Tactics What's more valuable than lots of kills?

More important than lots of kills is doing your job.
ie
Sniper: now i play as the sniper in most of my games (coz i rule, and hav a big e-p') and there is nothing wrong with killing rifle men as long as you have done your job and taken out key enemy 1st. if there is a rifleman and a sniper, kill the sniper 1st. Com and rifleman, Bye Bye com. If there is no other target than the basic grunt then kill him, one less to worry about (for a few seconds).
Everyclass has an important job to do.
Do it right and everyone smiles. do it wrong and ill kill a puppy

Killing one enemy MG, sniper or other key player who is making things difficult is often more valuable than shooting five or six guys who aren't in the cap zone and aren't doing much of anything except presenting themselves as targets. In my opinion, the sniper should generally focus first on these "high priority" targets, then on average enemy soldiers in the cap zone, then on "targets of opportunity."

In some cases, however, just shooting as many enemy soldiers as possible is a good tactic. For example, the enemy team may be putting up a very tough defense of the objectives but running down its reinforcements. The Germans often do this on Stalingrad Kessel, for example. Sometime this requires a tactical reassessment of the situation and a new focus on running the enemy out of reinforcements instead of capping.

Sadly,RO has no real job for a sniper,execpt to rack up a lot of kills.
So,the most important thing is to prioritize targets,I like to do it like this :
Enemy sniper > Commander > MG > Everyone else.
But this is an ideal priorization and I rarely get in a position to have such a field of fire...

Here's why I think the sniper should be picking off "primary targets" (IE: Squad Leaders, enemy MGs, enemy snipers) before engaging riflemen. ANYONE can take out a rifleman. But ONLY the sniper can take out the enemy sniper, the enemy MG, etc.

Now, some of this depends on whether the sniper is on offense or defense. I think the following applies mostly to offense snipers:

There's nothing wrong with shooting at enemy riflemen, but it should be a secondary consideration to the primary targets. The sniper has a unique advantage that most other players don't have -- namely longer range. As such, the sniper is in a better position to take out important targets. Sometimes that may include a rifleman (IE: the one guy who's snuck into the capzone that only the sniper can see), but most of the time it's someone other than the rifleman (IE: the entrenched MGer who's denying your team the ability to advance; the enemy sniper who's been picking off YOUR team's MG; the enemy Squad Leader who's about to capture a position or who's targeting your position for arty; etc.)

There is a value to picking off enemy infantry, but mostly that's useful on defense, unless you as the sniper are preventing enemy reinforcements from making it to a cap zone that your teammates are capping (Which is, of course, highly valuable).


Basically, the way I see it, the sniper needs to do what others cannot. Other people can kill riflemen relatively easily, usually, but enemy MGs and snipers are often a problem.

Of course, entrenched enemy rifleman are also good targets, but it depends on the situation. In general, the enemy MG will be a better target to take out first.

Ullis said:

On lots of threads the subject of snipers somehow turns up. Usually its something in the lines of: "the sniper's goal should be to suppress the enemy MG and sniper fire. Just picking off riflemen is a waste of precious sniper time".

The way I see it, the more you kill, the better you are helping your team. This goes with all the classes (this is reflected in the point system as well). Killing the enemy creates space for attackers to move up (=capping) and for defenders it means stopping the attack.

Please discuss. (I would like to see your thoughts on all the classes but good insights into the role of the sniper bring extra points.)

P.S. You could always argue that killing total beginners is less valuable and you would be totally right.

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oh right, sure , you can camp with a sniper rifle by the enemies spawn, and get lots of kills, while your team looses every cap, and then LOOSES.

a sniper is worth 5 times moreto his team if he kills half the people, BUT , all those kills are in the cap zones, and are machinegunners, snipers and dug in units.

just going for as many kills as possible leaves the rest of your team with the short end of the stick.

It is more important where and when you make the kills. If for example you kill a couple running out of spawn. That might allow your team to cap a objective.

i play as sniper wenever i can, and over the course of many games, i have concluded that the person playing as the sniper role should not be focused on getting a ton of points. if u are the sniper, you should try to cover your teammates who are trying to cap an objective, rather than actually assault with them. by hanging back with a good LOS, you can take out threats as they come(especially snipers and mg's). if u charge with your team, you are just as likely to get blasted as them, and you are probably not going to be as effective even if you do survive and make it to cover cus u have to size up your new firing zone, while the enemy already has their bearings and knows where the good spots in the capzones are.

As for defense, i can only say that if u are protecting a friendly capzone, STAY OUT OF THE CAPZONE, cus the enemy will know if you are there by the cap meter. they'l see your little dash of color there and someone will come after you and flank you(probly an assault trooper)

main message, sniper's goals:1) be effective and hit where it hurts, a single kill can sometimes be more helpful to ur team than 10 kills 2)stay hidden, don't expose your position by taking shots u proby can't make, and if the enemy does return fire, even if u kill them, they'll probly tell their team where you are set up, in which case RELOCATE! 3) think outside the box, shoot from places where people wouldn't think of looking, an obvious spot with great sight lines is a bad idea, instead, get a place with good cover (remember, each sides uniforms give different camo options) that has a sight line that isn't always the best, but covers key points or favorite sniping/mg positions for the enemy

If you really want points as a sniper, you can try mg resupply, its not as rewarding as taking an objective, but its far less dangerous(mg guys usually set up in areas near sniping points anyway)

El Presedente said:

i play as sniper wenever i can, and over the course of many games, i have concluded that the person playing as the sniper role should not be focused on getting a ton of points. if u are the sniper, you should try to cover your teammates who are trying to cap an objective, rather than actually assault with them. by hanging back with a good LOS, you can take out threats as they come(especially snipers and mg's). if u charge with your team, you are just as likely to get blasted as them, and you are probably not going to be as effective even if you do survive and make it to cover cus u have to size up your new firing zone, while the enemy already has their bearings and knows where the good spots in the capzones are.

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I thought this was common knowledge

oh well you play and you learn...

What's more valuable then lots of kills?

What's more valuable then lots of kills?

...being in the capzone.

REZ said:

...being in the capzone.

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No allowing 2 people or more people to get into the capzone and keeping them alive there.

Not necessarily. Many's the time I've snuck in to capture a position by myself without having fired a shot.

In the end, the one thing that is more important than getting lots of kills is winning the map (or at least trying your damndest to win it). A lot of times, peopel who are more concerned with kills lose sight of that.

Get in the cap zone!!!

Quit waiting for other people to do it and get in YOURSELF!

then teamkill everyone else and get the points for yourself


(take this post with an ocean of salt)

What's more valuable than lots of kills?

Accomplishing the map objectives. That's what.

The sniper's duty is to support the rest of the troops. That is best done by breaking chokepoints, such as entrenched riflemen or enemy MGs. Or by keeping the enemy commander from calling in arty strikes. Or by keeping the other side guessing, making them hunt for you while the rest of your team caps.

Kill count is the least of a sniper's worries.

Heh, I go for officers first no matter what class I am, because when five enemy are charging taking out the officer first can negate smoke sometimes and also reduces their cap weight dramatically.

More valuable than kills?

That's easy, beer.

Vassili_Zaitsev said:

More valuable than kills?

That's easy, beer.

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I'll drink to that!!