Sniping Basics, a guide

Disclaimer: All views presented herein are based on my original research, if you find something to be fundamentally flawed do not hesitate to notify me. The document is presented as-is and may not be reproduced without crediting me.

1. The Sniper's Role

Primarily the Sniper should play the role of a Slayer, that is to actively pursue and kill enemy Pros. The Sniper is also excellent at dispatching bot-waves should the need arise, however this is secondary.

2. The Sniper's Skills

• Traps 1: Puts down a trap with a small radius, the trap is armed after a short delay. Any bot or pro running through the trap will spring it and get slowed for a short period.
  
  Traps 2: You can now put down 2 traps concurrently and the trap will freeze pros or bots in place for a short amount of time.
  
  Traps 3: You can now put down 3 traps concurrently and the trap will also drain the skills of it's victims.

Important: All traps can be sprung by your Flak grenade.

• Flak 1: You throw a small flak grenade which deals damage over time in a small radius.
  
  Flak 2: Bigger radius, more damage
  
  Flak 3: Bigger radius, more damage

Important: Flaks will bounce off of friendly bots, rails and other obstacles.

• Grapple 1: Grapples Pros, Jackbots, Bouncers, Black Jacks and deals a small amount of damage
  
  Grapple 2: You will now throw the enemy away and deal more damage. Excellent for ringouts and crowd-controlling juiced pros
  
  Grapple 3: More damage

Important: Beware of the angle you grapple at since you may end up throwing the Pro at a teammate, not resulting in a ringout.

• Passive 1: n/a
  
  Passive 2: Your sniper rifle shots now penetrate enemies.

Important: Passive 2 allows you to score headshots by shooting Gunners and Tanks in the shoulder or the back.

• 
  
  Passive 3: Your sniper rifle shots now deal 100 damage in a small radius (256 units) around impact.

3. Skill Order

At the beginning of the round you want to make sure that you upgrade the Passive ability to gain the ability to score headshots from more angles.

You should upgrade it to level 3 swiftly to enhance your damage potential . Depending on your team and your enemy though you may have to invest in Grapple 2 first, useful against those pesky assassins who think they can get you.

From there on it depends heavily on playstyle. I prefer to upgrade Flak after that because it is a useful tool for zone denial, it is good at pressuring supports away from their firebase and on later levels they deal great damage against turrets.

Other than that, make it your own rather than following what some random guy says only to treat it like the gospel.

Summary

• 
  1. Passive 2
  2. Passive 3 / Grapple 2
  3. Flak 2
  4. Flak 3
  5. Traps 2
  6. Traps 3
  7. Grapple 3

4. Endorsements

According to people these make or break characters, for me they define sub-roles and allow you to specialise in certain playstyles. I crunched some numbers to figure out the best theoretical endorsement setup in terms of raw damage potential.

Here are my crude calculations based on ideal circumstances

Based on that formula I derived that clip size presents to be the definite factor towards sustained damage potential, followed by reload speed and rate of fire.

The theoretically best setup would therefore be Gold Clip Size, Silver Reload Speed and Bronze Rate of Fire; without taking survivability into account or clutch moments.

I prepared some theoretical endorsement builds for you to check out:

• 1. Sustained Damage Potential: Clip Size / Reload Speed / Rate of Fire
  
  2. Sustained Survivability: Clip Size/ Armor / Reload Speed
  
  3. Burst Damage Potential: Rate of Fire / Clip Size / Reload Speed
  
  4. Burst Survivability: Rate of Fire / Armor / Clip Size
  
  5. Flak Spam: Rate of Fire / Armor / Skill Recovery

Figure out what's best for you and your playstyle.

Shoutouts to CrancK for making me work on the spreadsheet again.

Yea, that's pretty much accurate. Match-ups for the sniper aren't really there, only the assassin might be one. Other than that, if any class gets too close, just run. The sniper's body is like thin glass that breaks if you so much as sneeze on it.

Trap placement is what you suggested, use what you think will help. Keep in mind your position and where you put the traps and how many you have put down. If you have two down, and put another one down, you'll erase the least recent trap you laid down. Might wanna think about that.

And explain why you should do the stuff in code text. Cause people are going to ask you for that.

What would also be better is a ranking of endorsements. Which ones are great for the class and which ones aren't that great for it. Something like Armor, RoF, reload, clip, Skill, speed, accuracy, crit, juice. and explain why you would rank them like that.

