[Forte]

So I see these guides around here for TF2 classes, and figured that since I'm a good Sniper, I may as well try writing up a guide for him. You may be thinking, "Well, sniping is as easy as camping and shooting" but being benefit to your team is much more complicated than that.

First off, let's start up with the basics. The Sniper's weapons. If you're playing without the unlocks, your lineup is pretty generic:

Sniper Rifle: A typical long range rifle with a scope and laser sight that look like they were tacked on quickly and unprofessionally.
How to use it: The longer you stay scoped in, your weapon gets a charge. When it hits 100%, a body shot on Scouts, opposing Snipers, Spies, Medics, and Engineers will kill in one hit. A 100% headshot on anything will kill instantly, even a Heavy being currently charged by a Medic (excluding invincibility ubercharge). Despite popular belief, it is slightly stronger even if it doesn't hit 100%, so sometimes if you don't have the time to let it get to 100%, you can take out a Heavy, Soldier, Demoman or Pyro with just one headshot, though normally a headshot will simply leave them with +/-25 HP.

Sub-Machine Gun: A quick shooting and slightly weaker gun, great for close range.
How to use it: The SMG is actually much more powerful than you might think, especially when it hits random crits. In the event that you start firing and it crits on the first few shots in your clip, you'll be firing an entire clip of crits, which is great no matter who you're shooting at. It's best used to take out Scouts who have flanked you (if you notice them on time), Pyros who have rushed you, or Spies who didn't quite get that backstab. The gun isn't exactly that accurate, even at closer range, so it's up to you to keep it on track.

The Kukri: A bushknife, and not much else.
How to use it: The Kukri, like the Bonesaw, has a pretty high crit rate, and decent reach. I'm not much of a melee Sniper, but whenever I have to use it, I normally come out victorious. It's normally better to use the knife on Spies who missed a backstab/you saw coming, since they're going to, in 90% of the cases, continue trying to score a backstab (lol facestab) on you instead of retreat firing their revolver. Because of the high crit rate, you'll most likely end up killing the Spy (as a rule of thumb now, watch out for Dead Ringer spies by spraying the area with the SMG [If you're using it] after killing a Spy).

Sniper's unlocks: Unlike the classes before him, the Sniper's update didn't include a melee update, and instead included a Primary and two Secondary updates.

The Huntsman: A Bow complete with arrows. Named after Australia's most famous spider.
How to use it: The Huntsman is a strange weapon, and kind of defeats the purpose of even being called a Sniper. It's less accurate at long ranges, but very capable of being used from far away, but more suited for close range "sniping". A successful headshot kills most things, and if whatever you shot is close to a wall, they'll be ragdolled and pinned to the wall, which is just a funny bonus to having the Huntsman. It takes some getting used to, as holding the arrow in place too long will make your shot inaccurate, but not holding it long enough will cause the shot to fall short of its target. Personally, I'm not much for the use of the weapon, but, personal opinion matters a lot in this game.

The Razorback: A homemade shield that protects from one backstab. Very obviously homemade.
How to use it: This is one of the few, if not the only, passive weapons in the game. You don't have to turn it on to get it to work, or have it selected, it simply sits there. In the event that a Spy attempts to backstab you, you'll be protected and the spy will be stunned for a moment. For what it's worth, the SMG is better than this. By far. A Sniper's best bet is to simply turn your volume up a bit, so that you can hear spies uncloak near you, and to pay attention to everything else around you when you're not scoped in. That temporary paralysis on the Spy isn't going to last an inattentive sniper long enough anyway, so a new/unskilled player using the Razorback to protect them is a moot point.

Jarate: A jar of piss. Yet another obviously homemade item that the Sniper has.
How to use it: Jarate is by far the strangest weapon ever incorporated into a game. Though I personally do not prefer it, Jarate is useful to you and your teammates, and would be much, much more useful if you could keep your SMG while using it. After throwing it, upon impact with anything, it explodes and slings a blast of piss everywhere. Anyone caught within the radius of the explosion is colored in yellow and their vision is slightly impaired. After being "hosed down", every hit they take is automatically a mini-crit, so whatever is covered in it will probably die soon, especially if another Sniper with the SMG starts shooting. Jarate is also capable of putting out teammates who are on fire. The downside to Jarate is that you can only get another one upon respawn or by visiting a supply cabinet, and of course, the greatest downside - you lose your SMG.

Your job as a Sniper:

The Sniper is set up with the last three characters in the support category, and indeed, your job is to support. However, despite how most people do it, you aren't sniping just to counter-snipe, there's more important things going on than just killing the other team's Snipers. It's important to keep your eyes out for Heavy-Medic teams, or just Medics in general. Getting them out of the way whenever you see them is an important step in keeping your Engineer outposts in one piece, because if the Medic ubercharges the Heavy, especially with the normal Medigun, your team's Sentries, Teleporters, and Dispensers amount to *BLEEP*. It's also a good idea to take out enemy Engineers and their Sentries/Dispensers before they become a problem to the rest of your team. For added fun, find out where enemy engineers have built a teleporter and snipe everyone that pops out of it. Aside from spies, you'll cripple most of the team's activities until the Engineer destroys the teleporter and builds it somewhere else, or, in the rare case, the entire team gets wise to the fact that no one's killing you and stops using it.

Your mortal enemy as the Sniper is the Spy, and to a lesser extent, the Scout. I've already discussed how to take care of both of these close up, but at a distance it's a different story. Scouts normally know you're on to them and run around in odd patterns. The best way to get a headshot on them is to simply focus on one spot and not try to move with them. It's way too hard to keep up with a Scout, so following predictable moves is much easier and should result in success. Spies, on the other hand, can't be seen half the time. If you do see a Spy cloaking, shoot in the general area you think he's in or attempt to shoot him while you can still see him. It's worth one wasted shot to maybe hit him. If you're dealing with new spies or overall lame spies, seeing your team come from the enemy spawn is a good reason to shoot at them. Pay attention to any "teammates" coming your way when there's no real reason to come over to your location. Since they won't expect you to know them as a spy, take a shot at their head. If it doesn't kill, they're on your team.

The Demoman and Soldier pose very little threat to you as a Sniper, since Soldiers aren't really able to hit you from that far away, and their rockets are easy to sidestep. As a rule of thumb, Demomen never have much HP, and a headshot should take them out, sometimes even a bodyshot. If you see one fresh from spawn, get a headshot on him anyway, he'll probably end up blowing himself up. Less threat to your team. Pyros are a pain sometimes, since their 175 HP make them a challenge to kill. If one rushes you, switch to the SMG and retreat. If you're lucky, you'll get their HP low enough that they retreat or you kill them, and if you're extremely lucky, you'll get backup from anyone else around you.

Useful tips:

Stick close to Sentries, this discourages Spies from outright stabbing you. If they begin to sap, you'll certainly hear that, and can even help your Engineer friend.
Keep your back to a wall.
When you make a kill, change location. That way enemy Snipers can't countersnipe, and spies sent to look for you won't get an easy kill.
Occasionally spycheck, it'll keep you alive longer.
Don't be on Team Sniper. If someone needs your help, you have the weapons to lend it to them.