Its unique focus ability allows you to not have to adjust your aim very much since you don't have to rescope. Since even kills with Explosive Headshot charge it up, you should have it most of time if you're doing your job. The bodyshot penalty doesn't matter much because you shouldn't be going for no scopes/bodyshots anyways unless a tank is the last enemy.



This can be very useful on Giants in the right hands. No Faster Charge Rate upgrades are required since it gets free charge already. You can effectively deal 900 damage most of the time which can make weaker Giants (Ex: Pyro, Demoman) a sinch.



Eliminates the desire for Buff Banner since most bots will take mini-crits anyways with a good Sniper using this. The Explosive Headshot actually does apply despite the "No Headshots" in its description. Can be very useful for teams that can't seem to deal damage (although why not just do the damage yourself with one of the previous two options). The bots that take the explosive damage from Explosive Headshot get jarate applied to them. Surprisingly enough, the Jarate Slow Speed upgrade applies to this as well on full charge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8UJ0yRW2Jg&feature=youtu.be



Doesn't have Explosive Headshot upgrade, the key thing that allows Sniper to even be playable in the gamemode. Also hard to use from a distance, which is bad since Sniper is squishy with only 125 base health. Close-Mid range puts you at serious risk.



You don't need to be aware of close surroundings as much as Sniper in MvM, so its one benefit already isn't very good. Only being able to headshot with full charge is ♥♥♥♥. If you miss your shot you'll have to charge all the way up again to just have another chance. Terrible option; don't use it.




The Slow Speed upgrade can be useful on Super Scouts if your team is poorly equipped for dealing with those. Also provides mini-crits, but if you wanted to do that just use the Sydney Sleeper. It actually can be very useful on boss waves (even though the Scout's fan can usually do the same thing). However, the jarate applied via the Sydney Sleeper does not slow down robots, nor can it be upgraded to do so.



Good with Bushwacka for tanks. Only consider if your team composition is bad at dealing with tanks (say, multiple Heavies). There are much better tank busters.



Sniper is a camping class anyways, and doesn't get many heals if your team happens to have a Medic. A passive healing source can be very pleasant, especially in early waves when you can't afford Health on Kill. The knockback resist is also nice since it doesn't require full charge and because of there being a decent amount of Soldier spam in Mann Up. While not as broken as it once was because of the flinch change, it's still viable most of the time compared to our other options.




Anything works in Sniper's melee slot.



Can occasionally be useful on tank waves (in combination with Buff Banner/Cleaner's Carbine) if your team lacks tank busting abilities. No random crits makes dealing with spies a pain though.



In a situation where a Spy nearly kills you, you'll have a good chance of killing it with the low health buff. It's situational, but so is every use of your melee as Sniper MvM. Although when you are above 50% health you will do less damage, so again it's situational.


A helpful tool for tracking spies.

This is the general order for how your upgrades should be purchased:

1. 1 tick of Explosive Headshot
   
2. 3 (Full) Full Reload Speed
   
3. 1 tick of Health on Kill
   
4. 2 more ticks of Explosive Headshot (Max it out now)
   
5. 4 (Full) Damage
   
6. Projectile Penetration
   
7. Maybe Faster Charge Rate (depends on wave and playstyle)
   
8. Any amount of Ammo Capacity
   
9. Resistances that apply to the wave (late waves only)

Projectile Penetration was a bit tough to place in the order. It really depends on how the wave is set up. The reason it's good is because it sets up multiple sources of Explosive Headshot, but not all waves allow for that to happen a lot, which is why I put it late in the order. If it's late in the waves and you have a lot of cash anyways go for it.

The Jarate Speed upgrade can be bought during later waves with Super Scouts if your team is ill-equipped to deal with them. It's not in the order at all because different missions have Super Scouts at different times. Applies to Sydney Sleeper also. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8UJ0yRW2Jg&feature=youtu.be

Charging your shots up (with the Faster Charge Rate upgrade) can be more effective on Giants than simply consecutively shooting, even with the Hitman's Heatmaker. Especially when a Giant Medic is getting low on health and it might pop it’s Quick-Fix charge. With full damage, you can charge up for a maximum of 900 damage on a single target. Really only useful on Mecha Engine maps.