You might get like ONE sniper bullet more, but the sniper's reload speed will receive a significant benefit from Reload too, so I prefer it that way since less downtime - less worry about how fast you can shoot.

It also works out more often for me since I always like to stay at a full clip regardless of how soon I just stopped shooting, whereas with one extra bullet it won't quite make up for the time I have to spend reloading whether it be from an empty clip or half a clip.

I would not post if I didn't consider it accurate, explanations for why smoothing is bad and what accel is are plenty and I consider them common knowledge.

Endorsements as I said are highly preferential so me ranking anything outside of what I use would be of little use, I'll leave that to the allrounders.

Yes it is one bullet more and the reload speed isn't that noticeable. I'd rather have one more chance at killing something, provided I miss, before I have to reload. Also good for juice rushes with the SMG.

A bigger clip allows you to stay in field longer than having to reload (ample time and moment for something to charge you out of confidence). An Assault charging me with 1 bullet left is most likely a dead man though. So much for my reasoning.

I'll get around to updating this guide some time or another, wrote it 5 minutes before I went to work.

A few things I do differently:

1st - While Gold rate of fire is absolutely mandatory, I prefer to fill the other two spaces with reload speed and clip size (either silver or bronze, as long as they're both present).

The sniper is not a tank by any means, so he won't survive long under fire anyways. Your best bet is movement and constant fire, so I prefer to have a larger clip and faster reload than a bit more health. This way I can quickly dispatch of sentries and tanks/gunners alike, even if I can't get a headshot (because they're turned around, or behind cover).

2nd - I upgrade my skills differently. First points are always lvl 2 passive and lvl 2 traps. To me, lvl 2 traps are by far the most important part of a sniper, I'll explain why bellow.

After that, I usually get either lvl 3 sniper, or lvl 2 grapple, then lvl 3 traps, then max out Flak.

The reason I get lvl 2 traps right away is because, to me, they're as invaluable as a sniper rifle. See, lvl 1 traps simple slows down your opponents. Lvl 2 freezes them, gives a very loud warning, and allows you to throw down 2 traps at once. Combined with good placement, this allows you to lock down a bridge or relatively tight space so nobody can get to you without being frozen (and therefore vulnerable to a grapple or headshot).

So my tactic usually revolver around securing entire areas by running as far as I can while safe, then throwing down a mine behind and in front of me (or to either sides if I'm on a bridge), and proceeding to clearing out everything I see. If I'm still far from the enemy base, just move forward and repeat once it's clear.

I've found that using this tactic, along with quickscoping, gets me a high kill count (around 20 or more) per game, while keeping me virtually untouchable unless I mess up, and all this while applying direct pressure over the enemy base, wrecking bots, killing pros and tearing down sentries (or locking down entire pathways if I'm playing defence).

I'm not saying your way isn't viable, I'm saying I do it differently.

Passive 2 -> Headshot through shoulders, backs and other things due to penetration.

just sayin'

if your way works for you then stick to it

Yeah, but a Tank or a Gunner can be quite hard to accurately headshot when their backs are turned, as you kinda have to guess where their heads are, and if they're moving and turning, it's generally easier to pop 4 quick shots in their general upper area, IMO.

Shoot their center twice, one of them will be a headshot.

I rewrote the guide from scratch, earlier feedback my not necessarily apply.

I like the rewrite, it's a bit more fleshed out, but there's not much here I didn't already know. Nonetheless, the spreadsheet is actually pretty interesting and I may end up trying a different sniper loadout because of it.

Good stuff, simple and easy. Now you just need a guide to counter anti-sniper classes.

Okay I'm just gonna throw in two cents here. :mrgreen:
I prefer the endorsements:
(GOLD) RoF
(SILVER) Armor
(BRONZE) Reload

You said earlier that the reload speed isn't that noticeable, while I am sure that's true from your perspective but for me it's GOD SO SLOW without it. Besides I get to fire more rounds a minute with reload speed than with clip-size. I believe that the amount of damage you can dish out depends on how many rounds you can fire a minute, me and a friend did some math on the subject, I'll share our conclusion:


Sniper Rifle

RoF: 1.0 Gold endorsement 30% = 0.7 Sec
Clip Size: 4 + Bronze Endorsement 40% = 5 Clip Size
Reload Time: 2.5sec Bronze Endorsement 20% = 2.0 sec

Rare of Fire = 1.0
Clip Size = 4 Ammo
Reload Time = 2.5

Gold Rate of Fire = 0.7
Bronze Clip Size = 5 Ammo
Bronze Reload Time = 2.0 Seconds

Bullets Pr.Min Formula:
RoF x Ammo + Reload Time = Sec Per Cycle.
60 : Sec Per Cycle = Cycles Per Minute
Clip Size(Ammo) x Cycles Per Minute = Shots per Minute.

