How to be a good sniper

[LongShot]

I've seen to many people trying to snipe on the tops of mountains and in their little 2 block high bunkers that are made out of the standard grey and are in the worst of all places. So here are my sniping tips.

PART 1:FINDING A SPOT

The first step, and possibly the hardest one. Is finding a spot to set up camp. The best spots are high altitude, have a high range of view and are not common paths for enemy (especially do not set up camp on a road). Here's what to look for:
-Medium/high altitude You want a spot that is higher than the enemy to get a vision advantage, but not to high that you cannot see much of the ground where the enemy is.
-rugged terrain If you are playing on maps that are jungle like or gen maps, then try to find a spot that is hard to get to, except by you (the sniper) so you can easily get up there before someone spots you.
This is a crucial part to making camp because without a good spot, you are completely vulnerable and easily seen.

PART 2:MAKING A BASE
Making a base is very important, because you can be literally invisible if it's done right. Here's how to make a base:

1. Make sure you have a good spot, follow the steps in that part just above.
2. CAMOUFLAGE YOUR BUNKER! to do this, press E while holding a block on the ground in front of you to make it the same colour. If the majority of the ground near you is green, sample a green block, not a yellow one.
3. Making the actual base. Here's where it's gets interesting, there are 2 kinds of bunkers (at least to me): There are freestanding bunkers, and cutting/hill bunkers. A freestanding one is one that is completely above ground and does not have any parts cutting into the dirt below. A cutting or hill bunker is one that is literary part in the hill or cliff it is on, and part out of it.
In my opinion, cutting bunkers are MUCH better! so make that one into the side of a hill, here's a photo.

Bunker.jpg

A well placed bunker.. It's even hard to see in the photo!

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If you look closely at the photo, you can see some holes in the hill, and see how the bunker is part in the hill part out? This is a perfect example of a well placed, well hidden bunker.
4.Building The hardest part, now you can either build by digging through the hill and digging out a small room at the edge of the mountain/cliff/hill, or by building it from the front, but you are much more vulnerable when doing that. You can build as big as you want, but remember, the larger your bunker the easier it is to see! i prefer to make my bunkers 3 or 4 blocks high, at any length.
5.It is a good idea to mark you bunker with a single exposed bright coloured block that you can see from the map so you can find your bunker easily. Also, if you are finding it hard to see downwards on your enemy (implying that your spot is higher than them) you can make a 1x2 block window in the bunker, it provides less cover, but it will let you see further downwards and upwards.Look at this photo to see what i mean.

580px-Bunkers.PNG

A small guide on bunker windows (found on AoS wiki)

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And remember, MAKE YOUR BUNKER CAMO LIKE STEP 2 SAYS I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH!!!

PART 3:SHOOTING AND TACTIC
Now that you've found a spot, made a bunker, it's time to really snipe! Here are some tactics you can use to suit different maps and game modes.

Defense sniping: Simply setting up a bunker on your half of the map to stop any people trying to get your intel, although this form of sniping can be easily countered by digging a tunnel under the intel and taking it without anybody knowing you were there at all.......

Offense sniping: The opposite of defense sniping, involves setting up camp in visual range of the enemies intel or where you know enemies will commonly walk to and from. Be careful when setting up a camp near or in range of roads and paths, 90% of the time you take a shot, some one else on the road will see your tracer (damn tracers!).

Spawn killing: Setting up camp where you can see there usual spawn or intel, and killing everybody who spawns there or goes back to resupply. Please note that this tactic is hated by many and may get you kicked. Luckily though, AoS does not have set spawns so you can spawn anywhere on your half of the map, this was probably added to prevent spawn killing.

Other Strategies that work (sometimes):

Decoy Base: A smart tactic that i use mainly to get some LOL's out of, but if done right can be a very good way to rack up points. It's done by making a base that looks like a noob base, stuff like made out of the standard grey, has a little flag on top, freestanding bunker (see part 2:making a base), really obvious, stuff that just looks like something a noob would make (of'course after reading this guide you won't have to worry about being a noob) Then making a proper, good base somewhere in range of it. When the enemy sees this other bunker, they will almost definitely go exploring to see what it is. Not knowing that there is a true marksman only 100 blocks away, they will use it as their own base. However, an unknown enemy sniper (you) in a secret bunker somewhere near, will suddenly shoot the person in the decoy bunker causing death. When the person re spawns they simply go back to the decoy base or find somewhere else to go. Very clever isn't it?

