Sniper weapons (competitive)
The community competitive scene changes frequently. Some or all info may be outdated.
The Sniper specializes in long range area denial and his weapons help with this duty. Although he is very strong from long range, in close quarter combat the Sniper has little weapons to defend himself with.
Contents
Primary Weapon
The Sniper's primary weapons comprise of two rifles and a bow and arrow set. All three do pretty much the same job of holding onto a large open area with some differences.
Sniper Rifle
The original rifle boasts the ability to heatshot opponents dealing up to 450 damage in a single shot, depending on how long the Sniper has been scoped in. This ability allows the Sniper to cover a large area as well as making picks on key enemy targets like the Demoman and Medic without severely endangering himself. Despite its strengths at long range, the rifle is extremely difficult to use in close quarter combat with "no scoping" only dealing 50 damage in a single shot. The Sniper, however, can opt to zoom in and attempt to headshot his opponent, although this skill requires some practice as well as luck.
Although headshooting is a quick method of picking, in shots where the Sniper feels he cannot get a clean shot on his target he can opt instead to bodyshot his opponent by charging his shot. After staying scoped in for four seconds, the shot can deal the maximum 150 damage making a fully charged bodyshot capable of killing enemy Medics, Scouts and Snipers.
| Weapon | Damage | Critical Damage | Function Times | Special |
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| Sniper Rifle
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Huntsman
The first released alternative for the rifle is the Huntsman. This weapon is effectively utilized at a shorter range than the rifle because the Sniper can see much more of his surroundings. The weapon's mechanics are the same as the rifle, arrows making headshots will deal critical damage and damage to both bodyshots and headshots are increased the longer the arrow is charged, capped after one second of charging. Where the weapon differs is the projectile and the damage it deals: Firstly, the arrow arcs rather than going in a straight line like the rifle bullet. Also, as a projectile, the arrow can be reflected by enemy Pyros so the Sniper should take care when wielding this item when he comes across any enemy Pyro. Damage wise, uncharged arrows will do more damage than the rifle bullet, if only slightly, although they are significantly weaker in terms of fully charged damage and critical damage as a full charged arrow will only deal 360 damage from a headshot; 70 less then the rifle.
| Weapon | Damage | Critical Damage | Function Times | Special |
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| Huntsman
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Sydney Sleeper
- Note: The Sydney Sleeper is banned or restricted in some leagues for acquisition time.
The Sydney Sleeper is the second alternative to the rifle. The rifle acts more as a team support weapon than the rifle. This is mainly because Sydney Sleeper headshots do not deal critical damage to opponents. Instead, after charging for just over a second, the weapon can cover their opponent in Jarate for eight seconds. This ability can help the Sniper's team taking down a key opponent quickly through Jarate mini-crits although it lacks the ability to cover Jarate in multiple opponents like its Jar based counterpart.
Damage wise, the Sydney Sleeper has the same damage/charge ramp as the rifle; a fully charged shot will deal 150 damage.
| Weapon | Damage | Critical Damage | Function Times | Special |
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| Sydney Sleeper 70x39px |
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Primary Weapon Usage
Arguably, a majority of Snipers will take the Rifle simply because it can potentially do the most damage in a reliable manner, unlike the Huntsman, and the ability to headshot their opponents, unlike the Sydney Sleeper. This does not mean to say the Huntsman and Sleeper aren't considered, some Snipers will opted for the Huntsman on Payload maps where the close bodies through choke points can make Huntsman spam a viable option.
Secondary Weapon
The Sniper's secondary weapons vary through a means to defending himself close quarters to shields with varying passive effects to a Jar of urine.
