Sniper (competitive)

This article is for competitive play, based on the standard community competitive format. For the generic article on this topic, see: Sniper.
The community competitive scene changes frequently. Some or all info may be outdated.

The Sniper is a situational utility class sometimes used in the standard competitive lineup, valued for his picking and area denial capabilities.

Information

Health

Health State	Max Health	Overheal Max	Pill Bottle	First Aid Tin
Normal	125 hit points	185 hit points	+26 hit points	+63 hit points
Darwin Shield equipped	150 hit points	225 hit points	+31 hit points	+75 hit points

Speed

Movement State	Running	Backpedaling	Swimming	Crouching
Normal	100% (300 u/s)	90% (270 u/s)	80% (240 u/s)	33.33% (100 u/s)
Rifle-Scoped	26.67% (80 u/s)	26.67% (80 u/s)	21.33% (64 u/s)	1.33% (4 u/s)
Arrow-Drawn	53.33% (160 u/s)	48% (144 u/s)	-	17.77% (53.33 u/s)

Speeds written in "u/s" refer to in-game units per second. When running in a certain direction causes slowness, rapidly switching between diagonals usually improves speed.

Weapons

Main article: Sniper weapons (competitive)

#	Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
1	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 falloff or ramp-up. After scoping, headshots won't work for 200ms. The first 1 sec. of charge doesn't increase damage.
	Huntsman	Uncharged: 51-53 Charged: 120	Critical, Uncharged: 153-159 Critical, Charged: 360 Mini-Crit, Uncharged: 69-72 Mini-Crit, Charged: 162	Attack: 1.94s Inaccuracy Delay: 5.0s Full Charge Time: 1.0s	Has no damage falloff or ramp-up. Uses target's projectile hitbox. Becomes inaccurate after 5 seconds of charging. Useless underwater; chargeable but not fireable mid-air. Arrows can be ignited by friendly Pyro for Afterburn.
	Sydney Sleeper 70x39px	Uncharged: 50 Charged: 150	Critical, Uncharged: 150 Critical, Charged: 450 Mini-Crit, Uncharged: 68 Mini-Crit, Charged: 203	Attack: 1.5s Jarate Delay: 1.06s	Banned in most leagues for acquisition time. Has no damage falloff or ramp-up. Shots don't headshot, but can inflict Jarate. Jarate effect applied after first jar icon starts fading. Has a 25% faster charging rate
2	SMG	Point-Blank: 12 512u: 8 1024u+: 4	Critical: 24 Point-Blank Mini-Crit: 16 512u+ Mini-Crit: 11	Attack: 0.1s Reload: 1.1s	If unfired in the past 1.25 seconds, shot has perfect accuracy.
	Jarate	N/A	N/A	Effect Duration: 10s Refill Time: 20s	Victims suffer Mini-Crits from all attacks during effect. Splash goes through doors and grates. Extinguishes fire on teammates. Reveals Spies (can't be removed by DR, unlike fire). Jarate removed by full immersion in water.
	Razorback	N/A	N/A	Spy Lockup: 2s	Passive on all weapons and empties slot2. Spy in lockup can't switch weapons or attack. Only restocks on respawn or resupply.
	Darwin Shield	N/A	N/A	N/A	Banned in most leagues for acquisition time. While equipped, grants wearer +25 max health (see above).
3	Kukri	Melee: 65	Critical: 195 Mini-Crit: 88	Attack: 0.8s	Completely standard melee weapon.
	Tribalman's Shiv	Melee: 42 Bleed: 4/hit	Critical Melee: 127 Mini-Crit Melee: 57 Mini-Crit Bleed: 5/hit	Attack: 0.8s Bleed Hit: 0.5s Bleed Duration: 6.0s	Inflicts Bleeding on hit; total bleed damage 48 (Mini-Crit 60). Bleed effect purged by Über/Kritz.
	Bushwacka	Melee: 65	Critical: 195	Attack: 0.8s	Banned in most leagues for acquisition time. Crits whenever it would Mini-Crit. Gives 20% fire vulnerability while equipped.
	Shahanshah	Melee: 49 / 81	Critical: 146 / 244 Mini-Crit: 57-76 / 94-126	Attack: 0.8s	+25% increase in damage when health is less than 50% of max. -25% decrease in damage when health is more than 50% of max.

"u" stands for "units of distance." "+" stands for "or more." "s" stands for "seconds." "Reload Start" refers to how long it takes for 1 ammo to be reloaded after beginning to reload, and "Reload More" refers to how long it takes for each additional ammo to reload after the first. Damages and times are approximate and determined by community testing.

Usage

The role of the Sniper is simple: Kill key enemy targets. Every pick that a Sniper makes will reduce the enemy's numbers by one, which is significant in competitive Team Fortress 2 due to the role that every team member plays. The enemy Medic will always be the highest priority target for Snipers. A fully charged Sniper Rifle bodyshot and an uncharged headshot are the preferred methods of killing Medics, as both shots deal exactly 150 damage. A team that runs a Sniper will generally swap out a Scout for one, though on specific maps where Scouts are important, the roaming Soldier may change to Sniper instead.

