1. Spot spot spot
Put on the damn spotting scope and then keep hitting select anyways. You do understand what "Recon" means right? Half of your job in that class is telling your team where everyone is. If they know where to look, then they'll win firefights 90% of the time. Even if you think you can kill someone like a stationary player - spot as you aim up. Just do it. It's easy.
2. Only one option
This isn't Call of Duty. Don't use the 4x or the red dot. No stupid quick scoping here guys. Use the 12x scope. Grenade spec is useless. Ammo spec is useless. Have your Assault guy drop you ammo crates when you need it. You've got 20+ shots on snipers. That's plenty.
3. Move your ***
Get a kill or two and then haul ass out of there. Find a new spot. Spots near paths that teammates have cleared are particularly good choices. Use your brain and figure out your lanes. Don't go in Lighthouse 'cause it's tall. Go somewhere bizarre and useful.
4. How to attack
There's three things you want to keep in mind if you're sniping on attack. If your team is moving for an M Com or has one planted: your main priority is getting somewhere that you can see the whole bomb and anyone that might disarm it. Then proceed to shoot fools in the head as they go in for it. A mortar strike and then popping up to pick off the next wave of enemies is usually enough to drain out the bomb timer.
5. Gadgets are useful
Motion mines and then C4/Mortar. These are extremely useful and extremely necessary for your success. Throw down those motion mines. Not just near yourself but also where they'll help your team. Even if this means moving up and tossing one on an M Com. These Pokeballs can fly man, don't underestimate how far you can throw 'em.
If your using C4 you have lots of options. Be creative. Creating a suicide bomber out of a BH or ATV. Set a trap. Destroy a UAV station. Plant some on the M Com and wait for idiot enemies to rush in, then enjoy the multi kill. Hell, the greatest thing I ever saw was a Recon who got on the back of an ATV, rolled down and threw some C4, and then rolled back up to a spot. He then continued to play normally until a tank rolled over his C4. Boom.
Mortar strikes are best used to clear out camping enemies, destroying bases, opening holes in enemy defenses for your team to bust through, or even creating a smoke veil to sneak out of. Sometimes they can destroy tanks, but often the tank will just roll out before you can finish it off.
6. Don't waste bullets
There's a guy! Shoot!!!11!!!
No.
Know who to shoot and when to shoot. When you fire, you tell the enemy, "HEY I'M A RECON COME KILL ME PLEASE!!!!!" Go for enemies trying to arm or disarm M coms. Go for enemies near, shooting, or running away from your teammates. Enemy snipers are sometimes worth the shot, and other times not. If you have a medic running around reviving the other team, don't keep murdering the snipers around him and feeding him points. Kill him and anyone who tries to pick up his kit. You'll learn how to deal with specific scenarios as time goes on, and also become better at picking which targets to hit first when none are hostile at the moment.
7. One shot one kill
If you can't get headshots on a moving target at a far distance, then you aren't the most useful Recon for your team. Now, it isn't demanded that you make those shots, or even take them. That's all part of Rule 6. However, being able to make those shots makes you an important member of the team, and well appreciated. If you can't get headshots often at all, then you shouldn't be sniping period. Not to say you aren't a useful Recon, just not particularly a useful sniper. Figure what your strengths are.
-Bullet drop: Matters, but not as much as you think. With an M24 at extreme ranges the most i've ever had to aim high was one mil dot, and this is without the 12x scope. With the 12x scope, it drops to about half a mil dot. The GOL cuts this down to hlaf a mil dot and almost nothing with the 12 x scope. Most of the time, you tend to aim too high.
-You're SUPPORT, NOT a ghillie ninja: Snipers hit key targets (interdiction) and spot (see original post). Gunner at a heavy MG or stationary AT, guy in a turret, guy at an MCOM station = key targets. Doffus t-baggin your deadmate... not so much.
-Picking a good hide: On top of an open roof? bad. Open windows? bad. Hill top? Bad. These are the first places good snipers will look, because they're 1) common and 2) provide wide feilds of view. Think about what you're trying to accomplish and the terrain around you? Are you keeping guys off a crate? Go where yuou have a clear view of the crate where you can ACCURATELY and CONSISTENTLY hit your targets. Are you spotting and calling in mortars? Go somewhere with a wide field of view. This ties into the next point...
-Picking a good rifle: Pick a rifle that meets your mission goals. Are you sitting up high and far away in an open level and taking shots at range while spotting and calling in mortars? Take the M24 or the GOL. Are you in a more urban enviornment, covering down an alley, or in a level that's less open? Take a semi-automatic. At range, the semi can't hit anything. Up close, the bolt actions fire so slow that if you don't get a one shot, you're gonna get whacked while you reload.
-One shot, one....WTH?!?!?!: This is not MW2. One hit kills here are pretty hard at range unless you get a headshot. At closer ranges, you can do it with the bolt actions, but it may not happen (see above)
-It's not about the sniper kill: One game I scored 3000 pts. as a sniper with only 5 kills. I did it by getting spot assists, kill assists in guys going for my teamates, mortar kills, motion mine assists, spot assists, etc. Being a sniper isn't about being the guy with the biggest kill count. It's about being a force multiplier.
-Completing the Objective-
This is probably one of the most sensitive, flame prone areas when it comes to recon. The only thing you hear people complaining about more than the EA servers are recons never "helping" or "completing the objective". Here is the biggest thing they miss:
Taking the crate is not the only objective!!!! An objective is any goal set by your team/squad in pursuit of the ultimate goal: blow the crates and win. Decide and define what your objective is early. If your objective is to cover the crate for attackers/defenders, then cover the crate. If your objective is to be out front in the enemies camp and spot/pass intel on to your team, then that is your objective. Screening between your team and the enemy is the objective. On a battlefield it isn't about everyone rushing to the fighting. You have infantry, aviation, armor, mechanics, supporters, EVERYBODY doing their part in order to pull off the bigger picture. People who complain about recons not completing objectives have just as little clue as to how recon is played as the ghillie kiddies who give us a bad name.
