Sniper weapons (competitive)

This article is for competitive play, based on the standard community competitive format.
The community competitive scene changes frequently. Some or all info may be outdated.

Some Sniper weapons may be banned in your league. For a list of banned weapons, please see the Weapon Ban List.

The Sniper specializes in long range area denial. He is frequently used to get a pick on a Medic in case of a stalemate. He deals little damage at close range.

Primary Weapon

The Sniper's primary weapons are his main source of damage, and constitutes his only long-range damage. All Sniper Rifles can be charged up to deal increased damage, and all but the Sydney Sleeper can deal headshots for guaranteed critical hits. All but the Huntsman provide a visible Sniper dot while scoped. The stock Sniper Rifle, Sydney Sleeper, and Bazaar Bargain can no-scope, dealing accurate but low damage.

Sniper Rifle

The stock Sniper Rifle provides the simplest source of damage. It can kill any enemy on a fully charged headshot, and can deal significant damage on a bodyshot. The AWPer Hand has the same stats as the stock Sniper Rifle.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Sniper Rifle	Uncharged: 50 Charged: 150	Critical, Uncharged: 150 Critical, Charged: 450 Mini-Crit, Uncharged: 68 Mini-Crit, Charged: 203	Attack: 1.5s Afterscope Delay: 0.2s Charge Delay: 1.0s Full Charge Time: 4s	Has no damage fall-off or ramp-up. Charge damage does not increase for 1 second.

Huntsman

The Huntsman is designed for medium range combat. It is affected by gravity, but fires faster than the stock Sniper Rifle. It has a limit on the time it can maintain full charge, and has less ammunition than the stock Sniper Rifle.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Huntsman	Uncharged: 50 Charged: 120	Critical, Uncharged: 150 Critical, Charged: 360 Mini-Crit, Uncharged: 68 Mini-Crit, Charged: 162	Attack: 1.94s Inaccuracy Delay: 5.0s Full Charge Time: 1.0s	Has no damage fall-off or ramp-up. Projectiles are affected by gravity. Arrows can be uncharged with alt-fire. Arrows can be ignited to deal fire damage to the target. Provides the Skewer taunt. Enemies which are killed with an arrow near a wall may be pinned to it.

Sydney Sleeper

The Sydney Sleeper provides a stronger support basis for the team. It sacrifices the ability to deal headshots at the benefit of applying Jarate to the target after a short charge time, for a duration of 8 seconds.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Sydney Sleeper	Uncharged: 50 Charged: 150	Critical, Uncharged: 150 Critical, Charged: 450 Mini-Crit, Uncharged: 68 Mini-Crit, Charged: 203	Attack: 1.5s Charge: 2.8s Jarate Delay: 1.06s Jarate Effect Duration: 8s	Has no damage fall-off or ramp-up. Cannot headshot. Can headshot when crit-boosted with the Kritzkrieg +25% charge rate

Bazaar Bargain

The Bazaar Bargain has an initially slowed charge time, which increases with each headshot. It counts "heads obtained", up to a maximum of 7. A miss or body shot will lower the number, but a no-scope will not.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Bazaar Bargain	Uncharged: 50 Charged: 150	Critical, Uncharged: 150 Critical, Charged: 450 Mini-Crit, Uncharged: 68 Mini-Crit, Charged: 203	Attack: 1.5s Afterscope Delay: 0.2s Charge Delay: 1.0s Full Charge Time: 5.26s (0 Heads) 1.78s (7 Heads)	Has no damage fall-off or ramp-up. Initially charges at 120% time of the stock Sniper Rifle. Decreases by 10% for each additional head, up to 7. Head count is only affected by scoped shots. Each headshot adds one head. Any other scoped shot loses one head.

Machina

The Machina adds damage and piercing on full charge, but reveals the Sniper's location and prevents no-scopes.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Machina	Uncharged: 50 Charged: 173	Critical, Uncharged: 150 Critical, Charged: 518 Mini-Crit, Uncharged: 68 Mini-Crit, Charged: 233	Attack: 1.5s Afterscope Delay: 0.2s Charge Delay: 1.0s Full Charge Time: 4s	Has no damage fall-off or ramp-up. Fires tracer rounds which leave visual trails. Piercing damage is dealt to all targets in line, regardless if it kills any of them. Maximum of 50 targets. Deals 15% extra damage on full charge.

Hitman's Heatmaker

The Hitman's Heatmaker provides a combo system on kills and assists which grants a speedier charge time and no need to reload while active. It has a 20% damage penalty on bodyshot.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Hitman's Heatmaker	Uncharged: 40 Charged: 120	Critical, Uncharged: 150 Critical, Charged: 450 Mini-Crit, Uncharged: 54 Mini-Crit, Charged: 162	Attack: 1.5s Afterscope Delay: 0.2s Charge Delay: 1.0s Full Charge Time: 3.3s Charge Time while in focus: 2.8s	Has no damage fall-off or ramp-up. Charge damage does not increase for 1 second. Gain Focus on kills and assists. Each kill grants 1/3 the focus meter, and each assist grants 1/9. Focus activates on fire when the focus meter is full. In focus: +25% faster charge rate and no unscoping. -20% damage penalty on body shot.

