[i] Ok everyone here is a [/i] [b] Guide [/b] [i] to Halo 3's [/i] Sniper Rifle, [i] that I've been working on for a little while now, Enjoy. [/i] [b] [i] I am [/i] [/b] NOT [i] [b] an employee of Bungie nor one of Microsoft, and my views and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of either of the above mentioned entities. [/i] [/b] This is merely a [i] guide [/i] to the many different aspects of the Halo 3 [i] Sniper Rifle [/i] or [i] "SR" [/i] for short. I'm not here to bost my skills as a Sniper or as a Halo player in any way, shape or form . I am however a Sniper, born and bred. I am however writing this guide for you the player to help you understand the SR, it's purpose, functionality, usefullness and all the other different aspects of this precise yet deadly weapon. [b] -First , let's take a brief look at the idea of what a Sniper is ? [/b] A sniper is a soldier that uses a specialized weapons system, (in our case the [url=http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Sniper_Rifle_System_99D-S2_Anti-Mat%C3%A9riel]SRS 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle[/url]) and tatics to eliminate and destroy enemy combatant's, vehicles and equipment. He is essentially the "King" of any battlefield because what he can do with one or two rounds may take two or three other soldiers to do. In Real Life snipers almost never work alone. They work in a team of two, one soldier scouts the intended target area for...well...targets, providing vital information to the second soldier (the sniper), such as wind speed, wind direction, target location, elevation, range and more. A sniper team may sometimes stay completely still for hours on end waiting for the intended shot. In Halo 3 snipers almost always work alone. Depending on the Map and Gametype a team's sniper is mainly in charge of targeting and eliminating enemies from distance, but like I said depending on the map and gametype snipers may also be able to perform may different tasks, (providing long range protection, escorts, guiding fellow team members, calling out enemy positions, etc). [b] -Second, Let's take a quick look at Halo 3's sniper rifle. [/b] "Officially" called the SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle, it's a medium to long range semi-automatic, gas-operated, magazine-fed weapon. The 99D-S2 AM rifle fires a 14.5x114mm Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot round that is very powerful, [quote] [b] WARNING [/b] The 14.5x 114mm APFSDS round is an anti-materiel munition. It can easily over-penetrate several armored soldiers. Be sure of what is on the other side of your target before firing. [/quote] The weapon's magazine holds only 4 of these 14.5x114mm rounds. The optical scope equipped on the SRS 99D has a 5X and 10X optical zoom which helps this weapon achieve an accuracy of approximately 97.3%, as well as an infrared/topographical view of everything that the scope itself sees. The maximum range of the ranger finder on the SRS 99D's scope is approximately 275m or 820ft . The maximum range that the rifles reticule will turn red at is approximately 142m or 466ft . ([url=http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Sniper_Rifle_System_99D-S2_Anti-Mat%C3%A9riel]Source, third last point of the "Trivia" section[/url]) Unfortunately the maximum effecive range of the SR is unknown, (to me at least). Bungie did shed a little light on this issue in a [url=http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=14347]Weekly Update 6/20/08.[/url] [quote] The Sniper Rifle bullet is a high velocity round and covers that same distance in somewhere between two and three ticks. What that means, is that at a certain range, the Sniper Rifle behaves like an instant hit weapon, but at longer ranges it takes two to three frames for the bullet to arrive. Keep in mind that the initial range for the Sniper Rifle is huge. [/quote] [b] -Third , here are the main points of this guide. [/b] Getting the SR , getting your hands on the sniper rifle "can" be quite hard these days. Let's face it everyone is going to want to use it sooner or later, and everyone should be allowed to have a chance with it during a game. So if you do manage to get your hands on the SR good for you, just remember that the chances of one of your teammates is going to try to kill you to get it is probably pretty high. And if you don't get it relax another one will come back in two minutes anyway. In the meantime you could jump in a warthog, practice your BRing, make a dash for the Spartan Laser, etc... Try to stay CALM and be PATIENT , there's no problem with taking your time on any particular shot. I like to use the term "Let the shot come..." and when I say that I mean you need to develop a feel for when to shoot and when not to shoot. Sometimes I'll have a headshot completely lined up but I won't take it because of where