How to play as Sniper in TF2

This guide is made for everyone from pure beginners to experimented players.
It will show you how to select the right weapons, the right settings and mindset to become unstoppable.

Introduction To Sniper

As Sniper, your main objective is to outplay your enemies with longshots with your powerful primary weapon. Lending headshots and eliminating as many enemies as possible before they face your teammates is the key to help them win the round. But there's not only that.

Team Fortress 2 is a shooter based on two gameplay aspects :

• The Shooter Aspect
  
  The fact that almost all the weapons are single actions or single shots makes the shooting experience very satisfying and also rewarding. That's why the aim is an important factor to take in account (even more as sniper which bases its whole gameplay on that).
  
  
• The Movement Aspect
  
  Movement is a really important factor to add in this game, it allows you to evade shots and to make yourself unpredictable to your enemies, such as rocket jumping or sticky jumping. As you may have noticed, sniper doesn't beneficiate from any movement ability. That's why you are limited to jumping, evading, dodging and peeking.

Long story short : You will need to adjust your weapon loadout and your behavior according to the different maps, enemy team composition and to what suits you best.

Basic Strategy

• Positioning :
  
  As Sniper, since your health is relatively low at 125HP, you must place yourself accordingly. That means that you should avoid direct fights and encounters, preferably on high grounds or distant platforms which will make the enemy out of range to fight back.
  
  You should also switch positions, which will make it harder for enemy snipers to preshoot you, it also prevents you from getting the tunnel vision, when you scope in for way too long. Tunnel vision will make your field of view smaller hence unable to see a flanking scout for example.
  
  Here are some examples of positioning on 2 maps : Dustbowl and Gorge
  
  These positions are away from main dangers, like soldiers, heavies or pyros.
  
  
• Awareness :
  
  Being in an ideal position doesn't make you untouchable, you must be aware of your surroundings, like enemy spies and enemy snipers : they are your main threat now.
  
  Note : Stay close to your teammates at all times !
  
  
• Movement :
  
  People may tell you that Sniper doesn't have any movement items nor unique capacities like scout or soldier. But as matter of fact, it can suffice to actually dodge rockets and shots. You can dodge sniper shots by crouching a quick second, or jump around to reposition yourself. Soldiers can also propel your escape ! You need to time the rocket blast and your jump to make yourself rocket jump into the air and strafe back from the frontline.

• Countering Your Counters :
  
  
  • Spies :
    They may come around you to backstab you or to annoy you, unaware snipers are easy targets. Stay aware of decloak sounds That's when the razorback comes in handy, it prevents spies from backstabbing you, but they might use the Ambassador to get you, which still makes you vulnerable to them. We will talk about the razorback and many other weapons below. You can also use Jarate to easily spot spies in the crowd or to verify if none of your teammates behind you are spies.
    
    
  • Snipers :
    Here comes the hardest to deal with. They know where you might be and where you aim at. The quickest and the most accurate one will almost always win the fight. That's when dodging, practice and quick aim comes in. Try to stay aware of potential danger, then :
    • Analyse the threat (Sniper/Heavy/Scout)
      
    • Aim for the head and charge (Depending of targets, charging shots is useless against snipers, scouts, medics, engineers and spies)
      
    • Shoot the heads and they will roll.
    
    
  • Scouts :
    Scouts are fast and have a small head hitbox. If you're safe from their deadly meatshots, you should either trust your aim and go for a punitive headshot, or safely wait and charge a body shot to easily eliminate them.
  
  
• Priotirizing Targets :
  
  Here comes the fun part, now that you know where to stand and how to avoid being countered, there are simples rules to follow now to make your rampage easier :
  
  Here's a list of classes to eliminate if you are not in immediate danger from important to neglectable :
  • Snipers > Medics > Engineers (These are the supports that will weaken the enemy team if killed before they can either place sentries, heal their teammates or just counter you).
    
    Then you should kill anything else that doesn't put you in danger like Heavies, Demomen and Soldiers.

The razorback is a nice secondary item alternative, it prevents spies from backstabbing you once, but at the cost of losing your trusty smg.

Mouse Setup

• Getting yourself a real mouse :
  
  Hand comfort is important in video games such as FPS games. That's why buying a real gaming mouse may prevent hand ache while gaming in long sessions. They can also be more comfortable and also more customizable than a stock Dell or HP mouse.
  
  The best thing about gaming mice is that you can set a precise DPI amount (Density of Pixels per Inch), which means that if mouse acceleration is off, your mouse will always move the same distance for the same amount of DPI set.
  
  
• Low Sensitivity :
  
  Lower sensitivies have proven to be more accurate and more precise than higher ones, just because a lower sensitivity requires a bigger movement (so less chances to miss) than doing a small and precise mouse movement with a high sensitivity/
  
  
  
• Mouse Acceleration :
  
  Some people like it, others don't. Mouse acceleration means that speed in added into the sensitivity, so that a quicker mouse movement will go further than a sluggish one. It makes aiming kinda like lottery.
  
