10th though. The beta is only included with the orange box.
Anthony Burch's Avatar
Anthony Burch at 10/04/2007 12:12

Evidently, all of my news tends to come from year-old sources. Ignore me.
Upgrayedd's Avatar
Upgrayedd at 10/04/2007 12:14

I'm loving these guides. Keep it up!
RskimB's Avatar
RskimB at 10/04/2007 12:19

behind you mr sniper!
dataset's Avatar
dataset at 10/04/2007 12:42

Seriously enjoying these posts. Can't wait for some help with the Spy class.
HURGHT's Avatar
HURGHT at 10/04/2007 12:46

Yeah, I'm really loving the guides, they address a lot of the mistakes I see careless players making.

Just as sort of a side tip I've figured out myself, I've found that playing the sniper is particularly invaluable if the opposing team is very Medic/HWGuy-happy. Nothing's quite as satisfying as picking off a medic about to pull off the ubercharge and seeing a heavy go down under a mob
Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 10/04/2007 12:48

Thank you for getting me more and more excited.
Do the spy next!
Anthony Burch's Avatar
Anthony Burch at 10/04/2007 13:13

Spy's gonna be second-to-last, considering once I post my strategies they will become significantly less useful.
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 10/04/2007 13:14

damn I cannot wait to buy this game
Zero Iscariot's Avatar
Zero Iscariot at 10/04/2007 13:44

Good read, this game is gonna be amazin'
balth's Avatar
balth at 10/04/2007 13:45

I am quite interested in the game, now. I already had it on preorder, but this is kind of like a DSG (Destructoid Strategy Guide™).

Very helpful, and appreciated.

That is all.
Kyousuke Nanbu's Avatar
Kyousuke Nanbu at 10/04/2007 14:11

Can't wait for this game, and not having to deal with Steam or PC gaming makes it that much better.
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 10/04/2007 14:13

This is on the 360, right? Right? I know it is, but it still is, right? OMG, I want this - possibly more than teh haloes.
Kif 's Avatar
Kif at 10/04/2007 14:13

These are great reads, especially since I'm new to PC gaming altogether, let alone Team Fortress.

Do you think you will be doing more guides after TF2, Rev for other games and whatnot?
PwnDaddy's Avatar
PwnDaddy at 10/04/2007 14:30

When I open my store, the first tourney I have is definitely gonna be TF2. And I am sure as shit hosting a Dtoid server to boot. VIVA LA PYRO!
Anthony Burch's Avatar
Anthony Burch at 10/04/2007 15:19

Kif:
I dunno -- I can't play much multiplayer thanks to my crap router, and even if I could TF2 appeals to me much more than most of the multiplayer fare I've actually tried. So, I wouldn't rule it out if another great multiplayer game comes along, but I wouldn't necessarily count on it, either.
KGETZ3's Avatar
KGETZ3 at 10/04/2007 15:24

Great advice.

I'm a very competitive gamer and beat up on "noobs" constantly and that should help a lot of people.

So if your a noob write those down!

p.s. Never ever take MP advice from strategy guides, they are terrible and will make you a noob.
Andrex's Avatar
Andrex at 10/04/2007 16:37

high windows that oversee the entire map literally scream "SNIPER AREA"


Haha yes i get that all the time when i snipe.. but most are dumb and just ignore my obvious spots
Eschatos's Avatar
Eschatos at 10/04/2007 18:41

Well, on 2fort, there's really no other place to snipe than the super exposed area.
Anthony Burch's Avatar
Anthony Burch at 10/04/2007 19:39

You can hang out in the darkened corners of the front, ground-level entrance.
Capn Birdseye's Avatar
Capn Birdseye at 10/04/2007 20:56

I absolutely HATE snipers in all online games, good to hear that there will be several classes available to me to really take the bastids down ;) I have always been a fast-guy-with-a-shotgun kinda fps player
Nyteshade's Avatar
Nyteshade at 10/05/2007 05:19

To add a bit more on how to beat a Sniper as a Heavy (not an easy task), make SURE to switch to your shotty when running through Sniper-laced areas. Since the spinning the mini-gun means you move even slower, it makes you pure sniper bait. Only if a Sniper is REALLY close should you use the mini-gun.

With the shotgun out and some jumping and strafing you can generally hit the Sniper a few times with your buckshot and he'll pull out of the window/nest. Once he's pulled back, it's just a short run to cover.

I've shotgunned down many a Sniper as a Heavy. Get up in their face and keep bunny-hopping and you'll take em down with a few blasts. The trick is making them miss on the first shot, then surprising them by charging instead of hiding when they load the next shot.
roboticheartache's Avatar
roboticheartache at 10/07/2007 16:01

one GREAT technique a friend and i used to use in TF was pairing a heavy and a sniper to kill enemy snipers on wider open maps (ie:Flagrun)He'd run out of cover with me right behind him picking off the snipers who were all too eager to bag a heavy.
reticulate's Avatar
reticulate at 10/07/2007 16:06

One of the awesome things about the sniper is that you're essentially playing a one-on-one game against other snipers. The class is all about being alive more than the other guy so you can kill something other than him.

Some of the most enjoyable times I've had in the beta have been trying to suppress enemy snipers to control an exposed area. These battles can really make or break your team's ability to move forward.

The only real drawback I can mention is that you become instant spy-bait. Moving from one position to another can mitigate this, but you're still a very easy kill if you become too intent on the scope.

Jesus christ I love this game. It's everything I loved about the original Quakeworld game plus excellent balance and awesome graphics.

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