Primary Weapon Usage

The Sydney Sleeper and the Huntsman are uncommon choices, due to an overall reduced damage output, but can be useful to assist the team. The stock Sniper Rifle deals consistant long-range damage, and can kill most classes with a quick headshot. The Bazaar Bargain is good for a Sniper who is looking to take down a few high-health classes quickly, and the Machina is useful for dealing increased damage, or for getting a pair of kills. Snipers, due to their situational use, tend to go for the stock Sniper Rifle for quick and consistant damage without revealing their location.

Secondary Weapon

The Sniper deals the majority of his damage with his primary, but his secondary weapon can provide some key medium range combat damage.

SMG

The stock Submachine Gun deals strong damage at medium and close range, and can help the Sniper survive an encounter with a Scout. The Cleaner's Carbine has the same stats as the stock Submachine Gun, but has a clip size of 20, fires 35% slower, and grants 3 seconds of crit-boost on kill.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
SMG	Point-Blank: 12 512 units: 8 Over 1024 units: 4	Critical: 24 Point-Blank Mini-crit: 16 Over 512 units: Mini-crit: 11	Attack: 0.1s Reload: 1.1s	If unfired in the past 1.25 seconds, the next shot has perfect accuracy.

Jarate

Jarate does not deal any immediate damage, but makes any normal damage dealt to coated players become Mini-crits.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Jarate	N/A	N/A	Effect Duration: 10s Refill Time: 20s	Normal damage against coated players is upgraded to mini-crit damage. Extinguishes fire. Removable in water. Visible on cloaked or disguised Spies.

Razorback

The Razorback saves the Sniper from one backstab attempt from a Spy. It temporarily disables the Spy's knife after the stab.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Razorback	N/A	N/A	Time Restriction on Spy Knife: 2s	Can be replaced at a resupply cabinet.

Darwin's Danger Shield

The Darwin's Danger Shield provides the Sniper with 25 additional health. It increases bullet resistance by 15%, but increases explosion vulnerability by 20%.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Darwin's Danger Shield	N/A	N/A	N/A	Sniper gains 25 maximum health, for a total of 150. Sniper gains 15% bullet resistance and 20% vulnerability to explosives. Maximum overheal is increased to 225 from 185.

Cozy Camper

The Cozy Camper prevents the player's scoped view from jumping when they take damage. . It regenerates the wearer's health by +1 per second, but increases vulnerability to all damage by 20%.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Cozy Camper	N/A	N/A	N/A	Knockback is reduced by 20% while scoped No flinching from afterburn Huntsman is affected similarly by charging an arrow. 20% damage vulnerability +1 health regenerated per second.

Secondary Weapon Usage

The stock Submachine Gun provides actual damage output, making it a strong option to deal with enemies. Jarate can help a push if it hits multiple enemies, and the Razorback and Darwin's Danger Shield provide more passive effects which are rarely useful in competitive play. The Cozy Camper is useful for increasing survivability, making for a more aggressive Sniper play style. The stock Submachine Gun provides the Sniper with better deathmatch, and is thus a popular choice.

Melee Weapon

The Sniper's melee weapon is rarely used, but deals damage in a pinch.

Kukri

The stock Kukri deals standard damage, and can have use if out of ammo.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Kukri	Melee: 65	Critical: 195 Mini-crit: 88	Attack: 0.8s	Stock melee weapon.

Tribalman's Shiv

The Tribalman's Shiv deals reduced initial damage, with bleeding.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Tribalman's Shiv	Melee: 33 Bleed: 8 per second (48 total)	Critical: 98 Mini-crit: 44 Mini-crit Bleeding: 10.8 per second (64.8 total)	Attack: 0.8s	Deals more damage overall than the stock Kukri.

Bushwacka

The Bushwacka deals critical damage where it would normally deal mini-crit damage. The Sniper takes an additional 20% fire damage.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Bushwacka	Melee: 65	Critical: 195 Minicrit: 88	Attack: 0.8s	Crits where it would normally mini-crit. Cannot deal mini-crit damage. +20% fire damage.

Shahanshah

The Shahanshah deals increased damage when the Sniper is below 50% health, and reduced damage when he is above 50% health.

Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
Shahanshah	Melee when below 50%: 49 Melee when above 50%: 81	Critical when below 50%: 146 Critical when above 50%: 244 Minicrit when below 50%: 66 Minicrit when above 50%: 110	Attack: 0.8s	Deals 25% additional damage when below 50% health. Deals 25% less damage when above 50% health. Effects melee only.

Melee Weapon Usage

Sniper melee is rare, but often effective. The stock Kukri deals not much additional damage, and is rarely useful. The Tribalman's Shiv can deal great damage to a Scout or Soldier who cannot get back to their Medic in time, whereas the Bushwacka deals immense damage in combination with Jarate, but means the Sniper dies very fast to a Pyro. The Shahanshah can deal immense damage to an unsuspecting player if the Sniper is at low health, but if confronted when at high health is a detriment. Most Snipers use the Shiv for increased overall damage, or use the Bushwacka, counting on the rarity of Pyros.