SMG
The SMG is the Sniper's only non-melee weapon designed for close quarter combat. The weapon, assuming all shots hit, will damage 120 per second from point blank.
| Weapon | Damage | Critical Damage | Function Times | Special |
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| SMG
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Jarate
Jarate is the alternative to the SMG. When thrown, the Jar will break on the first object it touches, be it a wall; a player or a prop, and enemy players within the area of effect will be covered in Jarate. Affected players will receive mini-crit damage from friendly players. Jarate also has the ability to extinguish friendly players and expose cloaked Spies. The effect of Jarate lasts for ten seconds. On maps with water, however, Snipers should try and use their Jarate on players close to his team and also on enemy players somewhat far from a source of water where they can fully immerse themselves as water can remove the Jarate effect. Übercharges, both normal and Kritz, can remove the Jarate effect as well.
| Weapon | Damage | Critical Damage | Function Times | Special |
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| Jarate
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Razorback
The Razorback was designed primarily as an anti-Spy means with its ability to block a single backstab attempt. Spies attempting to backstab a Sniper with the Razorback with be unable to switch weapons for attack for two seconds, giving the Sniper opportunity to address the threat posed by the Spy. Razorbacks do not recharge and in order to replace a broken one, the Sniper needs to head back to a resupply cabinet.
| Weapon | Damage | Critical Damage | Function Times | Special |
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| Razorback
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Darwin's Danger Shield
- Note: The Darwin's Danger Shield is banned or restricted in some leagues for acquisition time.
- Note: This weapon is either limited or banned in some Team Fortress 2 leagues. Please check your league's rule page for details on their weapon restrictions.
The Darwin's Danger Shield is an alternative to the Razorback, but instead of offering protection from Spies it offers a 25 hp boost to the Sniper's maximum health, giving him an advantage in Sniper battles, excluding being hit by a headshot, as well as a small boost when in melee fights as the Sniper can take an extra standard melee hit before dying.
| Weapon | Damage | Critical Damage | Function Times | Special |
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| Darwin's Danger Shield
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Secondary Weapon Usage
The Jarate and SMG are regularly used in competitive TF2 as they either provide team support (Jarate), or a means for the Sniper, who is not confident in quick scoping opponents, to defend himself in short range combat (SMG). The Razorback is rarely used in competitive TF2 because the class it counters is also rarely used there, so Snipers see little need to equip it. The Darwin's Danger Shield, whilst offering a health boost, will do little to help a Sniper out in a battle against an enemy Sniper confident in his ability to headshot his targets and also against Scouts as a double meatshot, both dealing over 75 damage a shot, will easily take care of the Sniper in two shots.
Melee Weapon
The melee weapon is commonly opted by the Sniper is close range combat, particularly with Jarate, as a reliable means to address his aggressors.
Kukri
The Kukri is the Sniper’s standard melee weapon. Like other standard melee weapons, it deals moderate damage. For the Sniper it is seen as a viable option for close range combat, especially against opponents covered in Jarate.
| Weapon | Damage | Critical Damage | Function Times | Special |
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| Kukri
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Tribalman's Shiv
The alternative to the Kukri, the Tribalman's Shiv deals considerably less damage on hit than the Kukri, although a successful hit will incur a bleeding effect on opponent. Bleeding damages opponents for four health for every half second for six seconds—dealing 48 damage without interruption. Bleeding can be stopped by a Medic or from health kits.
| Weapon | Damage | Critical Damage | Function Times | Special |
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| Tribalman's Shiv
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Bushwacka
- Note: The Bushwacka is banned or restricted in some leagues for acquisition time.
The Bushwacka is very similar to the Kukri damage wise with the same damage per hit and same function times. Where the Bushwacka differs, however, is the ability to crit when it would normally mini-crit, e.g. on an opponent covered in Jarate. Dealing 195 damage on a Jarated opponent means the Sniper is capable of killing the enemy Medic, a fully-buffed Scout and severely damage Soldier and Demoman in a single hit.
The Bushwacka's drawback is the added 20% fire susceptibility.
| Weapon | Damage | Critical Damage | Function Times | Special |
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| Bushwacka
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Melee Weapon Usage
The knifes are all considered side-grades and so are equally used between Snipers. Although Snipers tend to favor either the Shiv for its ability to continually damage their opponent through bleed damage even after they've died or the Bushwacka because of the ability to crit when it would normally mini-crit and the drawback, extra fire damage, will be rarely suffered because of how rarely Pyros are used in competitive TF2.
