No matter what you play: Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Halo, Destiny 2, and even Valorant. I can help you get better with snipers.
As the main sniper (playing Warzone with SMG + Sniper) and aim training specifically for that role, I’ve learned some powerful techniques and tricks that helped me improve my sniper journey immensely.
I want to help you do the same. So without further ado, let’s get started!
Get Better With Snipers - Technique
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You get good at sniping by having your enemies in the center of your screen to minimize the need for micro-adjustments and human error. Plus, ensure you are patient and shoot only when you are sure you hit the shot. Doing so will massively improve your sniping.
However, there is much more to it, like map knowledge, perks, classes, etc. So I would advise you to keep reading!
There are two main techniques \ tricks that will increase your accuracy with snipers immediately. And those are patience and centering. So let’s start with centering.
By the way, if you are looking to improve your aim overall, check out 5 Quick Tips To Improve In Any FPS Game & How To Improve Your Aim.
1. Centering
Centering is having your enemy in the center of your screen. Doing so will reduce the time needed to micro-adjust and aim with the sniper, resulting in better overall accuracy. This is a very effective technique you should always incorporate in any FPS game.
You should always focus on centering the enemy in the middle of the screen. It will help with quick scopes and no scopes as well. In addition, you will have less room for error as you will reduce the need for micro-adjustments.
It is very similar to crosshair placement. However, good crosshair placement eliminates most of the “aim” skill and leaves the aimer just to pull the trigger.
If you aim at the floor and encounter an enemy, you will have to micro-adjust and hope you get it right. Then, with good centering, you need to scope in and shoot. That’s it.
This will take practice, especially if you are new. Most games do not have a reticle \ crosshair when playing with a sniper, which means that centering is a little bit tough. There are solutions for it, though:
- Make a small dot \ crosshair exactly on the center of the screen – there is 3rd party software that can do this, and sometimes your monitor can also have this setting.
- Go into a private match and practice your centering.
- Perfect practice makes perfect!
You might need to constantly think about crosshair placement and make sure to leave your crosshair as close as possible to the enemy’s head. But I assure you, it is 100% worth it. Removing the need for much mouse movement leaves almost no room for error.
In a nutshell, put the enemy in the center of your screen and ensure your crosshair placement is on point. It will reduce the need for flicks and big micro-adjustments, increasing your accuracy.
You might also like How To Get Good At Gaming FAST – By A Top 1% Player.
2. Patience
Patience means you do not pull the trigger unless you are sure you will hit the shot. Taking extra time with each shot and ensuring you hit your shot is better than shooting quickly but missing most of the shots.
There are two reasons why patience is vital.
First, you should always shoot your sniper only if you are sure you will hit. If you are shooting and praying to hit, you are doing it wrong.
If you see an enemy running, wait until you got your crosshair on his head. Then, make sure it is perfect, and you are ready. However, that does not mean you should take 10 seconds for each shot.
It means you should not panic and shoot when you see an enemy. You should not shoot an enemy the moment you see one. You should be patient and composed. Everything is precise.
Reason number two to why patience is essential is that by shooting and missing your shot, you give your enemies time to run away, get to cover, shoot at you, etc.
You will give up your position and let your enemies think of a counter-play.
In Warzone, for example, if I get shot by a sniper, and he misses, I immediately run to cover, asses my situation, maybe drop a precision strike, and the tables have been turned.
With good patience and centering, your sniper gameplay will rise to the next level.
If you want to improve your reflexes and have a faster reaction time that goes hand in hand with being a good sniper player, check out How To Improve Your Reaction Time: Faster Reflexes.
Get Better With Snipers - Environment
As a sniper, utilizing your surroundings is a must as you are pretty weak up close. So, let’s see how we use our environment for our own advantage.
3. Map Knowledge
A sniper must always know the map like the back of his hand. Utilizing the map and using it for his advantage can help the sniper and give him the edge he needs over other assault rifle players.
As a sniper, you are more limited in your movement than other players. Players with an assault rifle can pretty much do anything they want.
To close that gap, snipers must know every bit of the map to their advantage. That means using hills and high ground, utilizing good camping spots and points of interest.
Every edge you can get, take it. If it means sniping on a tower, so be it. If it means sniping next to the point of interest, so be it.
You must know every choke point, lane, tower, spawn location, and more about the map. Failing to do so will cause you to get surprised often by enemies and outplayed by them.
4. Indoors Knowledge
A good sniper uses corridors, desks, stairs, and everything indoors for his advantage.
By indoor knowledge, I mean corridors, cars, stairs, desks, and everything that can help you win a gunfight indoors.
