There’s nothing more exciting than pulling out your scope and eliminating opponents with a sniper. It’s easily my favorite thing to do in any shooter game. In this guide, we’ll go through the basics as well as the smart strategies that involve the use of a Sniper (Heavy sniper in particular). As of now, any place that is guarded by a henchman is most likely to have a Heavy Sniper or a Silenced Sniper. Adding more Snipers to the game clearly hints that Epic Games do not intend to vault it again any time soon.
Handling a Sniper requires patience and the reload time alone requires you to be behind some kind of cover for a considerable amount of time. In this guide, we’ll tell you the best places to master sniping techniques along with strategies and creative drills to use while being involved in any sort of sniper action.
So let’s get straight into it,
Top 2 vantage points in the map
Misty Meadows/Rave house
The first thought when it comes to Sniper vantage points is Misty Meadows. The overall height of this POI attracts many pros early game to drop in and head straight to the Sniper henchman. Once you’ve got hold of a Sniper, there’s a Choppa that you could use to head straight to the “Rave house”. This is one of the most underrated spots when it comes to sniping.
Posting up at the rave house gives players a good view over misty meadows. This would be the best position to take third party shots against players who are already engaged in combat. Misty Meadows is a POI that has the most chest spawn in the map and because of this players are bound to drop here for good loot.
Grotto zipline
There’s been a lot of beef going between pros like Tfue and CHAP with regards to this spot. The zipline near Grotto is well contested these days primarily because of the fact that the henchman guarding the Choppa at Grotto has access to a Heavy Sniper. Once you get hold of the Heavy Sniper, heading straight to the zipline near it gives you access to an unbreakable Metal base.
If the zone forces you to move anywhere near the ziplines, reaching there in advance (with a Sniper) has multiple benefits which include attaining ultimate height. Pros often ramp up all the way to the top of the zipline, build their own bases and start taking shots at almost anyone engaged in a fight. This is a very common strat observed in almost any arena match that ends between Steamy Stacks and Retail Row.
Double snipes & Duo tactics
Late game Arena matches require you to use Heavy Snipers primarily to get is the box against turtling or tunneling opponents. Especially is moving circle scenarios, running around with a Sniper would not be the ideal strategy. At the same time, in public lobbies and early contender division matches, the Heavy Sniper can give you the extra edge in securing a victory royale.
The Heavy Sniper has been nerfed and aligning a headshot is the only way to knock a player with 200 hp. In a duos match, double snipes are a very common and an over-powered strategy to secure an elimination in seconds. Here is a list of key pointers to make a note of before attempting a regular snipe or a double snipe,
- Wood/Brick double snipe strategy: The objective while double-sniping a turtled up opponent is to take down a build with the first shot and damage the player with the second shot. With the nerf in place, a fully built metal wall isn’t a “one-shot break” with the Heavy Sniper. Hence, take shots only on Wood/Brick walls as it can be damaged fully in one shot.
- Countdown: Always mark your opponent first and count to 3 with your teammate before you take your shot. Focus the player who’s close to you rather than selecting a random boxed up opponent.
- Double Sniping Solo mode: This strategy works well in solo mode as well as long as you have two Heavy Snipers right next to each other. Here’s a quick
- Quick scoping: This technique basically requires you to zoom in, take a shot, zoom out almost instantly. Before attempting a quick snipe try marking your opponents and make sure the marker is in the dead center of your screen. This helps with accurate snipes rather than blindly relying on your skills while sniping.
- Works best against reviving opponents: Before you third party into a squad, take a moment to see if any player is knocked and if a teammate is attempting a revive. In such cases, they are most likely to turtle up and stick in a revive. This is the best opportunity to get an easy non-moving target once the wall is taken down.
Base Building & Peeking strategies.
The fundamental of any base is to be wider and not longer. Early game bases are quick bases built on the top of a mountain using Wood. The rave house mentioned above requires you to grab a Sniper rifle, hijack the Choppa and rotate to the house straight after landing. It’s a risky but overpowered strategy in public lobbies. Building bases in such situations demand height more than width. Making sure it’s in Wood, gives you the guilt-free liberty to rate early and complete your eliminations if the need requires.
Setting up any late / mid-game bases requires you to rotate smart, search for height and less 3rd party-oriented areas (usually the dead center of any zone). This rotation usually doesn’t need to be early. A late rotation gives you better audio on gunshots and third party threats. Once you’ve settled on a location opt for two floors with roofs, the wider the better as it gives more room to move about in case of some psycho charges into it. Ensure you’ve farmed up well, using Brick and Metal is key here for placements and making sure you have full control over your base.
Instead of placing ramps within the base, we’ll be using edited cones. Here’s a preview of how it should look like.
Now unlike the tradition ramp + floor edit to peek and take shots. We’ll be using a diagonally edited cone placed inside the box and position ourselves on top of it while peeking from above. This strategy allows us to move up and down the box allowing us to peek through the roof from multiple angles.
While taking shots from the box you ideally have to edit just one tile take a shot and reset your cone almost instantly. This gives you cover on the back as well as a chance to dip quickly into your box after you take your shot.
Also, if you are contested strongly while making your way to a Sniper drop spot, trading Sniper shots might come across your early game situations a lot. Pro duos are known for calling out early boxed up opponents by combing a normal AR spray and a Heavy Sniper shot. This is very dangerous when targetted early and often is impossible to counter if multiple builds are being sprayed at. In such scenarios, using the previously mentioned cone while turtling-up inside your own box or even indoors gives you that extra layer of protection against sprayers. This works wonderfully when being targetted upon using double sniping strategies by the opponents.
Okay, I’ll be honest, for players who have edit-confirm on release enabled, this edit is a bit tricky to master quickly. Hence, what I’d recommend you to do is a combination of two quick edits to diagonally edit the cone. Let’s take a look at the normal way of diagonally selecting the tiles first,
For the combo, first, edit the three tiles surrounding you and not the one your standing on. Confirm and re-edit the tile to de-select the diagonal tile. Confirm again to have the edit cone built properly.
Depending on the situation, jump before you confirm the edit to make sure you’re on top above the cone. You’d ideally want yourself above the cone when you’re peeking through the roof for long shots. Avoid jumping to place yourself below the ramp, you’d use this in a situation where you’re being focussed on and you need that extra layer of protection.
Quick Recap.
The Heavy Sniper is a “one-shot kill” weapon when aligned right on the head. It can also be used to enter a box for aggressive “W-Key” plays. The Suppressed Sniper is weak compared to the Heavy Sniper and can’t damage builds as effectively. Peeking and building strong bases is the go-to strategy for players who are looking out to gets kills using a sniper. Study Sniper oriented POIs and make sure you know the vantage points you should be taking shots from. Every game has a sniper period in it, it can be very early into the game or during the end game madness. Make sure you make full use of these strategies against rotating players or while 3rd partying from your sniper base.
Keep dropping back into this page to refresh yourself with the basics yet important Sniper tips. What are your thoughts about Sniper in Fortnite?, Over-powered ?. Post your comments below.
