How do you snipe? (Finding ranges, positions, tactics.) Discussion.

[Ineedscoffee 464]

As Mads Mikkelsen once said, "I aim for the middle"

[Highlander007 249]

Practicing on running targets right now with a pu scope pristine on a Mosin. Regretfully, they are newspawns mostly. I find killing a fully geared player /if he's alone/ less honorable than say a dumb newspawn running like a headless chicken in the middle of a road. All future headless bandits as far as I'm concerned. Anyways, I get them in full sprint nowdays with a pu scope way better than with a 12x long range one. I found a few uber spots around Electro that are just golden, never been spotted before I took a first shot. The only thing is...You can't really afford not to move for food and water quickly unless you server hop a little. I still need to do extensive tests on an empty server in regards to zeroing

[-DMG-Jonesy 226]

Southpaw. I like you. Id like to go hunting with you someday...

 

And jonesy, don't take this the wrong way, but when I say "unsporting", what I MEAN is that you are abusing a game mechanic.

 

By LEAVING, then hoping servers, and then Infiltrating back in, I run the risk that my prey will see me on the way in. I have to be careful not to give myself away as I reach my hide.

 

And, on the same hand, another player in the area, who is being sneaky, checking his corners, etc., has a chance to see me, and is rewarded for playing the game smart.

 

But if, instead, I just hop right in at the hide, that same player, who might have checked that spot moments ago, is now at an unfair disadvantage...

 

Do you get my meaning? Im all for putting one's self in the more advantageous position. That's how you win. But not by abusing a mechanic in a manner that gives you an unfair and unrealistic advantage.

 

I don't mean to offend you man, but in my opinion, this is only maybe one step above ghosting...

 

 

Doesn't offend me in the slightest.  I'm playing the game as it is presented to me, in it's unfinished form.  

 

Do you log out far from anything to avoid the possibility of having an advantageous spawn on someone during your next log in?

 

And I'm not suggesting you load into a hot zone by default- just that it would be better to find your ranges on a less populated server than popping off ranging rounds where they're likely to be heard.  

 

[apollovulcan 93]

Practicing on running targets right now with a pu scope pristine on a Mosin. Regretfully, they are newspawns mostly. I find killing a fully geared player /if he's alone/ less honorable than say a dumb newspawn running like a headless chicken in the middle of a road. All future headless bandits as far as I'm concerned. Anyways, I get them in full sprint nowdays with a pu scope way better than with a 12x long range one. I found a few uber spots around Electro that are just golden, never been spotted before I took a first shot. The only thing is...You can't really afford not to move for food and water quickly unless you server hop a little. I still need to do extensive tests on an empty server in regards to zeroing

 

So you think that all these players that have either A) gotten killed by zombies or a player, such as yourself, who's about to kill them or B) just spawned in from any other reason, are a bigger and badder threat to your survivability, than someone who could actually fight back and defend themselves.  Interesting logic, I suppose you think you aren't a bandit, also.  You also admit to server hopping so you can "play sniper" and feel like you're actually playing the game, good one.

 

Your signature is also a hoot.  You do realize that hackers would just hack the skill system, right?

 

Anyway.  The best advice I can give is to put hours into the game, that's the only way you can ever really just sit there and say, "Yeah that looks about right for 400m", dial it in, take a shot, if its way low, bump up the zeroing if you can, if not, adjust your shot accordingly.  The more you play, the more you'll get used to making those calls on the fly, the more calls you make on the fly, eventually the better you will get to making educated guesses that turn out to be ballpark estimates.  I have some 600+ hours on Arma 2, across everything, after all that, you just get used to what ranges look like.

Edited January 15, 2014 by McG2

[donotlog 20]

Playing SA from day one, I've had a blast doing so. I kept a sniper character alive for almost a week, and my friend for two. Now, the term sniper might be different from what you think. Most might assume just a KOS sniper, but that is not the case(At least for me). I typically try to take out players trying to kill others, diffusing fights and keep people pinned down until they cooperate. I often provide over watch for friends entering potentially dangerous areas, removing players and zombies alike from their path and keeping them safe. I often help newly spawned players(If friendly, of course) move through possibly dangerous or populated areas, giving them over watch and helping them along their way.