Since a sniper is always more limited than an assault rifle, we have to use indoor stuff for our benefit. For example, utilizing a desk for cover when fighting an SMG. Running to a hallway, the moment the enemy starts sprinting, you come back and quick scope.
With good indoor knowledge, even with a sniper, you can outplay, maneuver, and play around SMG players.
That does not mean you must remember everything you have in every room and map. This process is very tedious when playing Battle Royales. But, it means that you have to look for opportunities during the gunfight to outplay your opponent. For example, take a look at this video:
I run to the hallway, the enemy starts tactical sprinting at me, and I just come back and hit the shot. Without any kind of special play here, I would’ve died.
Get Better With Snipers - Utility
Let’s talk about utility for a second.
5. Classes, Perks & Gear
In our journey to become the best sniper we can, we have to have every advantage we can. That means having a good secondary that fits our needs, good perks that fit our playstyle, and good gear like smokes or flashes that benefit our gameplay.
First, get a good secondary if you can. Sometimes you are going to use it. So make sure it is good and fits your needs. You don’t even know the power of a good secondary. Just putting on a sniper and playing with a bad secondary is not your ideal environment.
Imagine having a great OP secondary that can easily win fights. That means you will be more confident with your sniping skills and might even play more aggressively. In addition, you will have more fun since you know you have something you can rely on.
Second, get good perks if you can. Some games have perks that can increase your quality of life. For example, Ghost in Warzone: is not shown on the minimap. Amped in Warzone: Being able to switch between primary and secondary fast.
All of these will help with your sniping process and help you be a better sniper overall.
Third, have the right gear. For example, in Warzone, I use a Heartbeat sensor which basically pings every enemy at a 50m radius when I pop this monitor.
It helps because I can use it repeatedly and see if anyone is trying to flank me.
Try and find the best gear for you. Maybe you drop some smoke and use a thermal smoke. Maybe you flash your way to the room and quickly scope them.
6. Gaming Setup
Make sure your setup fits your needs. That means you do not have one of these mice with the ball underneath. You do not have a crumbling mousepad, and you have at least a 144hz+ monitor.
I highly suggest investing in your gaming setup as it can help your gameplay.
For aim, I think the most important peripherals are the mouse (Are Gaming Mice Worth It?), mousepad(Are Mousepads Worth it? Plus Shroud’s Opinion), and monitor.
- Mouse – I recommend getting the Logitech G Pro.
- Mousepad – I recommend getting the Steelseries QcK.
- Monitor – I recommend getting the BenQ Zowie XL2456k.
You can read more at My Gaming Setup For 2022 And My Recommendations.
Get Better With Snipers - Practice
Last but not least, practice!
Practice is everything, and sniping, is no different. First, you have to put in the hours. There are two main roads you can take when talking about practice:
1. Aim Trainers
If you are unsure about aim trainers, check out Are Aim Trainers Worth It?: The TRUTH. In a nutshell, they are worth it.
Start by incorporating static clicking scenarios in Aim Lab or Kovaaks (Kovaaks vs. Aim Lab) and work on your flicks. (Flicking guide) Practicing dynamic clicking and static clicking is what helped me bring my sniping gameplay to the next level.
You will flick between targets and focus on hitting small targets. There are moving targets (dynamic clicking) to imitate running targets.
If you are entirely new to this, check the most comprehensive aim training guide out there: The Complete Aim Training Guide: The Godlike Aim Journey.
2. Private Matches
If your game has the right tools, you can put a private match or a shooting range with low-level bots and start by killing a few hundred. Aim slowly and ensure you hit all your shots, and you will see improvement in no time.
Imagine wanting to improve your sniper gameplay in Apex Legends. Unfortunately, the amount of time you will actually work on your sniping skills in a match is little to none.
In the practice range, you can dedicate your entire time to working solely on hitting sniper shots. And it will make you a beast in no time.
My favorite would be to mix and match the two. I play Kovaaks almost daily, and sometimes if I want, I will hop into a private match and kill a few hundred bots.
KEEP PRACTICING
Put in the work, put in the hours. That’s how you achieve greatness. So keep playing, keep slapping. Eventually, it will flow in your blood.
Perfect practice makes perfect, so keep practicing and make sure it is perfect!
Final Words
You can improve your sniping aim by having your enemy in the center of your screen to minimize the need for micro-adjustments (centering) when scoping in. Also, ensure you are patient with your shots and shoot only when ready. Plus, use your environment and your map knowledge to your own advantage.
- Centering – have your enemies in the center of your screen
- Patience – shoot only when you are sure you hit
- Map Knowledge – use the map to your advantage.
- Indoors Knowledge – utilize corridors, desks, and stairs to maneuver players.
- Classes, Perks & Gear – Use the best loadout on a excellent sniper player
