[EXTRA] Advice for Players: How to be a Battle Hero Sniper
ahava3233
Hey y'all, it's ahava3233. Anyway, I wanted to share with you all my own reflection and advice on the new additions to the war module, the rockets and what you can now do with them.
Yesterday's upgrade to the war module brings in a very new dynamic to the battlefield, rockets. Rockets are similar to the WMDs temporarily introduced a little less than a month ago, except they don't do damage on as massive of a scale. Q1 can do 50,000 damage in one hit, Q2 250,000 damage, Q3 500,000 damage, and Q4 1,000,000. This is in comparison to the earlier WMDs which in comparison were able to do 5,000,000 damage in two clicks.
However, I think they would be better denoted as Sniper Rifles...let me explain why.
If you're an ambitious lad or lass, you've probably gotten into Battle Hero Medal hunting as a side source of income in-game. Obtaining Battle Hero Medals is now a reality for players of all skill levels and experience due to the implementation of the division battle system in-game. This is even more so a reality as the most powerful rocket you can obtain from a factory is linked to the division you are currently in. If you invest as much as you can into your rocket factory, you'll be on the same playing field as everyone else in your division. If you haven't yet invested as much as you can, you should try to get it done while the offer below is still in effect.
With rockets, you can now use a very powerful tactic in your quest for Battle Hero Medals. I will call this powerful technique sniping (as from the term auction or eBay sniping, which refers to bidding in an online auction, such as those on eBay, in the last few seconds so your competitors have no time to react and bid higher). I have used sniping tactics twice so far in-game using rockets, once for Taiwan and once for Japan; I was successful both times.
Given that I doubt rockets will be taken out of the game anytime soon, if ever due to the fact that they require an investment, I have a strong feeling that rocketry is here to stay in-game. As sniping is so effective for BH hunting, I have good reason to believe it will be the future of BH hunting, just as auction sniping is the current optimal tactic for many online auctions.
Anyway, the techniques for successful sniping are similar if not the same as they are for online auctions. Of course, there are some differences, such as the in-game financial risk involved, but you should already be aware of that risk. So, without further ado, given I'm sure this will be common information soon, here are some useful techniques for effective sniping.
1. Fire as close to the end of the battle as you can
This is probably the single most important rule to follow when you're sniping. Auction sniping, by definition, is ineffective when the opponent has a chance to react to your shot. The same applies to BH sniping. If possible, you want to fire your shot within 2-3 seconds to the end of the battle. With rockets, note, THIS TAKES TWO CLICKS (You need to confirm your shot on a pop-up dialog before you fire). Anyway, to do this, you need to be aware of/have two things.
A. A fast computer and internet connection
If your connection to erepublik.com is lagging, you don't have a fiber optic, cable, or a very fast (10 megabit per second+) DSL connection, or you have a slow computer and/or clunky peripherals (keyboard/mouse/trackpad/touchscreen), you will have trouble sniping effectively and you may unnecessarily waste supplies in your preparation to perform the maneuver in that specific battle because of your computer set-up. Upgrade your system and connection if you are lacking in this department.
B. When the battle is going to end
You need to be aware of the intricacies of the battle system and how points are scored so you can properly compute the time to strike. As you can read here, the battle system works as follows.
The battle ends when one side in your division scores 1800 points. The side with the most damage (highest amount of influence) at the head of each minute gets points every minute at the following rates. The point allocation is determined and added only at the end of the minute.
• 1-30 (0:01:00-
😇0:00) minutes into the battle, 10 points at every minute;
• 31-60 (
😇1:00-1:00:00) minutes into the battle, 20 points at every minute;
• 61-90 (1:01:00-1:30:00) minutes into the battle; 30 points at every minute;
• 91-120 (1:31:00-2:00:00) minutes into the battle, 60 points at every minute.
Additionally, you also need to note the status of the battle if you intend on scoring a successful snipe. To snipe successfully, one side MUST WIN at the close of that minute. If the level of influence on both sides is very close, if you snipe for the losing side, you could knock the battle out of balance by doing 50k-1000k damage, extending it further. As a sniper, you want to avoid doing this as much as possible to keep your competitors from overtaking you. To prevent changing the outcome of the battle, you can try gauging how many points have been scored so far by killing a few enemies with conventional weapons and determining how the kills affect the influence bar. By observing how your attacks affect the bar using rough arithmetic/multiplication you should be able to make a rough estimate of how your rocket may affect the influence bar when you let it fly.
2. Stay hidden
As a sniper, it is in your best interest to stay hidden from your competitors until you fire your shot(s). You can do this by, for example, staying out of the top 5 combatants on your side until the very last few moments. This gives your opponents little opportunity to evade your shot(s). This is however not always possible, depending on the level of participation in the battle.
Also, if you can't avoid being in the top 5, you can try using feinting techniques (ceasing fighting at a certain point early in the battle, then bursting out damage at the end) to trick your competitors. Be creative.
