Sniper Elite 3 takes place in a variety of locations in North Africa. It features realistic bullet ballistics, sniper tactics and an intelligent enemy force. Use this information to help you achieve success:
Relocation
If they can't see you, your enemies will determine your position based on hearing your gunfire. On first hearing your shots, enemies will take cover. On hearing subsequent shots, they will investigate a presumed location and eventually attack when they feel confident about your location. The Relocation bar will fill up to represent their confidence.
Relocate to avoid being found by the enemy. If you relocate before they launch an attack and move far enough away from where they think they are, the Relocation bar will empty. Shooting at this time will confuse them and force them to re-evaluate your possible location. Keep doing this to take down entire squads without them ever finding you. However, if they ever become confident enough to launch an attack, you'll need to remain hidden after relocating until they've called off their search.
Sound-masking
Look out for noises in the world that are loud enough to hide your shots. Any shots fired while in close proximity to the sources of these sounds will go unnoticed by the enemy and allow you to kill undetected without relocating.
Bullet Drop
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Shots fired at targets over greater distances will be affected by gravity. Compensate for this by aiming the centre of your scope above the target. You'll need to aim higher above them the further away they are.
Wind
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Sniper bullets are also affected by wind. Pay attention to its direction and strength through cues in the environment or by watching the indicator at the top of the scope. Take this into account before firing.
Heart Rate
As a sniper, you are skilled in applying techniques to make difficult shots a little easier. A low heart rate is key to these techniques and to ensure that your rifle is as steady as possible before firing. It will rise with rapid activity, such as running or climbing or if you're hit by enemy gunfire. Conversely, it will drop if you lower your stance and fall quicker if you are stationary.
Empty Lung
When your heart rate is 80 BPM or lower, pressing
while looking through the scope will temporarily empty your lungs and steady your aim for a short period of time. During this time, an aim assistance reticle will be visible to indicate where the bullet will land after taking gravity and wind into account. (Note: The aim assistance reticle will not appear on Authentic difficulty.)
Focus Time
If your heart rate is below 65 BPM when you enter empty lung, time will appear to slow down. Use this edge to wreak havoc on your enemies.
Tagging
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While looking through your binoculars, you can tag enemy soldiers and vehicles to track their movement and awareness of you even when they are hidden by the environment.
Tag an enemy by moving the centre of the binoculars over them and pressing
. To remove a tag from an enemy, press
again while looking at them through the binoculars.
Looking at tagged enemies with your binoculars will reveal information about their equipped weapon, alert state and distance.
Note: Upgrade your binoculars to tag more enemies at a time and increase its maximum zoom.
Vehicular destruction
Use traps and your sniper rifle to destroy enemy vehicles. Land mines are perfect for immobilizing fast-moving threats as are remotely detonated sticks of dynamite.
Look out for grills on all vehicles that provide access to their fuel tanks or engines. Break these grills with sniper shots to reveal the interiors. Once broken, a single shot to either the fuel tank or engine will trigger the destruction of the vehicle. These vulnerable locations will be highlighted on tagged vehicles.
Armour-piercing rounds
You may find armour-piercing rounds for your sniper rifle in the world. Use these to break vehicle grills and destroy them in fewer shots.
Remote Detonation
Shoot explosive objects in the environment to trigger explosions from a distance. You can also place and shoot dynamite and mines or look for grenades on enemy belts.
Using flint & steel next to explosive objects or placed dynamite will allow you to detonate them on a delay without having to shoot.
Distraction
Use rocks or flint & steel to distract nearby enemy patrols and pull them out of sight of their comrades.