 

Usually my tactics and positions vary, I do prefer to stay hidden and a decent distance away from where my targets are, but I'm interested in how others play. So, discuss here I suppose. One problem I do have is judging the range, I can usually find it after a few test shots, but it gives away my position obviously. Does anyone have any sort of tips or tricks for that?

 

Honestly, it comes trough experience. Take a few shot on less populated areas and learn it... thats how you should do it... All the gus who log on another low populated server and check the distances and than log on an populated server to "hunt".... you guys are just pathetic and lowskill noobs in my opinion. Srsly learn to play the game...  You call yourself hunters but actually you should realize by yourself that your nothing else than a really bad camper .. lola

[pteryx 14]

I usually scout the area I want to snipe until I find a spot that has both a good view of the target area, but is also not a popular spot that would result in players logging in near me. 

 

After that I sit in my sniper hide I've found for the next 3-4 nights only moving to knock down grass and I watch the area until I need to go resupply. 

[Highlander007 249]

So you think that all these players that have either A) gotten killed by zombies or a player, such as yourself, who's about to kill them or B) just spawned in from any other reason, are a bigger and badder threat to your survivability, than someone who could actually fight back and defend themselves.  Interesting logic, I suppose you think you aren't a bandit, also.  You also admit to server hopping so you can "play sniper" and feel like you're actually playing the game, good one.

 

Your signature is also a hoot.  You do realize that hackers would just hack the skill system, right?

 

Anyway.  The best advice I can give is to put hours into the game, that's the only way you can ever really just sit there and say, "Yeah that looks about right for 400m", dial it in, take a shot, if its way low, bump up the zeroing if you can, if not, adjust your shot accordingly.  The more you play, the more you'll get used to making those calls on the fly, the more calls you make on the fly, eventually the better you will get to making educated guesses that turn out to be ballpark estimates.  I have some 600+ hours on Arma 2, across everything, after all that, you just get used to what ranges look like.

I don't care what their life story is. Atm, I'm using them as fast moving targets. I also dont discriminate when I kos, everyone's a threat and I can show you videos upon videos on YT where newspawns proved to be very lethal for the full geared people. From betrayals to serving as decoys for other snipers to just plain being a major distraction.

 

Also, can't hack a skill system without getting caught especially with time related skills like: Tracking skill /the more real time you spend walking ingame ,the older are player and animal tracks you see and can follow

[Loafy 46]

My tactics are unconventional and classified.

 

Pro-tip.

 

http://dayzdb.com/map/chernarusplus#3.067.083

 

1. Left click your spot.

2. Left click target area

3. Zero in

4. Camp the jail and count how many people server hop in an hour.

 

All this about people logging into low servers to shoot or get into position? Do you also log out when someone shoots at you? 

Edited January 15, 2014 by Loafy

[Capo 323]

use a map, do you know pythagoras' theorem? zoom to 100 meter increments it's very useful for setting up killzones, get some eye measuring in you aswell, because the map will give you the base number, but likely you'll be spotting targets before they reach the killzone, and if they happen to stop in a bush or check their gear it's good to be able to pick them off early. 

[S0UTHPAW 12]

An update from my sniper position on a highly-populated server:

I spotted a sniper about 280 metres to my flank. He was crawling in prone position, about to set up on a small hill. He was in a bald patch of the forest, and was heading to a bald spot. When seeking out his position, he seemed to be favouring a large, unrestricted view of the target area, rather than a position that would conceal him from several angles. I shot him once. Not sure if it hit. It may have hit the dirt right in front of me, as I was caught a little off-guard, seeing as how he was 90 degrees from where I was set up to shoot at. I shot again, and hit him in the leg. Shot him again somewhere, and he started to get up and crouch-run, which is when I shot him in the ass. He dropped dead. I shot again to make sure he was dead.

I was pretty low on water, so I figured I should go and loot his corpse. There was a large, open field between him and myself, so I scanned all of the surroundings to be as sure as I could that there was no one watching. I crouch-ran across the field, and got to his body, and got some drinks, and ammo. He had the same weapon as me: A long-range, scoped, mosin nagin with bipod attached. But, he had a large, green, mountain backpack on. It definitely gave him away. Even though he was prone, I saw his backpack moving around like a giant caterpillar. I much prefer the hunting backpack. It's only 5 slots smaller, but it could save you from being spotted, thus saving your life.

