4Game

After finishing The Punisher quest-line and writing up my experience, I set my scopes to 100m and my sights on completely Shooter Born in Heaven. But as this wipe progressed through some literally game-changing patches, decreased run-ins with PMCs and quite frankly, my inept ability to reliably hit headshots, I began to lose all faith in being able to complete it before wipe. No, we technically don’t know when wipe will be but at the rate I was missing shots, it didn’t matter. After finishing The Punisher quest-line, I said that nothing had forced me to grow more as a well-rounded player. Although I don’t have any plans to retract that statement, my first few dedicated attempts at SBIH made it clear that I was using the phrase “well-rounded” a little too loosely and that my long-range strats were going to need an overhaul. Yes, I was able to finish & landed my last headshot today and yes, I have another guide/story for the players out there who were like me or may find this useful.

Now before I go into strategy, I want to talk about gear because this sets the stage for the rest of the grind.

Gear

Like my Punisher grind, I wanted loadouts that I could repeatedly buy without going broke (planning on dying a lot) while still giving me a fair chance at success, given the goal. Since 100m headshots were the name of the game, CQB is technically hearsay so I actually started out with the cheapest gear possible – completely naked. Now although some still recommend this, I quickly started upgrading to PACAs and 6b43 helmets and M32 headsets (my personal fav). I wasn’t rich by any means, but this gear allowed me to stave off unexpected scavs and COULD save my life from weak PMCs. Although I eventually started running level 4 armor, I’d say PACAs and headsets should be a minimum to keep shotgun Scavs at bay and to keep you from being snuck up on. I’d say helmets are a good idea in general (the 6b43 barter is ~20k…) but at this point in the wipe, it probably mattered less with higher pen ammo more common.

The weapon of choice for me was a stock ADAR, Valday 1×6, Surefire Flash hider, Surefire Cocom RC2 suppressor, and 20-round mags. Each piece was specifically selected and here’s why. The name of the game is 100m headshots and that requires reliable accuracy. If I was able to get a PMC standing still, and I managed to get him in my crosshairs, I couldn’t afford to have an inaccurate shot zoom past his ear. ADARS with 100% durability can be had on the Flea for 15-30k, often. So stocking up on ADARs is cheap. They’re semi-auto so repeat shots are quick and since you’re not going full auto, no attachments are necessary. I used 20 round mags since they have better ergo than 30 rounders, helping ADS speed. Some would argue that using full auto to spray can help and they’d be right, but I decided to stick with semi-auto. 5.56 AK’s would be great choices as well. Why not 7.62 AKs? Why 556? Given the opportunity, I wanted the ONLY reason for missing to be on my execution and not on equipment, including bullet drop. I had no interest in learning distances for certain calibers/gun combos so I went with the flattest shooting bullet that’d reliably penetrate level 4, even 5 or 6 if need be. Welcome, 5.56. It's damn near flat at 100-200m and it’s very affordable. I used 855A1 because I was able to buy it from Skier for ~350 per round (which is an absolute steal) but honestly, 856A1 works great too and can be had much earlier in progression for a decent price. 7.62 BP and PS are great rounds too, and honestly can be damn near silent with a suppressor but I was willing to sacrifice a bit louder set-up for damn near zero drop. Speaking of suppressors, I run solo so suppressors are a must IMO. I started with a Hybrid 46 because I used the barter with Mechanic to make cash early on, so I knew I could get them cheap and reliably, but found that the Surefire Flash hider & Surefire RC2 combo was a bit quieter. I could buy the flash hider from traders cheap and the RC2 was something like 25-30K on the flee so quite affordable. If you can’t afford the flash hider on the flee, any can is better than no can. Same goes for the sight – I prefer the Valday 1×6, I could buy it on the flee for ~30k all day and 6x zoom is plenty for 100m-300m shots. I think the Voodoo is a great choice as well but whatever floats your boat. Try some out in offline mode to see what you like. You’ll probably die a lot and you’ll lose plenty of gear so buying 5 different optics for a total of maybe 200k for a one-time experiment will be worth your time. Now that the gear was set, on to the strats.

Woods

Although some may call me crazy, I started out on Woods because honestly, I love Woods. I used it for cache running when I was a feeble beginner (some may argue I’m still feeble) and learned to navigate it in the dark without NVGs. Although my long-range game was pretty shit, knowing I was fully capable of disappearing into the brush like a day-time cultist made me comfortable enough to take my 100m shots almost fear-free.