Common Tactics

The kill order in competitive TF2 is slightly different from the kill order in casual play.

• Immediate threats: Any target immediately trying to kill you (generally a Scout), and particularly enemy Snipers.
• Medics: A fully charged bodyshot will work just as well as a headshot in taking out the most important class on the enemy team.
• Demomen: Snipers can cripple the enemy's damage output by killing their Demoman. A pick on him is also an efficient way of removing his stickies.
• Soldiers and Heavies: Big heads and slow movement speeds make Soldiers and Heavies rather vulnerable to the Sniper Rifle. A pick on these players is important due to their ability to tank damage.
• Engineers and their buildings: Usually, a team's Demomen or Soldiers can easily take care of Engineers and their Sentry Guns, but a Sniper can work just as well, killing the Engineer with a single headshot or charged bodyshot.
• Scouts: A fully charged bodyshot is probably the most reliable way of taking an enemy Scout out of the game. A pick on them takes pressure not only off the Sniper himself, but also off his team's Medic and Demoman.
• Other Utilities: Another player dead on the opposing team is always good. Snipers should target the more important players first before spending the time and effort to kill other utilities.
• Stickies: If the Demoman is absent, a Sniper can safely remove his sticky bombs from a control point and possibly allow a back-cap. This is particularly useful on the last points of 5-CP maps, which cap very quickly.

5-CP Push Strategies

The Sniper's inability to defend himself is one of his key impediments to seeing regular use in competitive play. This is especially evident on 5-CP maps, where it is somewhat difficult to stay far enough behind the team to safely eliminate key players while keeping up closely enough to prevent getting picked by enemy Scouts as they run off completely unharmed. Utility players should make sure that they chose the right time and place to switch to Sniper, because if a team decides to push forward quickly or desperately hold an area, it may be doing so without the help of one of its Scouts.

If attacking the final point, Snipers should not hesitate to use their Sniper Rifle to eliminate sticky bombs covering the point. If the enemy is unaware, this could easily lead to a back-cap by a friendly Scout. This is especially useful on maps with enclosed final points such as Badlands. The Sniper is often used to get a pick when the team is pushing the enemy's last point: this makes it easier for them to cap due to the sudden player advantage. Even if the Sniper doesn't manage to kill anyone he can still force the enemy team to adapt and ensure that they play more passively in order to reduce the risk of getting sniped.

Attack-Defend Strategies

Attack/Defend maps are where Snipers can truly shine. Gravel Pit is really the only Attack/Defend map that sees a good amount of competitive play, and relatively long sight-lines at points B and C allow both attackers and defenders to get the most out of running a Sniper.

In particular, if an attacking team moves on to attack B via the rooms from point C, a Sniper can take advantage of the long open area around B and get a few picks. In general, Snipers defending on Attack/Defend maps should have an easier time than they do on 5-CP maps. Sticking behind the team allows a Sniper on Defense to safely charge up a shot, without too much harassment from Scouts, especially if their team is using an Engineer, as the Sentry Gun provides a fine defense against enemy Scouts.

One tactic that may be useful for defending Snipers is attempting to get a pick at the very beginning of a round, right when setup time ends. Defending Snipers have the option of placing themselves so that they can see the gates from the BLU spawn area to point A and can potentially score a pick in the first seconds of the match. While this strategy may be a major boon to the defending team if the Sniper manages to kill the enemy Medic and deprive attackers of an ÜberCharge, it is also incredibly dangerous for the Sniper, and will most likely result in his death. This can be problematic if the attacking team decides to push on B first, while the defending team is at a numerical disadvantage, lacking one of their utility players.

Capture-the-Flag Strategies

Due to his tendency to get picked easily while advancing, a Sniper may prove more useful defending his own team's intelligence than he will attacking the enemy team's, but he shouldn't hesitate to move up and pick a key player when his team pushes into the enemy Intelligence room.

If the Sniper happens to pick up the enemy intelligence himself when there is a teammate nearby, it may be wise to have him drop the intelligence (default key "l") and allow the friendly player to take it back to the Intelligence room, due to the ease with which enemies can kill a fleeing Sniper.

When defending his own team's intelligence, a Sniper should remain in a safe area where he can see the intelligence and most incoming threats. This way, he will be able to charge up a shot without being attacked and bodyshot a Scout or Medic going for the intelligence, killing them before they reach it. This is easier in a Capture-the-Flag game than in other game types, due to the long, unobstructed hallways and relatively open center area in Turbine, the most played competitive CTF map.

See also

• Sniper weapons (competitive)
• Pick
• Sniper
• Classes (competitive)
• Standard competitive lineup