Buchholz101 said:
Disclaimer: I agree with most if not all adjustments Treyarch made to the Sniper Rifles.
When I played World at War and Modern Warfare 2 I would snipe; just snipe. Every match, every game type; snipe. I despise camping for kills and I don't like Quickscoping, camping bores me and quickscoping seemed too ridiculous.
I preferred to skulk around the edge of the map and knife stragglers and snipe defenders; I liked playing "Ninja-Style". So I bought Black Ops thinking it would be all the same.
First thought: With Stopping Power gone, I thought that suppressed Sniper rifles could still be 1-hit kills. WRONG
Second thought: The Dragunov is exceedingly difficult at achieving 1-hit kills. Great disappointment.
Third thought: There seems to be a start-up sway on sniper rifles, probably to further nerf Quickscopers, it is now impossible to defend against ambushing rushers at mid-range. Now it's just depressing.
Treyarch won't patch the game just for me, but could someone tell me how to snipe in this game?
I haven't had
too much experience with Black Ops as of yet, but I do still have a basic understanding of how the game works. Some of my tips will be CoD based, some just generally good tips for all shooters of the CoD veriaty. Take them with a grain of salt.
1. Camping is your friend. Now, I'm not saying you should stay in one spot for the entire match, but nestling into a sniper friendly position is always a bonus. Try to find a good vantage point, squeeze off a few shots, hope those shots end up as kills and then
move on! You would not believe how many people don't do that last bit and end up paying for it. BlackOps is very mobile like it's predecessors, so make sure you aren't dawdling in one sniper spot for too long.
2. Headshot when you can. This seems sort of dumb to put, but it certainly helps make you a better sniper. With a supressor, enemies won't know where the bullet is coming from, so it's to your advantage to try for the headshot and miss rather than get the body shot and reveal your position. Worst case scenario, they'll see the bullet fly at them and you're no worse off if you had taken the body shot to begin with.
3. Engage in long distance combat or multi-level combat. I'm not sure why people find this hard to achieve. You either want to make sure you're higher up than most people, or that you're a good distance away from your targets. Preferably both, if you can swing it. This takes advantage of what a sniper rifle actually does and keeps you far enough away that you aren't getting sprayed with bullets from LMGs or Assault Rifles, which specialize in mid-range combat. Make them play your game. For example: if you have a group of players all charging down your firing lane, try to block off the most direct path by killing one of the players. This will force the others to scatter and take more indirect routes which either gives you more time to kill them with your rifle, more time to prepare for a close-quaters engagement with claymores and pistols, or simply more time to run away and find another vantage point.
4. Use the right gun for the right job. Don't pick a sniper rifle when you're in a small or enclosed map, unless you can get some serious height advantage. Most CoD maps facilitate sniping through either of the two points mentioned above: long distances or multi-level combat, but not every map is the best choice for a sniper rifle. Sometimes it really is just better to pull out that assault rifle with longer distance and better accuracy to lay down the hurt on the opposing forces. Sometimes buildings are layed out in such a way that sniper positions are at a minimum, or that you can easily sprint from cover point to cover point. Overall, map knowledge is a great tool in knowing what gun to bring to the fight.
5. Pick your perks properly. MW2 is a lot different from BlackOps in that snipers aren't still useful if you've been spoted. They wear ghillie suits for a reason, y'know. It's better to miss your shot and not be seen than to make your mark and attract attention from others. Pick perks that help keep you concealed. As long as you're still standing, you can always fire off more shots from different angles, or close the gap without being detected if need be. This is further proven by having a longer wind-up time when aiming down your sights. You want to keep yourself concealed until that body hits the ground, and even preferably after that, too!
Hope this helps. I know they seem fairly basic, but I find even the basics can sometimes be overlooked when you think you know them. Bring your game back a bit and learn from the bottom up. Best of luck to you!
