The old one is gone and I don't feel like retyping all that sniper crap. I will, however, add one thing.

Command map.
This is something that I think a lot of people overlook when sniping. Remember that every enemy seen by a covert ops is placed on the command map. Since only my russian hax allow me to snipe with classes other than a covert ops, I will assume that you are a covy. The game is very liberal about deciding which players you actually "see". What I mean is that any player that's even remotely in your field of view will light up on the map. How many times have you said to yourself "Dammit! That dirty commy is hitting me from somewhere, but I can't see him!"? If I can see you then you most likely can see me, you just don't notice me behind some bush or tree or wall. Simply pull out your map and you'll see me as clearly as you would if I were to get up and start waving a red flag with a sickle and hammer on it. When sniping on fuel dump, for example, I glance at the map roughly every 5-10 seconds. I can quickly check an entire area for enemy presence by simply looking in the general direction and checking the map rather than scouting out every tree and bush with binoculars (Or, worse yet, my scope. If you have no idea where I am and you are looking for me with your scope, you DESERVE my bullet).



Anyway, on to general gameplay tips. Henceforth I will assume that you are an SMG class.

First of all: listen. Having music playing in the background makes the game more enjoyable for some but it will drastically affect your playing ability. I recommend getting a headset. It provides an excellent sense of sound direction, is great for voice comm, and will not disturb your grandma with loud explosions, people screaming for a medic as their flesh is torn apart by a barrage of bullets, and Russian yelling obscenities over TS. It is almost impossible to be completely silent in ET, everything from swapping weapons to giving out health or ammo makes noise. A great example of taking full advantage of sound would be BaseRace. You can actually hear people running through those caves that connect the trenches when you stand on the surface. All you have to do is follow their footsteps, crouch above the exit and point your gun down. You just got a free kill and they never saw the bullets crunching through the back of their skull. You can also nade people very well in those trenches by estimating their location by sound. Those puddles at the right corner of each base can help quite a bit. Whenever you think an enemy might be nearby, stay quiet and listen. Walk, don't run, and lean around corners. Try not to swap or reload.



Mobility. Every FPS player worth his salt should be able to circle-strafe a tree. If you have trouble doing that, go out and practice. Just don't piss on them. Always stay mobile during a firefight, move erratically from side to side and for God's sake, DO NOT PRONE. When you hit the dirt you become a stationary object and any idiot with half a brain should be able to hit you. There are, however, two exceptions to this rule. You could utilize proning as part of your evasive technique by proning and getting up right away. You can also prone behind some cover while reloading. Always try to find something to hide behind while you reload, be it a corner, a crate, whatever. You are completely helpless while you reload and your only hope is that nobody kills you while you are in this state. If you think your enemy is almost dead and you can finish him off with your pistol, go for it. Try not to swap while attempting to reload your SMG though, it will cause a bug where you won't have any weapon at all for the duration of one reload and in the end it won't reload your weapon anyway. If you are fighting multiple enemies try to line 'em up to force them into interfering with each other rather than catch you in a cross-fire. You can also try to use the terrain to fight them one at a time. If all fails, don't be ashamed to run. I tuck tail and book it all the time and some people still think I'm good. However, always backpedal when you are trying to make it out of a fight, turning your back on an enemy is usually sure death.



Surviving. Going into a fight with 10 hp is probably a bad idea. Try to find a medic or a medrack, the extra time wasted will be usually worth it. If you think it would be faster to simply respawn - /kill. Same thing goes for ammo. Looking for enemy troops while holding a pistol is usually a waste of time and will probably just end up with you spectating teammates. Make liberal use of the 'kill' command, make sure to bind it. Respawning with full health and fresh ammo or at a different spawn point can be a huge time-saver. Using /kill will not count as a death and will not end sprees.



