Team Fortress 2 Strategy - The Sniper
October 15th, 2007 by Justin CarmonyNow that Team Fortress 2 has been released I’ve had the opportunity to play quite a lot for the past few days. I’ve been very impressed by just how well this game has been designed, and all the strategy behind it. I’d like to openly discuss different character classes and strategies used for them. I’d like to kick of with my #2 favorite class, the Sniper.
First of all, its important to understand that the Sniper is not a well rounded class. It has very distinct strengths and weaknesses. However, I’ve seen time after time people who have no clue on how to use the sniper effectively.
In pubs, many times a sniper will hang back from the fight and just sit around to pick off kills. Other times, a sniper may rack up serious kills and lead his team, only to lose every time. Why? To be an effective sniper you need to position and focus on trying to kill the right types of enemies.
I’d say the primary focus of the sniper is this: Kill Medics, Heavies, Engineers, and Structures. If anything else crosses your path, kill it, but don’t focus on Soldiers and Scouts when there are Heavies with Medics.
Why?
Medics will almost always hang out with Heavies and Soldiers and keep them alive. Also, while they are keeping their allies alive, they are charging up their uber charge, which will allow for them to go invincible with an ally for a few seconds, which can be devastating. As a sniper, you can pick a good spot farther back, and even get angles your teammates can’t get. Take out a heavy’s medic and they’ll be a much easier target for your team.
Heavies should be you second focus because while Soldiers and Demos are pretty good against heavies, a sniper with a fully charged headshot can kill a heavy in one shot. Also, if you’re a far distance off, you can hide behind a wall, peak, shoot, retreat, re-charge, peak, shoot. While the Heavy wastes its bullets trying to hit you (and he’ll probably be able to hit you a few times), I’ve been able to hold off 3 heavies trying to attack a point, effectively shutting down an opponents attacks.
The other night my pub team wasn’t doing anything effective. We’d had captured two points and were going for the last point on the map. The enemy had 2 sentries that were demolishing our team, and for some reason our medic/soldier combos just couldn’t take them out. I was a sniper and killing all the medics and heavies I could see, but I was frustrated that after 6 minutes of attacking, we hadn’t accomplished a thing.
Then I decided to try and take out the sentries myself. To my astonishment, after 2-3 charged shots I destroyed them. The reason I was effective is the reaction time of the sentries aren’t super quick, allowing for me to charge, peak, shoot, and fall-back. If an engineer came to repair, I’d headshot him. I think this strategy is not know at all among newer players, as I didn’t even know I could do it till recently.
I’ll admit, in scrims I’m not so familiar with good sniper tactics, but I imagine the targets would be the same. If we’re on the defensive, I would pick a several spots to choose between that cover key entrances to what I’m guarding. This way any troops entering the area have to pass by my scope. On the offensive, I prefer to play a more aggressive sniper than passive. I won’t rush out like a soldier, but I’ll peak out and try to take the team off guard. Waiting in obscure spots to hopefully pick off a random person is not very effective, especially for team play.
A note on laser points: when you’re zoomed in, you have a laser scope that will leave a little “dot” on where ever you are aiming. If you are covering an entrance, don’t aim at the entrance! Aim above or to the side, or else the enemy will see your laser dot and know where to avoid, or worse, where to shoot at.
What other strategies have you found useful with a sniper? Are they useful in a 6v6 situation? What tips do you have? I always love comments and feedback to start a discussion. Also, if you have any ideas for another article, or even would like to be a guest writter, please contact me at jcarmony (AT) cevo (DOT) com.
*Edit* And to leave a final word for everyone out there about sniper trategy, or for ANYONE in this case……
Link: http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2007/20070921.jpg
October 15th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
*Note to the order of who a sniper should kill*
My comment doens’t really reveal a different order then what you posted, only something to remember. If a sniper gets the chance to kill a defensive demo, he should do it. This will clear sticky mines on the likely covered capture point. Thats all :)
October 15th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Very true, I’m not really saying “If a demo or a soldier passes you, don’t shoot.” but more try to hunt down the priorities and kill everything else in your way. I’ve actually seen snipers hide from Heavies for fear of dying. :P
October 16th, 2007 at 11:20 am
[…] shot, one kill — words to live by. CEVO has a strategy article Justin Carmony about how to play a sniper in TF2. …First of all, its […]
October 16th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
YES! Thank you for finally letting all the snipers know their priorities! :D As a sniper, always, please always help your team, don’t think that getting a high score on your team means that you’re helping the team. Headshotting enemy snipers all day won’t do a thing for your team.
