Most people who think of a sniper they picture immediately some guy in a ghilie suit running around sniping people or someone ontop of a mountain that you walked up and killed him on. Especially in a game like Unturned, they see someone who's in a very high tower and has a view of virutally everything. Others would go back to days of Call of Duty and Battlefield. Sitting in a position and "camping" it or being extremely aggressive and running about taking "crack shots," "quick" and "no" scope kills. They may even transfer these traits into Unturned, but how effective are they really? While you can run a muck of things sprinting around and shooting anything that moves, wouldn't you rather be the ghost they can't find all while you drop person after person..? A better question would be, how can I become an effective spotter?

The word Sniper is derived from those who would hunt a bird called a Snipe. Today though the sniper is known as more of psychological warfare that incites fear into all. There's a reason they're nicknamed things like "Ghost" and "Grassy Knoll." For more of the history behind Snipers go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sniper

How do you become a sniper then, do you need the best caliber weapon, or do you need to be a ghost? What about your protection, how do you even find protection? Well very simple, the answers are yes an no. A sniper is an extremely precise marksman, they rarely miss and always aim for lethal shots. Snipers are trained with a variety of weapons as to assure this, so necessarily any weapon can be turned to a vicious killing machine in their hands. Protection and cover you ask, well this is much more different. How do you invision yourself covered and when do you like to be mobile? Do you set up inside a building close to a window, a watch tower, maybe your own made tower or base? First of all, no sniper whatsoever would ever shoot from a window. Well then, how do I get a kill? Precision, movement all while staying concealed. A good sniper will actually use trigonometery to make sure the area he/she is in is secured and safe. That's an advanced math... Not really, it comes down to very easy basics. Things like, there's a claymore on the only stairway up here, there's a wall to my back, and if I move left or right I'm no longer seen at all. This will be explained later in better detail though, don't fret.

Spotters are essential to snipers, and yes these people are also snipers. It's an absolute part of all training and knowledge of snipers to also be spotters. So we know that snipers are very precise, tactical and even smarter. So what makes a spotter a spotter?

For starters, spotters are used to call out important bits of information such as: locations of areas, hostile targets, vehicles, etc. They do this with absolute precision giving their counter part Sniper a good idea of their surroundings and where to aim. Here's some examples of a spotter talking:
"Alright, how many rounds you got?"
"Got two moving, 12 O'clock, Burywood...Moving towards the two story building, both armed. Got them?"
"Vehicle inbound. Three targets, one is armed in the back. Green truck moving towards Wiltshire, got it? ...Oh one just jumped out, looks like they're all in armor and this one is going up the mountain side. Matamorez, you tracking? Take him."
"Ivan, MB (Military Base) first barrack watch tower, armed and looking around. Jack, MB, hanger watch tower he's just crouched down, armed. Lined up? On 3, 2... Both down, kills confirmed."

Pretty handy information isn't it? Better then having someone saying something like:
"He's over there!"
"Dude look in the town! Kill him!"

This is the reason spotters are so extremely useful to have. You might ask though, where would a spotter be at? Usually spotters are right next to their sniper, but in some cases such as counter sniping it could be more beneficial to have said spotter in a completely different location. Keeping close of course though. It's an interesting job to be a spotter for someone or even multiple people. You have to be very quick and deadly accurate. The only change with spotting for multiple people is just your ability to relay information as quickly and effectivly as possible. Another great tip if you have your sniper has a Timberwolf and Lapua Tracers, wait till night. NVG or not it's blisteringly easier to spot for your sniper and get incredibly deadly amounts of kills this way. The reason why, you see where the bullets are landing.

What's it like to be a spotter?
Extremely pleasing, especially when your sniper gets the hit confirmed as a kill. Even better when you have a second sniper and they fire in unison.

Now there's a lot of ways to conceal yourself, there's one though you should never attempt. It's referred to as "Tree Cancer." Tree cancer by definition means to, attempt to conceal ones self by positioning near a tree. Concealing yourself can be very easy, assuming you make it that way. Otherwise you'll find yourself dead before you even know it. It should be self-explanatory to constantly check your surroundings, never swim, and to never stand unless you're running. Can you crouch walk the entire map and stay away from roads, zombie and animal detection? Just remember this key element though, if you're killed or spotted. Move, do not ever wait to move. Do not go for all your gear, grab the sniper, run. Find a new position and begin your counter-sniping.

