Destiny Sniper Mega Guide

Destiny Sniper Mega Guide by haytur

This Guide is a combination of resources meant to help players who want to improve their sniping. In this guide you should hopefully find enough information to help you improve no matter if you are a utter newbie or even a seasoned vet. The links to guides listed in this guide are from various good players and cover a variety of subject matters.

It is my goal to outline all the important information you should know on the technical side and hopefully have the guides cover anything else that I do not cover here. Let me know if I have something wrong or if you want me to add anything – Haytur.

What sniper rifle is right for me?

Archetype

Snipers come in a variety of different archetypes, but to keep this simple we will split them into two groups. High Impact and Low Impact. High impact snipers are any sniper that can “Rez Kill” a guardian. Low Impact Snipers are any snipers that cannot. High impact snipers are generally viewed as the only type of snipers to be used in PVE, there are some people who might disagree of course but that is the general consensus. Low impact snipers are more commonly found in PVP, and while they cannot “rez snipe” they are still pretty good. Below we look at a few examples of these snipers and their pros and cons.

High Impact

Examples:Thousand Yard Stare, Omolon Eriene RR4, Black Spindle(Exotic). Stillpiercer(Hunter only)

Pros:

• Can one hit kill a person with an over shield or “Rez Snipe” players with a head shot.
• Can one hit kill a person in super with a head shot.
• Does better damage in PVE content.

Cons:

• Slow fire rate
• Kicks hard after firing making it hard to land follow up shots.

Low Impact Sniper

Examples: Glass Promontory, Hereafter(Exotic)

Note: Defiance of Yasmin: Is a solid pvp weapon choice, it has the lowest zoom, Good AA, and a non obstructive scope.

Pros:

• Stable fast fire rate, allowing for double body shots and or easier follow up shots.

Cons:

• Does not one hit kill tougher enemies in PVE with head shots
• Does not one hit kill players with Over Shield, aka does not “rez snipe”.

Aim Assist

Before we go any further, you should have a understanding of Aim Assist. Instead of reinventing the wheel I am just going to link to a guide made by Pwadigy. He explains it better than I could have. Read it here

Scopes

Scopes are one of the other important things when it comes to sniping, the general consensus in the community is the lower the zoom, the better! There are currently three scopes that are considered to be the best and I will list them below.

Tip: Pick one of these scopes or any scope if you really prefer them, but make sure to use the same scope across all snipers. Changing your scope will make your aiming a bit off once you get used to one.

Longview SLR10

• 5x Zoom
• +8 Range
• -5 Stability
• +5 Reload
• +5 Handling
• +30 Aim Assist

ShortGaze SLH10

• 4.5x Zoom
• +5 Range
• +5 Reload
• +5 Handling
• +15 Aim Assist

Ambush SLH25

• 4.5x Room
• -15 Range
• +20 Stability
• +10 Reload
• +12 Handling
• -10 Aim Assist

Low Aim Assist Snipers

Aim Assist is a pretty great stat, but in the end it will not make or break your play style. There are a few snipers that do not have great Aim Assist but have other interesting things about them like the Omolon snipers. Omolon has fallen from its overpowered state since the nerf to Luck in the Chamber now only effecting precision shots. However they do offer some pretty interesting scopes such as the Aquila SS4 which will high light enemies in red. My best advice is if you really like a sniper, practice with it.

Perks

In choosing between the below perks for PVP the the top three are ranked in order. So Quickdraw is better than Rifled Barrel, which is better than snap shot. Hidden Hand and Hot Swap are probably a play style choice, however I would still go with Hidden Hand over Hot Swap.

PVP

• Preferably use one of the scopes listed above, but again this is not the end all be all if you don’t.
• Quickdraw: This weapon can be drawn unbelievably fast.
• Rifled Barrel: Increases range, but decreases reload speed
• Snapshot: Increases aiming speed.
• Hidden Hand: Increases Aim Assist
• Hotswap: Increases Aim Assist when buff is up, you can keep the buff up by bringing out your ghost while its active and putting it away.
• Unflinching: Reduces the amount the scope bounces while getting hit.

PVE

• Spray and Play: Increases reload speed of this weapon
• Surplus: Find more ammo for your sniper

Sensitivity and you!

Sensitivity is a broad subject and not everyone agrees on for the most part. But I believe a lot of people have said playing around sensitivity 3-4 is the best option.

Sniper Stats

When looking at stats on a sniper there are five things to consider when it comes to stats. Impact>Range>Aim Assist>Equip Speed>Inventory. We have covered most of these things here, and Equip Speed should speak for it self. Inventory is a important stat because if the inventory of a sniper is 40+ and you have double sniper ammo perks on your armor you will spawn with twice as much ammo.

General Tips

• Pick a sniper and scope you like and stick with it, if you change snipers use the same scope if you can.
• Learning to snipe will take time, be patient and try not to play on tilt.
• Learn to predict where a person might pop out or be sitting, so you can adjust your scope quickly.
• Don’t stay hard scoped your radar is your friend.
• Learn where the center of your screen is, not only will this help you aim faster, but it will help you quick scope later on.
• Snipers will not be optimal for all situations and maps, if you find yourself in close quarters a lot consider switching to a different weapon.
• Practice, Practice, Practice.