From all of my cache running, I knew that avoiding lumber mill was key to avoiding PVP but when it meant getting headshots, lumber mill became my prime focus. Now there are plenty of videos YouTube with plenty of locations for sniping, and I gotta say I tried them all – Sniper scav mountain, Dickhead rock, all angles on the lumber mill, multiple angles overlooking FOB, and even angles overlooking the village. If you’re looking to reliability hunt PMCs, knowing spawns and common pathing is crucial. If I spawned on Outskirts side, I would rush dickhead rock, lay prone and watch for PMC’s coming from the opposite side, which sometimes took a while. If I spawned on FOB side, I would usually post up on a rock in the field that overlooked FOB, to see if anyone spawned near me and if they’d go to FOB to loot. I never saw a single PMC that way, but I’ve seen plenty of people have success with this so I think it’s definitely worth looking, especially since it’s on the way to lumber mill. Personally, I did a quick pass and rushed towards sniper hill, but went past it, crossed the road and set-up behind dickhead rock. You see, I realized how fast I could make it to dickhead rock when spawning by Outskirts, so I knew I couldn’t beat anyone there if I spawned by FOB, but that if they did beat me there, I’d catch them with their pants down by setting up 100m behind them. How many headshots did I land this way, you ask? Goose egg. Fucking goose egg. Not a single one. But I killed many PMC’s running through the area so I think it’s also worth trying. If I spawned north side (like by the village or USEC camp) I usually rushed to that spot behind dickhead rock, then moved onto dickhead rock if no one was there.

Now, here’s my ugly opinion about sniping on Woods. On first glance, it seems great -wide open views, long sight lines, plenty of hills. But my experience was unfortunately laced with a lack of PMC’s. Opportunities at headshots were tough to come by, at least for me. I never saw a single PMC to counter snip on sniper hill and rarely saw PMC’s run through lumber. But when they did come through, they were pretty straight forward shots. They would either be hitting the three cabins for loot or quests, or running through checking for Shturman. I got all three of my headshots from dickhead rock, looking towards the cabins but shooting PMC’s on or behind that road above the cabins. Since there was a lack of PMC’s, I would 15-20 minutes before looting lumber and heading to extract. I didn’t die too often, but there were definitely times where I got my shit pushed by on-lookers after shooting. For every headshot I got, I probably died 9 times or so. It was rough but there’s something special about doming someone with an ADAR. I didn’t see Shturman too often, but check his updated spawns and keep an eye out because he’s great at ruining your day but not hard to counter if you know what you’re doing. He’s without armor so well placed shots are all you need, and his loot is pretty legit. Between checking for other snipers and the lumber mill, this strat is fairly straight forward and just a matter of time, maximizing opportunities for 100m shots, and making the most of them. If you see plenty of PMCs, good luck. If you don’t, try playing at more popular times of day or more populated servers.

Shoreline

Similar to Woods, I felt pretty comfortable with Shoreline as a map but had some reserved hatred for it’s PVP. I faired decently through The Punisher but grudgingly, at best. This was when I really had to start re-thinking my strategy. I must have watched every Pestily video (including Hardcore series) and everyone kept saying “just watch for spawns”. For example, if you spawn on the east side, you would rush towards to Weather or close by, but turn around and snipe PMC’s rushing towards you. And if you spawned on the west side, you rush up towards the Resort, but turn around and snipe PMC’s rushing towards you again. Out of 20 or so raids, I think I saw maybe 2 PMC’s right away from spawn. For whatever reason, it just wasn’t very reliable for me. And even so, that’s only good for like, the first 2 minutes of a raid so what was I to do after that? Power station. That’s what.

Power station is probably the next best PVP section on shoreline, IMO. Obviously the resort is the best, but in order to get 100m shots, you have to either shoot from the roof down on PMC’s at power or on the side, or set up outside and shoot into the resort. I sucked at both, although getting a few opportunities at PMC’s on the roof, so I decided to scope out Power. Regardless of spawn, I would rush that cement pad just below the resort that overlooks Power by almost exactly 100m. If you tip-toe the edge, on the wrong side of the fence, around to the front, you can drop down on top of the cement sides of the river and lay prone. PMC’s loot Power on the way to resort or hit it on their way out almost every raid, so opportunities are plenty. I got one headshot this way – a PMC ran up from Gas station and I caught him running on the metal cat-walk next to Power. Now you’re totally exposed to PMC’s running down from the resort and if they’re paying attention, you’re pretty screwed. But if you lay still and they’re going for extract, they may miss you completely. And just so you know, the bushy areas in between the cement pad and power are NOT 100m so if PMC’s are rushing resort, shoot before they leave Power and if they’re leaving resort, wait until Power to shoot.

