Welcome to Auroa! Sadly, things have gone belly up in the libertarian utopia of Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, so it’s up to you to free the island chain from the brutal rule of the Wolves. These rogue paramilitary soldiers are the best of the best, but luckily, they all share one weakness – being shot in the face with a high-powered sniper rifle. And as luck would have it, we’ve got a Ghost Recon: Breakpoint sniping guide for you right here.
How to Hold your Breath
Most modern military shooters allow you to hold your breath to steady your aim when looking down your scope. Ghost Recon: Breakpoint is no exception, but due to the barrage of information that the game pelts you with in its opening hours, it’s easy to miss the tutorial on how to do this.
To hold your breath, you need to hold down the aim button, but only halfway. On the Xbox One, you do this with the left trigger. On PS4 it’s the L2 button. Don’t slam on the trigger, but slowly depress it about halfway down until you hear your character take a breath. If you’re a PC player, you need to hold the space bar to hold your breath – no complicated half trigger depressions for you. If you’ve done it correctly, everything will go out of focus for a split second. When your vision comes back into focus, your aim will be as steady as a rock. This Zen state doesn’t last for very long, so take your shot quickly.
Bullet Drop It Like It’s Hot
More bothersome realism, this time in the form of bullet drop. If you’re firing at extremely distant targets, your bullets will drop off due to the cruel and unforgiving force of gravity. In reality you’ll rarely need to engage an enemy at a range where bullet drop will be an issue. But if you do want to snipe people in a different ZIP code, then take a little target practice to get your eye in.
As a rule, if in doubt aim higher than you think you need to. If you overshoot by a lot, the bullet will sail over the enemy’s head and they’ll be none the wiser. If the shot misses but moves close to your enemy, it’s likely that they will hear it and become alerted. Likewise, if the shot falls short, you may non-lethally hit the target, alerting them to your presence.
Silencers Are Golden
Guns are loud. Like somehow louder than a plane flying overhead loud. Even if you’re a mile away from your target, your enemies will still hear a gunshot. Luckily, silencers are a thing. Silencers muffle the sounds of your shots. Pop one of these bad boys on and you can murder dudes from extreme ranges with relative impunity.
Enemies won’t hear silenced shots unless they’re within earshot or near the impact point of the bullet. You can use this last point this to your advantage, luring enemies into more isolated positions. If you shoot the ground near them, they’ll head over to the investigate the noise and where you can eliminate them out of sight.
The downside to silencers is that they reduce your gun’s damage output. This isn’t an issue if you’re landing headshots, since these drop most enemies instantly. But if you get into a firefight, remember to take the silencer off to buff your damage back up.
Guns, Lots of Guns
Finding the right gun is like falling in love. I can’t tell you what your perfect gun is, you’ll just know it. There are tons of different sniper rifles to choose from in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. In the early sections of the game, you’ll be using whatever guns you find lying around in item boxes. Later, when you’ve found a few blueprints you’ll be able to buy rifles from the store in Erewhon, the central hub area. Try out a few rifles and see which one feels right.
There are also a boatload of customization options and upgrades that you can apply to your weapons on the loadout screen. These include general stat buffs to your gun, along with different magazines, muzzles and scopes to let you customize your rifle to suit your playstyle.
I’ve Got Skills, They’re Multiplying
Ghost Recon: Breakpoint has a diverse range of skills that you can acquire as you level up, along with a class system that lets you specialize towards one of four playstyles. You should unlock the Sharpshooter class if you’re looking to buff your sniping game, as this class has several relevant bonuses including longer breath control while aiming and better recoil management.
There are also several skills that you should unlock ASAP. There is a section of the upgrade tree called Sniper, which contains buffs to your damage and range. While it is a little way up the upgrade tree, thankfully the prior area called Recon includes the thermal vision upgrade which can be used when aiming down scope to take goons out Predator style.
And that’s it, that’s all the advice we have for you budding snipers out there. You’re ready to head out into the world of Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and significantly cull the ‘dudes with intact heads’ population.
