A sniping guide for new players

[Kellrush (DayZ) 53]

I in no way support KoS,but i have done my fair share of it

 

Sniping, as a skill, is good for a number of things. Whether its your general PvP purposes , or for your role as overwatch for a group.

 

First thing you need to think of is what your surroundings are going to be.

"Will I be in a wooded environment"

"​Will i be in an urban environment"

 

For a wooded area your obviously going to need greens and browns. but what a lot of people fail to think of in dayz is the condition on their clothing. and believe it or not pristine is not always best

when your gear (clothing) is in pristine/worn condition damage textures are non existent. And having that little tear on the arm of your jacket could actually mean whether you are spotted or not.

(for a sniper) you need patterns that break up your image. yes being all green or brown is nice but its easy to see a smooth green shape along a treeline

but those little details like rips in clothing or tears in your pants help break up the shape of your legs or torso

 

and for gods sake stay away from mountain backpacks. they scream "IM HERE, SHOOT ME PLEASE"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ for urban, dark browns, and blacks are perfect

 

the distance and tactics for urban sniping however, thats a totally different breed of animal

Normally sniping takes place anywhere between 300-600 meters

urban sniping takes place anywhere between 100-250 meters

 

Before you pull your rifle out and plan on camping out the roof of an office heres a few things you should think of 

1-do i have an open escape route 

2-am i being skylined

3-does HE (or she) have a clear view of me

4-is this shot worth blowing my cover for

 

(skylined-example-being a fucking idiot and standing on the roof close to the edge, so when someone from the ground looks up they see a perfect outline of your image against the sky)

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Know your gun limitations

 

blaze

zeroing is at 50/100/200/300 (300 being the farthest its effective 

2 shots body 1 shot head(without helmet

 

M4

50/100/200/300/400

2 shots body 1 shot head (without helmet

mosin

100/200/300 (800 with scope)

1 shot center mass 2 shots for grazing, 1 shot head (with helmet will knock target out, times will differ depending on their health and condition of helmet

sks

50/100/200/300

1-2 shots body 1 shot head(without helmet

 

mosin being the prime longe range sniping weapon. 

sks is the PERFECT urban sniping weapon

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Hit and run tactics

 

a lot of people think snipers just sit in one place, pop shots off 

a good sniper knows that you should never take more than 2 shots in the same locations

(this is the key tactic for urban sniping)

 

when sniping inside towns (elektro being the perfect location for this) fine a building with a second story, make sure it has a back door, and take your shots through windows (1-2) and haul ass towards another house and repeat it

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headshots are not everything

the head is a small target, and what makes it harder is a lot of people have helmets on, so its not a 100% chance of killing, you could knock them out, starting walking towards them (wich is a stupid idea to even do , you dont now if he has friends) and have him get up and spray you down)

the largest and most lethal spot to shoot your target is the chest/collarbone, this is a weak area and has little to no protection, even with a vest (not press vest) leaving most of the targets chest exposed 

 

If your looking to immobilize your target and you feel your skilled enough to do it, you can always shoot the target in the knees 

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this is not really a guide of veteran dayz players, just simple shit to go off of

 

i hope this was at least somewhat usefull

 

 

 

 

[Hagon94 74]

Good tutorial! I play as a sniper and I do all of these things.

Edited March 3, 2014 by Hagon94

[So Sexy 259]

Yay, make more of them, as if we dont have enaugh "snipers" already.

[guppy22143 1081]

Very helpfull, but forgot range finding.

I.e, estimating distance, estimating bullet drop/travel times, ect.

[Ranadaine 35]

Very helpfull, but forgot range finding.

I.e, estimating distance, estimating bullet drop/travel times, ect.

And it's the most important part, lol.

And my couple of cents is the fact that you missed all the stuff that can be done with proper zeroing.

 

BTW, working on a guide on rangefinding/zeroing now. Some military tactics are probably inbound afterwards.

[guppy22143 1081]

And it's the most important part, lol.

And my couple of cents is the fact that you missed all the stuff that can be done with proper zeroing.

 

BTW, working on a guide on rangefinding/zeroing now. Some military tactics are probably inbound afterwards.

Good show. In ArmA2, I was the only medicinal sniper. And I can tell you, performing surgery with an M91 bayonet and using a DMR mag as an organ tray is not as gun-hoe as it seems.

[Hrki 94]

Very helpfull, but forgot range finding.

I.e, estimating distance, estimating bullet drop/travel times, ect.

we all know basic infos about weapons but yes like Guppy say you didnt show us how to "improve" our aim estimating bullet drop/travel times and how to "set up" zeroing

[enforcer1975 1111]

I'm a snip0r; i'm a snip0r.....iRulz. You kids should learn how to play the game first before you even think of picking up a weapon to shoot newspawns from a distance. Then you might find out that the game isn't about sniping at all.