Now I got my final 2 headshots counter sniping. I noticed that I would hear plenty of shots by Power but I couldn’t see shit from the cement pad – they were sniper battles from opposite sides of the river. I started setting up on the Cultist hillside – that goofy ridge in between Cottages and Power. You get a great view on people creeping around Power and I got two kills pretty quickly. You can do the same from the other side, posting up closer to weather and shooting down to that hillside next to Power. After I found out how effect counter sniping could be on Shoreline, I was pretty salty I couldn’t make it work on Woods.

Customs

Honestly, this was probably the easiest one of them all for me. It’s the map I felt the least comfortable with and the one I hear the most complaining about, but I had some really nice spots, and good PMC luck and nailed the shots. There are A LOT of options here. Personally, I like to find one spot and sit like a hermit crab for 20 minutes, watching the raid unfold in front of me so I tried about 6 different spots here. The first was behind New gas, on that ridge. Yeah, everyone knows about it and your shots will sound like a dinner bell to any interested PMC’s, but it’s views are great. You can a good chunk of the road, New gas and part of construction. Personally, I only saw a few running hatchlings and didn’t nail any of those shots (moving headshots? Forget about it.). I needed a spot where PMC’s would be standing still like idiots. I also tried the the building overlooking Stronghold and skeletor building. I nailed one headshot overlooking Stronghold and saw plenty of opportunities but the ins-and-outs of this spot are limited so be ready for war if you’re not careful. I found myself getting torn a new asshole a few times because PMC’s heard my shots, rushed up the stairs and found me with nowhere to go with a semi-auto ADAR. Not my greatest moments, I must say. Skeletor building is a solid center-point but very, very exposed. Again, be ready for war if you’re not careful. By far, my favorite spot was overlooking the river from the top of the building on the west side of the bridge (there’s a building on the east side by RUAF roadblock that works well too). I know I saw running headshots were out of my league, but the volume of players that come this way was too hard to pass up, and honestly, it wasn’t the players running across the river I was aimed at – it was the players coming through Dorms, to either the ice cream hut or Smugglers boat. I saw plenty of duos swing past Dorms and romp through the Scavs at ice cream hut like a couple of bulls in a china shop, with no regard to who may be looking. I got my final two headshots this way and plan to go right back next wipe.

I have an honorable mention for another spot that didn’t work for me, but probably will next wipe. If you spawn on the West side by Trailer or Crossroads, you can hop up on the storage containers and get a nice view inside Big Red, specifically at the door that is unlocked for quests and since you need to spend 2 seconds unlocking it, PMC’s are prime for the picking. Unfortunately, it was far too late in wipe to get PMC’s going here reliably since the quest is an early quest. Next wipe.

Reserve

This fucking map.

I’ve hunted raiders in the bunker. I’ve found everything Mechanic had asked for. I had searched the buildings for Ragman and I had found every fucking BMP and LAV III for Peackeeper. I knew Reserve well, the 3D chess this map forces you into never treated me well. Too many windows to watch, too much exposure for my comfort and very exposed extracts. I decided to whip out my NVGs and do what any reasonable PMC would do when looking for headshots on reserve – rush White Pawn and watch for Hatclings in the drop-down room. For those of you who don’t know, there are 5 main buildings on the west side of the map, 3 of great importance; White Pawn, black Pawn and black bishop. Black Bishop (south most) has a locked room on 2nd floor with superb loot (well, at least it used to be) that can be access by going to 3rd floor, dropping down out of a window and landing on an overhang, hence “drop down room”. PMC’s would rush this and have this looted within minutes. Now white pawn has superb overlooks from 100m away on this room. One is the 2nd floor (or 3rd, I cant remember), by getting on stop of one of the beds and kneeling. You can even get on top of a railing on the foot of the bed for more clearance. The other spot is on the roof, laying prone on top of the tent (jump up from the east side of the tent). Both spots give great obs so if you get a close spawn (Radar, anywhere West, any bunker or even King), rush this like your life depends on it and watch. I had plenty of opportunities, hitting one and squandering about 8. You see, anyone who knows to rush this room also knows they’re being watched like a hawk so they move FAST. They rush in, look at loot, not stopping for more than a split second and dipping immediately. Stopping to see if a hard drive is a GPU is enough time for a headshot but seriously, 0.2 seconds too late and they’re gone. After missing at least 8 headshots, I was furious. And out of anger, I turned to the dark side and barted Mechanic for a FLIR…I’m not proud of it but I was well past leaving this task with any dignity left. Using a FLIR is an absolute game changer. I’m not stupid, I know what thermals are but you really don’t understand what having that sort of advantage means until you use it, especially in a open spot like Reserve (RIP Woods). Long story short, I would rush this spot, and when I had enough, extract via manhole.

