The ultimate guide for Sandstorm

This is the ultimate guide for firefight that includes everything you need to know about it. Your duty is only to use this knowledge in order to improve.

Introduction

Rules of Engagement

There are 3 territorial objectives. To win, your team must capture all 3 of these objectives or eliminate the enemy team before the time runs out. If both teams are alive and neither have captured 2 or more objectives, then you keep playing until one team is wiped out or an objective is captured.

Your team will be reinforced if an objective is captured.


This is a screenshot taken in a PUG game on SEL server. If you want to learn more about it skip to Communication section. Here is a link to it : https://discord.gg/2Y64SHg

Appearence

First of all if you look like this clown and you are not a god in this game your chances to succed are below the sea level.



In order to blend with the enviroment and surprise your enemies i highly suggest you to wear a desert camo on security side and an all black outfit on insurgent side. I think you are asking your self why i have to wear all black when there are also camo shirts for the insurgents. The explenation is simple. There are a lot of dark spots and dark colours can hide you in the best way. Also in this gamemode going prone is very situational and blending in to the grass is not very common sight. Remember mobility is the best friend in this game mode.

Equipment

Now let s talk about your loudout.



First things first.

Weight is your enemy because it slows down your movement speed and the time you aim down the sights and in order to remove as much unnecessary weight as possible you have to get rid off :

-armour wich is useless because it protects you only against grenades
-carriers because you never need more then 3 mags in a round
-secondary weapons wich are useless (unless you are playing as a sniper)

In conclusion you will need only a primary and grenade and/or gas mask depending on the role.


Here are the 3 classes that are available in competitive :

-assaulter
-breacher
-sniper

Now let s take a look on each one so that we can see their strenghts and weakneases.

Assaulter

This class is pretty much the best, being the most versatyle. It has 4 available spots and it has overall the best weapons in the game.

The security faction has the following weapons to choose from :

-M16A4
-MK17
-G36
-L85
-G3A3
-M4A1
-MK14
-VHS

And the insurgent faction has the following weapons to choose from :


-SKS
-Alpha AK
-AKM
-AK74
-FAL
-SVD
-QBZ
-M16A2

Let s talk about each weapon.

The M16 s variants once a fan favourite (in source days) are now shipwrecks at least from the competitive point of view of the game. Same goes for the pea shooter SKS.

Next up we have the guns that are still trash but at least they have full auto mode : G36 and Alpha AK.
They are light and can be good against low level players, but the recoil is just to big damage too small and the penetration power non existant.

For the category another fan favourites from source, but ruined by the removal of AP rounds i will have to name the ak variants. They are actually good, but they are lacking the ability to wall bang due to their low penetretion power. Also their fire rate doesn t help to much, their damage output being just like the 5.56 guns with slight improvements.

Moving on we have the guns that have a spicy price. The VHS is actually a beast of a gun and if you want to use it is very good, but you will not have the enough points for the holy grenade. The QBZ on the other hand is average. Is just an overpriced AK.

Now let s see the 5.56 heroes : M4A1 and L85. They have a good price and low recoil and great damage, but they lack the penetration power. This guns would have been a better addition to the breacher class but that s another discussion.

For the next class we have the heavy hitters : G3A3, MK17 and SVD. The G3 is a fantastic gun that even though packs a big punch is not on the god tier level because it also has a big recoil and slow fire rate. Moving on we have the most underrated gun in competitive in my opinion the MK17. This is very cheap and packs the same big punch as the other 7.62 × 51 mm guns in the game. Also the short lenght makes it ideal for CQC. The fact that is so cheap make is it a very customazible weapon, the remaining points can be spent on silencers, extended mag, scopes and foregrips. Its only weak point in comparison to the MK14 is the slower rate of fire. Next up is another overshadowed gun : the mighty SVD. This gun is almost allways a one shot kill weapon and can be used on longer ranges than the FAL with god like precision. Unfortunatly the lenght of the barrel puts it in a big disadvantage in CQC, but in the right hands is can still be pretty good in this situation.


And the most expected ones are here : FAL and MK14. This guns are laser beams with a compensator or foregrip and combined with the heavy punch they are the ultimate killing machines.
The MK14 is better for the most part than the FAL, but the insurgents have a 10 rounds advantage over the security players that use this gun. There is not much to be talked about on this guns so we ll move on.

Breacher

This class has access to weapons that are lighter than the assaulter class, but it suffers because it uses lower calibre weapons or weapons that don t have penetration at all.

Both sides have access to shotguns wich are identical in terms of stats.
The shotguns are the lightest weapons in the game apart from pistols making them great for getting fast into an objective. The disadvantages of the shotguns are the lack of penetration power, slow fire rate. Also they lose accuracy over range. They are best used with a foregrip for faster cycling and flechette rounds.

Moving on we have the MP5 variants available to both sides. Security has the A5 and the insugents have the A2. In terms of stats they are also identical the only difference being that one has a burst fire option that you are not going to use anyway. This gun is light, but the lack of penetration power and low damage put it in a disadvantage compared to the battle rifles and even assault rifles. If you find yourself shooting a lot, this is the gun for you. The extended mag has 40 rounds so is ideal for close calls.

Next up we have the most garbage gun of all time the UZI. Just forget about it is a bad dream.

MP7 is a MP5 with better pentration. That s what she said.

For the insurgents the last weapon is the AK 74 U wich is a shortened variant of the AK 74. This is meant to give the class a gun with more penetration power, but is still very weak. In my opinion is a little bit better than the MP5 because of the higher damage.