So what kind of clothes should I wear? Realistically a sniper would normally make a ghilie suit out of his/her surroundings for a perfected blending. It would be recommended you change even your skin and facial features to blend in and be very minimal. Sadly, we'll have to make due with the following items for greens then gray:

• Rucksack
  
• Ghilie Top
  
• Ghilie Hood
  
• Ghilie Pants
  
• Forest Armor
  ----
  
• Alice Backpack
  
• Ninja Top
  
• Ninja Hood
  
• Ninja Pants
  
• Police Armor

Military NVG is optional in either of these desired looks, but is not recommended. The reason being that it's impossible to tell when it's day and night without turning the NVG off, limits range of view, and can even give your position away with it's white goggles and clicking sound. You may also be wondering why I said gray, not black. Simple, while black may be good for darkness it is not what you ever want to use. Why? Because take solid black shirt, or cloth item and wave it around in the dark. You will see it, try it with a dark gray item, your visibilty with it will drop dramatically and void itself when it stops moving. To keep out of anyone's visibilty as well it's highly recommended you always have situational awareness. Count to 60, look behind you, check for zombies, avoid animals as their very movements can give your position away.

So now you know what to wear, but not where to hide or how. Well I mentioned earlier the word "Crack shot" this is the term used to define a shot made from virtually just a sliver of a visual position such as an actual crack of a door way. See pictures below for refference.
Now these pictures illustrate urban sniping positions, if you want to know why these positions are so great. Look at the surroundings, there's multiple escape routes if needed and a perfect non-wall clipping sniping position. So what about outdoors? How can you tell if you're actually concealed? Well since sadly this game lacks optimization, most people do game with the lowest settings. It would be wise to have your foliage set to it's lowest that way you know what can and can't help you hide. Your best options would be to hide in tall grass and bushes. Especially if you're "all ghilied up," a term used to describe someone who is wearing a fully immersed ghilie suit. These positions are even desired with ninja gear depending on the time of day, sundown and night being your shadowed veil. A good idea for anyone to avoid tree cancer and to keep extremely well hidden is to use the tree itself. A mountain top with a tree behind it. You being ontop of the mountain and the tree lining up just right to you so anyone from a lower, even a higher position would have trouble spotting you, thinking you were the tree itself. See pictures below for aid.
Another good way to conceal yourself and avoid detection in a major way is very simple. You'll need multiple ladders though, three to five to be exact. I would only ever use this with a full ghilie suit and a Matamorez rifle. Believe it or not you can actually set the ladders up against the trunk of any tree and done correctly, you can stand, crouch, and prone on top of the tree! It's almost impossible to find as as long as you keep still and minimize movement. You might as well call yourelf a ghost. It's extremely useful if you have the patience, but you lose all chance for cover. Worse though you'll break your legs most likely jumping or falling off. I didn't want to include this originally for these cons, but seeing players actively using this method is rather shocking. So here it is!

With counter-sniping we see a new problem. Now I'm being shot at, they actually found me! This wasn't originally added simply because I wasn't entirely sure how to go about it. Counter-sniping is a new element, now for a lot of you it's just "SPRAY AND PRAY!" or "I saw him/them, now I'm going to shoot them, or worse... "I have no idea where that came from. Now I'm scared."

First of all, calm down. Remember the talk of being anxious? Keep calm, think.

Where are you?
Are you in a town, hillside, by a dock, in your home?
What are your options?
Run, get in a car and drive away, run outside and see if you're shot at again, keep your head down and don't move?

Well let's start off with solo counter-sniping. You never had a spotter, this is already unlucky and not in your favor. Chances are, you will die. You can overcome though. Before we go any further, let me explain how you actually "survey" an area and how you can spot snipers or poor marksmen. To survey an area simply means you move your eyes slower and horizontally. Look to your far left where your eyes no longer strain without moving your head, then slowly move your eyes to your right about two to five inches. Keep doing this movement going back and forth then a simple rescan of just one sweep instead of multiples. It may prove to be a bit straining on your eyes as they're not used to the erratic movement, but it will give you much more success. Things to look out for though are very simple, a barrel and a face. Since this game is horrible in covering the entirity of your face and most people will use a white or colored skin such as blue or even orange... Ghilie doesn't mask idiocy. You might find these key items by trees, in bushes, behind walls just peeping out, watch towers, behind cars, etc. Eventually you'll know all the ins and outs.