Now, a few things. The hillside under radar is a great spot for sniping as well, but also a great spot to counter snipe. Unfortunately, I never landed a single headshot shooting down from radar and never saw a single PMC sniping up on Radar (I have some serious lack of PMC’s on my servers at this point in the wipe….) but I was able to get all of mine from the drop-down room strat, minus 1.

G-unit and his boys tend to spawn around this area too (I think in any of the above three buildings) and with a thermal, they stick out like a sore thumb. I spotted them 3 times just chilling in the windows of black bishop, waiting for hatchlings. It’s a little funny but quite the rude surprise. If I didn’t get any 100m headshot opportunities, I’d pick the fight for fun. A quick lesson with Gluhkar and his men – they’re tough. They pack serious fire power, will beam you from a distance and can spawn with great armor. Glukhar had to be head-tapped 6-7 times with my 855A1 before dropping. If you keep your distance, they won’t aggro (White pawn is far enough away from black bishop to reset aggro). I killed him twice (completing the Jaegers quest the first time) but died twice trying to loot him. It kept things fun though. The third time, I killed him and 4 of his men. After rushing up the 3rd floor, I heard foot steps and thought “fuck, another one? Me and my ADAR are outa here”. I dropped back by Scav Lands and used my thermal to try to spot him in the windows and wouldn’t you know it, a shiny red face in the windows. I went prone to line up the shot but when I ADS’ed, he was gone. Did he see me? They don’t run like that without shooting…unless…it’s a PMC. I straffed west towards the south west corner, and back to scav lands, panning my thermal across the building windows. After about 20 seconds, I heard gunshots inside, confirming a PMC who either died to the last guard or killing the last guard. I took another 30 seconds of panning the windows to spot and on the first floor, I saw him squatting in a looting stance. As Markstrom would put it, that’s just unlucky, but you love to see it. And like that, I had all of my headshots.

A few lasting notes

• This quest took forever. It probably had a lot to do with that it is late wipe so my advice to future-me and you is to do it as early as possible to maximize opportunities.
• Like the Punisher quest line, be ready to die a lot. It’ll happen but if you’re ready to sacrifice yourself in the name of headshots, you’ll do better than playing it safe and not giving yourself fair chances at success.
• Finally, not trying to humble brag, but I started light-looting before dipping out of raids after giving up on headshots opportunities and I low-key got richer than I’ve ever been, roughly ~60mil. I’ve bought probably 20 ADARS, kitted as described above, plenty of helmets, level 4 rigs and at least 6 FLIRS and I still got mildly rich. How? Not dying. Yeah, I died a lot but anytime you don’t die is HUGE. One day, I ran probably 10 reserve raids and didn’t get a single headshot. But I looted the roof of White Pawn, 2nd floor and dipped out of man-hole extract, and made probably 50-100k each run worth of parts. That’s 500k-1mil alone. Not too shabby for not focusing on loot.

All in all, headshots are one of my favorite things to land in this game. There’s something special about having everything lineup just right for a filthy one-tap that rushing dorms or resort will never have. This quest, although should probably be done more passively and earlier in wipe, was super frustrating, challenging, and yeah, still a lot of fun.

I’ve hunted PMC’s through the Punisher quest line up close and personal, I’ve snipped them from a distance, and now I get to kill 3 of them with a bolt gun on Woods.

Great.