The security team has the MK18 as the last weapon to choose from. This is nothing more than a shortened M4A1 with a little bit more recoil. Very good for CQC, but compared to it s assaulter counter part is not as good for longer ranges. The penetration power is the same as the M4 s though.

One special thing breacher has are the flashbang grenades. This devices are good for blinding the enemys and clearing rooms.

Sniper

This class is pretty straight forward. It has access to high calibre weapons and high maginifaction scopes. Is mostly used on maps like precinct or other maps that have cross picks. What are cross picks? Well they are spots from where you can snipe the enemy in the beggining of the round. Think of Dust 2s mid for example.

If you plan using this class i d highly suggest you to avoid the 50cal guns as they are bulky and their standing accuracy is very bad. The bolt action snipers are the best in this category because they have almost zero sway when standing still and pack a serious punch. Because you are going to cover the objectives and be very precise you should run the sniper scopes or if you feel more comfortable the 4× scopes. Moving on you should allready know you need a secondary. For security the best option is the almighty glock with is insane mag capacity and for the insurgents the more modest, yet powerfull M9. You can also carry nades or smokes in order to help you team.

Note: if you are new to the game mode you should stay away from it so that you get in the first place a more advanced understanding of competitive.

Custumization

In this section I will talk about the best attachments that you can use in order to make your gun more suitable for you.


First one is the foregrip. This attachment is going to reduce your recoil and almost every pro player is running it . A good alternative for it is the compensator.


Moving on we have the extended mags. This one is exclusive for a couple of guns and ussualy increase the mag capacity by 10 rounds. This gives you the upper hand when fighting multiple enemies.



Another notable attachment has to be the flash hider. This hides your muzzle flash and also gives you a better picture of the sight.



Next on we have the silencer. If you find yourself to be a good at flanking this one is a must. Is also very good for snipers.


Last but not least we have the optics. On some loudouts I prefer running iron sights so that i get extra points for silencers, grenades or flash hiders, but some guns have very bad iron sights so the addition of an optic is a must in order to remain competitive. The best at the moment are the russian ones : kobra and okp 7. They give a very clear sight picture without obscuring too much of your screen. Other fan favourites are the 2x scopes and the the 1.5× scope. Some of the others are good too so don t be afraid to experiment with them, but acoid the 3× scopes as they are pure garbage as the weapons on wich they can fit.

Strategies

One of the most common strats used is the one that involves a player that is getting into B and caps the point (aka the B rat) and the team mates cover their back from certain positions. Sometimes on maps like refinery you will need two players on B so that you make sure you don t get flanked from lower B or mid street. Another strat is to have a player that sneaks up to the enemy point ( A or C ). This is very usefull if the round doesn t go well on the Bravo objective.

Moving on we have the stoper grenades ( aka prenades ) .
This are present in every map and if done right can stop enemy rushes and even get a early round kill.
This are some examples on the map Farmhouse :


Prefires

These are used for certain places such as doors and windows and can result in a kill if done at the right time and from the right spot. Such places from wich you can wall bang are all over the map. Be carefull. You don t want to waste to much ammo because the enemy can catch you off guard when you try to reload.


Cross picks


See the sniper section*

Communication

A very important thing in this mode is comunication. If you don t call out what is happening on the map the chances of winning are significantly lowered. One crucial thing is that you call a kill. You do this by saying minus and the place you killed that guy. Example : minus balcony. Also call your death or a position where you ve last seen an enemy.
If you don t know call outs than check the Sandstorm s Esport League server out : https://discord.gg/2Y64SHg

It has callouts for every map and also you can get help from more experienced players. This community project also has private servers where tournaments and pick up games are held.

Keep in mind that you should be always calm and polite when talking .


Here is an example of map callouts:

Things that might help you

-flash hiders can reduce the lenght of the barrel for some guns instead of increasing it (FAL, MK17)
-suppresors will always increase your lenght of the barrel
-grenade can be cooked earlier so that the enemy can t run away from it. The grenade will just explode in their face
-jump crouching over low objects will save you time and maybe even your life
-compensators are better for SMG s in general
-when dying a character might scream. Listen carefully this is also available for enemies when suppresed

Last part

If you smash that like button and add this guide to your favourites you will be Diamond 1.
That s all for today! Frag hard and good luck 💪

[Immortal Wombat]

This still currently relevant?

[NWI killed competitive mode]

They really do help. They are just like the foregrips in some cases or even better.

[Masterjo]

in my opinion compensators are kinda useless, they don't really help that much

[NWI killed competitive mode]

Thank you man! Make sure you not miss the next matches on SEL so that you can see more action coming from SG (my team) 💪

[u b i l λ m b d λ]

As a person who saw the author implementing these tricks in competitive matches (if you're the guy from the competitive matches in SEL, I definitely confirm that: 'You're a man of focus, commitment and sheer fucking will!' btw), this guide is what you're looking for!

[NWI killed competitive mode]

Happy to see it helped you!

[Air Fried Not Microwaved]

1+ made me die less than my holy brothers

[NWI killed competitive mode]

If you use the G3A3 just go for the full auto. For some reason the first shot recoil is bigger so semi auto is NOT more accurate than full auto. Compensator and foregrip are pretty rare cause they cost a lot and this doesn t give you the option to carry extra nades. If you are a B rat it might be worth it though.

[Archer]

Really good guide man. Just one question is it overkill to use a compensator and a foregrip? And should i try to use the g3a3 with semiauto?

[DINAMO]

no, shush romanian beta