Medics/heavies/buildings are your main targets, don’t be scared to leave your base to snipe! :)
October 19th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Note: I added the classic Penny-Arcade comic strip about TF2.
October 19th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Meh.
The order a sniper should kill in is the same as the order targets appear on the screen. They have the ability to do that. Make it happen.
#armistice on gamesurge if you want to hobnob with snipers that actually know what they are doing (and have been doing it for years).
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:16 am
Panzer,
While it is possible, and I believe that is the ultimate goal of the sniper, a sniper should try to put himself in a position where he can take down medics and heavies. If a sniper sits back and covers an area, but his team is getting demolished by heavies in another area, he should try to go help out. Of course kill anything that comes across your screen, but a sniper I believe can be even more proactive to hunt down enemies that his teammates have a hard time taking out.
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:34 am
Yo vinny the boss speakin…this is all very true, and i approve of this message.
thank you kindly
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:59 pm
It’s also easier to pick off offensive opponents if you set yourself up where they are running toward/away from you rather than running horizontally by you. It gives you more time to focus on a shot. You can even get scouts, if you’re so inclined (and it feels good to do so).
Also, the farther back the better because the dot doesn’t change size on your end. It covers more space.
I also have the machete set up on my “Q.” It’s more effective in taking out a spy setting up to backstab you. If things are quiet hit “Q” and check your back.
I’ve also found the sniper useless on Fort and Granary (I hate that map) but very good in Hydro, Gravel Pit, and even Well. I’m not the best twitch player, but I’ve been able to get 10 kills on one life on Hydro because I picked a good spot where the opposing team was funneling down a canyon.
I guess my final tip would be to find a sweet spot where you don’t have to cover a lot of area and just stay on your scope as long as you can until you feel itchy that there’s a spy sneaking up on you.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
I actually made a post about sniper strategies on my clan forum if anyone is interested.
http://ckgbclan.com/viewtopic.php?t=22 is the link.
Let me know what you think.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
a charged headshot wont down a heavy thats over-healed
a no scope(not charged) headshot will kill anyone below 150 health
a fully charged chest shot will kill anyone below 150 health
and while not scoped in the sniper rifle remains perfectly accurate, so a good sniper is still mean at close range
November 30th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
ps i rocked vinnytheboss on granary earlier today ha ha
December 3rd, 2007 at 12:07 pm
I didn’t know about the perfect accuracy while not zoomed. I might have to dust off my no-scope-scout skills and try it on TF2. I wonder if any people just put a little dot on their screen…… :P
December 4th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Yup, I play a sniper and have a small black dot stuck to the center of my screen so I can snipe without a scope when needed. It helps a lot :)
December 9th, 2007 at 5:23 am
@Zorg, i hate people like you…
February 2nd, 2008 at 3:59 pm
On sniping other snipers from behind corners.
All I have to say is duck before zooming.
July 7th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Team-Friendly Tip: If you’re getting bullied my an enemy sniper, don’t look for revenge. If you can, sure, take him out, but don’t ignore the needs of the battle to fight your own vendetta.
(This also applies to trying to bully the other snipers, even if your team is doing well)
August 26th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
If you see that the team your on has low or no attack power, then you should try to take out the more powerful enemies, or the medic healing him not on an ubercharge. It helps…
November 8th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I don’t know if it was different when Shawn posted but a charged shot + headshot = instant kill no matter how much hp the enemy has(No effect on Ubercharged enemys offcource).
May 12th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
TF2 sniping is alot harder than sniping in CSS i was very good with the scout and such but with the upcoming sniper patch (Bows and pee so far…) im starting to get better it just sucks when another person picks up the sniper class and suggests to team up…. then steals your kills and lets you get spyabbed in the back when the can sure as hell help you… Maybe im not getting the sniper class right but then again the hit system is crap in TF2 ive had perfectly wrong shots and gotten head shots and shooting through the wall on the kill cam is also a major problem with tf2 as in CSS the aiming was crap but still was better than getting shot through a wall as your running in a corridor to get health and 2 seconds in out of nowhere you get shot…. and the killcam shows him outside… aiming at the entrance of the corridor you went in nowhere in it and the angle is nowhere possible to hit you from.
May 14th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Good piece.