Basic Sniper strategy
| “ | I'm gunnin' for ya, you mongrels!
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— The Sniper
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The Sniper excels in picking off enemies from great distances. His ability to headshot lets him deal severe damage to foes before they can even get close. His effectiveness increases exponentially with the player's skill; one experienced Sniper can be worth three or more. Important targets for a Sniper include enemy Snipers, Medics, Heavies, and Engineers. The Sniper is one of the weakest classes at close range combat and is often targeted by classes that operate alone, such as Scouts and Spies. If cornered and alone, he is likely to be killed. A good Sniper roams around the battlefield behind his team's combat classes and does not camp a single spot.
Primary weapons
All of your primary weapons rely on precise aiming, so experiment with your mouse sensitivity until you feel comfortable. If it is too low, you will have difficulty aiming at enemies who actively dodge. If it is too high, you will have trouble aiming at more specific targets, like your enemies' heads. Other customizable settings on your computer, such as mouse acceleration, can be toggled on or off to increase your precision. If you are firing from a hidden position, remember that the deathcam reveals your location to the enemy. Switch positions often and keep an eye out for any enemies that try to flank you, especially Spies.
Sniper Rifle / Festive Sniper Rifle
Your Sniper Rifle's laser dot stays visible no matter where you are aiming. Enemies that see your laser dot will be aware of your presence and may be deterred from coming out of cover. If you want to hide it, aim at a nearby object until you are ready to shoot. When aiming at an enemy, carefully choose whether you want to aim for the head or the body. While a quick headshot is significantly harder to land, it will deal as much damage as a fully charged bodyshot. If your target is aware of your presence and strafes constantly, it may be easier to kill him with a bodyshot, especially if you know that his health pool is low. When not scoped, your Sniper Rifle is still completely accurate and deals uncharged bodyshot damage, so don't bother to scope if you have to fire immediately.
Huntsman
When compared to the Sniper Rifle, the Huntsman cannot zoom in, has a slow rate of fire and fires relatively slow projectiles, encouraging you to fight closer to the front lines at medium range. It cannot be used to camp an area as easily as the Sniper Rifle, as a charged arrow that is kept drawn for over five seconds will not follow your crosshair and generally miss the target. Alternate fire will let you stop charging your arrow, allowing you to save ammo and relax the Sniper's arm. Certain allies, such as friendly Pyros, can light your arrows on fire, allowing you to ignite enemies from far away. A huntsman is supposed to be mobile. Because of this reason, try to avoid using razorback. Instead, equip a SMG or jarate.
The Huntsman's taunt kill can be very useful if timed right. If you see a demoman charging at you in a straight path, and if you time it right, you can often get a taunt kill with huntsman. This can also be used to kill enemies around the corner.
Sydney Sleeper
The Sydney Sleeper is great if you have less than average aim or find yourself rarely landing headshots. While you will lack some firepower, a weakened enemy covered in Jarate is easy prey for your teammates. Without the ability to headshot, you are vulnerable to enemy Snipers that use the standard Sniper Rifle and will only be able to kill the weaker classes with a fully charged shot.
Bazaar Bargain
The Bazaar Bargain is made for consistent Snipers that can land consecutive headshots. With a full bonus, it will charge up to 50% faster, allowing you to quickly take down bulky classes. Uncharged headshot damage does remain the same, meaning you can deal with weaker classes normally. You can safely keep your charge bonus by using unscoped shots at medium range.
Machina
The Machina's fully charged shot deals bonus damage and, while tricky to line up, can pierce through multiple enemies. However, it cannot fire when unscoped and its tracer rounds reveal your position after every shot. It becomes increasingly more difficult to aim with your scope when enemies are closer, so keep a moderate distance from the main battle and continuously switch your sniping location. The fully charged shot is best utilized when aiming at the bodies of clustered enemies, as a fully charged headshot from the standard Sniper Rifle is already capable of instantly killing an overhealed Heavy.
Secondary weapons
Submachine Gun
While the Submachine Gun (SMG) is a weak weapon, it is still stronger than your melee weapon and can be used to finish off weakened foes or fight enemies that are difficult to hit, such as Scouts. It is easier to defend yourself with than Jarate when you're operating alone or away from teammates. It pairs well with the Huntsman, due to its close range nature, as well as the Machina, which is difficult to use at close range.
Razorback
The Razorback works best when you fight near allies, where enemy Spies risk revealing themselves if they were to attack you. If you are isolated, a Spy can still use his Revolver to easily kill you. The Submachine Gun or Jarate are better anti-Spy choices if you're not being constantly assaulted.
Razorback is probably most useful when using with sniper rifles. Avoid using it with Huntsman since an effective usage of huntsman requires you to be mobile and aware of your surroundings (including spies).
Jarate
Jarate is thrown like a grenade and inflicts a debuff upon its victims, causing all soaked enemies to take increased damage. In large firefights, keep a moderate distance, douse multiple enemies at once, and let your teammates finish the job. You can pair it with the Bushwacka to quickly dispatch foes that get too close. Additionally, Jarate can extinguish teammates and easily nullify a Spy's Cloak and disguise.
Darwin's Danger Shield
Consider using the Darwin's Danger Shield with the Huntsman for close range combat. It does not protect you from backstabs, so you are as vulnerable to Spies as ever.
Melee weapons
Kukri / Saxxy / Conscientious Objector
The Kukri is your go-to weapon when dealing with enemies at close range, especially Spies.
Tribalman's Shiv
When including the bleed effect, one hit from the Tribalman's Shiv does more damage than the standard Kukri, but over a longer period of time. Use it when you find yourself landing only a few melee hits on nearby foes. Coating an enemy in Jarate will greatly enhance the damage bleeding does. The bleed effect can be used to track down Cloaked Spies.
Bushwacka
Use the Bushwacka in combination with Jarate to quickly dispatch of nearby foes with guaranteed critical hits. Enemies will rarely charge directly at you, making the Bushwacka-Sydney Sleeper combo less effective. If a Pyro manages to corner you, you're probably going to die anyway, making the fire vulnerability negligible.
Shahanshah
The Shanhanshah deals less damage when you're above half of your maximum health and more damage when you're below half of your maximum health. When cornered by an enemy, use other weapons for close range combat until your health is low enough that you can use the Shahanshah as a strong last resort.
Item set effects
The Croc-o-style Kit
The set bonus gives you a bit of survivability when fighting enemy Snipers. However, the overall lack of offensive weaponry will make self-defense difficult. Because the Sydney Sleeper cannot headshot, you are unable to kill bulkier classes on your own and must charge your shot to kill even weaker classes in one hit. Experienced enemy Snipers will simply bodyshot you in return.
See also
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