Reverse sniping: Sniping from their base, so they cannot see you tracers. Works nearly every time. It is a simple theory, but can be hard to achieve when your actually trying it. It's done by running on the edge of the map, making a camp at their base and shooting everyone from behind. Very. very effective since they are running to your base and you are simply shooting them when they are not looking. Easier said than done though......


PART 4: OTHER TIPS AND TRICKS

Just going to put some small things here.

It may be wise to put a small tunnel in your bunker leading to an alternate exit or another secret bunker in case someone spots you and destroys you base.

If somebody on your team finds your bunker and goes into it without your permission, ask them nicely to leave. If they do not leave then try one of these options.
1. Votekick (only if they are griefing)
2. leave the bunker and make a new one.
3. if they are an experienced player, try sniping with them for a short while.
4. leave the bunker, put a multicoloured flag on it and wait till your enemy sees it and watch him, and the bunker get destroyed. (trolls only)

If you are in water and an enemy is in your range, crouch, scope-in and do not move, especially on blue team. (I once did this for around 7 minutes, not moving at all and they couldn't see me)

If you haven't read the whole thing, i recommend you do. Comment on this thread to see if i should add something here, or just if it helped you out. There's still more to come! Thanks to the AoS wiki for those photos. And I'll be putting some of my sniping screenshots in here soon.

-LongShot

[Benton]

I charge with the rifle.

Good guide though.

[Baglady74]

It also helps to have a good semi.png file.

The default sight is okay, but getting your own sight and familiarizing yourself with it helps a lot.

[Commodore]

I sometimes make something crazy, but it works: I just go forward sniping everybody who is in the way.

[LongShot]

I sometimes make something crazy, but it works: I just go forward sniping everybody who is in the way.

Yeah that's always fun.

I charge with the rifle.

Good guide though.

Well one thing you can do is while charging, make small three block high walls with step on your side like this.

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You'll understand why it's good when you use it.

[Benton]

Right, when I am charging at the SMG'ers I have time to whip out some walls...

No, I know what you mean. I do that sometimes :)

[Airsoftr]

Being a good sniper involves modding, too. You'll most likely need an accurate scope, and will probably want a sniper rifle-looking rifle too. I actually modded the torso to have a white circle with a red dot in the middle to represent a target. It's surprisingly more easy for me to make torso shots now.

[LASTofS]

You should probably give credit to the wiki (for using the pictures).

[Rarity]

Nice guide.
Might increase my non-existent sniping skills.

[LongShot]

Being a good sniper involves modding, too. You'll most likely need an accurate scope, and will probably want a sniper rifle-looking rifle too. I actually modded the torso to have a white circle with a red dot in the middle to represent a target. It's surprisingly more easy for me to make torso shots now.

That's not completely true. I am one of those "pure vanilla" gamers. Modding isn't my thing. I understand what you mean, but is a " sniper rifle-looking rifle" really necessary? Thanks to everyone who looked here too.

[Moonkey]

Being a good sniper involves modding, too. You'll most likely need an accurate scope, and will probably want a sniper rifle-looking rifle too. I actually modded the torso to have a white circle with a red dot in the middle to represent a target. It's surprisingly more easy for me to make torso shots now.

That's not completely true. I am one of those "pure vanilla" gamers. Modding isn't my thing. I understand what you mean, but is a " sniper rifle-looking rifle" really necessary? Thanks to everyone who looked here too.

I'm also a vanilla player :D. It's hard for me to get used to mod-scopes. Especially with non-transparent red dots :/. Great guide by the way! I've tried reverse sniping before, and It's alot of fun. Until Spectator death view gets in.

[Pavel]

Remember, this is a video game. Tactics in AoS =/= tactics in real life.

Which brings me to my point: a lower altitude is often better because you can use one-block high windows, thus exposing yourself less.

[Ultrayoshi49]

Remember, this is a video game. Tactics in AoS =/= tactics in real life.

Which brings me to my point: a lower altitude is often better because you can use one-block high windows, thus exposing yourself less.

I often finding it easier to snipe from a small hole in the ground then on a mountain, and it seems more effective sometimes.

And one time on GH, i charged to the blues sniping tower wall thing, and started sniping people from the window facing my team. They were so confused as to how they kept dying XD

[VoiD]

Thanks, it helped me.

[Moghard]

How to be a good sniper:

1. Right click, and duck
2. Aim the head
3. Left click
4. After you'll kill everyone, press Right click again.
5. When you see an enemy, go to 1.