Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

[vbl]

In order to get a few medals, I need to get Veteran Sniper.

This is significant because, prior to last night, I had logged only 2 hours as a Sniper. Compared to the average 60 hours playing each of the 6 other kits, my sniper time is all but nonexistent.

I realize that I could just play as a Sniper and fly a helicopter the entire time, but that's almost less fun than forcing myself to learn to play Sniper as a Sniper. Almost.

Here're my initial impressions:

Equipment

• M24 is wonderful. This is not a revelation for most, but it's worth repeating; it's accurate, powerful and predictable. Settle time is reasonable, scope is nice.
• Chinese sniper rifle (whatever it is) sucks. This is also not a revelation for most, and it's not worth discussing further.
• SVD is a so-so middle ground, but I rarely land headshots and I might as well be using a carbine if it's going to take 3 bullets to kill someone.
• M95 is heavy and "awkward". Settle time is much higher than M24, but at least I can land one-shot kills with it. Very loud.
• I <3 claymores. It's a shame that Snipers only get 2, because they're simply magical as long as your teammates don't try to lick them.

Gameplay

• I found myself getting campy a lot, confirming my earlier impressions that snipers aren't really "encouraged" to capture flags. Defense is do-able as long as there's no armor.
• Speaking of defense, I had a pretty amazing run defending the first flag at Karkand last night. Between the claymores, pistol and grenades, the Sniper is very well equipped to do up-close, dirty combat against most enemies - I bagged 6 kills before I got overwhelmed and the CP fell.
• The biggest drawback to playing the Sam Fisher Sniper (sneaky, pistoly, knifey) is longevity. Only 2 claymores and only 1 workable CQC firearm mean that it doesn't take long for an oncoming onslaught of enemies to outpace the claymores and the pistol's clip. Big difference from playing Spec Ops or Assault, where each can sustain upwards of 10+ kills over a much longer period of time.
• I actually did do some sniping, but results were inconsistent, particularly over long distances where I fiddled with bullet drop adjustments. Sometimes repeated behavior yielded different results, and some targets just couldn't be hit no matter how hard I tried (I traded 2 clips with an enemy on Zatar and neither of us could hit the other - and we were both sitting still).
• Sniper isn't a bad kit, but I still maintain that other kits (Medic, Spec Ops) can do the exact same work (infantry suppression over distances) just as effectively and be more flexible in other roles. I'd love to see the Sniper evolve into a sneakier, lightweight CQC type, but that's not going to happen.
• Any scout-like role that the Sniper could play is pretty well trumped by the Commander's toys, which are far more powerful.
• The Sniper's camo suit is ri-goddamn-diculous on maps like Karkand. There's nothing like a big, fluffy, leafy, dark-green suit on a map full of medium tans and browns. Why the hell doesn't the guy get a different suit for different terrains?

Respond with your own experiences, comments, or any tips that you think will help me out.

[MrChris_CJ]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

when i went for veteran sniper i enjoyed the hours i spent picking people off...especially on urban maps where i could find a good spot and snipe at flags full of infantry...mashtuur was a good map as usa when we lost the BH base, the mec defended that to the last man while i picked them off from the water tower hehe

i found though that if u unlock and use the m95 for a while, get good at that getting moving headshots etc and then go back to teh m24 u r twice as good.

the m24 is just a much better sniper i can hs people much more easily and get the 1 shot kill than i could with the m95... and claymores are good for defense and runnig away

[Magical Poop]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

the chinese sniper rifle (type 88) and the SVD doesnt suck, u just dont know how to use them...

if u want to get kills with the chinese sniper rifle, then play Songhua Stalemate, it's foggy, and the ghille suit makes u virtually invisible in the dense bamboo forest. (u have to go alone, and be sneaky on this map, and remember not to fire multiple shots, if one shot misses, then let it miss, dont put urself in jeoperdy by giving ur position away) and as for SVD, Sharqi is the best map. find a nice piece of bush near the construction site (the hot zone) and lay down...and BE PATIENT...i got like 25 kills and 4 deaths, which i think is pretty good...

[SignaSgt]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

The problem I have with Snipers is as soon as the 1st shot is fired. You have an onslaught of bunny hoppers. If there is more then one, your in trouble. Snipers as spotters work amazeingly well. Sadly you don't get anything for pointing out incoming hostiles or a bonus for counter snipeing.

I agree with you the Sniper kit is too dependant on other classes to be used effectively.

[imported_shadow_vision]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

• I <3 claymores. It's a shame that Snipers only get 2, because they're simply magical as long as your teammates don't try to lick them.

...