3. Have A Safety Buffer
If you can, try to make it so you have as much distance from your opponents as reasonably possible score-wise after taking your shot. Don't use your arsenal unless you're sure it will be effective. You can do this by firing off bazookas or standard weapons to increase your score before the very end. If the scores are too close, be wary about firing your rocket, you are VERY likely to lose the Battle Hero medal that way. However, don't forget the aforementioned rule number 2 while you do this, stay out of sight if you can.
4. Make Sure Your Shot Flies True
Adjust your scope for windspeed and check the other players before you fire, you don't want to miss the target and waste a rocket. There is a probability that there are other people on your side also trying to snipe a Battle Hero Medal in the same battle. If they fire early and make your shot impossible, you should take note of this and not take your shot or use bazookas and/or conventional weapons to first boost your score. As you should be aware, rockets cost ALOT of money for the amount of impact they cause, if you miss a shot, it WILL take a toll on your finances unless you are very wealthy. You should have thus refreshed the page and checked the scoreboard within the last 10 seconds or so of the battle before you take your shot, unless you're following rule/tactic #5 below.
On that note, a great sniper knows when to hold their fire. If a far more powerful hunter is pursuing the same mark, stop pursuing and let them take the kill. Don't get too emotional over the kill, you could waste alot of money competing with other experienced hunters.
5. The Double Tap
Tested, it works, and it allowed me to give a Bulgarian a run for his money in an Israel-UAE battle in Dubai (for Israel). GO KICK SOME TAIL GUYS!
If you really want a battle hero medal in a contentious skirmish (an important battle or in Division 4) the best way to help ensure this is to follow an equivalent to Zombieland (A great movie) Rule #2, the double tap. Although I have never done this, theoretically, it should be possible; to perform a double tap, you should have made an unused rocket the day before or earlier and have the supplies on hand to make another rocket. Open 2 tabs, one on the battle and one in your storage, and give yourself probably about 15-20 seconds or so on a fast internet connection to perform this tactic. Fire your first rocket. then refresh your storage and build the second one. Then, refresh the battle and fire off your second rocket. If you do this successfully, your competitors will be in for a huge surprise and you will hit VERY hard VERY fast. Just as this technique will improve your chance of actually killing a traditional zombie in the event of a zombie apocalypse, it will greatly improve your chances of earning a Battle Hero Medal in this game.
Trivia:
So yeah, that's all folks. I hope you found this advice informative and/or useful. If you liked this article feel free to vote it up and subscribe to my personal newspaper, Gougai/号外/Extra. Also feel free to leave a comment, thanks!
Comments
Short hand version: YATATATATATA BOOM BOOM POW POW RATATATA KABOOM!!! kthx bye...
Also voted.
Yeah, lets tell people how to do the most annoying thing in the game!
No vote from me.
Well it certainly ain't cheating and this is war! Anything goes. I would think this would be charity if anything (given this will probably be very common knowledge soon, so I figured I'd give my readers, mostly my fellow eJapanese citizens, an advantage). I guess this sort of information is similar in nature to the techniques we currently use to take advantage of the bot and make eJapan some money.
Looks good, I waiting for an article like this, now I have an idea of what to do.Thank you.
(by the way nice pictures, they really get the point across)
That disgusting picture again.
So... You just gave tips on how to steal battle hero medals better. Sorry, I hate BH stealers, it's one of the worst things you can do in this game - you let someone else waste their resources and not gain anything in return. If you want to take a battle hero, hit first and hit hard.
@Augustus Grim
Sniping is an art. By your logic, you should've hit harder. Snipers typically aren't going to try to compete against super heavy tankers anyway, it doesn't make financial sense; reread the second paragraph of rule #4.
I didn't realize so many people here were sore losers too. In FPS games as well, sniping is, again, an art and a useful skill. RESPECT the sniper.
They're not snipers, they're BH stealers. They've been around for way longer than any of us. The thing is, if someone spends lots of bazookas, EBs and tanks that he saved for a long time, stealing them is like stealing his investment - he lost it, the stealer gets the reward. So excuse me if I don't think stealing is right. 😶
BH medals are a gamble by their nature, not everyone is going to play as you want them to. This is war, there are no rules. Thus, when I lose a BH, I'm more like this if anything.
http://files.sharenator.com/i_aint_even_mad_You_mad_Bro-s630x493-193975-580.jpg
Besides, now you know how snipers operate, they're opportunists; you can look out for them now. I'm sure that's good info to know for someone such as yourself. It's an unforgiving world out there, you gotta know how to defend yourself.
Again, if someone beats you as a sniper, they deserved the medal. The BH game is a competition, if you let the sniper pick you off, that's your problem. Snipers can be beat, it's a gamble for them too you know. They don't have infinitely deep pockets either and you have access to the same weaponry, thus, you should learn how to use effectively. Technique is a far more valuable tool than brute strength.
just buy gold from Plato, you know you want to
Ahava, again, this is just pathetic.
@samproidz
As commented by Pants Magee (here: http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/2064165/1/20)
"
I don't quite understadn the whole "You stole my BH Medal" thing. Just becasue you unload a lot of damage to get into first place doesn't mean anything. You put the previous person into 2nd place. You would in theory have then stolen it from that person.
