Tower Counter-Sniping Tips

Meursault00 · 2004-07-17, 03:00 PM

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.

Terran Sniper · 2004-07-17, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by Meursault00

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

Tell that to the Soviets from WWII

Lartnev · 2004-07-17, 06:09 PM

Well, the soviet snipers didn't operate from bases, they merely used bombed out buildings instead of trees and rooftops instead of hills.

JetRaiden · 2004-07-17, 07:02 PM

all of that is pretty obvious to me at this point. I like sniping defensively too because you dont have to go anywhere to find targets. they come right to you.

HawkEye · 2004-07-17, 07:34 PM

i dont snipe

Meursault00 · 2004-07-17, 07:47 PM

Yea, defensive sniping is fun for me too for the same reason. But it stops getting fun when you get swamped by enemy snipers.

Oh and when I said that: Snipers are truly at home...blah blah blah, I was not using any historical reference or anything, I based this statement off of how I viewed the game and sniping in this game. Buildings have all these little nooks and crannies that a base in Planetside simply does not. However, in the field, there are tons of trees, rocks, land formations, destroyed vehicles, everything to give you cover.

Cauldron Borne · 2004-07-17, 09:07 PM

indoor sniping:

funny as hell.

DeltaForceAlpha · 2004-07-17, 09:57 PM

Yea, always also fun to have a squadmate cloaker with melee booster get behind the sniper unnoticed and stab him the same time you shoot him so it's instant kill except only one visible person.

ORANGE · 2004-07-17, 11:44 PM

I find the best place to snipe from while defending a tower is the corners of the rooftop I can usually get between 5-10 kills before being taken out while countersniping, however if you are pinned inside you shouldn't be trying to get out to go snipe you should store your bolt driver and protect the CC, and as soon as even one person comes to your spot to snipe with you move don't wait until their is a group and after two shots always always move even if it is just behind a rock nearby for a min or two

Destroyeron · 2004-07-18, 01:37 AM

Originally Posted by JetRaiden

all of that is pretty obvious to me at this point. I like sniping defensively too because you dont have to go anywhere to find targets. they come right to you.

I agree

PhatBoy · 2004-07-18, 08:34 AM

I was just wondering what would be the best implants for a sniper who snipes from a distance. I guessed that enhanced targeting would be good, and so would range magnifier, but would darklight be useful, since it's only useful against cloakers, and they normally stay close to bases, right?