• The Sniper's camo suit is ri-goddamn-diculous on maps like Karkand. There's nothing like a big, fluffy, leafy, dark-green suit on a map full of medium tans and browns. Why the hell doesn't the guy get a different suit for different terrains?

Respond with your own experiences, comments, or any tips that you think will help me out.

Okay .... lmao at the first comment :p almost peed ... mostly becuz of how true it is ... I see guys (on my team) all the time who do dumb stuff like ... if they wanna come up to a water tower with me ... they unload a couple pistol rounds at the c4 i put ontop of the stairs... or even one time ... I placed it between a gap in the fences on karkand and one of my team8's thought they could "leap" over the thing ... idiotz can hurt a snipers score :hmm:

But I can honestly say that Karkand is my absolute favorite map if i want the sniper to go CQC ... the sniper is not meant to go CQC but it sounds like thats the reason you dont like playing him ... from what I've heard, you cant just sit a mile away and pick dudes off from afar becuz its not entertaining for you ... if thats not the case ignore this but Karkand, i think, is great for the sniper cloe up & personal ... what i usually do is, on the Chinese ($#!t or is it MEC? ) team, go to the far right edge of the map and follow the fence, there is an area, about half way down this fence where the Chinese and US have all out war ... for quite a while they duke it out here. If you look to your left, you should see an archway where there will ALWAYS be several of your team8s fighting like a maniac ... right infront of you there will be *usually* a box for cover and a team8 there ... here you wait for sum1 to enter the gap at the very end of the fence line for an enemy who tries to sneak "behind your lines" aint happenin and you just keep blowin their heads off ... It becomes CQC when the enemy finally learns and goes past the opening in the fence ... all you have to do now is skooch over to your right like a foot and snipe down the right side of the fence, and they will a lot of times zigzag toward you ... its where i get creative with my c4 but a pistol works just fine

just a suggestion if you wanna have a good time snipin

[Mrs]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

Thats a pretty accurate sum up of sniping to me variable, well at least it is similair to my experiences. *sighs*guess Ill be doing this when badge times comes around too. I dont normally play sniper and actually dread doing so. I hope its as swift and painless as possible

[glaucoma]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

The only map where the ghillie suit "works" is Daqing Oilfields, because the ground textures aren't as bright as the sun.
The SVD is HORRIBLE in this game, especially when you're used to the Dragunov from Operation Flashpoint .
The M24 is just fine, the M95 is "ok", but remember to whip out the pistol after a hit immediately, because when they start to hop, placing a second shot with the m95 is considerably harder than with the other rifles. Also the crosshairs are still too god damn fat.
And I agree about the Claymores - enjoy them ant AT mines as much as you can, no more jump-throwing them after the next patch - which means they will be 90% less useful .

[Uber:Jagermeiter]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

Good thread post and observations---but I disagree with you about the SVD and the chinese sniper- Actually the svd is my favorite---all you need is a head shot and I love the site- I don't like the M-95 at all---accuracy is terrible--and as some one insightfully mentioned---it starts lots of bunny hopping--Once you get the pistol and knife down you can really take out people with stealth---and ambushes--2 more claymores would be awesome----I attack people with those sometimes---anyway good post dude

[Magical Poop]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

Good thread post and observations---but I disagree with you about the SVD and the chinese sniper- Actually the svd is my favorite---all you need is a head shot and I love the site- I don't like the M-95 at all---accuracy is terrible--and as some one incitefully mentioned---it starts lots of bunny hopping--Once you get the pistol and knife down you can really take out people with stealth---and ambushes--2 more claymores would be awesome----I attack people with those sometimes---anyway good post dude

Right on man!! SVD and Type 88 rocks!!

tip: the best map for Type 88 is Songhua Stalemate, with its fog and bamboo forest, the Chinese sniper is virtually invisible!!

[hollowpoint367]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

don't forget, claymores kill inf inside cars put them like so near those sandbagged chokepoints of control points:
\............../

[MackTheKnifeAU]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

I thought SVD and Chinese Whatever were the same?

In any case, I almost exclusively play sniper as USMC (or SAS on SF, Night Flight\Fight (?) is my fav sniping map. You can get awesome positions on 3 different flags (Cargo, Terminal and the MEC main I forget it's name).

[BeerStein]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

I am ready to see what the patch does to improve the sniper - if it really does.