Let's say you're in your base. You have one entrance, you were shot at from a window, and you don't know where from. Let's think... Do you have high ground, where did the shot land, you need to heal if it you, where were you hit from, what floor of your home are you in. Really break it down. If you weren't headshotted chances are you're lucky. You're not dealing with a marksman. Got multiple floors or windows facing where you shot? Use them, run circles around the windows and floors. A good sniper wouldn't ever shoot this kind of target. Were you shot at again, good keep your eyes open and try to find where the shots are coming from. If you have a headset you'll more likely live this down. The reason you do these eratic movements is to completely avoid predictability. In reality a sniper would immediately abandon this position and move to another and survey his entire surroundings from a position that might only be an inch or two high and wide. Sadly we don't really have much chance to do this, unless you have Metal Shields and well placed sandbags. There's a lot of methods you can use to find a sniper, though they may cost your life:

• Running infront of windows and on multiple floors. Analyze shot time and position.
  
• Leaving the cover of your entire base/home and go mobile. Get in a car or run to a different area or where you think the shots might be coming from. Why this way? Confirm it.
  
• Relocate, get in a car or run to a new position. Survey your surroundings and try to find the hostile.
  
• Get low, get out Binoculars or your best scope, get as far back from your windows as possible. Crouch and gently make your way forward all while surveying the area.

Oh so you paid attention to the guide and/or got lucky and found someone decently geared and said "Hey, let's be friends." You showed them this guide and now they're up to par just like you. So now someone is spotting and the other is sniping. Whoever is spotting needs to do one of two things or even both.

• Relocate, get in a car or run to a new position. Survey your surroundings and try to find the hostile.
  
• Get low, get out Binoculars or your best scope, get as far back from your windows as possible. Crouch and gently make your way forward all while surveying the area.

Your spotter is your eyes. Make sure you're down low or trying to relocate yourself as a shadow. When your spotter thinks they have something, get up, look, fire on choice. If you didn't see something you have the option now to either fire or wait to be shot at. If you're shot at, keep your eyes peeled of course, get low and out of sight. You have a choice now to either relocate or wait. If you're dealing with a sniper, in this game chances are likely they'll walk away if you all just duck and stay that away long enough. I know this isn't ideal for a lot of you, but this is an option and a very good one to remember your possible break in areas and where you can defend yourself without worry. Cover those positions. If it's night, wait till dawn to relocate and search the area. Make sure your sniper is sent out for this. Your spotter needs to keep your overwatch. Make sure your sniper is moving erratically. If you can predict where they're going to move, so can they. For the sniper, always make sure you're moving cover to cover. Why? Simple, it forces the enemy to take different positions to get clear shots on you. This means the spotter can call them out and even take them out if need be.

Remember to always over estimate your hostile target(s) because they just might be better then you, so you need to be faster and smarter then them.

This will be a very simple list of weapons and customization options for yourself to consider. This list was made during patch 2.2.5 and is subject to change in future patches. This will be updated though as soon as possible, this also only shows damage for default ammo types:

• Item ID: 7000 ~ Name: Swissgewehr -- Max Range: 400m ~~ Damage: 81
  
• Item ID: 7001 ~ Name: Colt -- Max Range: 100m ~~ Damage: 34
  
• Item ID: 7002 ~ Name: Double Barrel -- Max Range: 20m ~~ Damage: 20
  
• Item ID: 7003 ~ Name: Mosen -- Max Range: 300m ~~ Damage: 90
  
• Item ID: 7004 ~ Name: Longbow -- Max Range: 150m ~~ Damage: 70
  
• Item ID: 7005 ~ Name: Novuh -- Max Range: 20m ~~ Damage: 18
  
• Item ID: 7006 ~ Name: Berette -- Max Range: 100m ~~ Damage: 35
  
• Item ID: 7007 ~ Name: Crossbow -- Max Range: 150m ~~ Damage: 99
  
• Item ID: 7008 ~ Name: Maplestrike -- Max Range: 400m ~~ Damage: 81
  
• Item ID: 7009 ~ Name: Zubeknakov -- Max Range: 400m ~~ Damage: 81
  
• Item ID: 7010 ~ Name: Magnum -- Max Range: 50m ~~ Damage: 65
  
• Item ID: 7011 ~ Name: Timberwolf -- Max Range: 400m ~~ Damage: 115
  
• Item ID: 7012 ~ Name: Uzy -- Max Range: 200m ~~ Damage: 31
  
• Item ID: 7013 ~ Name: Matamorez -- Max Range: 350m ~~ Damage: 99
  
• Item ID: 7014 ~ Name: Compound Bow -- Max Range: 200m ~~ Damage: 99
  
• Item ID: 7015 ~ Name: Outfield -- Max Range: 325m ~~ Damage: 85
  
• Item ID: 7016 ~ Name: Lever Action -- Max Range: 15m ~~ Damage: 16
  
• Item ID: 7017 ~ Name: Proninety -- Max Range: 250m ~~ Damage: 36
  
• Item ID: 7018 ~ Name: Desert Falcon -- Max Range: 60m ~~ Damage: 67

A list of attachments good for virtually every gun is in this list as well as a reason to use it.:

• Vertical Grip (This helps with vertical recoil.)
  
• Flash Hider (If you have muzzle flash, you've already lost all chance.)
  
• Regular Magazines (Smaller and harder to see.)
  
• Lapua Tracers (Perfect for NVG spotting.)
  
• Slugs (These are perfect even in real life and are very good.)
  
• 6x Scope (Considered the marksman sight.)
  
• 12x Scope (A good scope for medium to long range. 150-250m.)
  
• 20x Scope (Best scope in the game.)

Ideal loadout for a Sniper/Spotter would be to have any two of these weapons along with some spare Military Bullets, just mind the range and damage:

• Timberwolf: Vertical Grip, Lapua Magazine, and Lapua Tracers, 20x Scope.
  
• Matamorez: Vertical Grip, Xtrimin Magazine, 6x Scope with option for 12x or 20x Scopes.
  
• Maplestrike: Vertical Grip, NATO Magazine, 6x Scope with option for 12x Scope, Flash Hider.
  
• Desert Falcon: Surpressor, Swift Magazine, Red Dot Sight with option for 6x Scope.
  
• Fireaxe: Not needed, but highly recommended.

Snipers are people who control their heart rates and breathing to create the perfect shot. This game may not rely on such dynamics, but you do. When taking your shots make sure you have some method to control yourself. The less anxious you are the better. Visualize yourself taking down multiple targets and then strolling into the town they were in. All the zombies dead, and loot beyond your dreams at your feet. I myself tend to simply count to thirteen and a half, why? There's a saying "Got a thirteen point five." It simply means: one judge, twelve jurors, and a half ass chance. Myself as the judge, the jurors my other snipers and spotters, and yourself the half ass chance. Another thing I need to discuss is patience. How do you really build it, and how can you tell if you're saint-like? Well first of all make it a habit of yourself. It's a good life skill to have as is, but to rather gain it can prove difficult. Snipers aren't trained to be patient, they're actually taught how to hallucinate for lack of better terms to understand. They envision their target(s) and their self performing a task. Building a car, working with a project of a sort, etc. This is actually extremely effective to use. Envision it yourself, you're waiting on this target to move. They won't, it's becoming fustrating now so you fire a round or two to get them to move. Nothing... Assuming they don't just leave the game, start thinking of yourself and this target doing something. Cooking, cleaning, anything really. You'll notice your aggrivation goes down and you'll be quicker to the trigger.

Now that we have something to control your heart so you can minimize mistakes, what about in the game? Well you're going to need food, and preferably a canteen. So what's the best options? Ideally you want to have MREs (Meals Ready to Eat,) but these do prove sometimes hard to find. Canned foods are a must, so is venison. Both are light, easy to come by, and edible fairly quickly. Not only that, but what does a tactical sniper want? I wouldn't go anywhere without two or three ladders, a canteen, campire, Fireaxe, and a sleeping bag. I would also recommend finding the Fireaxe, the reason being that it's a very good melee weapon and can be used to gather resources. If a sniper isn't versatile, he won't stay awhile. Though there are some other things that would be just fantastic to take along with you, like:

• Snares
  
• Medkits
  
• Splints
  
• Bandages
  
• Tripmines
  
• Ladders
  
• MOABs
  
• A type of melee weapon, preferably a Fireaxe.

