Did you know the first person to hold the title of "Sniper" was a british hunter, who, in India, managed to shoot down a bird called Snipe? That doesn't relate to minimum at all, but it's always nice to remember your roots, right?

So here is a list of things you better heed well before attempting sniping.

1) Sniper rifles are amongst the hardest weapons in the game, requiring patience, presicion, a steady hand, as well as...pure luck. In my opinion it takes a lot of time to master this weapon type (I still miss 70% of my shots)

2) You are easily countered by other weapons (Including enemy snipers).

3) The element of surprise is yours, so use it wisely, but stay on one target for too long and they will come after you.

4) Always watch your six o'clock for those backstabbers and katana users. They'll reduce you to cubepiles before you even move (General rule).

5) Sadly, snipers require decent framerate to operate effectively. There is an entire section focusing solely on this.

6) Quickscoping is an important, if not vital, skill you will need. Believe me, it's risky, but sometimes works miracles.

Step in to the Armory, private! We'll see which of these babies is best suited for you.

There are currently four different sniper rifles in minimum, each of which is designed for a unique playstyle. I'm not gonna talk about numbers here, there are other guides that already cover that.

-Explosive Sniper
This is my favorite weapon in the game. The second weapon i bought, i immediately fell in love with its ability to shoot exploding rounds and also deal a large amount of damage. Since the explosive damage is actually pretty low at level 1, it is better to focus on headshots. As the game progresses and you get more power ups from kills, though it might seem a little risky at first, you can use this cannon of a sniper more aggressively. By that, i mean, focusing on utilizing its explosions rather than the damage of the round itself. First of all, you don't have to aim directly at an enemy. Instead try hitting the wall behind him. The radius of the explosion is not that big -especially at level 1- but it can kill people in around 2-3 shots. You can also aim at their feet, or even above them, as long as they are close to an object. The real challenge with this weapon, however, is to use it like a launcher. Put on your Icarus leggings, so you can jump twice, and when, for example, a katana user goes in for a kill on you, start jumping and strafing and continuously firing on the floor where he stands. This isn't sniping, but it's a nice alternative way to use explosive sniper in a more aggresive approach. Be extra careful when initiating like that, as you won't be able to quick scope while in the air. Also, while the enemy is in the air, try shooting to where you think they will land.
Generally, this weapon basically trades firerate and magazine capacity for extra firepower, since it only has 4 rounds and a low rate of fire.

-Cryo Sniper
The Rifle of a cold-blooded killer. This is probably the most 'Pure-blooded' Sniper Rifle in the game, since it can't be used aggresively (Well...you might be able to, but i recommend Explosive Sniper for that). The reason this gun is so popular among players, is its ability to freeze people and significantly lower their movement speed, while increasing your chances of a headshot at your "frozen and helpless'' target. Later, at level 5, the bullet fired also explodes on impact, crystalizing everything in a small radius. The slow is not as strong as, say, that of Taser shotgun, but you can still kick ass with it, and of course, deal with those charging katana users, who will now think twice before going after you head on. If you see one of those coming at you, quickscope him (If he is in medium range) or no-scope (If he is too close). If you are not feeling confident about finishing them with a final shot from the cryo (You never know when you might miss), switch to your secondary weapon, preferably a close range gun like a shotgun. That should do the job.
Moreover, the cryo has 5 rounds per magazine, a faster firerate than explosive sniper (i think) and overall better precision. If you love casual, long-range sniping, you should give this sniper a try.

-Auto Sniper
Legend has it that this Sniper rifle used to be an instrument of evil, a murderer's best friend...until it got nerfed. Auto Sniper is a fast shooting scoped rifle that deals inferior damage compared to the other Snipers. It takes around 4 shots (the whole magazine) to kill an enemy with this weapon (around 2 shots in the head for a headshot). You can quickscope with it, but its early damage is very low and sometimes its hard, or even impossible to take down a moving target. Not to mention, that its repeated, low-damage shooting can, and will give away your position, marking you as priority!
All of the above, however, could be counterweighted by the fact that Auto Sniper becomes quite powerfull when it hits Level 5, but in a game where death is crawling behind every corner, it could be a risky pick. You will have to level it all over again. Still, don't let my narrow-minded view of this sweetheart ruin your plans, try it out, you might like it and even score high.