  If you wish to disable that, you need to get into your mouse settings on your OS, then set the DPI you wish to use in your mouse software, lower equals better :
  
  
  Then get into your game and do as it appears here (set your sensitivity to yours or follow the paragraph below :
  
  
  
• Finding you sensitivity :
  
  First off, you can change your sensitivity either through the mouse options, or in the console by doing sensitivity "your value".
  
  
  • How to find your sensitivity
    
    • Try a sensitivity at 3.
      
    • If you found it too slow, try 4. If you found it too high, try 2.
      
    • Repeat this step but go for values of 0,5, for example after 2, you try 2,5 if too slow or 1,5 if too fast.
      
    • Repeat again until you find a sensitivity you're comfortable with.

Primary Weapons

• The Stock Sniper Rifle and reskins :
  The stock sniper rifle is considered the best by experienced players since it has no drawbacks if you know how to lend your headshots quickly and accurately. It's also the most used weapon by all players.
  
  NOTE : target priorities and aiming techniques are be applied to this sniper rifle only in this guide.
  
  : 50 - 150
  
  : 150 - 450
  
  
  
• The Huntsman and reskins :
  The huntsman is a variant of the primary weapon, it shoots arrow at a slow speed but can easily kill anything in the head. Your arrows may become unaccurate if you hold them for more than 5 seconds.
  
  : 50 - 120
  
  : 150 - 360
  
  
  
• The Sydney Sleeper :
  The Sydney Sleeper is more a support weapon, you can cover enemies with a charged shot in jarate, which will deal minicrits. You can also headshot but it won't work until you charge your weapon fully.
  
  : 50 - 168
  
  
  
• The Bazaar Bargain :
  This weapon is rewarding players who can headshot, each headshot increases charge rate by 25% up to 200%. But dying will reset the head count. That weapon is very nice to takedown heavier classes faster after getting a few heads.
  
  : 50 - 150
  
  : 150 - 450
  
  
  
• The Machina and reskins :
  The machina is the "mlg" kind of weapon, it's the only sniper rifle which can do collaterals. Fully charged shots also deal 15% damage more, try using this weapon is corridors or short angles to increase your chances of doing collaterals The only drawback is that unscoped shots are impossible.
  
  : 50 - 173
  
  
  : 150 - 518
  
  
  
• Hitman's Heatmaker :Charge your "focus" bar by doing damage, you give 20% less damage for bodyshots but when you fill your focus bar, you can unleash faster charging shots without unscoping. Headshots also cause decapitation and are more quiet.
  
  : 40 - 120
  
  : 150 - 450
  
  
  
• The Classic :This weapon is unviable, it charges without scoping but deals less damage when it's a bodyshot. You can also move around scoping at normal move speed. It also cannot headshot without being fully charged.
  
  
  : 50 - 150
  
  : 150 - 450
  

Secondary Weapons

• Submachine Gun :
  The SMG is a reliable weapon at close quarters, it can be used as a last resort weapon against your counters too. There are many other secondary weapons that are more useful than the SMG.
  
  : Base : 8 / Crit : 24
  
  
  
• The Cleaner's Carbine
  This SMG shoots 25% slower and has a 20% smaller clip, but you can charge a "Crikey" bar that can unleash mini-crits when activated.
  
  
  : Base : 8 / Crit : 24
  
  
  
• Jarate and reskins :
  More like a support weapon than anything else. Doused ennemies take mini-crits instead of normal hits. It also extiguishes yourself and teammates when thrown at. Spies doused can be tracked easily when becoming invisible.
  
  
• The Razorback :
  Replacing the default SMG, the Razorback protects your back from one backstab and shocks the spy for a little moment, making them defenseless. A huge zap can be heard when triggered. The only downside is that you can't be overhealed.
  
  
• Darwin's Danger Shield :
  Grants you 50% fire damage resistance and makes you imune to afterburn damage, which grants you an advantage against annoying pyros with scorch-shots.
  
  
• Cozy Camper :
  The cozy camper makes you unflichable when your primary weapon is fully charged and knockback is reduced by 20%. You also regenerate 4 HP per second, but it resets to 1 HP if you get hit, then goes back to 4 HP a few seconds later.
  

Melee Weapons

• The Kukri :
  The stock melee weapon, very useful against spies. You can rely on its random crits that will deal 195 damage.
  
  
  : Base : 65 / Crit : 195
  
  
  
• Tribalman's Shiv :
  This shiv deals 50% less damage, but causes bleeding to enemies when hit. The counterpart is not viable, but makes following spies way easier when they try to flee invisible. Bleeding enemies will receive a total damage of 81 damage overtime (taking the first strike in account).
  
  : Base : 33 / Crit : 98
  
  
  
• The Shahanshah :
  This weapon is like the classic : unreliable. It deals -25% damage, but when your life goes below half, it does +25% damage. But for some people who like to play dangerously, it can be very useful if you also have luck on your side and do a crit that goes up to 244 damage.
  
  : Base : 49/81 / Crit : 146/244
  
  
  
• The Bushwacka :
  The bushwacka is really powerful despite the bonus 20% vulnerability. It turns minicrits into critical hits. That's why using it with the Jarate turns it into a death sentence.
  