Maxing Attack Speed on the Bushwacka and comboing it with your Cleaner's Carbine or a Soldier's Buff Banner can be useful on tank waves. Only consider it if your team is severely lacking a tank buster (say, no Pyro, your Soldier isn't following tank, or your team is full of Heavies.) I'd ask your team to follow tank first to avoid having to do this.

Ammo Capacity is bought later because you can rely on Refill Ammo/Clip canteens most of the time. The Hitman's Heatmaker burns through ammo so quickly and more often than not it's more convenient to spend 25 credits to refill rather than stop your damage output to go find ammo from a pack or from the dispenser. However, it can be bought earlier if Refill canteens aren't your style. If you choose to do this, I'd mix it in while getting Full Damage since you probably won't be able to max Damage out all at once anyways.

Only 1 Health on Kill is needed since even bots killed via Explosive Headshot reward 25 HP each.

Resistances aren’t that important on Sniper since for the most part if you’re the one being focused you’re gonna die anyways. But still get them late waves. I prefer them over Faster Charge Rate and Projectile Penetration actually. Although, this is personal preference and others would agree/disagree.

Priority targets are any bots with Uber medics attached to them. The sooner you take them out, the sooner your team can start shooting their healing target(s).

Large groups of robots take second priority since the Explosive Headshot upgrade allows Sniper to be great for crowd control.

If there are lots of small bots around a Giant, shoot the giant to effectively take everything out since the Giant is an easier target to headshot and it makes great use of the Explosive Headshot upgrade.

Take out support snipers as they come throughout the round since they’re relatively easy to headshot and quickly take out. If you don’t, they could be an annoyance to you and your team.

If using the Hitman’s Heatmaker (which you should be), don’t charge your shots without the Faster Charge Rate upgrade. The focus lets you just shoot over and over and it’s much more efficient to keep shooting rather then charging up.

“Charging your shots up (with the Faster Charge Rate upgrade) can be more effective on Giants than simply consecutively shooting, even with the Hitman's Heatmaker. Especially when a Giant Medic is getting low on health and it might pop it’s Quick-Fix charge. With full damage, you can charge up for a maximum of 900 damage on a single target. Really only useful on Mecha Engine maps."

If you know disguise hit boxes, you can go ahead and shoot spies. A lot of disguises head hit boxes are in what appears to be their right shoulder. If not, just melee then if they’re near you. Don’t actively target them if they’re not pestering you. Your other classes should be able to take them out without you.

The Cleaner’s Carbine/Buff Banner paired with an upgraded Bushwacka can be a decent enough tank buster. It’s not the greatest tank buster, but it’s something to consider if your team is lacking tank output. In my opinion you’re more effective staying on the robots.

In early waves if you’re lacking full Explosive Headshot and you’re worried the medics might pop, target one of the medics instead of the Giant they’re probably pocketing. While a bit harder to headshot, the Explosive Headshot is more likely to kick in that way.

Use refill canteens when you’re running low on ammo so you don’t have to stop your damage flow in order to go find ammo. (It sounds silly and I thought so too when I first saw it but it’s surprisingly really effective. The Hitman’s Heatmaker just goes though ammo so quickly in the right hands.)

If you’re not running Bushwacka, no scope the tank instead of scoping in and charging if it’s the only enemy on the field. If it’s not the only thing on the field and you’re not running Bushwacka with Cleaner’s Carbine/Buff Banner, don’t even consider chasing that thing. Stay up front.

Get Explosive Headshot. Go to town on Uber Medics and groups of bots. Under most circumstances, don't chase tank. This guide is generalized for the most part, so don't go saying in the comments "you forgot this," as I probably didn't forget it, but rather left it out on purpose because I decided it was too specific. However, if you truly feel I did, I may change parts to fit whatever fix you may have in mind. Cheers.

First off, I'd like to thank Scoutfingers for putting together this guide. I'm Rex, and I've been playing sniper in MvM for a while now.

Let's jump in to three concepts to keep in mind once you have some experience under your belt.


As a sniper, you are one of the more fragile classes in MvM. The immediate conclusion for this is to upgrade your resistances.

You can avoid focusing your resistances if you understand the wave flow, and understand what is going to be targeting you with priority.

