Introduction
Sniping is one of the most fun (and effective)
abilities in PlanetSide. A good sniper can destroy
multiple enemies at long range without ever being fired back upon. This allows
us snipers to spend more time making kills and less time in the respawn tube. Sniping requires patience, practice, caution,
and a steady aim. The rewards however are great. There’s just something
wonderful about taking down an enemy who has absolutely no clue where you are.
Every sniper knows it, and feels it with every powerful long range kill. I’ve
written this guide to be useful to the both novice and skilled sniper alike. In
it, I’ll do my best to provide you many tips, tricks and strategies to being a
skilled sniper in that beautiful game by SOE, PlanetSide.
I hope that you’ll enjoy my guide!
Section 1- Inventory
One of the most important factors involved in being a
sniper is your inventory. A sniper must be well-prepared or he will not be
effective.
Armor Type
First, pick the armor you are going to use, Agile armor, or Reinforced Exosuit (commonly known as Rexo). Agile armor is available to every character, and is simply a better alternative to the Standard armor you are equipped with when you spawn. Reinforced Exosuit will cost 3 cert points to obtain, but offers increased protection against enemy fire, more inventory space for carrying ammo and other items, as well as 2 rifle holsters so that you can carry a second weapon at the ready. Foot travel in Rexo is a bit slower however, so if you need to travel long distances you might want to use the quicker Agile armor. Agile armor also has the benefits of being able to fit into any enclosed cockpit, such as aircraft, while the Rexo armor can only fit into vehicles with an open cockpit, such as the Harasser buggy.
Med Packs
First off, it’s a good idea to have at LEAST 2 med packs. This is because a sniper’s worst enemy (other than infiltrators) is other snipers. A sniper round does 65 health damage to a Rexo suit and 75 health damage to an Agile suit. This means that a hit from a Bolt Driver (given that you are in Rexo) will reduce you to 35 health points. Quick application of a med pack (healing 25 health points) can boost your health back up to 60 health points while the enemy sniper is reloading. During this time it is often a good time to find cover, as it is impossible to apply another health pack before the enemy has reloaded, and if you are shot, you will be killed. If you can avoid being shot and apply another health pack, your health will be boosted to 85 health points. This means that the enemy can no longer kill you with one shot. This gives you the opportunity to strike back without risking death. If you are in an Agile suit, 3 med packs are needed to boost your health back up above 75 in order to survive a second shot. This takes quite a while to achieve, so if you are sniping in Agile, I highly suggest having the Personal Shield implant or the Regeneration Implant. (See Section 2- Implants.)
Bolt Driver Ammo
Naturally, being a sniper, you will need to have the Bolt Driver sniper rifle in your inventory. You will also need to carry ammunition for the gun (the one shot it comes with won’t last very long! J). Bolt Driver ammo comes in crates of 10 rounds. If you fired all the shots in an ammo crate without missing, technically you could make 5 kills per crate. However this is not likely so you will definitely want to load up on the ammo. If you carry too much ammo, you won’t be able to carry ammunition for any other weapons you may want to have in your inventory. If you carry too little, you may find yourself running out of rounds too quickly. This really stinks when you are in an awesome position, and suddenly realize that you don’t have many shots. So try for a nice balance between Bolt Driver rounds and ammo for your secondary weapon. (Tip: it’s usually a good idea to carry at least 3 crates of ammo for the Bolt Driver; any less than that and it usually won’t last long enough for an extended engagement.)
Anti-Vehicular Weapons
Secondly, you must decide how
you want to set up your sniper for non-sniping combat. Do you anticipate enemy
vehicles, aircraft or MAXes? If so it is often wise
to equip a Decimator or empire-specific AV weapon. I would suggest equipping a
Decimator in your inventory if your sniper is wearing Agile armor because it is
a much better space-saver than the empire AV weaponry (those AV ammo crates are
HUGE!). If you are wearing Rexo, you may choose to
equip an empire AV weapon to your second rifle slot, and a couple crates of AV
ammo in your pack, or just carry a few Decimators. It all depends on your
personal preference. The Decimator is usually best when you are attacking
static (unmoving) targets at long range like turrets or parked tanks, or slow
moving targets such as MAX at close range. Empire AV weapons are usually best
when you are attacking moving targets at longer ranges, such as aircraft and
vehicles. It’s your pick. If you have the Core Combat expansion and have access
to the Radiator, you might want to consider it. Though it seems somewhat
underpowered, its ability to do damage through armor (and vehicles) can be
useful. It can also be used to place a “pain barrier” to slow enemy
advancement. Typically however, the Decimator or empire AV weapons are the best
defense against vehicles.
Anti-Infantry Weapons
If you are anticipating
running into enemy infantry at close range, it is really up to your personal
preference what weapon to use. I typically carry a Thumper when I expect to
meet infantry up close, because of its splash damage and its effectiveness
against infiltrators (who love attacking snipers). However you may choose to
carry a Heavy Assault weapon or Medium Assault weapon. This
is fine, but remember, if you use a weapon that eats ammo, you will have
to carry more ammo for that gun and less for your Bolt Driver. If you have Core
Combat and have access to the Maelstrom, by all means do so! It is a powerful
weapon that will give you a distinct advantage in close engagements. It does go
through its ammo capacitor quite quickly though, so you may want to consider
carrying some Ancient Tech ammo for it.