When I was looting his corpse, I heard some gunshots very close by my right, on the other side of the small hill the corpse and I were on. The shots weren't being fired at me, so I stayed prone, hoping to spot some movement. Eventually a fully-geared guy came running over the hill, quite haphazardly. I waited for him to pass by me, and I got up, and crouched. I then shot him in the back at about 180 metres range, as he ran downhill, across an open field. I shot him twice more after he dropped, just to be on the safe side.

I didn't need to loot his body, but I figured that there's not really much point in all of this if I don't. It makes it into a sort of sport/game. It would be too easy to just sit in the same spot all day and shoot.

[tombo131 1]

Just recently found my first pristine scope. Haven't been able to play for a fews days and was wondering - are you able to re-zero your scope via Page-Up/Page-Down like in ArmA2?

[xRann 126]

Just recently found my first pristine scope. Haven't been able to play for a fews days and was wondering - are you able to re-zero your scope via Page-Up/Page-Down like in ArmA2?

Yes sir. In 100m increments out to 800m.

[Buck10489 29]

Log into a lowly populated server.

Find a spot.  

Pick out distant waypoints of equal intervals.

 

Take a few ranging shots to acquire rough distances.  Make note.

Log out, and log back into a populated server.

 

And this is why I cannot wait for them to fix the server hoping issue

[Maslac 1]

With the new patch, accuracy is not an issue anymore. Mosin, long range scope,bipod, minimum fov, 2x2 inc sticker on the door, from 800+m away, dead center every time. Think the new attachment realy aproves accuracy. Zombie headshots 800m+ away are easey, cuz if you set your cross hair on center of the zombie head(max zoom posible, lr scope with minimum fov), and wait 3s, you will see that even 800+m away the crosshair actualy does not move outside the parameter of the zombie head. Its super easey :)

 

About judging distances. It shouldnt be a problem, unless you know about 40 perfect sniper positions with 360 degree views.. And you dont :) I found there are only a fev realy realy realy good positions for snipers, usualy only one per town or a certain area. Yes, one. Not 6 or 14. One perfect spot, where you see them, they cant see you, and you have 98% cover from all sides, exept the spot you use to take your shots and you use for observing the area. Balota. Cernogorsk. Zelenogorsk. NE airfield. NW airfield. Berezino. Tried about 5 places on each, found the best spaces. And once you have your sweetspots, you should make practice shots on each of the target areas. I usualy try to pick a wall, that has some marks on it. Try to hit a certain spot, on each of the buildings you are going to snipe, till you get a center hit.

 

BE WARNED: Map distances (klick to one point, and then another) is probably acurate, but i found it that if it says 280m, dont go for 300 scope setting, stay on 200 and try a fev shots. It works for me like a charm.

 

Allso, LR scopes. If not ruined, try it on your mosin, even if its badly broken. Most of the times, they are not actualy broken, and are like pristine. See trough is perfect, and there is no accuracy issues on 800+m.

[Jack Dant 158]

I like to move really slowly around any area that may have players nearby. I will even crawl in prone position for long periods of time. It's worth knowing that players don't see grass past 100-200 metres, so if you're just hiding in grass, you will probably stick out to anyone at a distance.

If this is the same as Arma2, and I have no reason to believe it isn't, that's wrong. At a distance, the engine renders grass as a flat surface above the ground, so people crouching through the grass appear to sink into the ground.

 

DayZ backpacks, however, tend to stick out of the grass anyway.

[gibonez 3633]

You don't Snipe in dayz stand alone all you do is just line up the crosshairs and aim at the center.

 

 

That is sniping.

 

That actually takes skill not the arcade crap currently in stand alone.

 

The guns are accurate and authentic not the idiotic compensators and bipods magically making your weapon accurate.

[JustYouForget 17]

I am all about the stick and move tactic. I like to run around like I had an M4 and keep high in the hills circling a town and I always run around on a high pop. 

 

300-500 range is best I always leave my M4 at 300 and My Moison at 400( unless it looks much further).

 

Judging and testing range all the time just too keep my mind at ease. 

Edited January 24, 2014 by JustYouForget