[EvilTigerAce 131]

I read the book "Sniper on the Eastern Front", and what I've learned from the book (Austrian (german) sniper veteran tells his story)):

 

Always make sure you can withdraw. So for DayZ this means: don't camp in a house with only one door behind you.

Never fire multiple shots from the same position.

Camouflage is very important.

Having enough supplies (food, water and ammo) is very important.

 

Good marksman don't shoot enemies instantly. Especially groups. They observe them, locate the most important target, such as a fully equipped player or a group leader.

Kill the most important person, then injure the others. Shooting at their body instead of their head lets you fire shots more quickly (less time needed for aiming). Losing your leader often leads to a lowering of morale. The best distance is actually 200-300 meters, 600 is way too far, you won't be able to get the persons gear, and more importantly, there is much higher chance of failure.

 

Forests are very good places to hide, but high towers or buildings can be useful too if you have someone covering your back.

Edited March 3, 2014 by EvilTigerAce

[enforcer1975 1111]

So far every "sniper" does everything wrong according to the book. Even i make these mistakes from time to time but i have rarely been found even when they were actively searching for me in clan wars but i don''t fire away like i had a machine gun and i was either in the center of the group or the farthest away from the objective to have a good view of the field. And i never shoot when i am not sure i can hit, it cost some of my teammates nerves when i saw someone far away in DayZ and they wanted me to shoot the player and i denied most of the time because my gut feeling told me not to shoot because the targets weren't always alone most of the time. :rolleyes:

[Kellrush (DayZ) 53]

I understand there are little things that missed like on how to improve your aim and such. the only thing i can tell you is go on a low pop server, and practice shooting at zombies, everyone has their methods

 

for example when i sit on commie blocks and loo down on balota airfield i know that from where i am im exactly 600 meters away from the atc tower, 

 

So far every "sniper" does everything wrong according to the book. Even i make these mistakes from time to time but i have rarely been found even when they were actively searching for me in clan wars but i don''t fire away like i had a machine gun and i was either in the center of the group or the farthest away from the objective to have a good view of the field. And i never shoot when i am not sure i can hit, it cost some of my teammates nerves when i saw someone far away in DayZ and they wanted me to shoot the player and i denied most of the time because my gut feeling told me not to shoot because the targets weren't always alone most of the time. :rolleyes:

the reason why people break these cardinal rules is because the original rules were made to be used against trained, skilled targets. so when your attempting to take down a target a normal person when hearing shots go off in his direction will drop down and belly crawl all over the damn place. while your average player will just run like a lunatic

 

Yay, make more of them, as if we dont have enaugh "snipers" already.

im sensing a little bit of "bitter" feelings in that, just because you have been KoSed by a sniper doesnt mean everyone is going to do it. a lot of people will use this as overwatch for groups

 

I'm a snip0r; i'm a snip0r.....iRulz. You kids should learn how to play the game first before you even think of picking up a weapon to shoot newspawns from a distance. Then you might find out that the game isn't about sniping at all.

i understand this game isnt all about sniping, its dayz, not sniper elite, its just a skill to have when playing with large groups.

 

I read the book "Sniper on the Eastern Front", and what I've learned from the book (Austrian (german) sniper veteran tells his story)):

 

Always make sure you can withdraw. So for DayZ this means: don't camp in a house with only one door behind you.

Never fire multiple shots from the same position.

Camouflage is very important.

Having enough supplies (food, water and ammo) is very important.

 

Good marksman don't shoot enemies instantly. Especially groups. They observe them, locate the most important target, such as a fully equipped player or a group leader.

Kill the most important person, then injure the others. Shooting at their body instead of their head lets you fire shots more quickly (less time needed for aiming). Losing your leader often leads to a lowering of morale. The best distance is actually 200-300 meters, 600 is way too far, you won't be able to get the persons gear, and more importantly, there is much higher chance of failure.

 

Forests are very good places to hide, but high towers or buildings can be useful too if you have someone covering your back.

yes a good marksmen doesnt shoot targets right away, but he should still be comfortable with taking shots at that distance, yes you may have a group but it could be the same thing for your target, they could have buddies around that you need to be carefull, and the would normally be looking within a 200-400 range. and just because you drop some doesnt mean you after their gear. hell i hardly looot anyone i kill simply because 

 

a-i would be fully geared at that point

b-wouldnt wanna risk getting ganked while im stuffing my pockets

c-my buddies would loot the instead, thus why said "overwatch" 

 

 

btw i say at the very end that it isnt a guide for veterans, also why its in new player discussion, these are just "guidelines" , you dont have to do every single little thing they are just suggestions, i encourage anyone who snipes to develop their own method that suits them