Dust 514: The Role of the Sniper

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Transcriber's note:

 I'm Sulec Aravi, better known in Dust as Celus Ivara. 
 I did not produce any of the content here, I'm simply handling the copy/pasting process. 
 This guide was written by our hard working Director of Education, Fox Gaden.
 
 This guide was originally posted to the D-Uni internal forums. 
 In an effort to provide education to all it is being copied to the public wiki. 
 ATM, this transcribing effort is a work in process; if you can read this text, presume the following 
 to be incomplete and in need of proper formatting (which I am working on). 

This is a guide to sniping written by Fox Gaden, the D-Uni Director of Education.

The information here is up to date as of Uprising 1.2 .

Intro

A Sniper that knows their role and concentrates on covering and protecting their team can have a pivotal impact on the outcome of a battle, gaining the appreciation of their team and their corp, while instilling fear and uncertainty in the hearts of the enemy.

Someone who picks up a sniper rifle in order to get kills while trying to avoid risk, in order to stack their K/D ratio, will be as much of an annoyance to their team as they are to the enemy. If they have a positive impact on the battle it will be purely accidental.

Your role

• You are the eyes for your team. You can see more of the battlefield than they can. Tell them what is happening. Warn them what they are up against. Tell them if they are being flanked. Pass your scope over them so that they show on your team’s radar.

• You soften up your squad’s objectives. If the rest of your squad are heading to Bravo, and there are 4 reds defending Bravo, your squad will have a better chance if you can reduce those odds by picking off one or two just before your squad strikes, or making their heavy take cover as your squad runs across open ground.

• You are backup on high. One of your squad is separated from the rest and a Red has found him. If you can hit the Red even once you can turn the odds in your teammate’s favor. Even a near miss may cause the Red to start thinking about cover rather than thinking about their aim.

• You are your team’s best defense against other snipers. This may be your most important role. If you can take out the enemy snipers, or at least make them keep their heads down, then your team can move freely and arrive at their objectives at full strength, rather than having to constantly stick to cover and always arriving a man down. I have had matches where a good sniper prevented me from doing my job for most of the battle, and other games where I have been the better sniper and kept several enemy snipers cowering in their fox holes while also covering my squad.

Positioning

Find a place with a field of fire that includes several objectives or strategic targets. Make sure you have cover that you can easily duck into. Crouch down to avoid rifle sway, and try to expose no more of your body than you have to in order to see the area you are covering. Be mindful of enemy snipers. Frequently scan other potential sniper spots. Drop the scope and look around you once in a while to make sure no one is sneaking up on you.

Try to select a position that will give a field of fire on at least one objective so you can take out hackers. If you hack an objective, go find a hiding spot where you would have a field of fire on any counter hackers, and stay there until the hack has been successful.

For anti sniper work, sometimes a poor position is the best position. If you have been sniped and have respawned, find a position that has cover and gives you a vantage point on the enemy sniper’s position, but does not give a good view of the battlefield. A good sniper will know all the good sniper spots and scan them regularly, but if you are not in a good spot, they may not look your way. You want to clear the enemy snipers before you go back to sniping the battlefield.

Another positioning option, particularly in urban areas with restricted fields of fire, is to run with your squad. It is best to advance slightly behind the rest of your squad making full use of cover. The enemy will generally shoot at the closest threat, giving you the opportunity to line up your shots.

Sniping alone does not win the battle

Skirmish matches are won by frontline troops taking objectives. Sometimes, particularly on Manus Peak (the open 3 objective map), there are too many snipers and not enough frontline troops. Sometimes for the good of the team, you need to swap your sniper rifle for a submachine gun and head in to hack an objective.

Sometimes there is an enemy sniper in the prime sniping position you want to use. Time to swap to your submachine gun and take them out.

Sometimes a frontline solder or a shotgun scout will sneak up on your position. Time to swap out to your submachine gun and start dancing and shooting.

I think you can see by this point why I have dumped skill points into Submachine Gun skills. With Submachine Gun Operation 5 and a couple levels of Proficiency, you will win in a 1v1 with an equally skilled Assault Riffle at close range. This will allow you to be a Marksman and run with your squad on the front line using your SMG in close quarters and your Sniper Rifle as opportunities present themselves. At this point, you become deadly at any range and versatile without having to change fittings.

