Sniper

Sniper
Basic Information
Icon
Type	Support
Health	125 (185 with overheal)
Speed	100%

The Sniper is a support class that specializes in long-range combat, and can assassinate any enemy that crosses his sightline. He has 125 health and 100% speed, making him fragile with average speed. His Sniper Rifle is one of the game's most powerful weapons, able to kill any class with a headshot while fully charged, and is uncontestable at range. His ability to hold a single position and punish enemies who cross it with instant death is unmatched, and the inability for enemies to mount a response means he has free reign over wherever he looks. Far from a sitting duck, his ability to move around and get sightlines from obscure map angles can lead to surprising deaths outside the standard Sniper spots, and the first sign of a skilled Sniper is usually in the post-death screenshot. He can also deal unexpectedly high damage from close up, simply by quickscoping and clicking on the enemy's head, which is enough to kill or severely wound all classes. This makes him the game's premier pick class, and a skilled shot can end an engagement before it even begins.

The Sniper's downsides are his mediocrity in direct combat, reliance on his teammate's front line, inability to contribute to objectives, constant threat from enemy Snipers, and high skill requirements. The Sniper Rifle deals very poor sustained damage, and while the SMG is his best method of self-defense, it is not as powerful as the sidearms of other classes. Combined with the Sniper's fragility, this means he will have a hard time defending himself unless he gets a lucky scoped shot, and prefers to stay in the back lines, far behind his teammates. If his team's united front suddenly collapses, the Sniper is usually the first to die, and because he lacks movement options and is only average speed, running can just fail you. This issue is compounded by the Sniper's difficulties in capturing objectives, since his fragility and long-range specialization means he is severely disadvantaged when taking point. This is compounded by attacks from enemy Snipers, who are locked in constant duels for sightline supremacy, and failing to keep track of their positions will lead to your unexpected death. Finally, the Sniper is no class for players who cannot aim. Since the single-shot nature of the Sniper Rifle is less forgiving than that of other primary weapons, having an "off day" has significantly more impact on Sniper than on other classes. On Sniper, if you miss, you miss.

Despite these downsides, they are mitigated by running really far away and shooting people. As he is the only class in the game that can deal meaningful damage at long range, the only appropriate counter to him is to not get seen at all - and failing that, move wildly and hope he misses. On offense, he can peek around corners and get risky kills off enemies who leave the comfort of their base, including destroying exposed Sentry Guns, as well as the necessary counter-sniping. On defense, he can snuff out Medics and their patients before they have a chance to run in, neutralizing the imbalance of power and creating a more favourable defensive line. While the Sniper is dominant on wide-open maps, he is still usable with sufficient skill even on cramped maps, and his skill ceiling is practically infinite. He rewards independent play, smart positioning, quick thinking, and technical practice with unmatched power, and is the perfect class for aim-monster loner types who just want to rack up kills.

Bio

Country of Origin: Australia

Job: Precision Elimination

Motto: "Pink Cloud of Death"

Half rugged outdoorsman, half alien observer, this taciturn strip of beef jerky has spent the better part of his life alone in the bush, slow baking under the Australian sun.

Weapons

Primary

Weapon	Kill icon
Sniper Rifle
Huntsman
Hunting Revolver

Secondary

Weapon	Kill icon
SMG

Melee

Weapon	Kill icon
Kukri
Fishwhacker

Tips

Main article: Basic Sniper Strategy

As a Sniper…

• …the longer you spend zoomed in the scope, the more damage the shot will do.
• …aim for the head to do critical damage.
• …a fully charged sniper rifle head shot can kill most classes instantly.
• …zoom with the sniper rifle by hitting MOUSE2.
• …use your submachine gun to deal with nearby enemies.
• …the Huntsman can be used for more reliable close-range combat, at the cost of accuracy.
• …your shot will usually miss if the Huntsman is pulled back longer than five seconds. Reset it by hitting MOUSE2.
• …movement speed while scoped in with the hunting revolver is higher than with the sniper rifle. Move around while aiming to be a harder target to hit.
• …the hunting revolver is a great mid-range option. Use it to deal damage while quickly moving in and out of the frontline.
• …the Fishwhacker will cause bleeding damage to the enemy being hit. Use it to fight cloaked Spies!

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Bulgarian	Снайпер	Sniper
Spanish	Sniper	-
English	Sniper	-
French	Sniper	-
German	Sniper	-
Hungarian	Mesterlövész	Sniper
Italian	Cecchino	Sniper
Polish	Snajper	Sniper
Brazilian Portuguese	Sniper	-
Romanian	Sniper	-
Russian	Снайпер	Sniper
Turkish	Sniper	-
Ukrainian	Снайпер	Sniper

Trivia

• In Team Fortress 2 Classic, Sniper's first person hand models now correctly show only one glove on his left hand, compared to Team Fortress 2 where both of his hands had gloves.
• The Sniper's HUD render shows him holding the Sniper Rifle and wearing a quiver for his Huntsman on his back. This may seem absurd gameplay-wise, as the Sniper cannot hold two primary weapons at the same time.