I am on a map or if there's other enemies close to me I may not fire because I think I've got a good position or I have teammates close to me who can easily take them down. On the flip side sometimes you may need to be quick with your shots it all just depends on the situation your in. No-Scoping , I'm going to be 100% honest here I suck at no-scoping I really do, it's the one area of sniping where my skills truely lack. For me it always seems to be "Dumb Luck" . I don't know of any advice to give to you guys about it but the only thing I can think of is don't go looking for amazing no-scopes, don't expect to do them everytime you have the SR. Speaking of no-scopes here's a little something for everyone to enjoy, No Scope Was Involved Keep it Clean.... I mean Locked and Loaded , It's always a good idea to reload after every shot because you never know when your going to need to fire a few rounds at once. Even if that's not the case it's still a good idea to keep four rounds in the camber instead of one or two. You never want to get stuck with three guys rushing you and your still reloading your gun. Another important fact is it probably takes the same amount of time to reload for one shot as it does for all four shots so why not. Aim for the Head First , unless you don't have a clear line of sight, aim for the head first. I do this all the time I'll aim for an enemy's head and if after a few seconds I don't feel I can get it then just go for the body. We all know that in Halo 3 unless your enemy has overshields it will only take one shot to kill them if it hits them in the head. A Headshot is obivously more difficult to do, (because your enemies head is really small in comparision to the rest of their body) but it does pay off. If you headshot someone the chances that they'll figure out where you are is almost slim to none therefore you probably won't reveal your position to them. Never stay in the same place. I highly recommend moving around. I hardly ever take more than three shots from any one location. You need to keep your enemies confused as to where you are. It's ok to return to a spot after a few minutes but just remember Move around. Use your environment to your advantage. Use rocks, tree's, and hills to your advantage use them to tip the odds in your favor. Hiding behind a rocks, tree's and hills is all fair game. Don't run in guns a blazin'. That just get's you killed. Feel free to stay back a bit and let your enemies move about the map. Take sometime and find a good position. Never walk around with your SR scope zoomed in. The Field of Vision FoV is small enough as is in Halo 3, you don't need to make is smaller. Try searching for targets without zooming in. Although you won't be able to see as far, you'll be able to see more of the Battle Field therefore more potential targets. And you'll be able to watch your radar at the sametime. KEEP an eye on that Radar of yours. It's a tool that's there to help you, use it. A Bodyshot is a little easier as there is more of a target to hit. Now it does take two shots so before you even fire the first round look to see if you eve have time to shoot two rounds. Missing your target , It's OK to miss we're not all perfect here, if you miss STOP firing, regain your control and setup another shot. Alot of the time people don't even know you missed them or we're even shooting at them in the first place. Stay Calm breath, eat, drink, go to the bathroom. It's ok to take a break for a few minutes and let your nerves calm down and relax alittle bit. Use the Fear Factor , have you ever been walking around sandtrap and suddenly your controller vibrates like carzy, your shields are gone, your screen flashes red and you have no idea of what just happened ? A single round to the body of an enemy can Scare them, (I'm sure you've all felt it). This tactic envokes fear in your enemy because your letting him know that his life is in your hands, you are god, and your rounds are probably just a few inches away from his head. I think the average headshot percentage of Halo 3 Players is about 50-55%. In reality that is not bad it's acually pretty good. (One of every two shots hits it's intended target.) To figure your your headshot percentage... -look at the number of headshot medals you have (ex: 1517) -then look at the number of kills you have with the sniper rifle and beam rifle -add them together (ex: 1813 + 210= 2023) -divide the number of headshot medals by the number of kills with the sniper rifle(s) -then multiply by 100 -(ex: 1517/2023 = 74.9) So your "headshot" accuracy is approx. 75%, which means on average three out of the four shots that you fire from the sniper rifle and beam rifle hit an enemies head. Ok thanks for reading everyone I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to comment and add anything sniper related. -H121 [Edited on 08.18.2008 6:28 PM PDT]