With Clip Size Endorsement:
0.7 x 5 + 2.5 = 6.0 Sec Per Cycle
60 : 6.0 = 10 Cycles per Minute
5 x 10 Cycles per Minute = 50 Shots Per. Minute.

With Reload Time Endorsement:
0.7 x 4 + 2.0 = 4.8 Sec per Cycle
60 : 4.8 = 12.5 Cycles Per Min.
4 x 12.5 Cycles Per Minute = 50 Shots Per. Minute.

SMG

RoF: 0.1 30% = 0.07 sec
Clip Size: 10 + 40% = 14 Clip Size
Reload Time: 1.68sec 20% = 1.344sec

Rare of Fire = 0.1
Clip Size = 10 Ammo
Reload Time = 1.68 Sec

Gold Rate of Fire = 0.07 sec
Bronze Clip Size = 14 Ammo
Bronze Reload Time = 1.344 Seconds


Bullets Pr. Min?
Bronze Clip Size Endorsement:
0.07 x 14 x 1.68 = 1,6464 Sec Pr. Cycle
60 : 1,6464 = 36,4431 Cycles Pr.Min
14 ammo x 36,4431 Cycles Pr.Min = 510,2 Bullets Pr. Minute

Bronze Reload Time Endorsement:
0.07 x 10 x 1.344 = 0,9408 Sec Pr. Cycle
60 : 0,9408 = 63,7755 Cycles Pr.Min
10 x 63,7755 = 637.75 Bullets Pr.Minute

Did you even read the updated version where I already provided a working spreadsheet with everything?

Edit: besides default reload is 2 seconds but nvm

I must've gotten the wrong values. My bad. ^^
Also I'm looking over it now, but could you add how many % each endorsement adds/takes away?
I thought bronze reload speed was a 20% faster and gold RoF was 30% faster?

Look at the formula, also it might be 2.5 seconds but even then clip size factors in more than reload speed over the course of 60 seconds, which is unrealistic engagement but I am talking theory.

I for my part use RoF, Armor and Clip Size anyway


Edit: updated the sheet with the values, I'm not sure how RELOADFRAC factors in but I'll use the new values anyway. Scathis where are you?

Everyone to their own opinions, in the end it's all about whatever makes you feel comfortable!

Nice guide btw!

Cheers, thinking about writing more guides but time is an issue

A couple of things to remember;

1) The Sniper is the only Pro besides the Assassin who can grapple a Jackbot.

2) The Sniper has two grapples on seperate cooldowns (Skill and SMG altfire).

You can see where this is going, right?

One of my favoured tricks as a Sniper (Gold Ammo/Silver Armour/Bronze Reload) is to basically charge at the Jackbots; leap over the stomp wave to avoid being knocked back and stunned, then grapplespam on it. During the animation, you move around so much that it's difficult for the enemy to hit you, the Jackbot can't do anything, and the rest of your team can pound on it. You take out a decent chunk of the Jackbot's health even with just one grapple, assure yourself +65$ even if you don't land the kill, and it's fun watching the scrawny little bastard kick the **** out of the towering Jackbots.

Basically a win/win scenario. If there are no teammates nearby, use the sniper rifle to soften it up first with a barrage of headshots, then go for the kill. One dead Jackbot.

Also, Flak 3s everywhere! They can mess up turrets, pros won't go near the aura of oops-there-goes-most-of-your-health-bar unless they're a Tank, plus you can lob them around corners to flush out Support nests. Just make sure they don't bounce back in your face.

Grappling a jackbot is the worst single thing you can do as Sniper, stay next to it and shoot it until the designated jackbot-killer arrives otherwise you'll be toast.

Toast if you can't dodge, which is trivial. Use the element of surprise! Attack from above, especially if it's busy attacking someone else or your team's bots.

Ed: I'm not saying everyone should do it, but it can be effective if you get the hang of it, and it works well for me.