snipers

Sniping does really take a lot of patience, but in the end good snipers get more opportunities to kill than even the best SAW players. Whereas SAW players must naturally endanger themselves by getting in close to their prey, snipers are at best undetectable (in theory).

Good sniping practices
1) Shoot as little as possible in accomplishing any goal. Every shot gives the enemy the opportunity to detect a sniper's position, so ideally snipers need to make single shot kills. With enough practice, its possible. Often, the person that ends up spotting you is your victim, which makes it even more imperative to terminate him as quickly as possible so he doesn't get that chance. For further information, read about this situation from your enemy's perspective (incidently, there's no easier way to piss an enemy off). In almost all cases, it's much wiser to sacrifice the number of shots you fire at an enemy for very planned, deliberate shots. When you see a target, don't fire with the hope that you might just catch him if you unload enough. It works for SAW'ers, but not for snipers. In particular, don't fire at enemies that are falling off cliffs. Don't fire at enemies dancing around like crazy. Don't fire at enemies that are trying to climb steep slopes and keep sliding down. Wait for enemies to stabilize their movement and then begin sniping them.
2) Patience is key. More so in team games, but I'll elaborate more on that in the team strategy section. Snipers need to sacrifice potential killing time in order to stake out good positions to fire from. Like the saying goes, quality not quantity. In practical terms, this means you need to put adequate time into crawling into a low visibility place in order to snipe. Usually, the easiest way to approach this is to run directly to the area around which you want to snipe, then disappear from any potential enemies by running behind a mountain or some other obstacle. Once you've staked out exactly where you want to fire from, crawl to that area with minimal movement and expose your body as little as possible in doing so.

3) Stay cool. Novice snipers start freaking out when they are detected and come under fire. Most will stand up and run for the nearest cover... Needless to say, that's not a great idea. In general, if you've picked out a good enough place to snipe from, you should have faith that you will be covered from most enemies' angles of attack.

Quick retreats to a near ditch are fine when you become the target of an enemy sniper, but often it's a SAW that's being unloaded on you from the valley below. I will discuss this in the next section, but in advance, you need to realize that if the SAW player is far enough away, those bullets have little chance of hitting you. In a good sniping position actually, SAW players past 300 meters will probably not hit you (I have yet to confirm this distance). In reality, all SAW layers are really doing is firing wildly in your general direction, whereas you should be taking calculated shots. In any case, don't turn and run the second you hear bullets lancing over your head. If you've picked a good enough spot to begin with, you expose yourself even more when you try to stand up and run. In the same vein, if you sit there and the shots keep missing you, it's a sure sign that you're slightly exposed but not in any direct danger (see the section on visual glitches). In this case, the surest way to insure your death is to inch forward and try to see who is firing at you. I equate that with instant death, because the instant you inch forward enough to locate your assailant, you are exposed enough for the next shot he takes to hit you. If you need at all costs to kill that person, abandon your current position and run (under the cover of the terrain) to a significantly different spot from which you can pick him off without him ever realizing you abandoned your original position.

Frustrating SAW players
A sniper's best asset isn't his gun, it's distance. Snipers are snipers for a reason; firing accurately from long distances is the whole point to sniping. Actively use distance as your ally. The best way to frustrate rushing SAW players is to hide as far away from them as possible, then unleash a volley on him. Even when SAW players know where you are, if you are beyond their effective firing range, there's little chance they can even hit you. Don't interpret this to mean you should get up and run as soon as you're spotted and go to another mountain several hundreds of meters down the field. The point is that you should be on that mountain several hundred meters down the field to begin with. Besides, trying to run from a SAW player in close combat is useless.

Similiarly, if you're sniping and an enemy appears in the valley directly below you, the stupidest thing to do is try to pick him off immediately. Like I said, use distance as your ally. Sniper rifles aren't made to fire at close targets. Wait for the guy to pass by, and then shoot him in the back once he gets goes 50 or so meters past you.

With every good choice, though, there are disadvantages. One problem that is created by trying to keep your distance from your prey is that your tracers become more visible. What I mean is that shooting across a valley to pick off an enemy is much more risky than shooting one an enemy that is nearer. Why? Because your tracer goes across an entire battlefield, and anyone in it will see exactly where it came from. In that respect, it would seem wise to use firing distance in moderation. Don't be stupid and fire through the blue sky and across everyone if at all possible... Sometimes it isn't possible to avoid this, especially in heated battles, but keep it in mind and avoid firing out across frequented areas too much (i.e. avoid firing across soldiers' noses if you don't plan to kill those particular enemies).