I figured as well to include a crafting guide to these items and more. You will need to have your crafting level maxed at two to make certain items:
LEVEL ZERO
--CRAFTING--

• 1 Board + Handsaw = 4 Sticks
  
• 2 Stone + Campfire = 1 Scrap Metal
  
• 1 Animal Pelt + 1 Can = 2 Duct Tape
  
• 1 Scrap Metal + Handsaw = 2 Wire
  
• 2 Scrap Metal + Hammer = 1 Can
  
• 1 Scrap Metal = 2 Nails
  
• 1 Branch = 3 Sticks

--MEDICAL--

• 2 Rags = Bandages
  
• 1 Scrap metal + 2 Sticks = Splint

--DEFENSE--

• 1 Can + 2 Scrap Metal = Snare

--OFFENSE--

• 9 Sticks + 1 Duct Tape = Ladder

--SURVIVAL--

• 1 Can + 1 Bottled Water = Canteen
  
• 4 Stones + 4 Sticks = Campfire
  
• 7 Cloth + 2 Duct Tape = Sleeping Bag

LEVEL TWO
--DEFENSE--

• 2 Raw Explosives + 4 Wire = Tripmine

--OFFENSE--

• 3 Raw Explosives + 2 Duct Tape = MOAB

Now what is a build? Well in most games a build means how you stat or set your skill points. What's the best course of action to gaining experience then and how do you make your build? Well now Ideally you want the entire tree or menu maxed out. You just joined a server, you died, whatever the case. Let's start out like you're completely nude and all you have is an axe and you got lucky. You're in Burywood alone. We've all been here....New spawns are terrified, snipers and old players love it. Why? "The legion scares only those who are chased." How do you react to the Burywood horde? Here's some knowledge before we go into the actual build.

Keep your distance just right with zombies. Look below for refference.


The reason why you want this distance is because sadly the game is still glitchy. So if you have an Axe, Fireaxe, or even a Katana all of which spawn very frequently in Burywood in virtually every area. These are the actual distances (see pictures above) you'll know you can not only get a hit, but a kill and not fret of losing health. The reason I choose Burywood is because..

The hordes scare you now, but remember the experience you'll get for it. Now I got lucky with the minimal amount I got, but on average someone can get 180-250 experience in just one circle around the town. The more zombies, the more the experience goes up and since they spawn so fast and are always so large in number. On a server, the average is actually 350-600 experience! That's a lot of skills to add. I started at 800, ended at over 950.


So let's look at your actual build, what do you want exactly? Do you want to be resourceful to start, be an experience farmer and just go for the end result, or start off well on your way to sniping? For someone who wants to start off sniping or be resourceful. It's a good idea to start off with getting crafting maxed. That's just great to have as is, maybe a point or two in warrior or outdoors. For the experience farmer you'd want Immunity and Warrior. To make it easier on everyone I made this guide for the experience costs starting from having nothing at all:

Level 0

• Survival = 10
  
• Endurance = 15
  
• Sneakybeaky = 15
  
• Marksman = 15
  
• Warrior = 20
  
• Outdoors = 15
  
• Craftsman = 50
  
• Immunity = 25

Level 1

• Survival = 20
  
• Endurance = 30
  
• Sneakybeaky = 30
  
• Marksman = 30
  
• Warrior = 40
  
• Outdoors = 30
  
• Craftsman = 100
  
• Immunity = 50

Level 2

• Survival = 50
  
• Endurance = 75
  
• Sneakybeaky = 75
  
• Marksman = 75
  
• Warrior = 100
  
• Outdoors = 75
  
• Craftsman = MAXED
  
• Immunity = 125

Level 3

• Survival = 100
  
• Endurance = 150
  
• Sneakybeaky = 150
  
• Marksman = 150
  
• Warrior = 200
  
• Outdoors = 150
  
• Craftsman = MAXED
  
• Immunity = 250

Level 4

• Survival = MAXED
  
• Endurance = 255
  
• Sneakybeaky = 255
  
• Marksman = 255
  
• Warrior = MAXED
  
• Outdoors = MAXED
  
• Craftsman = MAXED
  
• Immunity = MAXED

Level 5

• Survival = MAXED
  
• Endurance = MAXED
  
• Sneakybeaky = 390
  
• Marksman = 390
  
• Warrior = MAXED
  
• Outdoors = MAXED
  
• Craftsman = MAXED
  
• Immunity = MAXED

Now you even know the costs, you can tell where you want to go perfectly. Now believe it or not, I'm not going to tell you go all out on Sneakybeaky and Marksman. Why? You need experience, aggro from zombies will help you. Marksman? Gods no! You want to get these kills quitely so you last longer. The best choices to start off with in my opinion are:

