Battlefield 2 - sniper's guide
- Learn how to be a top sniper from one of the best -
Written by Juxtaposition

how stealth is broken

There are a few ways people with good concealment give themselves away:

When your rifle is fired there is a muzzle flash. You might not think that this is a huge deal but it makes it all the easier for the enemy to spot you. This is compounded by how snipers like to hide in darker places like the shadow of a building. The darker the location you are in the easier it is to see the muzzle flash. If you are using the Dragunov or Type-88 and let loose a volley
of two or three bullets it's easy for an observer to pinpoint your position by the sound and muzzle flash alone. Imagine trying to see the flame from a cigarette lighter on a bright day as someone lights their cigarette 20 feet away. However, think how easy it is to see even a small flame in a dark room at that distance. I have experimented with trying to hide in lighter colored grasses so as to make myself marginally more visible to observation but to mask the muzzle flash against the light background, so far I haven't had much success but give it a go yourself and tell me how it works.

When you fire your rifle there is also a loud report from the rifle. People with any kind of decent sound system can at least get an idea from where you're shooting while people who have a full blown surround sound system can get a pretty good idea. With the semi-automatic rifles I try to limit myself to three
to five quick shots fired in under about two seconds. With the bolt action rifles I make it a rule not to fire more than two shots in a row. Your enemy will have an idea of where you are but probably not a good one. After you fire just a few shots you should always move to a new location, especially if there
are many people in the area. You don't have to move terribly far, but I wouldn't try more than a couple of volleys every twenty or thirty seconds.

Don't fire the first shot at people facing you. If you fire at someone's back you are more likely to make them dive for cover or spin around wildly. Either way they aren't going to notice you. Don't fire at a guy popping out from behind cover looking for you, though you might kill him you'll probably give
away your position and he's probably closer to a respawn than you are and he'll come looking for vengeance.

Don't throw grenades; first off, you shouldn't be that close, secondly their long arcing trajectory makes it easy for anyone who sees it in the air get a darn good idea of where you are.

Don't move an inch if you are under close observation. The human eye is made so it notices movement. If someone is looking straight at you the smallest movement could give you away, even while crawling.

As much fun as it is, try not to kill the same guy too many times. You'll likely make the guy into a full time sniper hunter. Plus, snipers tend to ruin people's games. You want to win the match but you don't necessarily want to frustrate them into quitting or not enjoying the game. It's everyone's responsibility to foster a fun and enjoyable gaming community.

If you find an enemy sniper unaware to your presence you should resist the urge to knife him. As much fun as it is you should use a silenced pistol or a grenade to do him in so as to eliminate any idea from where it came from.

Teammates have a habit of pointing you out to the enemy. Medics run up and drop med kits and other attacking classes just tend to group together. Don't get upset at them, but don't be afraid to tell them to bugger off. They think that if you're sitting out there in the field there must be a good reason so they figure they'll be safe out there too. If they do get you killed politely explain over the chat that you enjoy a level of freedom that they don't, and to bugger off next time.

It is possible that you just may have found a terrific sniper position, in which case feel free to open up a little more often. There have been a few times where for whatever reason they just couldn't pinpoint me and I pretty much fired as often as I had a clear shot, breaking most of the tips I just gave you. I have had times when a squad of guys with tank support and the
commander's support (he called artillery on me so I assume they had a UAV too) and they ended up calling a Blackhawk to come out and find me.

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Table of contents

• Home
• Preface
• Introduction
• General Information
• General Tactics
  • How to remain undetected
    • Appearance
    • Concealment
    • Location
  • How stealth is broken
  • How to use secondary weapons
  • What snipers do aside from shooting everyone they see
• SVD Dragunov/Type-88 Rifle Tactics
• M24 Rifle Tactics
• M95 Rifle Tactics
• Tag Team Sniping
• Snipers as Squad Leader
• What's New
• Contact Information