Deciding on an arbitrary set of numbers to classify what you believe to be a threshold for "saving" a BH medal is just semantics.
"
Imagine the following. You save money for some time to buy something for yourself. You order it. On its way to your house, someone gets the package, steals it and takes it for himself. On top of everything, the shop you bought it from isn't willing to refund you, because they gave you the product. Now, would you say it's your fault that you didn't protect what you bought well enough? Of course not - the thief is the one to blame.
And in erepublik it can get even worse. A few days ago someone stole my BH. And you know what? I wasn't even capable of responding, because it takes the server some time to update the top damage, so I didn't even realize someone had stolen my BH.
Augustus, your analogy is flawed because when you attempt to get a BH medal, you are GAMBLING, you're not ordering. You do not simply deserve a battle hero medal just for hitting hard. War in erepublik is a game, a competition. Besides, you're using virtual currency, not real money (although you may have been suckered into buying currency with real money).
If your connection is slow, whether or not it is on your end or on plato's side, well, too bad, it's part of the gamble.
Also, to clarify, if someone snipes, their intention is to hit harder than you in total damage in order to get a BH medal. By definition, that entitles them to a BH medal, unless someone else hits even harder than that. Sniping is mainly a technique to ensure they get the medal by keeping competitors from catching up.
Also, you can see updated battle statistics by refreshing the battle page before you check, that's no excuse, live and learn.
Why are people raging about BH stealers/snipers? Its not like they are taking something that "belongs" to you. The medal doesnt "belong" to you if you decided to dump 10 zookas 10 mins into the battle. Its part of the game. So stop crying and fight harder and/or smarter.
Using this kind of tactic is really the only way it makes any economic sense to invest in a rocket factory. No need to attack the messenger; this is a game mechanic that is here to stay, and if you hate BH sniping, and just want to tank, then using the weapons at your disposal is a better way to spend your money.
Also, remember that the Rockets usage does NOT give you any Rank Points.
Realistically folks, sniping for BH is really the only reward you can get from this thing. Deal with it.
I currently have one rocket with 250,000 damage but im saving it up for something special.
@Flameyglenn
I just used another two rockets at once in Chugoku...got a Dual Battle Hero in that battle. It wasn't a true double tap as they were used on separate days, but still. REPENT ************!
Maybe that's what you should save your rockets for?
ahava3233, regretably, only one rocket can be build per day, so the double tap gets restricted to the very change of the day
@Dactarik, nope.
You build the rocket the day before, fire it the next, build another one that day and fire again. Doesn't break that rule.
Listen. The reason I don't like BH stealers (not snipers; it has nothing to do with sniping, stop calling it that!) is that they make you waste what you worked hard for. I fight every day, I make sure that I'm online and I use up FF, food, tanks. This way, I complete my daily order and get one lame bazooka. I do this for a few weeks. And then I want to get some kind of reward - a battle hero medal. I spend all those bazookas and EBs I've saved up - so naturally,
I expect to get something in return. But then some stranger arrives and takes what I had already paid for. Can't you wait for the next battle? If, according to what you say, you just hit harder than me and therefore deserve a medal, why can't you wait for the next battle and let me have mine? Are you that impatient?
@Augustus
As Kashikoi put it.
So stop crying and fight harder and/or smarter x2.
Gonna have to agree with samproidz.
There's no point in saying "stop crying and fight harder". I can't fight harder; what do you want me to do, save up bazookas for a whole year before I go for a battle hero? That's absurd, considering that others do it in a week or even in just a few days. You're not addressing the actual problem here, which is that BH stealers make you waste what you saved up. Answer this question: why can't you wait for the next battle?
I don't wait til the next battle because as a sniper, I take the most ideal opportunity I can while I'm online (which isn't 24/7). This isn't as common as you may believe (For example, I'm typically not going to try to beat someone with 500,000+ points in division 2, or I would be wary when the opportunity is on a losing side) If such happens to be your fight, well then sorry, your loss.
ברצינות, אני לא מבינה מדוע סכסוך הזה כל כך חשוב אליך...אני גרה רחוק מאוד מישראל במשחק ובחיים אמיתי, חחח
Sorry, your loss? Again, any thief could say the same thing. They take the most ideal opportunity to steal stuff, and they don't steal it if they could get caught and lose what they were stealing. And it's obviously the loss of the one you stole from. Yes, it's my loss - that's the point! Because it's your fault, and you're to blame.
אני ממש לא מבין איך מה שכתבת בעברית קשור... XD
It's not stealing because you were never guaranteed a BH in the first place, not until the battle is over.
גם אני אמרתי את זה מכיוון שאנחנו נלחמים בקרבות שונות במשך רוב הזמן.
well idc if ppl try to steal bhs but remember if u piss of tanks with influence they might never help your country again. Happened and will always happen. If they are pissed they mgiht even help countries fighting against u, well whatever, this is nothing new though.