Sniper rifles can be extremely frustrating to play against, but not if you take advantage of some key counters.
The definition of a high-risk, high-reward weapon in Call of Duty is a sniper rifle. If you’re talented with the boomstick, you can devastate an entire lobby. The same is true in Modern Warfare 3, even if there are only three snipers we currently have access to in multiplayer.
We've talked about the best sniper loadouts in MW3, so now it's time to learn how to beat them.
Of course, the flip side to this is players trying to avoid the bright glint of sniper rifles on the iconic MW2 maps in MW3. If you’re in a lobby with a good sniper player on the enemy team, you’re likely in for a rough map. However, this doesn’t always have to be the case, as there are a few ways to effectively counter snipers in multiplayer.
Below, we will list our top methods of countering a sniper rifle in MW3. The methods are not in any particular order and they can all be used in conjunction with one another.
1. Smoke Grenades
Smoke Grenades are possibly the most effective way to counter a sniper rifle in any Call of Duty title, and it applies to MW3 as well. In all recent COD games, Smoke Grenades act as “one-ways,” which means whoever throws the grenade has the ability to see enemy nameplates through it. If you don’t throw the Smoke Grenade, you won’t be able to see anything, including the red dot or name above an enemy’s head, until the smoke dissipates.
Naturally, if you throw a Smoke Grenade in an area where you know a sniper is aiming, this essentially cuts off any visual they have for several seconds. During this brief window, you can make your way across the area and get into a position to possibly take the sniper out, which leads to our next counter.
2. Staying stealthy
Even if you don’t want to utilize Smoke Grenades, you can always try to flank around a player using a sniper rifle. This is made vastly easier if you use stealthy equipment, such as the Covert Sneakers Boots, Ghost T/V Camo Gear, and a suppressor on your weapon, among other things.
Using these items, you can sneak around a sniper and kill them from the side or behind, and they’ll likely have no idea what hit them. This won’t always work depending on the map you’re playing, though, so using Smoke Grenades and our next counter could work better.
3. Picking specific gear
While selecting gear such as Covert Sneakers and Ghost T/V Camo helps you stay stealthy, it doesn’t guarantee that a sniper still won’t kill you from their power position. However, if you pick gear such as the Threat Identification System or the Hijacked IFF Strobe, you can completely throw off a sniper’s ability to spot you or keep their power position.
The Threat Identification System pings an enemy’s location if you aim in on them in your crosshairs. This allows you to possibly get your team to focus on the sniper’s position and might even spook the player using the sniper, causing them to leave their spot. On the other hand, if you’re playing against a sniper using a thermal optic, you can use the Hijacked IFF Strobe, which makes you invisible to thermal optics.
4. Using a long-range weapon
Our final counter is one that you likely already thought of, but it’s worth mentioning and reviewing nonetheless. Sometimes, the only way to counter a sniper is to kill them using a long-range weapon of your own. This can be another sniper or something like the DG-58 assault rifle, which has tremendous damage range and accuracy and kills extremely fast. Our loadout for the DG-58 in the image above is great at long-range, but a sniper loadout of your own might be a better choice.
For example, if you throw a Smoke Grenade down and get to a position where you can pick a sniper off, you need to use a powerful long-range weapon to ensure you can get the kill on the enemy quickly. Using a less-than-optimal long-range weapon might mean the sniper can escape before you’re able to secure the kill.
Those are our four counters for sniper rifles in MW3. They don’t provide a 100% success rate, as some sniper players in MW3 simply don’t miss their shots or are in too good of a position. However, these methods offer the best chance of you eliminating a sniper before they cause too much damage to you and your team.