... anyways, my first piece of advice, is PRACTICE. My second piece of advice, is practice ONLY if there isn't an overload of snipers on your team, otherwise, you're just a douche. I consider myself a decent sniper, and if some asshat switches to sniper, and sucks, I usually switch off, and play another class... so the team just traded a better sniper for a worse one. Ok, but if you're the first one to switch to sniper, by all means, stay, it's the other players stupidity for thinking there needs to be more squishies.
Ok, now on to buisiness. People say sniper is just point and click... well I'll agree to that to an extent, but saying it's just point and click is really detracting from the difference between a target w/a gun, and a marksman. How many people do you think of when you think of good snipers? Probably not many. Off the top of my head, I can think of... 5 (but I'm old, and 3/5 of those don't play anymore). But how many people have you seen playing sniper? There ya go.
The first thing you need to realize, is that you have 125 hit points. That's nothing, you'll go down fast if you get in the middle of the fray. So firstly, don't run up to the front lines, until you are actually competent. Someone like Aus does pretty well up front... sometimes... If your team is making a push, then push w/them, but otherwise, chill slightly in the back, but not too far back, or spies will kill you all the time. And on spies, always listen for uncloaking. Also, something I do, is check and see who's standing near me. If I see someone get stabbed in the back, when kills pop up, then I know a spy is around, and I pull out of scope. I keep my machete as my secondary weapon usually (pushing Q brings it up).
Second. Slowly increase your sensitivity over the course of a month. I would say about a half point at a time, every few days. Sensitivity is a little thing that can help a lot.
Third. LEARN what head height is. If you know about how high heads are in the game, then it's much easier to get a headshot (oh yea... headshots are always critical hits).
Fourth. Scouts are a bitch, sometimes it's better to go for body shots... and sometimes it's better to just run away from them. OR, fight them w/your machete and SMG. I'll be honest, scouts are what I'm worst against as sniper. It's usually a 45/55 kill ratio, them.
Fifth. Stick near a sentry if you can, preferably able to see a few game-feet behind you. This will help warn off spies, and scouts. (oh yea... another great way to know if a spy is near by... then equipment getting sapped, it's a very noticeable sound)
Sixth. Let them run into your dot.
Seventh. Hide the dot... unless you're trying to keep people from exiting that way, and want to channel them into your team's sentries/defenses.
Eighth. MOVE! If you stand still, you're an easy target. I probably sit still about 10% of the time I'm a sniper. I always move, even when I'm scoped. Jumping can help too.
Ninth. Learn the map. Knowing where people can, and usually come out of, helps to rack up the points.
Tenth. Try and find straightaways. Distance is your friend, as well as people walking in straight lines.
Eleventh. Heavies are slow, especially when they're shooting.
Twelfth. Medics like to stand still when they think they're safe.
Thirteenth. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. I'm 22, I've been practicing sniping since I was 15.
Fourteenth. PRACTICE!
Fifteenth. Play another class, take a break, recharge. Sometimes you need to do something else, to give your sniping 'experience' time to digest in your mind. When you come back, usually you'll be slightly better than before.
Sixteenth. Countersnipe. If you're sniping, and you're not even trying to countersnipe, change your class! You're not playing the class to the fullest, and you're hindering your team.
Seventeenth. If you're just not good at sniper, or you're having a bad day as sniper. Then play another class. I suck as heavy, I have less than 10 hours total in it, and a 160+ hours as sniper. We can't all be good at everything all the time, and sometimes ever. But I bet you're good at other classes. Play your strengths.
That's all I've got for now... besides, class is about to end, so I should wrap this up. Hope something in here helps.