  : Base : 65 / Crit : 195

Hitboxes

• Disguised Spies :
  
  Spies when disguised have the same unchanged hitbox, which means that it's costume's head is not placed at the same spot as where it appears to be. That's why you need to learn and keep in mind the right spot to shoot at when a spy is disguised. You can instead try to shoot at the middle top part of the spy to get an easy headshot.
  
  
  
  As you can see, the spy's hitbox remains unchanged, and you need to aim for an invisible head most of the time. Note that the only classes that keep the same headspot are spies disguised in spies, snipers, medics and heavies.
  
  
• The Hunchback Problematic :
  
  Since most of the classes have a hunchback, it's always harder to headshot someone if they are not facing you. You can notice that in the picture below.
  
  
  Indeed their necks cover a little part of their heads. Which makes it harder.

Aiming Techniques

• Waiting Shots :
  
  
  They are very simple to practice, you need to predict the enemy's trajectory and aim where his head will go. It's usually used on enemies who are not aware of where you are, or medics and heavies. It also allows you to charge your shots and to not miss them.
  
  
  
  
  
• Flick Shots :
  
  
  These are the hardest to land. It is based on muscle memory and is built over time and experience. It's commonly used on fast enemies or snipers in 1V1 situations.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Track Shots :
  
  
  When you're getting used to sniper, you're gonna start using these but in many situations. You're gonna track your enemies' heads easily. It requires a lot of experience and also knowledge about map bumps and environment.

Tips And Tricks

• Crosshair Placement :
  
  When scoping, the spot you aim at becomes lit by a dot colored the same way as your team's. It is visible for everyone. People might avoid your path or try to counter you another way. You should avoid hardscoping (standing still and charging you shot) on certain spots and go for quickscopes. Hiding your dot will increase your chances of people going through the path you look at, since they won't see the threat you are until they face you.
  
  
  
• Taking Down Heavies :
  
  Heavies have 300 HP when fully healed and 450 HP when overhealed, which means that you can easily eliminate an overhealed heavy with one shot. But heavies might see you and start to shoot you, which will make you less accurate because of camera tilts.
  
  You can either go for a safe fully charged shot that will do 450 damage, or be faster and chain 3 headshots. Heavies are not really mobile and have very predictive movements, which shouldn't make it too hard to chain those headshots.
  
  
• Training :
  
  This guide will not turn you into a beast right away, you need dedication and patience to actually improve, but these tips are here to help you go further. That's why training is important. Force yourself to aim for the heads, to place yourself right and avoid dying. You can try by playing sniper more often in casual and community servers. You can also download the training map "tr_walkway", it contains a path where bots are going from one point to another, where you're free to train and practice.
  
  
• Unscoping Bait :
  
  In a sniper vs sniper duel, scoping makes you slower and also more predictable. That's why in that kind of situation, baiting the enemy to scope and miss his shot will make it easier for you to successfully headshot him. Try it and find out the best timing, every sniper plays differently. It's always easier to shoot someone back after they tried their first one.
  
  
• Ammo and Health Packs :
  
  As you become better, you're going to start getting out of ammo, that's why knowing where the closest ammo packs are on each map is always useful. Same for health packs, it's always important to know where to get them. The shorter the time to resupply is, the less time you let the enemy team push without you threatning them.
  
  
• Charged Shots or Quickscopes ? :
  
  To be honest, you should do whatever fits you best. Quickscopes have more chances to lend than charged ones. You shouldn't also feel bad for charging shots and doing bodyshots, it may make someone mad, but just keep in mind that it's in the game and for a reason. Don't talk back and go on cliking on heads.
  
  
• Managing Short Range Threats :
  
  If you feel confident enough, you can always try a close range headshot if the enemy is going in a predictive direction, or just go nuts and pull out your shiv and skin them.

Credits

Most of the technical contents comes from the community made TF2 Wiki.

The gameplay tips and tricks come from my countless hours in FPS games and mostly from Team Fortress 2 and CS GO.

If you have any tips to add to the list or anything to tweak, leave some feedback in the comments, that will be much appreciated.



Contributors :

wwwww [シ]
ƒm//
BlueJay
Pyro Marketable Plushie
Weather

[platface]

Useful guides are gold nowadays. Thanks for that.

[bluejay]

Been a while since I've seen this, and wow i should say that I'm impressed! :')

[mic]

how to shoot a rifle? uwu

[curaja]

ok.

[aids]

yo author, thanks!

[WinPyro]

No its not a joke , creator of this guide put so much effort in it. And yet people still thinks it's a shitpost.

[SOUPCAN'T]

WAIT NO! this is some sort of galaxy brain meta-shitpost, isnt it? the fact everyone expected it to be a shitpost but in reality its a well made guide is the joke, right?

[SOUPCAN'T]

why is this not a shitpost. the balance has been destroyed.

[VipeDoesStuff]

i thought this was gonna be a spinbot joke. this is helpful nonetheless

[Withered Knight]

i was expecting a shitpost too but this is awesome like @SynthwaveWolf85 said