Dropsuit

The choice of suit for a sniper is a matter of style and preference. They each have strengths and weaknesses. One is not better than the other, but one may be better for you, and your style.

The Scout suit is stealthy and aware. They have a small signature so that when an enemy looks at you their suit is less likely to flag you on their tacnet if you are far away, meaning they will not see your health bars and you will not appear on their team’s radar. They will have to rely on their own eyeballs to locate you. Your scanner strength is also higher than other suits, so when you scan the horizon your suit can identify and flag enemy suits at a greater distance, making enemy snipers easier to locate or allowing you to paint enemies onto your team’s tacnet radar using your scope. Keep in mind that there are skills and equipment that make you more effective at visual scanning, and hiding from visual scanning.

The downside for the Scout suit is the lack of tank, so if an enemy sniper does get a bead on you, there is a good chance that their first shot will kill you if it hits. If it misses, your greater speed should allow you to take cover before they get another shot off.

The Assault suit is not stealthy like the Scout suit. If you are sniping in an Assault suit you may want to put some points into Profile Dampening to reduce your signature. You don’t want an enemy sniper’s suit flagging you with a red chevron and health bar when they are scanning the horizon. You probably will be flagged by their suit if they have their scope on you, but their scope has a small field of view, so if you are not where they expect you to be there is a good change they will not point their scope your way.

The strength of the Assault suit for a sniper is its tank. Unless they get a perfect head shot an Assault suit is likely to survive the first round from a sniper. The time it takes for them to load the next bullet into the chamber is usually enough time for you to duck behind cover. If you have equipped an armor repair module, then you can wait to regain full health, and then put your head back up and try to find that sniper. If they get you again you just repeat the process.

Logi suits have the advantage of having at least two equipment slots. They work as snipers, although their lack of a secondary weapon can become a problem if someone sneaks up on you. One trick is to stand on your Nano Hive and just throw grenades at them. It is also possible to quick scope or even hip fire with the Sniper rifle. To quick scope, center your target as best you can before you switch to the scope so that you do not have to track very far once your scope is up. For hip fire you have to aim without a reference of any kind (unless you stick a dot to the center of your TV screen.) And finally, you always have melee. I like to start the match in a Logi suit and setup Drop Uplinks and Nano hives close to my prime sniper positions. Then if I die or happen by a Supply Depot, I will switch to Assault.

The Sentinel Heavy suit has been used by some. Its thick armour and shields make it particularly good for anti-sniper work. However the lack of an equipment slot is a major detriment, and its slow speed makes getting to a good sniper nest a time consuming process unless a LAV is used. One approach is to start with a Logi suit and setup a Nano Hive, with a Drop Uplink not too far away, and then changing suits at a Supply Depot, or respawning as a Heavy after first death. If you snipe as a heavy you can’t really hide due to the size of your signature radius. You have to relay on your larger effective hit point (eHP) buffer when going head to head with other snipers. So make sure you have cover you can duck into, to give your shields and armor a chance to regenerate.

The Commando Heavy suit is a bit more suited to Sniper work. Although it does not have as much health as the Sentinel, it has that all important equipment slot to carry a Nano Hive, and it is a bit faster than the Sentinel as well.

Redline Snipers (Why Snipers have a bad name)

The true Redline Sniper is the guy who snipes from near the initial spawn point. They are hated by the Enemy because only another sniper or a rail gun can reach them. They are hated by their own team because their poor positioning means they do not contribute much to the team’s success. Their field of fire does not cover many of the strategic objectives and at that distance they are only going to get the occasional kill when a Red stops to tie their shoe half way between objectives.

If I spawn behind the Redline I may stop and take a shot if I see one on my way out, but I will not linger there. If the other team has taken all the objectives and has redlined us, then I have no qualms about sniping from the Redline. In that situation, I may be able to thin the line enough for some of our Frontline troops to slip through.