Try to use your brain once in a while. There are plenty of examples when engaging the thinking process can be very beneficial:
If a teammate running right in front of you turned a corner and got instantly mowed down by an MG, you might want to ponder that fact before you go any further.
If you are an engineer friendly mines will explode when you run over them. On most servers friendly mines will explode regardless of your class. If FF is off they won't hurt you, but they WILL hurt the person who planted them. If he happens to be crouching nearby trying to plant more mines he will probably die and he probably won't be happy. For some reason this fact seems to elude many people.
If an engineer is trying to make it to a damaged tank through some open ground and keeps getting his head exploded by sniper bullets and you just happen to have a smoke canister....
If a medic runs up to you while holding a scoped or silenced gun, please don't give him ammo, other than dispensed by your weapon. Some people can be pretty oblivious to the differences between a thompson and a k43.
If a teammate seems to have an unhealthy interest in a patch of turf right in front of him, looking at it through his binoculars as if very interested in something that could be hiding there (ants, maybe?). Whatever that something may be, running over it will probably piss him off.
Etc.



Dealing with heavies:
Panzers are extremely powerful but have a very slow rate of fire. If a panzer missed you, running away will give him time to reload. Try to get him while he's stuck with his secondary weapon to defend himself with. Spraying a full clip into his face while his pathetic peashooter puts mere scratches on you will leave you laughing with glee.

Mobile MG's can be devastating on defense but, ironically, are not very mobile. If you know where an enemy has deployed a mobile MG, try to take a longer way around and kill him from the back. Also remember that they have a limited arc. If you turn a corner and come face-to-face with a deployed MG, circle-strafing his sorry ass feels like Christmas.

Flamethrowers are deadly in close quarters but are useless at range. First thing to do when fighting a flamer is to put some distance between the two of you. The sight of a flamer desperately running towards you while you pump round after round into his twitching body is sure to make you smile.

Mortars have an extremely long range and are usually fired from the safety of an enemy spawn-point. While killing a mortar soldier can be either challenging or time-consuming, you could work on avoiding their fire. Mortar rounds are clearly visible in the sky, especially if you know where they are coming from. With just a little practice you will be able to predict where the round will hit based on it's trajectory. Watching those rounds harmlessly pummel the turf is nothing short of heart-warming.

Some little tips and tricks:

If you are a medic, don't forget that revived teammates are invulnerable for a short period of time. If you are reviving someone while under fire, feel free to hide behind him while he's getting up. He won't mind.

If you are planting mines try to keep in mind that many people have level 4 battle sense. Planting mines in bushes, behind corners or rocks, or in places where enemy players would jump down to will significantly increase your chances of killing someone.

Always reload when there's nobody to shoot at, even if you fired off just one or two rounds. Make it a habbit to always keep your clip full.

Always heal your teammates and supply them with ammo even if they didn't ask for it. A hurting buddy with half a bar left should've have to ask for a medic while looking right at you, it's pretty fucking obvious that he could use some health. Same goes for ammo. A medic running around with his pistol drawn isn't doing so because he's retarded (some rare cases are an exception).

Try to stick with teammates. Individual skill matters but strength is still in numbers. Nobody likes getting gang-banged (in-game, that is).

Try not to become too predictable. People adapt quickly and once they find your weakness you'll be screwed. Camping behind the same corner or sniping from the same place or mortaring the exact same spot over and over are some examples.

Crouching or proning decreases your bulletspread. Use it when shooting at distant targets.

That's all I can think of for now. If I remember some more random junk to add I'll post it.

hmmm, i think i read 3 words out of that. but to add to it, going in with 10 hp is not always bad, just carry a nade primed with ya, and use yourself to blast the way in

The part about 10hp is way more than 3 words from the top
And you'd have to be pretty lucky not to get gunned down before you get anywhere close to someone.

These are good tips Russian -thanks. And you have quite a way with words, you crack me up man . Especially the ant colony thing - LMAO.

of course i will get gunned down, thats the fun part, i like to have a nade ready, get gunned so the nad drops on withmy body covering in, then have it blow up and take one or two with me

Funny you should mention that.Yesterday on Baserace I was a med and was in a battle with Numchuck.At the end he managed to kill me but the second b4 I died I turnd around and tried to run with a nade in my hand.Well I fell on the floor,dead,and when he went to gib me and get my medpacks the nade blew up and killed his ass. It was fuckin hilarious I couldn't stop laughing.

