Rules of Recon v2

I wanted to give my insight into sniping on BF, cos there's some hefty bollocks in this thread IMHO.

First some context: XBOX, Conquest, proper BF mode (i.e. not what people call hardcore).

1) "Recon means recon!" Crap. Recon isn't about recon (in the same way that words like "designated marksman" and "anti-material" are utterly meaningless buzzwords in BC2). Everyone can spot. Everyone can communicate. Recon has nothing that gives it any real advantage in the area of spotting over any other class. 2) "Infiltration"

It also doesn't have BF2142 cammo or BF2 immunity to radars... recon has nothing to give it any 'infiltration' role. What is infiltration in BC2? Throw a sensor and send in the squad. These two points are compounded by the fact that this is a *squad* game, not a class game. How does "infiltration" fit into a squad game?

3) Which rifle? Take the bolt action rifles and throw them out the window because a sniper with a bolt action rifle is largely useless. I used only bolt rifles in BF, BF2, BF2142 and BF1943...but BC2 is different. Reload times are massive, against a good player you will be killed within a reload and you are limiting your capabilities and pushing yourself out of the squad. Semi auto recon can move and shoot, do QQB, and snipe effectively at all ranges. IMO use a SUV. The silencer is worth its weight in gold. Discard magnum ammo (pointless for all snipers) and get body armor (well worth it). Get rid of mortars, they're pointless and boring to use. Get c4: its far more applicable and IMO far better gameplay. Plus I would never in a million games put myself in view for anything like the length of time a mortar takes to order.

4) "No head-shots means you're not sniping"

Nonsense. You get bonuses for helping and helping achieves helping. This is another reason why bolt action rifles are limited: I often aim to injure enemies rather than kill them if there is a lot of them and a lot of movement. Trying to get a headshot will decrease chance of hitting compared to trying to get a any-where shot. A grazed soldier will lose 90% of the time in a 1 on 1. A clip of 10 rounds means (conservatively) 3 injuries... leading to 3 kills one way or another. In principal 10 bullets could mean 10 hits, and 10 team advantages and therefor 10 (almost) secured kills. Also: no kill = no kill-cam reveal. And a sense of infuriation because they will think the players are using rapid fire or something.

5) Shoot and move!

Another myth. Move if moving is a good idea... stay if it isn't. To snipe effectively you need to know where EVERYONE is ALL of the time...and know EVERY POSSIBLE firing line. You position yourself to avoid these all of the time. Movement = cross firing lines and more unknowns = higher chance of getting shot. Much harder to control your visibility when moving. So...don't be afraid to stand your ground.

5) Get in their heads!

Know where they can spawn and judge whether they'll spawn there. Keep an eye open for suspiciously fast re-spawns = 'mobile spawn point'. Know who are the ones who launch vendettas and use it against them. Get good at predicting whether they have made you and if so the odds of them coming for you. Know where they'll spawn before they do. Judge timing! How long does spawn take? Let them see you in the kill cam but dont give away your reposition. How long will it take the to get into your firing line? When can you expect them to appear round a corner? If they dont where could they be? Assess the possible routes and re-aim. Assume the worst case, assume they hit your most vulnerable angle. Clear that first. Then clear the other angles. Dont stay visible for too long...if theyve gone theyve gone. Always have a fall back cover position that you fell is free from firing angles.

Another rule: The more you can see, the more can see you.

6) Learn patterns.

One of the first rules of sniping: If you see one you'll see another. You see a player run past a point...can you predict their path? If not...where 1 soldier runs there is a higher chance of another following in their footsteps than anywhere else. People rarely recheck their paths. What does that mean? Someone runs into a building they will check all new places before even thinking about checking where they came from. Get behind and follow there path, 4 time of 5 they'll be oblivious.

7) Feel the danger and trust your team.

Getting a feeling for chunks of the map that are safe and chunks that arent. Team mates are a wall between you and them. Another BIG rule: NOTE DEATHS! Teammate died? Where? Left or right? Is the are to your left now an unknown? Feel the danger and think about possible firing lines. Reposition...but only just enough. Sometimes the team will let someone in...but tough...this is a team game.