Run into an enemy infantry and realize you don’t have an anti-infantry weapon? Think again. Of course you do! The Bolt Driver is the most powerful single-shot hand weapon in the game. So if someone gets into your face and all you have is your sniper rifle, point it right back in their face and fire! If they’re close enough you really can’t miss, and they will be wondering where all their health points have gone! If the enemy is at anything other than point-blank, quickly crouch, and as the cone of fire shrinks small enough to cover the target’s body, fire. You should be able to hit the target provided they aren’t dodging about too much. After hitting the target with your Bolt Driver, quickly switch to a pistol or grenade (or even an AV weapon if you have to, remember they are weak!) and finish them off. Also remember that enemy infiltrators will die in one hit with the Bolt Driver, so if you fall under attack and have a round in the magazine, pop off a shot! If you are lucky there will be a dead infiltrator lying at your feet. Don’t forget to give him a quick “V-V-Z” before his corpse disappears… J
Dual Bolt Drivers
Sometimes you may find yourself in a sniping position that is well protected, and you really have no need for an AI or AV weapon to defend yourself with. In this case, you may want to carry a second Bolt Driver if you are wearing a Rexo suit. Switching to a preloaded Bolt Driver in your second rifle slot is actually faster than reloading. Simply fire your first Bolt Driver as you normally would, and then switch to your second Bolt Driver as quickly as possible after firing the first round. During this process, DO NOT TOUCH THE MOUSE. There is no need to re-zoom in at your target, as you will be aiming in the exact location your first Bolt Driver was aiming at. As soon as your second Bolt Driver is drawn and level, fire. If you do this quickly, and don’t move the mouse to disrupt your aim, you will land two consecutive rounds on the target fairly rapidly. A lot of the time, the enemy player will not react quickly enough to avoid getting shot by the second bolt. Be sure to make sure that you have reloaded both Bolt Drivers before attempting it again, or you may end up finding yourself aiming an empty gun at your opponent! The technique will only work on an unmoving target, but you can still use dual Bolt Drivers for any situation in which you may need to fire two shots in rapid succession.
Unsure of What to Expect?
Are you unsure of what you are
going to run into? It happens all the time, especially if you are heading into
a combat zone for the first time. Is the enemy fielding more vehicles or
infantry? Are their vehicles attacking from a distance or up close? WHAT SHOULD
I USE?! In this case I would have to recommend the Rocklet
gun. A somewhat under-used gun, the Rocklet is a
well-rounded weapon that is fairly good at any role. It can do pretty good
damage to light vehicles and MAX, and also performs well against infantry. It
also does some splash damage as well, allowing you to spam an area and inflict
damage even if none of your Rocklets actually hit the
target.
The Rocklet gun requires 1 clip to kill a Rexo user, and will finish off an Agile with a couple rounds left in the magazine. The trick here is to aim at their feet, that way you will hit them with splash damage and not have to worry about sending Rocklets flying past them. If an enemy decides to get too close, switch to the Rocklet’s secondary fire and dump the entire clip into him. Unless the enemy is at point blank, you are unlikely to score a kill due to the inaccuracy of the gun in this mode, but it WILL probably cause the enemy to back off for a moment while you reload or switch to your pistol. The Rocklet gun is only second to AV weapons in the damage it does to armored targets. If you run into a MAX, you should be able to kill it using only 2 clips *(rounds to kill MAX).
Lastly, I find the Rocklet quite useful against enemy snipers or clusters of enemies that have you pinned down. A clip of Rocklet spam will usually send enemies looking for cover, and its splash damage will allow you to hit that enemy sniper who is hiding behind a tree or corner. If you are lucky, you will do enough damage with the Rocklets that you will be able to drop the guy in one shot with your Bolt Driver. The Rocklet gun can’t be beat if you don’t know what you’re going up against.
Note- If you do not have the Special Assault cert for
the Rocklet and still need a multipurpose gun, I
suggest the Punisher. It’s a Medium Assault rifle that has a rather weak and
inaccurate primary fire of 9mm rounds, but has a single shot rocklet/grenade launcher as its secondary fire. This
secondary fire can come in very useful, and can often be used to soften up an
enemy so that you can finish him off with the primary fire. The major drawback
to this gun is that you have to carry 9mm rounds for the primary fire as well
as rocklets and/or grenades for the secondary fire,
which can cut into your inventory space. However it makes for a pretty nice
multipurpose weapon if you don’t have the Rocklet
gun.
Pistol Slots
Finally,
we have the pistol slots. If you are a medic, you will probably want to carry a
med applicator, as it comes in quite handy when sniping. If you are taking over
an enemy base/tower, you might want to pack a REK (and an anti-infantry rifle
for indoor fighting). If you're a combat engineer, consider bringing an ACE or
two so that you can deploy a Motion Sensor and/or Spitfire Turret to protect
yourself from infiltrators etc. Just be sure you place these in a position that
won't give you away. If you are carrying an AV weapon, you will probably want
to have something in case an infiltrator decides to mess with you. (While you
CAN kill infiltrators with a Bolt Driver in one shot, usually it just doesn’t
happen. They tend to dance around too much!) If you can afford to, pack a
pistol, but be reminded again that the more pistol rounds you carry, the less
Bolt Driver rounds you’ll have. If you are short on inventory space, pack a few
grenades (preferably plasma). These work great on infiltrators (it lights them
up) and can also force an enemy to back off and pound his med pack key (instead
of his fire button!) If you are more worried about enemy vehicles, carry a Jammer grenade. These can temporarily lock the weapons of
the vehicle you hit with the grenade, forcing the occupants to either dismount
or retreat. If you have Core Combat, and have access to the Spiker,
go for it! It’s a very effective pistol, and can even work as a back-up sniper
gun due to its accuracy and power (can drop a Rexo in
only a few hits!). It even does splash damage, so it can be a very useful
addition to your inventory.