• Craftsman
  
• Survival
  
• Endurance
  
• Immunity

Then you can max out into of course:

• Sneakybeaky
  
• Marksman
  
• Craftsman
  
• Immunity
  
• Endurance
  
• Survival

However, you want to start this build is completely up to you. This is how I would do it though, mainly because I'm more interested in killing another player. Looting and finding what can and can't be used to further myself then going right back into such, getting experience.

Now this is an interesting topic I've decided to address by a demand from forums I frequent. Keybinding be definition simply means, this key performs function x. Example:
Click your "A" key, the letter "a" appears.
While in a game this changes usually to:
A = Forward.

So let's assume you don't play around with your keybinds and don't even know what a good setup is. Well first up, go to "Options" and then "Controls" in the game menu. You'll see what all your keys do! Okay, but how do I know I have a good setup? Are you using the default keybinds? Then your answer is no. How!? I got over 1,000 kills and I almost never die! Well you're doing something right then, BUT you can improve that and make it actually never. Now just for starters, I have a Razer Naga 2014 mouse, Razer Blackshark headset, and a Razer DeathStalker Ultimate keyboard. I'm not saying this to show off or anything. I'm saying this because these products give me an advantage you probably don't have. I have buttons on my mouse I can use and adjust to do certain things, like how I check players on a server instead of clicking the "P" key, I click "7" on my mouse. It's just easier and I don't need to do any moving whatsoever, also with my keyboard I don't have a number pad like yours probably does, and I have a microphone. So I have some advantages and disadvantages, and yes I know I do actually have a number pad, but Razer Synapse is my problem most of the time. Now then with those certain things in mind and all...Do You need this fancy junk to actually get better? While it is nice to have, the answer is NO, BUT let's get back to business.


The reason I discussed my own personal items I use to game is because of the mouse and keyboard example. Even so, here's how you can set your keybinds and see yourself improve with very minimal changes to your actual muscle memory:

• Crouch = C
  
• Prone = X
  
• Attachments = Left Alt
  
• Hat = B
  
• Voice = V or Caps Lock (It can be annoying.. but is useful.)
  
• Other = T
  
• Fire Mode = Left Ctrl or 6

You'll notice pretty quickly the change, so play in single player for an hour or two. Get used to what you're now using. There's no instant change to "Oh, okay so we're doing this now?" with muscle memory. The change will come dramatically quickly though and you will see your own improvement. You won't be hitting keys by accident and have total control. The key thing with keybinds is to have as minimal movement with your hands as possible all while keeping a massive control present. This setup is a custom and very common one used for WASD players. WASD simple means how you move, there's of course other setups like: ESDF, SDF, SDFG, TFGH. Though the chances of you needing or even wanting to use these setups are unlikely and not needed. They're more geared for games like ESO, WoW, Dota, etc.

Now for some tips! While berries are nice to eat and even use to heal yourself... They can actually cause you to hallucinate and they're not all that viable. It's best to stick to canned foods and venison anyways. Though if you find yourself in a pinch you'll need a stone:

• Crushed Green Berries = +20% Health
  
• Crushed Pale Berries = +20% Health
  
• Crushed Blue Berries = +20% Health

These are "Just In Case" or "About to Die" needs and you won't need anything to eat them:

• Pink Berries = -10% Hunger & -5% Thirs
  
• Green Berries = -10% Hunger & -5% Thirst

Been wondering how to "Put your hands in the air!"? Well simple, default key for emotes is "G" and "Surrender." Those sirens annoying? The key is "T" in this setup. Can't figure out how to turn night vision on/off, click "N" or "B." Also a major tip for everyone, never, ever, ever move in any zig-zag pattern. Do not assume jumping will help you either, if the sniper misses your head they'll get your chest. While this movement is good, the likely hood of it aiding against a real sniper is null, zero. The best way to avoid a sniper is to get mobile or be in a group and always move cover to cover. Don't sit still for long, all you'll do is allow them to line a headshot and by long I mean three seconds.