[STRATEGY] Battlefield Bad Company 2 Sniper tips

My favorite class, there's a lot to learn before you can become a great sniper.

First of all, if you're the type of sniper who sits there for a minute in a well concealed location and fires a shot once a minute, you're not helping your team. Snipers in Battlefield are not, and probably never will be, "true snipers." What they really are is "fire support marksmen". They aren't spec ops snipers who spend five days army crawling to their target to assassinate a tyrant, then sneak away. They're deliverers of lethal, long range, anti-personnel firepower who have the unique luxury of being able to pick their targets and to disengage at will.

Ok, well how should I play a sniper then?

• Fire often and efficiently. That doesn't mean that you should pump some bullets into a poor rock if you have no targets. It means you should shift position to be able to see more enemies if your area of fire is clear. Your team needs you to cover them. Don't let them down.
• Prioritize. Chances are your team can kill the guy right in front of them that they know about. They can't kill the sniper a mile away hiding behind a bush on top of a mountain, because they don't have a sniper scope to know he's even there. Kill enemy snipers. Kill stationary gun users. Your tanks and teammates will thank you when they no longer need to advance through a hail of AT rockets and mounted machine gun fire.
• Don't focus on kills.

Hit anybody who you can see. If they get behind cover, don't just "camp" your sight on them and wait for them to come out. Find somebody else and hit them. Your team can finish them off and you'll get the assist, or at the very least you've taken out of the battle for 10+ seconds as they heal. That being said, you'll get a surprising amount of body shot kills on guys who are already injured.
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Ok, how the hell do I aim this bloody gun?
I'll cover the M24, which is the sniper rifle most of you will be using.

The M24 is...

• Really accurate. There's very little horizontal shifting in the bullet's path, and it even stays pretty steady while moving. They sway isn't a problem at all but really long ranges.
• Bolt-action. It's not even semi-automatic. That means you'll have about 1.5 seconds before you can fire again. As nunya pointed out in the other thread, you can hold the fire button to stay scoped after firing, but I prefer unscoping to improve my awareness.
• High damage. Upper body shots do about 80%. At close range you can whip out a pistol to finish the job. At longer ranges you often get kills when they're even slightly injured. Headshots are instant kill of course. Headshots through OBJECTS are also instant kills. More on that later.
• Limited on ammo. You have 5 rounds chambered and 20 rounds stored. If you average 5 shots per kill (which includes misses and hits but not kills) that's only 5 kills. You'll need to grab ammo if you survive for more than a minute and a half (which you should).

Aiming mechanics

• There is bullet flight time. It's trivial for most people, but for you it really matters. You'll need to lead targets by a bit depending on distance. More on that in later in "ranging".
• There is bullet drop due to gravity. Again, trivial for most combatants, BIG deal for you. See "ranging".
• There is movement sway. You are inaccurate while moving. Don't bother firing when moving. In sniper duels, move until you're ready to fire, then stop for a split second to fire and then move again.
• There is scope swaying as well. It's not a huge deal usually but it will rob you of some headshots. If you're aiming at a stationary target, you can wait till the sway brings your scope to the exact spot you want the bullet to go, then fire.

Ranging

• When you're firing from a new position and distance that you haven't before, try "ranging". Fire a single bullet into a horizontal face like a building wall. It's important that it's actually horizontal- slanted surfaces will mess you up. Leave your scope on after firing and don't move it. You'll see the bullet fly through the air and strike a location below your crosshair. The amount of time until you see the bullet land will be flight time. The vertical distance that it dropped will be the bullet drop. Apply those adjustments to all shots you make to targets in that area.
• If you don't have time to range, fire at the top of their head. If the bullet drop is insignificant, you still get a headshot. If it's significant, the drop will still probably put the bullet into their jaw and get a headshot for you.

Cover

• Your instinct is to probably get to the highest possible point and to fire from there. This is usually a bad idea. The enemy expects this, and if you can see everything, everything can see YOU. Regular small arms fire can kill you in these types of positions, to say nothing of explosives from grenades, mortar strikes or vehicles.
• Pick locations that conceal your profile. Trees, bushes, fences all help to disguise you. Standing against the sky (on top of a hill or the pipes) makes you super obvious to anyone looking in your direction.
• Until you're really good, pick locations with limited fields of view. It's less likely they can shoot back at you, and you'll probably have your hands full with what's in your vision already without moving.

Equipment

• Switch to the mortar ASAP. The c4 is nice, but it's so situational that it's nearly useless for a long distance sniper. Mortar fire is ALWAYS useful and you're practically guaranteed to use it at least twice before you die.
• Your pistol is vital. The M1911 is the best pistol by far and will finish off injured enemies and kill undisciplined shooters who sneak up on you.

What are cool things I can do as a sniper?

• Shoot mounted gunners, either in a vehicle or a stationary emplacement. Most of them have an exposed head. You can shoot through the glass on that anti-personnel machine gun metal shield too.
• Kill helicopter pilots. I'm serious. I did it twice today already. If the chopper is stationary, it's an easy shot. If they're moving it's much harder, but they usually only move in one dimension (straight forward, or horizontally) so just lead appropriately. Bullet drop will almost definitely be a factor so keep that in mind. You really need to go for a headshot too since they're unlikely to be injured and will probably flee if they take as sniper bullet in the chest. Also, remember that the pilot is in the front seat.
• Shoot people through walls. Spot them, watch them run behind cover, shoot and kill. Same for enemies your team have spotted. An enemy gets lit up, they hide behind a concrete wall, BAM. Dead.