ok i have taken the time to read yer guide. first avoiding mortars is easy, when you face the standard cookie cutter guys. Its those that have the nort mort bot that are the ones that will really f*** you up. But as for the cookie cutters, you know where they are aiming, they usually drop the same spot each time, becuase they dont know much about adjusting to put another round in somewhere else without having to "sight" in the mortar. As for covies in uniforms. it always makes it easier if you call out that someone has your uni, if you are aware of it. I've died plenty of times to someone in uni just becuase i wasnt warned to watch out for it. course once you hit level 4 battle sense you dont have this problem, if no name pops over their head, start shooting!
Next onto mines. on any server FF is off you can use them to your advantage. On ours, if you are being chases, purposely walk over the mines, try to lead them into them. on others if an enemy is close by. walk on the mine to trip it, damaging him but leaving you unscathed.

One thing you can learn from observation, is the most likely spot wher eyou can expect to meet resistance. so those spots crouch walk up to. and make sure you have your gun ready. you know you will have people in the bank for goldrush. prime a nade in ahead of yourself to the left/right of the doorway. chances are someone is waiting in those corners. stuff like that

i always hide in the corners......... and u told them my hiding place well i have to change it again when i come............

Great tips Russ.

It's always fun to play with or against you on the server. You definitely are one of the better players I've seen.

A couple of things I'd like to point out for some of the less experienced players. If you are a medic, please remember to use the needle to heal teammates EVEN when they are not down. If you see a teammate who's VERY low on health (think it's < 10%), you can use your needle on him and bring him up to at least half-health if you are less than level 3. If you are level 3 or 4, you will bring him up to full health and save your med packs for someone else, or yourself if you are injured. Unless you are under direct fire by someone, if you are level 3 or 4, ALWAYS revive the other guy(s) first. Frequently, I find myself reviving 2 or 3 guys close to objective. I get killed, but the 2 or 3 I just put at full health wiped out the guy or guys shooting me and then had clear sailing to the objective.

Remember to revive someone on the move, don't stand still right on top of them. If you must stop because of messed up needles boxes, then don't leave your back to the direction from which the enemy will approach.

If FF is on, the tk-revive can be your friend if they are slightly above that 10% but still low. Just remember to NOT do this unless you are sure the coast is clear. Also, if you have not earned a lot of respect on the server, you might get people on your case by doing this, so be careful.



The other thing that I see quite often is people aiming for the body too much. Headshots are invaluable. You can shoot 35 with 12-15 percent HS and run over people shooting 40-45 with 5-7. The only time you might need to drop the crosshair is in 1v1 duels where a good sprinter is involved. If you are sprinting you have more time, so body shots can be more effective in those situations.

Some excellent players are really not super headshot guys. So it's a matter of finding your balance. However, the guy with headshot aim has the advantage most of the time. These are the guys who get "How'd you kill me so quickly?" comments on the server. It's because they hit you in the head 3 times for 150 damage.

Unless you are healing yourself (packs get applied more quickly looking down it seems), or you are tracking and enemy on higher or lower ground, you shouldn't be looking anywhere besides head level for at least the first shot.

I see this all the time spec'ing people. There first shot hits the enemy in the chest which would be great in real life, but pretty much sucks in ET.

I bought a screwed up mouse pad and have a sucky mouse. I'm going to rectify that situation. It should help considerably. I've been aiming at the ceiling a couple of times since I bought that piece of crap. It's too slick for the light mouse I have.

J

Added Tips: PLAY ETPRO. EtPro draws more o fthe "competitive" players so if you see us on the pro server, hop on. You may die alot but the practice will increase yoru skill so that when you go back to the pub server it seems so much easier. Always aim for the head, even if your accuracy sucks while you starting out. Those people you see getting high kills are becuase they are head shot people. You take them down faster that way, and its easier to take out groups of people with head shots. I know sometimes i drop 3-4 guys all grouped togethor becuase i just run back and forth strafing at headshot level, with each hit being 50 hp a pop you can drop the whole group quickly if they arent aiming as well. Of course the ratio drops when i face off against others of equal caliber. You can tell when two good people come up on each other and one doesnt catch the other off guard, sometimes it takes a minute or two before one or the other dies, cuase they are both, running, ducking hiding, popping out to fire off a few shots. LOL i always get amused when that happens