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Snipers in Jagged Alliance 3 excel in dealing heavy damage at long range so in order to maximise their potential, you can go down one of the two main avenues - create an agile sniper that can reposition easily during combat or create a static sniper that blows heads off even outside their visual range.
This choice will mostly affect the weapons you take while perks will mostly remain the same.
Agile sniper build
For this build you will need 90+ Dexterity and 90+ Agility. Dexterity is the priority here so you can actually take someone with lower Agility and train them up by the time you get all the necessary Dex perks.
Crucial perks for this build are:
- Dexterity - Opportunistic Killer, Deadeye, Reactive Fire, Sharpshooter, Killzone
- Agility - Fast Runner, Frog Leaping, Vantage Point, Total Concentration, Anatomical Precision
Take the perks in the order they are listed. Since there are 10 perks here in total, you will either need to find someone who starts with one of the listed perks or skip either Killzone or Anatomical Precision.
By the time you get the first four perks from the Dex tree, you will have the core of the build and your sniper will be a killing machine. Having Killzone in the build will allow them to get a few extra shots if enemies shoot and whiff.
Equipment
Use Light armour and sniper rifles that are not cumbersome. This means Gewehr 98, Dragunov, PSG-1 and Winchester are your only options. Make sure you craft some AP ammo along the way for the endgame when most enemies are wearing full armour.
You can equip an assault rifle in the second slot to deal with enemies at closer ranges.
Your primary sniper rifle should always have a silencer. In the case of Gewehr, Improved Iron sights are better than other options. As soon as you get a Dragunov or PSG-1, make sure you get a bipod on it, along with the x10 sniper scope. If you have a chip, use it to get a thermal sight instead.
Alternative path - the sneaky sniper
With this build, it is mostly the same but you will use your sniper to sneak around the map and thin the herd before engaging full combat. With this build, you will need Stealthy trait, Ambusher instead of Reactive Fire, Untraceable instead of Opportunistic Killer and Assassination instead of Killzone.
In Agility, you will have enough perk points to get Total Concentration at level 10, which will be far superior to Anatomical Precision.
Static sniper build
This build will almost guarantee your sniper is outside the enemy's line of fire at all times so you don't need to move as much. It is easier to complete this build but it is not as potent as the agile one since repositioning means you will have to forego shooting for a turn.
Perks for the build with Dexterity and Strength are:
- Dexterity - Untraceable, Deadeye, Ambusher, Sharpshooter
- Strength - Hit the Deck, Vanguard, Revenge, Calm Under Fire, Battle Focus
With this build, you are not moving around too much and can shoot twice per turn. Therefore, you need to find a good position for the sniper before the battle, set them to prone and just pick off enemies like it's nobody's business.
Alternatively, you can run Agility instead of Strength to ensure one-hit kills even on toughest of enemies:
- Agility - Flanker, Vantage Point, Lightning Reactions, Total Concentration, Anatomical Precision
With the Agility version, you can one-shot bosses if you bring AP ammo in your heavy-hitting sniper rifles.
Equipment
You can use heavy armour with this build since you won't get Free Movement due to cumbersome weapons anyway. The weapons you are looking for are Gold Fever, M21 and M82. They will make you sluggish but will make sure you one-shot everything that comes at you.
Bipod, silencer, heavy stock and x10 sniper scope (or thermal scope if you have a chip) are the mods you should look for. UV Dot is also nice to have since it gives free aim levels.
Ivan
Using Ivan with Gold Fever will ensure you get extra shots in each turn because he gains three AP on each kill. Keep popping heads and he will keep going until there is no one left.