I don’t have a problem with people sniping from just inside the Redline when they have a good field of fire. If you are close enough for a Red to take you out with an assault rifle, then there is nothing cowardly about your position. If you have a field of fire that covers several objectives and gives you a view of much of the battlefield, then your team has nothing to complain about either. One example of such a position on the Manus Peak map is a saddle dip in the ridge line below one of the MCCs. It and the road behind it are in the Red Zone, but by doing a little rock climbing I was able to take out a sniper from that spot by getting close with an assault rifle. Another example from Manus Peak is on the opposite side of the map, one of the rocky spikes is on a low angle and you can climb to the top for a good vantage point. I think it is just in the Red Zone, but I have had Reds show up and take me out with assault riffles, so I feel there is nothing unsporting about using that spot. (I think these two spots mostly survived the landscaping that came with Uprising.)

I am really hoping that CCP is careful not to create any really prime sniper positions deep in the Red Zone when doing their map layouts. They seem to be so far. I don’t want to be forced to choose between my sense of fair play and using a prime tactical position.

Skills

Sniper Rifle Operation:

Level 1: Sway is terrible. You are going to have to crouch to shoot.

Level 3: Sway is manageable but annoying. You can shoot standing up, but crouching is preferred.

Level 4: Sway is hardly noticeable when standing.

Level 5: Unlocks Sniper Rifle Proficiency.

Damage:

Sniper Rifle Proficiency: +3% damage per level.

Skill for more HP so you survive anti sniper fire long enough to take cover:

Shield Management: +5% max shields per level.

Field Mechanics: +5% max Armour per level.

Standing versus Crouching

When crouching there is no rifle sway, and crouching may help to make you a smaller, less conspicuous target, but it also makes you move more slowly. If you are hit by an anti-sniper you have the choice between moving slowly toward cover, or standing (exposing yourself more) and then running for cover. Either way, a good sniper will often hit you a second time before you get to cover.

Standing will allow you to shoot over things like boxes and armored railings. It also allows you to quickly strafe and move to cover if you are hit. However, when standing you are subject to rifle sway. With Sniper Rifle Proficiency 3 you will be able to snipe at mid range while standing, but will have to time your shot with your sway. With Sniper Rifle Proficiency 5 sway is hardly noticeable at mid range, but at very long range (such as shooting into the Red Zone, or across the map) you will still want to crouch as you need a steady hand for extreme range shots.

Equipment Placement

Drop Uplinks should be placed some distance from your sniping position in a hidden, out of the way place. That way if a Shotgun Scout kills you, you can spawn some distance away, pull your SMG and hunt them down. This distance between you and your uplink has become even more crucial in Uprising, as Drop Uplinks are now picked up easily on enemy radar. You don’t want your Uplink telling the Sniper Hunters where you are. Also, if your Drop Uplink disappears, take it as a warning that there is someone out there.

Nano Hives should be placed nearby, but not in a position where the blue fog bubble will obstruct your vision or give your position away.

Vehicles

You can kill people who are in a vehicle if you can see them, even if you can’t see their health bar. If a Red is in a vehicle you will not see their health bar; you will only see the health bar for the vehicle. However, if you can hit them, they will take damage, and they will die as fast as if they were not in a vehicle.

Things That Can Make you a Sniper Target

Note: (Authored by Crow Splat)

Silhouetting: This is what happens when you stand on top of an object. Don't do this. Never stand on top of hills or flat buildings. When you do this you are totally exposed as everyone else on the map can see a human shaped object with nothing else around it.

Avoid any ledges and flat areas with flat areas with little debris to block line of sight.

Tree Cancer: This is a common rookie mistake that involves setting up at the base of a structure and "peaking" around it. You may feel safe doing this but to enemy sniper you appear as an unnatural "growth" on an otherwise regular object. So while you feel safe, you have actually presented a nice target for the enemy.

As a sniper you should always be asking, "what do I look like to everyone else?"

Quoted techniques from other Snipers

Quoted techniques from other Snipers:

trollsroyce wrote:

 I snipe exclusively on logistics and heavy.
 1) set up camp with log because it can carry all the camping gear
 2) if killed spawn as heavy in uplink and lol at feeble tickling from other snipers
 
 Ability to shrug off most sniper shots is the best thing for a sniper. It keeps you killing 
 stuff instead of spawning. Log can tank well, too. At proto level it's all about logistics 
 with 4 damage mods or thale +2

Another good Sniper guide by Dominije Arc: Intro to the Scout Sniper (Touching the OTHER redline)

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