Standing still is your greatest enemy. Rockets take time to reach you, and avoiding tunnel vision will allow you to strafe out of the way of incoming barrages. Don't be afraid to unscope for a quick second- This will allow you to quickly adjust for any projectiles that are headed in your direction.

Know your corners and walls. Don't be afraid to fall back and around a corner if it means avoiding a large amount of incoming rockets. Understand that robots will be turning that corner as well, and generally won't be immediately targeting you.

Use this to your advantage. In tricky situations, fall back behind a corner/turn that the robots will be walking around. Wait for the first head you see, and fire. Repeat and strafe to allow yourself a few seconds to avoid incoming fire, and a few more seconds of intensive damage dealing.

Most of all, know what is going to be spawning where and when. This will allow you to predict and place yourself in a somewhat safe spot that allows for cover, but also gives direct access to any incoming bots. This takes a lot of time and practice, but it pays off greatly.


Once you are comfortable with wave flow and timing, it's time to retool your upgrades. Sniper is a unique class in that the upgrade path is much more dynamic depending on your experience level.

In Two Cities, most waves can be completed with two points in explosive headshot. This opens up your options a bit, but only if you have the practice/experience to compliment those options.

This comes back to knowing the wave flow- Once you've memorized it, you can experiment with your upgrades to find what works best for the incoming wave

Two way teleporters will make your life infinitely easier as well. Timing your upgrades throughout the wave will push your damage output through the roof. There may be a bot spawning with loads of medics later on in the wave, but that doesn't mean you need to max your explosive headshot at the start.

Experiment with this. There is no set in stone upgrade path to take once you've become comfortable with adapting your upgrades to the mission and wave. After hundreds of tours of sniper, I still find myself tweaking my upgrade paths in each mission.


Robot hitboxes are a notorious nightmare for some players, which does add another element to mastering sniper- You have to learn the robot hitbox regions.

Pyro-bots (big or small) are your best friend for easy shots due to their head being infront of their body as opposed to vertically oriented. They always walk in a smooth path, so they are extremely easy to predict for.

Giant soldiers can go one of two ways. Normal giants/support soldiers are fairly easy to land as long as you are aiming towards the top of their helmet, or predictively aiming in front of their path. Yellow-head giant soldiers cause issues for me, as I find that my shots only register when I'm aiming closer to the neck region. Still, fairly easy to adjust for and the regions will become habit eventually.

Stock scouts and their giant variant also have the slight advantage for your aim as the pyros. Their heads are clean targets, and you don't have to worry about adjusting in any way- Giant scouts even more so. This is NOT carried over to giant sandman scouts or the bonk scouts on Empire. You have to hit the exact center of their head for the shot to register, their helmet feels like it's much larger than the actual hitbox.

Heavies are the easiest. Very easy to hit head region and they're slow movers. Giants even more so. If you have a sniper on your team, heavy bots should be melting like butter. Prioritize them in crowds of other support bots.

Demomen are a mixed bag, but not because the hitbox is hard to hit. They strafe randomly along their path in some spawn locations, moving left and right rapidly. This is extremely apparent on Manhattan missions, where demo bots that drop from the balcony will be MUCH more difficult to hit than those from those from the pit simply because of this random strafing.

Engi bots are easy too, but they will hide behind their sentry for defense if they have the opportunity to build. Either wait for their head to pop out from behind the sentry, destroy the sentry (This can take valuable seconds if it's already constructed and the bot is in defensive mode), or destroy the teleporter to bait the bot out of hiding.

Not much to say for normal med bots. You rarely will need to land a shot on a uber med bot as you will be targeting the bot they're healing instead. Giant meds are really easy to hit, and are a huge damage source for a sniper.

And last but certainly not least- The sentry buster. The top spike is the head region, so you'll be getting an explosive headshot everytime you land a shot there. Very useful when it's in the middle of a large group of smaller/faster support bots, and also very useful for your team's medic as it will slow/stun the bot momentarily and allow the medic to land multiple easy ubersaw hits. Don't focus them in any other situation though.

Noted that the Jarate's Slow Speed upgrade applies to fully charged shots on the Sydney Sleeper.


Added the Experienced Player Concepts section. Thanks to Rex for that.


Added sub-section for bot hitbox and movement nuances to the Experienced Player Concepts section.