[Fullforce]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

Equipment

• M24 is wonderful. This is not a revelation for most, but it's worth repeating; it's accurate, powerful and predictable. Settle time is reasonable, scope is nice.
• Chinese sniper rifle (whatever it is) sucks. This is also not a revelation for most, and it's not worth discussing further.
• SVD is a so-so middle ground, but I rarely land headshots and I might as well be using a carbine if it's going to take 3 bullets to kill someone.
• M95 is heavy and "awkward". Settle time is much higher than M24, but at least I can land one-shot kills with it. Very loud.
• I <3 claymores. It's a shame that Snipers only get 2, because they're simply magical as long as your teammates don't try to lick them.

lol.
If you're on USMC, use the M24 (unless you expect Choppers to attack you and you have uber skills to shoot people out of them). When on MEC or China, use the M95. Its the next best thing.
Imho, i find the SVD and the Chinese Rifle identical, but for some reason i'm better with the Chinese one. meh.

I'll add my comments in bold.[*]I found myself getting campy a lot, confirming my earlier impressions that snipers aren't really "encouraged" to capture flags. Defense is do-able as long as there's no armor.

Yeah, but you need to (I can't think of the word) um.. "outer defence" if that makes any sense - move away from the flag and find a position to snipe from, don't sit next to the flag and blast people, thats the other boys jobs - snipers can defend, but sit on a roof about 100m~ away and smack them.
[*]The biggest drawback to playing the Sam Fisher Sniper (sneaky, pistoly, knifey) is longevity. Only 2 claymores and only 1 workable CQC firearm mean that it doesn't take long for an oncoming onslaught of enemies to outpace the claymores and the pistol's clip. Big difference from playing Spec Ops or Assault, where each can sustain upwards of 10+ kills over a much longer period of time.

I get way more kills with the sniper than the rest of the kit (ignoring claymores, lol), maybe i've just not used them enough. or maybe i'm being too snipy for my own good.
[*]I actually did do some sniping, but results were inconsistent, particularly over long distances where I fiddled with bullet drop adjustments. Sometimes repeated behavior yielded different results, and some targets just couldn't be hit no matter how hard I tried (I traded 2 clips with an enemy on Zatar and neither of us could hit the other - and we were both sitting still).
You'll get absolutely crappy moments like that were you'll fire and fire and fire at someone as much as you can and you'll never hit them.
[*]Sniper isn't a bad kit, but I still maintain that other kits (Medic, Spec Ops) can do the exact same work (infantry suppression over distances) just as effectively and be more flexible in other roles. I'd love to see the Sniper evolve into a sneakier, lightweight CQC type, but that's not going to happen.
Definately.
[*]Any scout-like role that the Sniper could play is pretty well trumped by the Commander's toys, which are far more powerful.
Also True. I love 'scouting' but theres no point. The only time i've ever actually done proper recon was on Oman, sitting on the hill by the Construction Yard overlooking the MEC airbase, telling teammates when planes/choppers/tanks were taking off and where they were headed, which stopped the commander wasting a UAV on it.
[*]The Sniper's camo suit is ri-goddamn-diculous on maps like Karkand. There's nothing like a big, fluffy, leafy, dark-green suit on a map full of medium tans and browns. Why the hell doesn't the guy get a different suit for different terrains?
I hate the suit. You hear a bang, know its a sniper, and immediately see the stupid ass suit and pop him off. I've been on the receiving end of that as well. Needs something different.[/LIST]

The snipers on BF2:MC are excellent. both the MEC and the USMC rifles are identical (different rifles, M95 and SVD) but have the same clip size, and same accuracy, and same fire rate. one shot kills too, but if you miss or are found out, the fire rate is slow enough to get you killed if you don't run - which is an excellent way to have snipers. Its brilliant fun sniping in Modern combat, less so in BF2 on pc. The Sniper Class on MC not only has a kick ass rifle, but also the ability to call in laser guided strikes on tanks etc, which makes them so much better.

If snipers in Bf2 could be like that, but still be weak up close (like they are in MC) it will be excellent - you can't take a sniper on at long range, but up close you'll slaughter him. In BF2 on PC its slaughter in both instances.

But still, i play Sniper a lot, because I play recon style, picking off enemies where and when i can, and staying stealthy. I can work as part of a team, but nothing beats hiding out for 5 minutes on your own and being stealthy, waiting for kills rather than going out and actively looking for them.

EDIT: Omg, triple post, stupid router keeps messing up and i have to reset it, arr

[signa]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

Just use the sniper time working towards something else, like expert command. ++

[glaucoma]

Re: Forcing myself into suckiness... raising hours as Sniper

Or deploy claymores in sensible places, then go fly, or command, or go capture using only the silenced pistol EVER. You'll be getting your pistol badges, making some score, and working at your sniper hours AND be of use for your team !
Putting claymores on the hoods of buggies has to be my favorite thing to do as a sniper. Just because it looks so cheesy, when the car starts rolling, the claymore gets sucked into the buggy's frame and THEN explodes into the driver's face.