Planetside 2 Snipers

Recently, an inquiry came up in Planetside 2 reddit, about how to avoid getting killed as a sniper infiltrator. As a decent sniper myself, I can talk all day about how to be a good-enough sniper infiltrator.

Unfortunately, I don't have a Reddit account, and I have no plans on making one. So instead, I'll just answer the inquiry on my blog. Let's dissect this inquiry, what the OP did wrong, and what I recommend doing in these situations.

OP: When I snipe, I die pretty soon after

A lot of times, I see snipers do the following: They decloak, fire, cloak, re-chamber, repeat. In the same spot. When I see players like these, I'd aim at where I think their head would be, wait for them to decloak, and fire. Easy kill.

To avoid getting killed this way, follow this simple routine: decloak, fire, cloak, sidestep. Sidestepping is a good habit to have, throwing off anyone who's got you in their sights. You'll keep them guessing, missing their shots, and revealing their position.

OP: even when I cloak and move, often because they come after me

Bad move. If you're compromised, the last thing you should do is run away cloaked. Why? A bunch of reasons:

• A cloaked infiltrator is still very much visible.
• Getting hit while cloaked will cause your shield to shimmer.
• You may not have enough cloaking energy to get yourself to cover.
• Cloaking is useless when the area is peppered with motion-spotters.

What you should do when you're being pursued is to pull out your secondary, and break line of sight, cloaked or not. Breaking line of sight introduces uncertainty, as your pursuer does not know what lies beyond the corner.

What happens next is up to you. You could continue running. You could hit redeploy and hope for the best. You could lead your pursuer to more capable allies. Or my personal favorite, hit them as they go around the corner.

OP: When someone snipes me, I rez and they kill me again....and again

When you've just been revived, the first thing you should do is run. Don't even try to crouch. Don't try to aim. Don't even try to cloak. Just. Run. Your position is already compromised. Run, get healed, and find a new camping spot somewhere else.

Also, when you're on the verge of being overrun, just decline the revive. It's not worth it. At best, you'll get 3-5 seconds before you get gunned down again. In most cases, you can't do anything in that span of time, not even aim. Save yourself the hassle, just redeploy elsewhere.

OP: I dont know where they are

There are a lot of ways to find the sniper that's on to you:

• Keep an eye on common sniper positions.
• Observe the tracer rounds and where they're coming from.
• Pay attention to the direction of hit indicators.
• Unsuppressed weapons will cause their operators to appear in the minimap.
• Listen closely. Infiltrator cloaks and sniper rifles all have distinct sounds.
• Deploy motion-spotters, preferrably using the "recon darts".

Use one or more of these in tandem to find that pesky sniper. In most cases, it's the tracer rounds plus the knowledge of camping spots that give away a sniper's position. So keep an eye out for streaks of light from elevated areas.

Conclusion

OP: how do I quickly locate the infiltrator who killed me

In summary:

• Never take the next shot in the same spot.
• Break line of sight.
• Stay vigilant.

And above all, a lot of practice. That's right, these things don't happen overnight. It takes a lot of patience and hours of gameplay. And you'll know when you get there when someone puts a bounty on your head. Twice. 😂