Tower Counter-Sniping Tips

[Meursault00]

I find being a sniper when your empire is on the offensive is a lot easier than being a sniper while on the defensive. This is simply because your choices of cover are more limited than that of an offensive sniper who has the numerous trees, rocks, ditches and such to hide in. So during one tower battle, where the enemy had about 2 snipers for our 1, I began trying new tactics. Here is what I found:

1. Get away from the tower.
Just because the tower is close, and a lot of friendlies are neaby, doesnt make the tower safe. In fact, it's probably more dangerous to be in the tower because every sniper will have his or her bolt driver trained on you and your friendlies, and picking out snipers from grunts is as easy as telling a person who's crouching from a person who's running.

2. Find a nice spot.
Okay, so you've escaped the hellish battle, now you want to take out those snipers. Enemy snipers are easy targets for counter-sniping once you are out of the tower. Get in a position where you won't get detected by grunts or cloakers, but also gives you a nice clean shot of as many snipers as possible. In short, flank the enemy, be parralel to the snipers.

Don't go for the highest peak you can find, because then you become a giant ass target for every sniper below you.

3. Taking the shot.
If you have advance targeting, you can pick off the weak ones first. But really it doesn't matter because an average sniper will usually keep themself as healthy as possible.

Snipers tend to congregate, and because not many snipers speak to each other directly, you can usually take down two or three without much trouble from the other snipers on the hill. But after that, they start to get smart and start looking for you.

Most snipers will run away, some will stay and try to look for you after being shot, and others have such tunnel vision that they don't notice getting shot, making a second shot pretty easy.

Eventually after killing enough snipers and grunts, friendly snipers will be able to breath and some will come to join you. But don't hang around too long, because a group of snipers is a great target for snipers (as we learned) and cloakers, and grunts, and vehicles, and blah blah blah blah. Basically your grop is now a giant "Hey, look, I'm an easy kill if you get close enough"

It doesn't hurt to have a friendly cloaker follow you and use you as bait when there are a lot of cloakers in the area.

When you start to have a group around you, begin thinking about moving to a new local.

Remember as a sniper your jobs include, but are not limited to:
Counter-sniping
Sniping grunts
Demoralize the enemy (by hitting a target, even though it may not be a kill shot)
Scouting

A sniper is truly at home out in the field, not cooped up in a base.