-Rail "Sniper"
In my personal opinion, which you shouldn't take into account, this is not a sniper rifle (It has no scope :D. More accurately, the first time i tried it, it felt like i was using a shotgun loaded with slug rounds). There are too things worthy of remarking here. First, this sniper always fires straight, meaning you won't have to quickscope with it, ever. That trait alone, will allow you to play aggresively, especially at close range and since it's firerate is quite fast, you'll definetely get kills. The real tramp card of this gun, however (which brings as to remark number 2) is it's special abiltity. Activated simply by pressing the right click on you mouse, Rail sniper will charge for a couple of seconds and then unleash a single, desicive shot, that deals immense damage. The special shot has a damage multplier and will most likely kill, a healthy target (with a headshot), or a previously wounded target.
The fact that it's non scoped, renders Rail "Sniper" difficult to use for long range kills, as it'll consume precious time ( which is short in a titan match) placing your crosshair on that tiny, faraway figure in red, who, after having placed the perfect shot, might not die. If you still feel like doing it though, you should get ready to **** up your eyes (Lowering screen percentage may help)
And that concludes my thoughts on the Rail "Sniper", which is poor in content, since i rarely use it. Seriously, if you can get pleny of kills with that baby from a long range, then i'm afraid you're reading the wrong guide.

No, this section is not totally about aiming, you already know how to aim. You want to get better at it? Then keep practising and you will. As i said earlier in this guide, it's hard and takes time, but the more you play the faster your reactions will become.
A Sniper's greatest enemy, his archnemesis in this game...is a high ping. You can see it on your score board during a match. Have you tried a sinper with about 60+ ping. I don't know about you, but i can't shoot **** with it.

If you are a Sniper and your ping begins to climb high, then i strongly suggest switching to another loadout that doesn't have a sniper rifle. Really, this is the best advice i have to offer. There are tons of fun weapons in this game, but the most effective ones are short range or AoE guns. Grenade launcher is fun, and you won't have much problem with ping. You can also try a shotgun, a katana, a hell etc.

If you actually intend to use a sniper while in the middle of a lag-storm, then read on. Ever shot an enemy with 70 ping? let's pretend you are sitting in a corner, all curled up and unmoving, having great vision over the enemy team, and more or less being ready to spread death with your sniper rifle. You spot a motionless fellow who is busy killing you titan. You know one shot in the head will di the job. You aim and fire. You hit him, you can see his face exploding... only it doesn't, a second after he sees you and before you can land another shot, he runs away like a little girl, or comes after you.
Playing with lag can be frustrating with just about any weapon. Lag-sniping, however, is ridiculous, it will ruin your day, make you go ballistic and ultimately force you to change weapons. But you are stubborn and decide to keep sniping. That's the spirit! The trick is all about prediction. As you've already noticed, there is zero time between the sniper's round being fired and reaching its target, literally. That means, with good ping, your enemy won't be able to dodge the shot. When the ping gets tough, you can try predicting you enemy's movement and basically shoot a little further in his path, so that he crosses your line of fire a second after or less. A picture below will make this a bit clearer. Of course, this rule might be hard to apply in battle, especially when you are under fire, but feel free to give it a go. It has helped me a couple of times and even save my life. Who knows? You might get lucky and take his head of :P.
So, that was all about lag-sniping. I hope it helped you, and please, forgive my horrible drawing, i tried my best, but the result, as you can see above, was inevitable.

Put away that Rail Sniper, private, it's time for some Quickscoping!

This section has to do with Scoped Rifles and their ability to zoom in for greater precision, so that alone excludes the Rail, since it's non scoped.
In order to quick scope, you need to press the right click and left click of your mouse at the same time (Actually you have to press the right first, but i've noticed that pressing them simultaneously works just as well and is slightly faster. Don't press left first, however, as your shot will be totally random). With this technique you can basically turn, let's say, a cryo, into a Rail sniper, in terms of accuracy and the abilty to fire straight without having to slow down. You can even do that while sprinting.
This ability can be invaluable, when you are faced with enemies wielding shotguns, katanas, and other close range weapons.Instead of trying to zoom in, you just quickscope them and keep doing so while backing up and retaining that precious movement speed.
No-scoping, on the other hand, is just ranomly firing at an enemy, who is dangerously close at you. At a situation like that, it's either you or him, you can try your luck by blindly shooting at him, or switch to another weapon, or even...turn and run for your life.

This, more or less, concludes my guide on sniping. I am quite new to this game, still learning the ropes, but nontheless, i hope you find this guide useful. I 'll try and keep it up-to-date in case of gameplay changes (like a new Sniper appearing etc). Thank you very much for reading!

Feel free to comment below.

Special thanks:
- To REDRUM and his Plasma Launcher for helping me understand when to quit and start running

- To Tlaw, who taught me the game's basics,

- The Devs who made this awesome game

- And my Explosive Sniper, my one love.