In the eyes of advanced users, snipers can be the artists that take out enemies from the backlines while never directly engaging the enemy. There are six main aspects that make a good sniper a legendary one: stealth, awareness, accuracy, positioning, predicting, and experience. We’ll take a look at each of these six aspects in this How-To article.
Stealth
One of the main aspects to being an amazing sniper is to keep your enemies guessing. The more you avoid being seen, the better shots you can setup. Hiding and waiting for the right moment to take that shot is paramount. This includes finding good cover and to avoid making as much noise as possible. Decoy grenades should be used at a minimal and only if the enemy has already been privy to your location. Smoke grenades are great for having to quickly change positions, but can be a major hindrance when trying to take a shot.
Awareness
A sniper should always be aware of his or her surroundings. When camping corners, you should try to track down enemies that become separated. Not panicking and taking the first shot you come by is important. Snipers also want to absorb as much information through radar and communication with your team as possible.
Accuracy
Accuracy is of course very important to snipers. Losing a shot happens, but decreasing the frequency is important. Muscle memory and sharp reflexes is the key here. Trust yourself, trust your practice, and trust your instincts. Determine quickly if you need to make a quick shot, or if you can setup the shot more properly.
Positioning
Having the right position on a sniper can help you tremendously. You want to minimize the access points around you. This means staying close to walls and cover objects, reducing your flank vulnerabilities, and ideally having a convenient way out. Develop a plan of action before you even leave your spawn location. Know exactly where your team is going and where to consequently setup your position at.
Predicting
Anticipating your shot and your enemy’s movement is extremely important as well. Predict where the enemy will move in the next 1/2-1 second, and setup your crosshair there. Trust your reflexes and take the shot as soon as the enemy enters the periphery of your crosshair. When covering congested access points on the map, always be in full alert mode. Expect enemies at any point. If you absolutely have to move as a sniper, always check
corners with your pistol out. Always be in full alert mode and expect enemy combatants to be camping those corners. Above all, think like the enemy. What would he do? Where is he moving?
Experience
With experience comes acute knowledge, and knowledge can be very powerful in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Great snipers realize they are a backup role; they should not be at the frontline or attempting to secure entry frags. Their job is to pick off the enemy team one at a time. They want to look for the stragglers, and not so much firing into groups of enemies. Snipers are often the best intelligence gathers on the team as well. They often can see at the furthest distance and can provide the location of enemy combatants.