8) Reverse angles are better than confrontational angles. Get ahead and face back.

9) Sniping isnt about range...it's about being in a place they dont look. That could be 6 meters away.

10) What is recon about then?

Recon is fluid. You're a fixed sniper and a high volume killer. You trick players into hunting you down instead of winning. You become invisible when your squad is dead so they always have a spawn point. You are a body guard when the squad is capping and act as a reliable spawn point. Work with an assault so you have never ending sensors. Move with the squad or act as a fallback spawn point. 11) You are about "special/high priority/key targets"

Crap. Be indiscriminate. In most situations that level of analysis is both impractical and a luxury. Injure then Kill everyone you see. Don't always take the shot straight away. Register the target in your head. Take cover, line up the shot then emerge, fine tune the shot and take them out. If when you're in cover you think there are more lethal targets, take them and come back to the original target. Don't stare! The time you spend looking through your scope should be directly proportional to how safe you feel about EVERY line of sight to your current position.

So carve up your field of view. Narrow the world down to a tiny slice and scan slice by slice. As you do you expose more of yourself, but are also becoming more confident about what you are seeing. Zero confidence = you're blind. Take yourself out of the firing line and start again.

12) Counter sniping in BC2 doesnt really see much use. Often the best way to deal with a sniper is just position yourself so they can't see you. Theyll get bored. Dont bother even killing them. Kill them and theyll reposition...or even worse, think about doing something useful. Injure them and let them lick their wounds. If theyre a hassle deny them a target. They'll be there later.

"The snipers have always been the guys that can't do anything else,"

No i think youll find thats all classes...its just you are predisposed to assuming its snipers.

There are plenty of players who contribute nothing to the game, its just easier to see in snipers.

I was just this minute in a game where 3 (snipers, two behind me at range and me fairly close marksman range) of us where looking after A. Then someone came over to register his disgust in what we where doing. Though he hadnt realised that we have to hold 2 flags and had 10 players total...so 3 players looking after a flag is fewer players than SHOULD have been there doing what we where doing...and the fact that A was held for 80% of the game and 4 APCs and countless soldiers died trying to cap it was integral to winning the game and free this guy from having to string together a tactic more effective that "run at the next uncapped flag".

Actually, the way the scoring works right now...a s**t ton of snipers could have a good chance of winning, assuming they know how to play.

-Bolt and semi auto sniper rifles as well as shot guns, rifles, assault rifles, SMGs...with motion sensors and c4 as standard. All the weapons you need.

-No revivals of course, but as I said...win = majority of the flags. In a match up between all medics v all recon...I don't think it would be that obvious who would win. Medics have revives, and realistically also can snipe (given LMG range and precision)...but, no AT. Played out on arica harbor...would be interesting.

squad 1 and 2 (attack squad)
2x SemiAuto Snipers +c4 +armor +ammo (central map territory holding + fall-back spawns)
2x Assorted weapons +c4 (seizing)

squad 3
2x Bolt action +mortars (range)
2x Semi Auto (spotters and padding)

Oh another good tip:

-Look out for enemy mines and snipe them when someone walks/drives past.

-Laying C4: Few different ways of laying it. Watch the teams patterns you might see a single player who is doing laps for some reason or keeps using a similar quad rush. People ALWAYS follow patterns without realising it. For a fast moving put 2 or 3 c4s in a line in the direction of expected movement. Give plenty of time for the c4 to actually explode...it takes quite a while for some reason. For hitting slow moving targets at a bottle neck put the c4 so that one is to the left and one to the right...this way theyre less likely to see it.

If theyre are smart they will not venture in until the feel its safe...so a good arrangement is to have the two c4 either side (the c4 has quite a good range, in fact it often does more damage at range than attached), maybe put it up a height (like inside a door way frame)...then put a third piece in fully view behind those forming a triangle. The idea is they see the third piece and shoot it...but you have placed the c4 so that they sweet spot they park in to shoot the c4 is also right in between the two other pieces. This is useful for catching the smarter players.