Tips and Tactics Index

Suit Cont

So you want to be a paintball sniper?

This is actually my favorite way to play. It's a real test of skill and technique  but you need the correct mindset, techniques, gear, and game to really do it well.

Let start by defining exactly what a sniper is as it pertains to paintball.

The sniper is the quiet one.  Probably not he fastest player but the most disciplined.  They sometimes work alone but should be working as a team of two.  In the real world the sniper team consist of a shooter and an observer.  Why two?  Can't the shooter (sniper) do the job alone?  Well, yes  and then again,  no. ( I always answer that way)

The sniper team moves slowly and works to get to a good position and then stays there until the objective( the sniper's objective) is eliminated  or the situation dictates they move.  The Observer  does just that,  observes. He is also responsible for protecting the sniper.  It is not uncommon at all for a paintball sniper to be focused on the target in front  just to be flanked or have some other player walk up on him from behind and take him out  before the sniper ever knew he was there.  This is the job of the observer  to watch his back.  So lets' really break down responsibilities

Sniper

The sniper (shooter) does what the observer tells him.  He depends on the info given to him.  Because a good sniper is solely focused on the target and mission he cant concentrate on everything around him.  In paintball, as in real world situations,  the sniper is sent to do specific tasks.  A supporting role is best.  The sniper can and will take out the guy guarding the flag.  The sniper can protect the team as it moves.  And the sniper can be a real pain in the butt for the other team.  Most games seems to go like this:

Everyone runs around and shoots anything that moves

dumps tons of paint

use tanks of air

and operates with no planning

Correct use of a sniper  in a planned way can really make a difference.  The other team is probably not looking for the sniper because that's not the way they play.  Since  most players end up on their own, they become easy prey.

The Observer  

This player protects and backs up the sniper.  The observer guides him to targets and makes sure no one sneaks up behind them.  While moving to a good shooting position the two work like any other team should ( but normally don't). Moving, covering, stopping, listening, but unlike the rest of the players  its  slow.  And I mean slow and silent.  Sometimes moving is in inches  not yards.

Sniper play

Many times I've been  the designated sniper.  Why?  Well I like it.  I'm not that lean fast young player.  I'm better slow, crawling, and shooting only when I have a shot and being very very consistent.

Time and time again I have moved to a position when I could see the opposing bunker (base) with 3 or 4  players in and around it.  When the rest of the team was close enough to get their attention it was my task to either take the bunkered players out or to keep them so worried that my teammates could damn near walk up on them.

  It doesn't take spraying paint.  In fact that is the last thing you want to do. What you do want is to keep them occupied but not telegraph where its coming from.

Use only one shot, either hit or close enough to get their head down. Don't move,  wait for them to look for where it came from and then, one shot. This can go on a while. The sniper will hit them  or scare them into doing something stupid like running out of the bunker and into the line of fire from the rest of the team.

It happens all the time. 

Answer this:

 When you get  shot at on the field, do you always know where it came from?   No.  It's the constant spray that gives the shooter away.  

 Snipers think  one shot, one paintball.  After all it only takes one.

Equipment 

I used to use an Armotech WG-65 Elite Sniper system  and a Zeus pistol as a backup. Times have changed and although those are two really reliable guns  I now use something a little newer.   The pistol is a good idea just in case it gets real close and you are being run at. It's not easy to swing a long gun on target behind you when you are laying down.  Grabbing that pistol on your hip can really make a difference.  It's not so much the marker  but the player.  I don't really care what other players (normally young with too much money to spend) say.  Equipment does not  necessarily  win out.  It can make a difference in a speedball game no doubt  but that's not what this is about.  This is tactics, player skill, and smarts.  Any marker that will shoot relatively straight will work.  Even a pistol.

I don't carry extra guppies and all that stuff.  I'm not going to shoot that much.  I mean what's really fun? Shooting paint at bushes  or hitting the other players.  That's a pretty simple question, I think, and just as simple an answer.

It's funny, in the last several games I've played in, I seemed to take out a lot of the other team myself. I did this with no more than half a hopper.  Why?  Because you don't need to spray.

One Shot One Kill